WDW veteran wanting to try DLR

[pmaurer74]

We would like to do something different this year. We just got back from a great trip but I felt the minute by minute planning was getting to me. For something different we are thinking of trying DLR and San Diego. Here is what I was thinking:

Mid July, 5 nights DLR Grand Californian and 5 nights in San Diego, maybe at Del Coronado. I was going to add the City Pass and spend 3 days at DLR, one at Universal and one at Sea World.


It is strange to me that it appears you cannot make hotel or dining reservations any further out than 60 days? After going through the 6 month ADRs at WDW this seems odd to me.

Are there usually any deals for the resorts in the summer? We have AAA will that be out best best or should there be an offer for DLR? Is it bet to stay on property?

Are we allowed into only one park per visit early or can we can in early to a park every day of our visit?

We are interested in the WOC and have small children, do you recommend the dinner package? or a FP? or is there a view from one of the hotels that we can see it?

We love character dining and was thinking of Minnie's and Ariel's Grotto. I was happy to see some favorites like Earl of Sandwich and the Rain Forest Cafe... any other recommendations? We were thinking of the Italian restaurant for the WOC dining package.

Any other tips would be appreciated. I was surprised to see few Fps for attractions as well.

Since we are thinking of going to San Diego would you recommend renting a car or is there transportation available between DLR and San Diego that you would recommend? We are thinking of flying into Orange County airport and out of San Diego.


Thanks any other tips would be helpful... this seems so different to me.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I can't comment on most of your questions, sorry.

But you should be able to book a hotel for July already, I think. I looked on the Disneyland website and you can book through mid-August right now.

Dining reservations, yes...you will have to wait until 60 days out.

 

[pmaurer74]

I can't comment on most of your questions, sorry.

But you should be able to book a hotel for July already, I think. I looked on the Disneyland website and you can book through mid-August right now.

Dining reservations, yes...you will have to wait until 60 days out.

You are right. I was stuck in a filter and had to use another browser.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

There are a number of good planning threads on here for WDW vets. You might want to search for them, or somebody after me will probably come through and provide some links.

I will throw some random comments out there that might help with some of these questions.

The distance between Anaheim and San Diego is around 90 miles. I think you can take the train between the two. Maybe there is even a bus. Frankly though I think you should rent a car, especially if you want to do sight-seeing around San Diego during your 5 days there and also because you have an interest in going to other parks such as Universal and SeaWorld.

I love San Diego! I hope you enjoy your time there. Things we have done in the past and enjoyed include many of the museums at Balboa Park, a visit to Old Town, Cabrillo National Monument, the aquarium at UCSD in La Jolla. You said you have little kids, so you may also want to consider Legoland. I find Legoland a little dull for the parents, but very fun for the young Lego aficionado. Legoland is between Anaheim and San Diego, about a 60 minute drive from Anaheim with little or no traffic or 30 minutes from San Diego with little or no traffic.

I believe there are no longer AAA discounts for Disneyland hotels. Yes, there are deals throughout the year. I wouldn't expect a lot for July since that is a peak time. I have heard it is best to book your room when you know what you want and call back for price reductions when there are deals. I'm sure someone with more experience at staying onsite will chime in on this. We have stayed onsite a couple of times, but it has been a while. Yes, one of the big advantages to staying onsite is being allowed to use magic morning every day of the week. Those who buy their 3-day or longer tickets ahead of time are eligible for one magic morning at Disneyland during their stay. If you stay onsite though, you can visit Disneyland or DCA, whichever one is open that morning, early each day of your stay.

You didn't ask, but I would highly recommend hopper tickets. Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are literally right across from each other. It's an easy walk across the esplanade to switch parks.

My family likes Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in downtown Disney. We enjoy Steakhouse 55 in the DLH for breakfast. We usually pick Minnie's breakfast these days when we want a character meal. The food doesn't wow, but the character interaction is usually plentiful. Don't discount counter service options. Disneyland/DCA have a few that are actually quite good. We really like French Market in New Orleans Square in Disneyland. There are menus for all the restaurants available on the Dis, and there's a great food thread with pictures.

 

[NJShoreDad]

We just visited Disneyland and DCA over Thanksgiving for the first time ourselves. We absolutely loved it!

