Best way to get to DLH from Harbor Blvd?

[Dopey1980]

We are staying at the Fairfield on Harbor and trying to figure out the best way to get to our Goofy's Kitchen reservations. It's our first night in town before we hit the parks. We are trying to decide if we should drive or just walk over. If we walk and cut through right by the gates, do we have to go through bag check both directions?

 

[ParkHopper1]

Walk straight though the esplanade to DTD to the DLH. You will hit the bag checks but that will be quicker than driving back to your hotel THEN walking back to DL. If you are doing just a non park day...for sure walk it and enjoy DTD to get ya in the Disney mood!

 

[figment_jii]

I think it depends on whether you like walking or not. It's probably six-of-one, half-a-dozen of the other in terms of time because of where the Fairfield is located. Although, when you are going can make a huge difference. For example, if you're going on a Saturday night when thre is a marathon/special event, then walking would be markedly faster (most likely).

For my group, half would say walk and the other half would say save your feet because you'll be doing lots of walking in the parks and drive.

 

[Dopey1980]

My choice would be to walk (as long as bag check wasn't too much of a pain) but I have my 7 and 4 yr old too. I think a walk through the night before we head into the parks is the perfect introduction. My 4 yr old will have a stroller but not sure if I want to push the 7 yr old before the next two crazy days esp considering this will already be day 6 of the vacation and we will have been at Balboa Park all day before arriving at Disney. It will probably be a game day decision but just wanted to clarify the bag check situation. If it was going to be a big pain then that might push me into driving but sounds like it isn't too bad.

 

[jina]

I think we timed it at 15 min with our 5 year old last summer (who was 4 at the time) (13 if you count the bag check wait). Not that bad unless the kids aren't used to walking much. We live too far from DD's school to walk so we drive until we're 10 min away by foot and walk each morning - it's nice to be able to talk about her upcoming day and it keeps her legs and mind used to walking to get somewhere.

 

[Canuck16]

With the Fairfield being so close to the esplanade I would walk and go through DTD and take in the atmosphere.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We stayed at Howard Johnson, near Fairfield and walked to our brunch. The walk isn't bad if you shop, etc along the way. We took a taxi after our meal from the front of the resort. I think our fare was $7, with a $3 tip. We all agreed that it was $10 well spent after eating a heavy meal.

 

[agamble]

If you're just going to dinner parking is free in the DTD lot and right next to the hotel. I think it's 3 hours or so, and they'll validate you since you're eating giving you another 2 hours I think. So you could still walk around and visit the Lego store, etc. if you wanted but not have to walk all the way to and from your hotel after having been at the zoo all day. To me the walk from Harbor to the Disneyland hotel is a LOT farther than the walk to the park gates. And then you have to walk back..

 

[figment_jii]

My choice would be to walk (as long as bag check wasn't too much of a pain) but I have my 7 and 4 yr old too. I think a walk through the night before we head into the parks is the perfect introduction. My 4 yr old will have a stroller but not sure if I want to push the 7 yr old before the next two crazy days esp considering this will already be day 6 of the vacation and we will have been at Balboa Park all day before arriving at Disney. It will probably be a game day decision but just wanted to clarify the bag check situation. If it was going to be a big pain then that might push me into driving but sounds like it isn't too bad.

Bag check usually isn't a big issue, unless you have a stroller that is full of stuff and bags. Some security CMs will only take a cursory look, while others will ask that you open everything and empty all baskets under the stroller. It's hit-or-miss, so you won't know until you get to bag check.

 

[ADLFAN]

I think we timed it at 15 min with our 5 year old last summer (who was 4 at the time) (13 if you count the bag check wait). Not that bad unless the kids aren't used to walking much. We live too far from DD's school to walk so we drive until we're 10 min away by foot and walk each morning - it's nice to be able to talk about her upcoming day and it keeps her legs and mind used to walking to get somewhere.

Wow, I love that idea- walking the last ten minutes to school. When I went to elementary school, we weren't allowed to ride the bus if you lived within a certain distance from the school and I loved it ! I also walked home from Jr. High and High School and I still credit those walks with my strong muscular legs today!

 

[agamble]

Wow, I love that idea- walking the last ten minutes to school. When I went to elementary school, we weren't allowed to ride the bus if you lived within a certain distance from the school and I loved it ! I also walked home from Jr. High and High School and I still credit those walks with my strong muscular legs today!

Where we lived 6th-9th grade, I took a bus and still had to walk home nearly a mile. The bus dropped us off on the main road, but we had to walk the rest of the way up hill at first and then steeply down. I definitely did have some strong legs. My daughter's school (Kinder soon) is within walking distance and the park is next door. We walk to the park all the time. Last night we walked about 1 and 3/4 miles, our 2 y/o son walked about a mile of that, the nearly 5 y/o walked all of it. We're only taking the single stroller, so we're conditioning her (and us) for our upcoming trip.

 

[jina]

DD's school has a "walk and roll to school" program. Most of the kids who live within the boundary of the program walk, bike or scoot and if you live outside the boundary (like we do) they encourage driving to the edge of the boundary and walking or rolling, which we do. It also keeps the drop off area around the school less crazy and safer for everyone- although there are still plenty of cars driving up at the last second blocking folks in and potentially hitting pedestrians. Every day you walk or roll, you check your childs name off for the day and the class with the largest % of walkers each month win a prize and there are random drawings for a few little prizes each month for kids who participate.