2 wdw vets headed to dl

[babydougie]

Hi all,
My friend and I are headed out to dl 9/28-10/1. We are hoping to go to mickey's halloween party friday night, and then spend saturday and sunday at the parks. We need some planning assistance. We are flying in from atlanta. Should we fly into the john wayne airport? What is the best good neighbor economy hotel? What is the best way to see as much as possible in such a short amount of time?
Thank you!
Amy

 

[Jacie]

Hi Amy! We will be there the 30th-5th, flying in form Nashville
I recommend John Wayne if the price is right- it's closer and smaller. There are a few hotels around, what are you looking for in a hotel? I know Anaheim Plaza is a good price, and good walking distance. We've also stay at Best Western Park Place Inn, but it looks like their rates have gone up. We are staying at Ramanda Inn Maingate for this round, for $99 a night. It's close, free breakfast, free wifi, free parking!
I recommend just fast passing as much as possible, and getting there early. Are you getting a 3 day or 2 day ticket? If you get a 3 day, utilize the magic morning hours and get there early! A pretty blah part about going from where we are to DL is the time difference. We are early risers, so there will be a lot of waiting before the park opens!

 

[DisneytheKid]

Hello! We usually use john wayne airport but you may want to look at LAX as we found considerably cheaper flights through lax for our next trip. The super shuttle rate is 10 pp for JW and 16pp for LAX. As for economy hotels, are you looking at ones that are a simple walk or ones that may require use of the art shuttle? The prices range pretty widely. Hope this helped!

Mitch

 

[HydroGuy]

Hi all,
My friend and I are headed out to dl 9/28-10/1. We are hoping to go to mickey's halloween party friday night, and then spend saturday and sunday at the parks. We need some planning assistance. We are flying in from atlanta. Should we fly into the john wayne airport? What is the best good neighbor economy hotel? What is the best way to see as much as possible in such a short amount of time?
Thank you!
Amy

I think John Wayne (SNA) is the nicest option and it is definitely the closest. But it is not always practical or cost effective. This thread may help:

"Airport Proximity to DLR and Ground Transportation Information" by 3TinksAndAnEeyore www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2318297

"Best" good neighbor hotel is very subjective. I will just say I have a strong preference for walking distance hotels and would therefore call any of them "best". See "HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862

Best way to see as much as possible? Start early. Collect FPs. Take an afternoon break. Stay as late as possible that night.

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

 

[Pluto the Pup]

I really like the John Wayne airport for the convenience. It's nice and not as big as LAX. I flew into the John Wayne airport last year, then took the Disneyland Resort Express shuttle to my hotel. I didn't stay on Disney property, but the shuttle also drops you off at the hotels near Disneyland.

 

[babydougie]

Hi guys,
Thank you for the info! As far as the hotel goes we just want a place to lay our heads for a few hours in between all the fun. My friend is a cm so we will be using her tickets, i guess we won't be eligible for mm then. We really wnted to stay on property but even with her discount its a bit out of our budget. I will keep my eyes out on both john wayne and lax. Restaurant suggestions and snacks always welcome! We love to eat.
Amy

 

[S. S. Columbia]

Hi guys,
Thank you for the info! As far as the hotel goes we just want a place to lay our heads for a few hours in between all the fun. My friend is a cm so we will be using her tickets, i guess we won't be eligible for mm then. We really wnted to stay on property but even with her discount its a bit out of our budget. I will keep my eyes out on both john wayne and lax. Restaurant suggestions and snacks always welcome! We love to eat.
Amy

There's a helpful map on the following web-site:
www.accommodationsneardisney.com

A good starting point for hotels/motels is expedia.com.
(Select '"A city, airport or attraction" and "Disneyland Anaheim California.")

Here are some of Expedia's prices for some of the popular walking-distance hotels/motels for your dates [approx. walking distance in minutes]:

Best Western Park Place Inn (BWPPI) $109/night [5]
Park Vue Inn $139/night [5]
Tropicana Inn $109/night [6]
Camelot Inn $119/night [6]
Ramada Maingate $99/night [7]
Fairfield Inn $139/night [8]
Anaheim Plaza $72/night [8]
Candy Cane Inn $139/night (www.candycaneinn.net) [10,shuttle]

The prices above do not include the 17% tax.

And here's a wikimap:
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=33.8092514&lon=-117.9153625&z=20&l=0&m=b

HTH

 

[rtfelt]

You might also want to look into Long Beach Airport. It's almost as close as John Wayne, is much, much smaller and way easy to get into and out of (security will take about 5 minutes), and usually cheaper than John Wayne.

Late September/early October is a great time to visit (only mid September is better), but keep in mind that weekends are still usually busy at DLR no matter what time of year. I would highly recommend a program called ridemax. I used it for our trip to WDW last summer and it was a dream. It allows you to customize a touring plan with your desires. It will save you much standing in line if you create a plan and use it. A 90 day subsription (just enough to plan your trip) costs $15. We used our plan and didn't stand in line for more than 10 minutes for the 10 days we were in WDW during the summer. That would probably be the best way to maximize your short time in the parks.