We flew in an out of LAX and did 7 nights at the Villas at Grand Californian, then 1 night in San Diego and 1 night back near LAX. The focus of the trip was on DLR, and not as much San Diego, but we still had a good time visiting friends in San Diego as well as Coronado Island and the Zoo.

Reservations at 60 days wasn't an issue, even with the Thanksgiving holiday. I know at WDW you have to jump on things so far in advance, but we really liked making plans closer to our arrival.

Don't know if there are any special deals for hotels. We stayed using our DVC points, but I can tell you that the Grand is absolutely beautiful. We loved how close the hotel is to the parks and is one of the reasons why DLR is my wife's new favorite over WDW. She loves both places, but not having to ride buses is a huge plus!

As for early entry, each day one park has early entry. During our visit, DCA seemed to have more of the early entry days. We took advantage of this as often as we could - but you can only do early entry more than 1 day per stay if you are staying onsite.

Not sure how small your children are. Did not do the dining package for WOC.We were with DS11, DD9, and DD5 and just used the FastPass for WOC. Blue is the area we sat in and while many folks recommend getting there as soon as the FP area opens, we did okay at about 30-45 mins out. Need to jump right on the FP and get there early when the area opens if you want to be right up front. You can see WOC from the Villas (we had a 2BR and could see it from our balcony), but the angle isn't great. They pipe in the music on the TV, though (like at WDW) and it worked for us since we saw it once in the park and then caught it again from the room. As you may see in other threads, fireworks are hit or miss due to the fact they will cancel based on winds. Keep your plans somewhat flexible if you want to see fireworks.

For character dining, we did Goofy's Kitchen and it is one of the best buffets I've been to at either WDW or DLR (food wise) and there was very good character interaction. We also did Storyteller's at GCH, which was good, but not as good as GK. Did both for breakfast.

We had a car and found it helpful as we spent one day down in Carlsbad at Legoland and also used it to go offsite for dinner one night and do grocery shopping the first night. Can't speak to the other transportation options.

As for other thoughts - here is my quick post trip report:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3357203

Good luck in your planning, I'm sure you will have a great time!

 

[AZMermaid]

Just FYI, July 17 is Disneyland's 60th bday. Depending on your outlook, this could be an awesome party or a super crowded nightmare. No details have been released yet, but just something to keep in mind for mid July. If your dates span this, I'd book GCH early and then hope for a discount!

 

[Laz]

I recently book the first week of July at the DLH with a 5 day hopper. You would probably do fine with one park per day, but my family and I like the flexibility. Plus, if you are like us and treat DLR like WDW (Early entry, afternoon break, back to the parks for the evening) you will find DLR very easy to get everything accomplished without rushing. We are WDW vets, and the last time we went during the first week of July, we found the parks VERY crowd manageable except for the night of July 4th

AAA is not offering packages. In fact, I have not seen any DLR discounts from anyone yet. I booked hoping to get a discount later. I do plan to take advantage of Disney Visa on site discounts and I will have a Disney Visa rewards card.

We did the WOC dinning package and will do it again, more for the convenience of getting a decent spot for viewing. Remember that there is no seating and you may have to stand with your kids for a while. That could be tough if they have been on their feet all day.

 

[VandVsmama]

Some suggestions to consider:
1. Like another person mentioned, mid-July will be the 60th anniversary. Expect big crowds and alter your plans/expectations accordingly.

2. Given the larger crowds next July, I would skip on the City Pass and get a 5-day park hopper, skip Universal Studios tour, and go to the San Diego Zoo instead. But that's because I'm not a huge Universal Studios tour fan.

3. Hotel reservations might be opening up soon if they haven't already. A few days ago, we made reservations for June at Hojo's. Since a lot of DL visitors are locals, there are a lot more counter service food options at DLR and the counter service food is pretty good. You should have no problem making dining reservations 60 days in advance.

4. Good Neighbor hotels often have AAA discounts, but I don't think the DLR hotels do. Whether or not to stay on property is a very individual choice. Both DL & DCA have pretty much the same # of total attractions as the 4 parks at WDW...the difference being that you can literally walk from one park entrance to the other and not have to go through security bag check again. There are a lot of Good Neighbor hotels across the street that are within easy walking distance. All of those will be less expensive than staying at 1 of the 3 DLR hotels. However, given the expected high crowds in mid-July, if you & your travel companions are the sort of folks who like to get up early and hit the parks at opening...and take advance of EMH every morning (i.e., get in line at 6:30 am for a 7am EMH start), then yes...staying on site would be an advantage.

