A DLR Guide for WDW Vets

[LUVMICKEY]

Thank you so much for all the great tips and info. We are planning our first trip to DLR and it really helps us.

 

[crz4mm2]

Is there a site to buy discount admission tickets? Specifically 2 day park hopper.

 

[HydroGuy]

Is there a site to buy discount admission tickets? Specifically 2 day park hopper.

The two most popular are

arestravel.com

getawaytoday.com

Discounts are not huge.

 

[crz4mm2]

The two most popular are

arestravel.com

getawaytoday.com

Discounts are not huge.

THanks! I will go look.

 

[petals]

lots of great info thanks

 

[mithreechicks]

We just decided yesterday that 2014 will be the year of DL! We're DVC members and have been to WDW almost every year for the past 10 yrs (we also threw in a trip to DL Paris a couple years ago ) Being newbies to DL, this thread is amazing! Thank you for all the info - it will be incredibly helpful in our planning!

 

[Judy from Boise]

well, just did DLR and WDW parks within 6 weeks! The two new rides that really stood out for me as being better at DL were Small world and Buzz Lightyear. Of course this is on top of the classics like Pirates and SM. Missed single rider on Soaring.

The two rides i would most like to transplant are Laugh floor and Philharmagic.....well along with Everest.

 

[Judy from Boise]

well, just did DLR and WDW parks within 6 weeks! The two new rides that really stood out for me as being better at DL were Small world and Buzz Lightyear. Of course this is on top of the classics like Pirates and SM. Missed single rider on Soaring.

The two rides i would most like to transplant are Laugh floor and Philharmagic.....well along with Everest.

 

[navyblue8]

Planning a trip to DL after several trips to the World. No kids and our first time off the East coast. We are super excited and this info is awesome. Thank you!!!

 

[JenneleB]

Many many thanks for creating this post. I am a DW vet and we are planning our first DL trip this year and I was lost till I read this thread (which took me some time to find). After reading through it all I feel much more prepared to plan this trip.

We are planning at the moment to book Disneyland hotel. This is a once in a lifetime trip for us and I always stay onsite at DW. I know that there are many hotels within walking distance but I don't know how to tell which ones are nice and which ones are not and I don't want to ruin our trip with a bad hotel (it will bother me) so I figured we would stay at the iconic Disney hotel. We do not stay delux, we usually stay at a moderate (I need the hot tub at the end of the night to dip my knees down) so if someone has recommendations of decent hotels in the moderate level I would be happy to hear them.

Again, thank you so much for making this experience a fun and exciting one instead of a stressed out one.

 

[HydroGuy]

We are planning at the moment to book Disneyland hotel. This is a once in a lifetime trip for us and I always stay onsite at DW. I know that there are many hotels within walking distance but I don't know how to tell which ones are nice and which ones are not and I don't want to ruin our trip with a bad hotel (it will bother me) so I figured we would stay at the iconic Disney hotel. We do not stay delux, we usually stay at a moderate (I need the hot tub at the end of the night to dip my knees down) so if someone has recommendations of decent hotels in the moderate level I would be happy to hear them.

I would repeat a sentiment from the OP. Do not choose a hotel at DLR for the same reasons you do at WDW. At WDW you may spend more time at the hotel taking a day off to recover from a longer trip with often more humid conditions depending on time of year.

At DLR downtime is not as important. Yes by all means take an afternoon break especially if you go when park hours are longer. But no need to take a day off at a time to rebuild strength.

If you must have a moderate then the closest thing IMO which is still within walking distance is HoJo's on Harbor. I stayed there once and while it is a step up from other places on Harbor it was really hard after a long day at the parks with my kids who were young at the time (7-11 age range) to make that walk back. After that we sacrificed a nicer hotel for proximity and stayed at BWPPI several times. CCI is another "step up" choice on Harbor.

Other choices that I have not tried are some of the hotels south of Katella near the Disney Toy Story lot. From those you can walk across the street and take Disney buses at the parking lot to the parks. You may look into that as their are some more upscale hotels around there (DoubleTree, etc.)

If you are OK with the DLH and it is a once-in-a-lifetime trip I would think strongly about just staying there. It will give your trip a boost - but not your wallet!

 

[JenneleB]

I should probably say a little more about what we are looking for when I ask for suggestions.

