5 days at Disneyland?

[tiffjoy]

You might be right about the drive but the desert is so foreign to people in the northeast it might be kind o cool , definitely better than sitting in an airport or battling SoCal traffic, you definitely have me thinking though

Trust me. It's not. The drive to LV is beyond dull and boring, and this is from a born and bred Upstate New Yorker who is fascinated by the different climates out here. If I wanted to visit the desert, that's not the trip I would take. I think you are also really picturing the drive to SD as very different than it is.

 

[hootey]

I would highly suggest a minimum of 5 days. We have been taking 5 to 10 day trips to DL for nine years now. Our DBs are now 12 & 13 and loving DL more than ever!
As for LV, that is up to you. I think LV is about the most overpriced and over rated place in north America.

 

[krispin41]

Thanks can this be found online?

Sorry, yes, it's a thread here on the forum. I was on my phone earlier.
Here is a link. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

 

[Disney_Alli]

We basically alternate between DLR and WDW. You can easily fill 5 days at DLR. You need to remember there is as many attractions at the 2 parks as there is at WDWs 4. No watermarks though and less resort stuff like the mini putt and campfires etc.
LA can also be a fun couple of extra days if your girls haven't been before-enjoy.

This is my family (or my sister and I at least) we grew up on the east coast going to WDW but now live much closer to DL and pretty much go to WDW every second year and to DL on the alternate years. We love both parks a lot though they have very different 'feels' We find that even at 5 full days our trips to DL are not long enough and dearly miss the days when they sold 8 day tickets!

 

[Hankshouse]

We are heading off on our first trip to DL and will be combining it with a trip to San Diego. We are in the NY metro area and will fly in to LAX, do a quickie tour of LA (DH and I have spent time in LA and San Francisco...kids first time trip...) then drive to San Diego. We'll be there for three nights seeing the sights... SD Zoo, USS Midway, beaches, etc. and then drive north to DL for four days! We're staying at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel and can't wait I'm an obsessive Disney planner and after mapping it all out, I think four days was the perfect way for us to see a good chunk of Disneyland since we probably won't get out there again with the kids soon. Enjoy planning your trip and have a great time!

 

[mjl1969]

Sorry, yes, it's a thread here on the forum. I was on my phone earlier.
Here is a link. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

Wow great information thank you !!

 

[jemmi]

Sounds great where did you stay? Thanks everyone else for replies as well

We stayed at the Grand Californian and loved it. It's a beautiful hotel with perfect location. The Disneyland Hotel looks adorable we checked it out and it has a great pool for kids, I would like to stay there next!

 

[msmama]

I just spent 5 days in Disneyland and a few in SD (we did Legoland and visited family).

Driving from SD to Disneyland is easy. I hit a bit of traffic but not a ton. I took a brief detour to drive on the Pacific Coast Highway (just to say I could) and stopped at a few scenic points and it was still less than 2 hours. It was a much more laid back drive than driving in and around NYC for an East Coast comparison!!

We did lazy days. I felt more relaxed than 5 days at WDW feels, though I'd guess we did similar amounts of walking each day. You will get to ride things more than once probably. We did half days at the parks because it was unseasonably hot when we were there a few weeks ago. We didn't ride a ton but that was because of my son and not time issues.

The only thing I would think that might cause you problems is that parks may close earlier in Jan so you may have more evenings to fill. Wouldn't bother us, but if you're used to go-go-going until you drop, it might bother you.

Also, I went with my just turned 6 year old and I don't think he got the importance of it being the original Disneyland so the nostalgia might be lost on kids of your ages, too.

We stayed at DLH. I liked it (though we had just spent two days at Legoland hotel which was over the top so it was a big "meh" after that). All hotel theming is definitely less than what you'd find at WDW.

 

[msmama]

Also, I didn't push switching to West coast time that much so we did tend to get up earlier and go to bed earlier than normal. I felt like it worked well with crowds as we were eating at different times and stuff (we kind of split the difference between east and west coast time, lol).

 

[mjl1969]

Also, I didn't push switching to West coast time that much so we did tend to get up earlier and go to bed earlier than normal. I felt like it worked well with crowds as we were eating at different times and stuff (we kind of split the difference between east and west coast time, lol).

We always go to WDW in Jan so used to early closing , is it even earlier in DL? Do you see "the outside world" when in parks and on site hotels ?

 

[jemmi]

We always go to WDW in Jan so used to early closing , is it even earlier in DL? Do you see "the outside world" when in parks and on site hotels ?

