Best deals for a first-time DLR trip

[elaine amj]

wow - I just finally figured out many of the nuances to a visit to WDW and now we're thinking of a DLR visit in March 2013 and I'm overwhelmed already!We typically do a 10-day WDW trip staying at a Value with Free Dining for the 4 of us (DD 9, DS8). I'm really having some difficulties figuring out the best options for our DLR trip.

- We have up to 9 days available from March 9-March 18 2013. (plus maybe 1 extra day). After doing some reading, that sounds like overkill with maybe 5 days max for DLR being ideal. What do you experts suggest? I do like to take my time. We will definitely want ALL night-time shows. Right now I'm thinking a 7 day trip with 6 day tickets might even be overkill....

- If a shorter trip is better, any suggestions of cool stuff to do while we're down there? I'm debating Sea World but it's a bit of a drive. I don't know if I'm interested enough in USH - I would love to check out Harry Potter in Orlando but not sure if we have enough interest to go to USH unless it's ridiculously cheap.

- We're going to WDW in Aug 2012 on the FD package for 12 days with WP&M. (no PH). Will it be a good idea to upgrade to a Premier passport? It looks like it might be more expensive? Then again - if it's only a little more expensive...maybe we can fit in a quickie weekend trip to WDW next year as well? It would have to be before the end of Aug though. Can we upgrade at the very end of our trip (Sep 3 2012?) so we can extend the validity of the Premier passport?

- Looks like off-site good neighbor hotels are likely to be our best bets. Should we buy packages or just get the hotel completely separate from the tickets?

I feel so lost LOL! Back to more reading!!!

 

[Huff]

Seaworld is tons of fun and I prefer it to Orlando's version. Just a better feel to it for us. I would not make the drive to San Diego and back the same day. We spend 1 or 2 nights in San Diego and go to SW and the beach then head to Disneyland.

Near Disneyland is Knotts Berry Farm (not a farm anymore). About 5 miles from DL and a great amusement park. Mostly large coasters and other thrill rides as well as small rides for kids.

We like to plan 3-4 full days in Disneyland. Then we spend afternoons at the beach, Aquarium of the Pacific, go to Knotts or lounge at our hotel pool before heading to Disneyland for the night on remaining days.

 

[dave 2]

We're planning a 9 day trip from March 1 To 10 and are thinking 4-5 days at DL and 2 days in San Diego and maybe 1-2 days Hollywood. Am also very intersted in checking what others will suggest for your trip.

 

[mydisneymoney]

Don't be afraid to break your trip up. Your DL tickets will be good for 14 days from the first day it is used. So, you could go to DL for a couple of days and then head south or go to Universal or Knotts Berry, maybe to San Diego and then end your trip back at DL. You can always add to a 3 or 4 day pass at DL if you purchase additional days PRIOR to the end of the last day. Our DS is 6 and we spent 6 days in the park back in September and are going to spend 6 days again in December this year and we never seem to see enough of it.

 

[gis]

Last weekend I visited the DLR for the first time in months and spent about 12 hours in the parks/DTD. I didn't catch any of the night time shows (I wasn't trying) and missed a fair amount of attractions. However, I did make it to many of the places I wanted to do in a single day and did not feel rushed, tired, or overwhelmed. That said, with 5 days in both parks, I'm sure you'll be able to do everything you hope to do without the need to feel you're cramming things in and making hectic schedules. (Also, I plan to go this Saturday to catch more of the things I missed..)

As for San Diego, I would suggest staying at least one night down there unless you want to do the round trip drive in a day. It's not bad and it's rather scenic, but it's really up to how well you and your family can do that. You can also decide not to hit an amusement park and take a more calm trip to say, the LA Natural History Museum or a farmer's market or beach. (The LA NHM has dinosaurs and a fantastic gem and mineral display if you enjoy that kind of thing..)

I'm new to the LA area and have been doing my share of exploring the places in the city..

 

[elaine amj]

Hmm...been doing more reading. doesn't look like the Premier Pass willl be worth it (pity). Too much temptation to plan too many Dis trips! I think I will go ahead and get the 6 day parkhopper as it looks likely we will need at least 5 days to do the parks properly. Still, I have 3 free days...what to do, what to do?

I'm looking into Sea World - but not 100% sold on it as a must do....mostly because it's such a drive away. US Hollywood still doesn;t look all that attractive. Also debating Knotts Berry Farm as we will likely have a Cedar Fair Platinum Pass and it will be free.

If we don't do Sea World or USH, what else can we do for those other vacation days we have? I'm particularly interested in unique/cheap things to do. Maybe a beach?

 

[8timesblessed]

Well we are taking our 8 kids in December for 10 days. The first time we were there for 7 days and then spent another 7 days in the San Diego area doing legoland, seaworld, the zoo etc.

Then in October we did a 14 day WDW trip and that went back too fast.

With it being the holidays we decided we wanted to be there as long as possible to take in the nighttime stuff and to see everything we haven't seen before and Carsland will be open as well.

If you don't want to feel rushed I don't think 7 days is too long. We like to see Aladdin a couple times each trip, WOC we saw twice, Fantasmic one night, Fireworks, parades, Lincoln etc. We are hoping to do the Animation building this time, we've missed it on our other trips. I finally did the Tiki room with our youngest in February.

 

[Colo Nana]

Were breaking up our trip by going to hollywood & rodeo drive one day , beach one day with whale watching trip and driving pch....and a must for me is the glass cathedral love it

 

[elaine amj]

Hmm..looks like the best way to go is to get a cheap hotel near DL, then get discount tickets from somewhere, and just wing it!!

I was looking at the CityPass but we really have no interest in Universal. There's so few rides and attractions there - doesn't look like it will fill up a day. We're also travelling with friends and our kids will range from 5yrs to 10yrs. Looks like it would be a waste for the little ones.

Sea World still looks good though. But it looks cheaper to get separate discount tickets for DL and SW rather than the CityPass if we won't use the Universal option.

I would LOVE to see the Redwoods/Sequioas. But it would be quite a far drive right...even if from San Diego?

 

[elaine amj]

also, are car rentals cheap in LA like they are in Florida? I usually use coupon codes and get dirt cheap rentals in Florida, etc. Is LA any different?