We stay moderate at WDW partially because their value's do not have hot tubs and partially for reasons that have NO bearing on DL and I know that. What we are looking for in a hotel is an easy walking distance, clean, comfortable, polite staff, and a hot tub and pool. We do not take time out during the day usually. We are an open to close kind of family even at WDW, for their we like the onsite perks which I know are not the same at DL.

I love all things Disney so when we decided to go to California to visit my DH's mom in San Diego we knew we had to include going to DL (come on!!! It's Walt's park so of course I have too!) but in order to do that I had to cancel a trip I had booked to WDW so DH suggested we splurge and stay on site at DLH. I love the ambiance of Disney hotels so of course I was in, but it is a lot of money. We have saved up for this trip and cut plenty of expenses in other spots but I wanted opinions of other hotels that are within walking distance so that I would know what to look at as a viable option. there are so many good neighbor hotels that I just got overwhelmed even trying to look into them.

Thank you Hydroguy for responding and I guess as long as it has a hot tub (my knees give out after a day or two without the soaking) I am open to looking into it.

 

[HydroGuy]

I should probably say a little more about what we are looking for when I ask for suggestions.

We stay moderate at WDW partially because their value's do not have hot tubs and partially for reasons that have NO bearing on DL and I know that. What we are looking for in a hotel is an easy walking distance, clean, comfortable, polite staff, and a hot tub and pool. We do not take time out during the day usually. We are an open to close kind of family even at WDW, for their we like the onsite perks which I know are not the same at DL.

I love all things Disney so when we decided to go to California to visit my DH's mom in San Diego we knew we had to include going to DL (come on!!! It's Walt's park so of course I have too!) but in order to do that I had to cancel a trip I had booked to WDW so DH suggested we splurge and stay on site at DLH. I love the ambiance of Disney hotels so of course I was in, but it is a lot of money. We have saved up for this trip and cut plenty of expenses in other spots but I wanted opinions of other hotels that are within walking distance so that I would know what to look at as a viable option. there are so many good neighbor hotels that I just got overwhelmed even trying to look into them.

Thank you Hydroguy for responding and I guess as long as it has a hot tub (my knees give out after a day or two without the soaking) I am open to looking into it.

All the hotels I mentioned have hot tubs.

The absolute closest good neighbor hotel is BWPPI. Lots of people on this forum have stayed there, including me. It is a fine choice - clean and for the most part quiet. And did I say it was close? I have stayed at CBR at WDW and would rank BWPPI as close to that in room quality.

CCI is another popular choice and also has a shuttle that runs every 30 minutes. The rooms are similar to BWPPI but the grounds are much nicer.

And then HoJo's is also a popular choice and as I said is a but nicer than any of the other walking distance hotels on Harbor.

All of those I would say are comparable to CBR or in HoJo's case maybe a little better.

You can research the other options to death but I never do. I just stay at one of those three when I go offsite.

 

[RuneSpyder]

Does night time work at DL like it does at DW? My favorite part of DW was taking the afternoon off for a nap or whatever and then returning at night maybe 2 hours before closing and having most of the place to yourself while people watched the parade, etc. Usually the lines at night were almost non-existent.

Does that happen at DL as well?

 

[jenseib]

Does night time work at DL like it does at DW? My favorite part of DW was taking the afternoon off for a nap or whatever and then returning at night maybe 2 hours before closing and having most of the place to yourself while people watched the parade, etc. Usually the lines at night were almost non-existent.

Does that happen at DL as well?

You must go during slow times to WDW because it's only like that past 11 PM when we go if we are lucky. LOL

 

[HydroGuy]

Does night time work at DL like it does at DW? My favorite part of DW was taking the afternoon off for a nap or whatever and then returning at night maybe 2 hours before closing and having most of the place to yourself while people watched the parade, etc. Usually the lines at night were almost non-existent.

Does that happen at DL as well?

Lines to go down considerably the last 1-2 hours of the night. Except for RSR!

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

How about a WDW guide for DLR veterans? Has anyone tackled that yet? Did a search and did not find anything of substance.

 

[momjeeps]

I know there is one because I read it before our Nov 2012 trip. But a lot has changed since then. Especially the FP+ stuff. You'll definitely want to read up on that. Keep in mind too that ADRs are much more important and should be obtained 180 days out for the best places.

 

[momjeeps]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=16541636

This should take you to Hydroguys guide. Not sure if it's been updated recently or not. But since he is quite active here he can chime in on that.

 

[momjeeps]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=16541636

Hydroguys WDW guide for DLR vets