From the moment we were on Disney property I felt like we were in the Disney bubble. I didn't notice any of the outside world at either park. The only time I noticed other hotels and restaurants was when we took the monorail from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney. Even when we crossed the street to get to Paradise Pier for breakfast we were still on Disney property and it didn't bother me. I loved the small and quaint feel of Disneyland and the fact that we could park the car and walk everywhere.

 

[GatorChris]

I've got to chime in with some disagreements. DL does NOT have the same amount of attractions as WDW. Yes, DL park has more attractions than the MK, but not enough to make up for everything. Go to Epcot, hit Soarin' and TestTrack (Radiator Springs Racers)....and that's about all that crosses over to SoCal. Then there's Animal Kingdom: outside of Dinosaur and Indy being the same type of ride, DLR has nothing from this park. You can catch some types of AK attractions down at the San Diego Zoo, but it doesn't even come close.

Yes, DLR has a lot of stuff to do, and by your 4th day, you should have been able to do everything, plus your favs multiple times. Day 5 is gravy. It will definitely be fun for 5 days, though. Just don't think that you'll have all sorts of variety like WDW has.

 

[sandysue]

Yes, DLR has a lot of stuff to do, and by your 4th day, you should have been able to do everything, plus your favs multiple times. Day 5 is gravy. It will definitely be fun for 5 days, though. Just don't think that you'll have all sorts of variety like WDW has.

I disagree. You can't do "everything" in 4 days unless you are full commando - RD to park close with no breaks. That's not to say it won't be an awesome trip and you'll have lots of great experiences. The good news with a shorter visit is that there will always be something new to do next time!

We had 4 full days in 2011 with kids ages 4-9 and here's what we missed because we didn't have time: Soundsational parade, evening fireworks, Mr. Lincoln, Tom Sayer's Island, Indiana Jones, Pixie Hollow meet & greet. canoes. By choice we didn't ride everything in Fantasyland or any of the vehicles on Main Street.
In DCA we missed Aladdin, Muppets, It's Tough to Be a Bug, Little Mermaid (opening weekend and 2+hour lines), Redwood Creek Trail.

I used touring plans and we had early entry. We took afternoon breaks and returned for Fantasmic and WOC.

I'm looking forward to our return next week and we'll be there 5 days.

 

[tiffjoy]

I've got to chime in with some disagreements. DL does NOT have the same amount of attractions as WDW. Yes, DL park has more attractions than the MK, but not enough to make up for everything. Go to Epcot, hit Soarin' and TestTrack (Radiator Springs Racers)....and that's about all that crosses over to SoCal. Then there's Animal Kingdom: outside of Dinosaur and Indy being the same type of ride, DLR has nothing from this park. You can catch some types of AK attractions down at the San Diego Zoo, but it doesn't even come close.

Yes, DLR has a lot of stuff to do, and by your 4th day, you should have been able to do everything, plus your favs multiple times. Day 5 is gravy. It will definitely be fun for 5 days, though. Just don't think that you'll have all sorts of variety like WDW has.

The bolded statement is only true if you are very limited in what you view as attractions or if you are including activities at the WDW resorts as attractions.

There's tons of links comparing the two parks (something I have always been reluctant to do... they are both different in many ways, both the same in amny ways, and both great). Here's just one from the Disney Tourist Blog.

"Depending upon what you count (interactive games? meet & greets?) there are approximately 105 attractions in Walt Disney World and approximately 90 in Disneyland. Again, that number varies depending upon what you include, but regardless of what’s included, the difference in the number of major attractions in Walt Disney World and Disneyland is about 10."

Either way, I've been about an equal number of times to both parks, and I never seem to get everything or run out of things to do. Like you said, it'll be a fun five days.

 

[msmama]

We always go to WDW in Jan so used to early closing , is it even earlier in DL? Do you see "the outside world" when in parks and on site hotels ?

Don't know about park hours but probably not much different than WDW.

I, personally, didn't feel the disney bubble as much as I do in WDW. We stayed at the DLH so had to walk through downtown disney to get to the parks. It was quite obvious that there were a lot of locals as well and not all families on vacation (which is what WDW feels like). That said, the outside world certainly didn't interfere with my enjoyment of anything. It's actually fascinating, I thought. I drove there and knew where the road was but it still took me several days to figure it out from on disney property! And it doesn't seem like both parks should fit in the area where they are when you're driving around!

 

[3angelsmom]

there are lots of direct flights out of BWI to San Diego and LAX. We're driving 2 and a half hours to BWI for a direct flight instead of just under 2 hrs to PHL for flights with layovers.