5. If you stay at one of the DLR hotels, you can get in 1 hour early to 1 of the parks (which parks varies depending on the day of the week) for each day of your stay. If you aren't staying at 1 of the DLR hotels, then the only way to get in early is to get a 3-day or more park hopper ticket, which gives you Magic Morning to DL on one day only.

6. WOC - many rooms at the GCH have a WOC view, but you'll likely have to book a room with a theme park view in order to get WOC view. Given the mid-July crowds, a complementary/unexpected upgrade to a better room might not be likely, so book it ahead of time if you know for sure that's what you want. We've never seen WOC because our kids are never able to stay up that late for it, so I can't speak to the dinner packages. Other folks have lots of experience in this, though, so maybe others will reply?

7. Ariel's Grotto - we did the princess lunch there last time we went to DCA because my kids (4 & 6 at the time) were really into it. They got more character interaction at the princess meet & greets at DL. The food was good and we definitely did not leave hungry. It was worth it, though, in my opinion, for the look on my kids' faces. If your kids aren't into princesses, then don't bother.

8. Getting from Anaheim to San Diego - if you're in San Diego for 5 days, then you need a car. It'll give you a lot more sight-seeing options, as another poster has mentioned. Generally speaking, it is more expensive to pick up a rental car from 1 location and drop it off at another location. So I would recommend that you compare the total cost of 2 options. Option A: take Amtrak from Anaheim to San Diego & rent a car in San Diego. Option B: rent a car in Anaheim & drop it off at San Diego airport when you fly home. Downside of Option A is that in order to save the $$, you'd have to pick up the car at the airport, which means you have to figure out how to get from Amtrak station to the airport...kind of a pain in the neck. Like LA & Orange counties, San Diego's public transportation system isn't great.

9. OTHER RESTAURANTS - We enjoyed the Hungry Bear Restaurant. It's tucked away a bit and their food there is pretty good. There is a nice breeze coming off the water and it's quiet & very relaxing. We didn't really like the food at the Rancho del Zocalo - it seemed like bad cafeteria food version of mexican cuisine, but we live in the southwest, so our tastes are a bit different sometimes. I enjoyed Mickey beingets in New Orleans Square...there's a small jazz band that plays there in the afternoons and it's a lovely spot to take a load off for a few minutes, enjoy the atmosphere, and eat a yummy snack. Tortilla Joe's - I thought this was just ok. The huge thing of guacamole was overpriced & we wouldn't get it again. The salsa was decent. Tortillas seemed like they were made on site and that's a big plus in my book. We did a character meal at Goofy's Kitchen and had a great time. Goofy took my daughter's bracelet off of her and put it on his finger and thought that my daughter was asking her to marry him. It was really hilarious & was a nice highlight to our trip. We chose to pass on the character breakfast at GCH because my kids don't know or don't care for most of the characters there.

What age range are your children? That might help us steer you in a certain direction. Also, does anyone in your party have food allergies or special needs?

 

[VandVsmama]

I recently book the first week of July at the DLH with a 5 day hopper. You would probably do fine with one park per day, but my family and I like the flexibility. Plus, if you are like us and treat DLR like WDW (Early entry, afternoon break, back to the parks for the evening) you will find DLR very easy to get everything accomplished without rushing. We are WDW vets, and the last time we went during the first week of July, we found the parks VERY crowd manageable except for the night of July 4th

Totally agree w/this suggestion! If you hit the parks when they 1st open, you can get a lot of rides done in about 3 hours. Then if you quit at lunch time (when things really get busy), go back to your hotel, nap and/or go in the pool, come back late afternoon/early evening, it'll be much more manageable.

Hydroguy has a wonderful thread that explains DLR to WDW veterans. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599&highlight=disneyland+for+wdw+vet

 

[pmaurer74]

Thank you do much for your responses! You have been so helpful. I have been traveling all day and just got to read these posts. My children are 6 and almost 9 at the time of the trip and obsessed with princesses.

Thanks for the heads up about July 17! We will certainly avoid that. We have all summer really from about mid-June - Mid August but I usually avoid August because of school starting up. I thought I would try to avid July 4 and go around my birthday July 19. We are certainly flexible which may help.

We do have a DRV which is another reason we are thinking of staying onsite to help with the 6 month financing option but I will certainly look into the good neighbor hotels too.

Thanks for the heads up about AAA. I wish the city pass had the San Diego Zoo because I am more interested than that than Universal.

You have all been great and so helpful... thanks!

 

[VandVsmama]

OK since your girls are totally into princesses, then Ariel's Grotto will be great for them. Princess Fantasy Faire is also great and they can meet three princesses and the wait isn't very long at all.

Mousesavers.com has a discount code for Hojos which can get you 15% off the room rate. They don't charge extra for parking and their Pirates Cove water park area is really neat.

A lot of people here also swear by the Candy Cane Inn. They have breakfast included and a shuttle dedicated to their guests. They have been voted in the top 5 motels in Anaheim for several years in a row and are rated excellent for their customers service.

You can reserve a DLR vacation package whereby you'd stay at one of the Good Neighbor hotels, so that would give you the option of paying it off a little at a time for six months and your motel portion would be less expensive.

We went to the San Diego Zoo last summer and it was really great. They have California condors there and I had no idea how enormous they really are! The gorilla exhibit was awesome.

 

[HydroGuy]

You came to the right place! Lot of answers so far and I skimmed through them but did not read all of them in detail - so I may repeat something.

Mid July, 5 nights DLR Grand Californian and 5 nights in San Diego, maybe at Del Coronado. I was going to add the City Pass and spend 3 days at DLR, one at Universal and one at Sea World.

I strongly recommend you spend at least four days at DLR.

Also, SoCal is not like Orlando that revolves so heavily around theme parks. There is SO MUCH TO DO IN CALIFORNIA and the surrounding area that focusing on theme parks is really missing out.

Someone else shared the WDW vets thread I authored but I will do so again here to reference that you can find information there about things to do in and around SoCal.

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

It is strange to me that it appears you cannot make hotel or dining reservations any further out than 60 days? After going through the 6 month ADRs at WDW this seems odd to me.

I would say what is strange is having to choose parks, dining reservations and entertainment 6 months in advance like at WDW. And then 60 days in advance for FPs.

You can make hotel reservations more than 60 days in advance. Not sure what it is. 12 months?

DLR is just a different animal and things work differently. See

"What WDW Vets Need to Know About Dining at DLR" http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2914467

Are there usually any deals for the resorts in the summer? We have AAA will that be out best best or should there be an offer for DLR? Is it bet to stay on property?

No good deals are typically available in the summer. AAA does work for some hotels. As for staying on or off property, it is a different situation at DLR. We do both.

Read the WDW Vets thread for more guidance on this.

Are we allowed into only one park per visit early or can we can in early to a park every day of our visit?

You can get park hoppers like at WDW. And DLR has EMH mornings somewhat similar to WDW. See

"Early Admission (MM/EMH/APEE) Super Thread" by DLR29 www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403

We are interested in the WOC and have small children, do you recommend the dinner package? or a FP? or is there a view from one of the hotels that we can see it?

WOC is being refurbed in early 2015 and there are rumors that the viewing area will be redesigned. As things currently stand, the dining reservations give you very little advantage in seeing WOC and after spending a lot of money on a dining res it is entirely possible small kids will not be able to see. Very frustrating.

For more info see

"World of Color Superthread" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=37986447

We love character dining and was thinking of Minnie's and Ariel's Grotto. I was happy to see some favorites like Earl of Sandwich and the Rain Forest Cafe... any other recommendations? We were thinking of the Italian restaurant for the WOC dining package.

See the previous post on DLR dining for WDW vets. I do not have any good info on character dining.

Any other tips would be appreciated. I was surprised to see few Fps for attractions as well.

DLR is smaller physically and does not have room for FP for many 2nd tier attractions like PP. Good news is there are lots more rides at DLR per park and wait times tend to be shorted.

See "Ride Count Comparison Between DLR and WDW" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3221332

Since we are thinking of going to San Diego would you recommend renting a car or is there transportation available between DLR and San Diego that you would recommend? We are thinking of flying into Orange County airport and out of San Diego.

I would rent a car. And be aware of significant traffic between DLR and SD. SO choose travel times carefully.