Brushing up on Disneyland

[Mommy two Princess]

So next year my family and I are hopfully planning a trip to DL ?!! We live in ohio and have been to DW 3 times ! I know all the in's & outs of DW but nothing of DL. Like when to go is Sept good? how many days do you need, whats the best cheapest moderate to econemy place to stay that we can walk to everything. And anything else I may need to know.
We have 2 girls they will be 4 1/2 and 14 months when thinking about going sept 2011.

thanks for any tips

 

[toby78]

I have always loved going to Disneyland in September and February. We don't like the busier times with a lot of people in the parks. And we prefer weekdays to weekends.

 

[skiingfast]

You can apply the same rules of when to vist WDW to DL. There is one difference the weekdays are slower in DL.

Also hours can be shorter and there may not be night shows in slow season weekdays.



If you go to hotels.com and search the location Disney's California Adventure it will list things closest to DL first. The map view is really handy in this.

I would suggest with one stroller and one small walker to look at Harbor Dr. North of Katella this gives you about 12 choices. Some offering breakfast, from about 70-150 in price.

 

[James L]

3 days is enough to see everything at least once.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

3 days is enough to see everything at least once.

Wow! You must be speedy fast to see every attraction and show at both parks in only 3 days! Even when we stay 4-5 days, we always leave with "must do's" on our list still undone.

So next year my family and I are hopfully planning a trip to DL ?!! We live in ohio and have been to DW 3 times ! I know all the in's & outs of DW but nothing of DL. Like when to go is Sept good? how many days do you need, whats the best cheapest moderate to econemy place to stay that we can walk to everything. And anything else I may need to know.
We have 2 girls they will be 4 1/2 and 14 months when thinking about going sept 2011.

thanks for any tips

We did a trip with our DDs when they were that age! It was a marvelous trip. Then again, they've all been pretty darn wonderful. When to go in September will depend a little bit on your preferences. The first weekend will be Labor Day weekend and Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. We were there this past Labor Day weekend and found the crowds to be quite managable and the resort was still on summer mode (meaning parks opened early and closed late and had a full entertainment schedule). As September progresses, it's considered "low season", so typically lower crowds, but shorter hours and more ride closures as rides get closed for schedule maintainance. Haunted Mansion went down at the very beginning of September this last year for the Holiday overlay and didn't re-open until mid-September. Do you have any must-see rides or shows that you absoutely wouldn't want to miss? See HydroGuy's High Season/Off Season Tradeoff Rule

Keep an eye on these boards for an idea about the moderately-priced hotels, but Howard Johnson Anaheim on Harbor (affectionately referred to as HoJo's) is very highly thought of on this board and they often offer an Entertainment Card rate for a hotel room of $59/night. See the HoJo's website forum for listings of when they have the Entertainment rate available: http://www.hojoanaheim.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14

 

[jlmarr]

And anything else I may need to know.

As luck would have it, someone has written an extensive thread oriented towards people who are familiar with WDW and are visiting DLR for the first time:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

 

[nana50]

I was at the resorts yesterday and it was wonderful. No crowds, we walked on all the rides and saw everything we wanted to see by 3:00. Since I was with an 11 year old girl a lot of things did not get seen. We did the mountain tour of course, splash, thunder, space and the matterhorn. Indiana Jones, Haunted mansion, (looked great for Halloween), pirates and a nice lunch at Plaza Inn. We went on eveything 3 times some 4, oh we also did astroblasters. Then we headed over to CA and hit soarin' 3 or 4 times, grizzly river run 3 times, and then she wanted to go back and do space mountain and thunder mountain again. By 3:00 I was done! I was exhausted from all the walking and a little nauseous from all the rides. I'm very lucky because I have a pass and come 4 or 5 times a year. I see different things depending on which grandchild I bring.

 

[Mommy two Princess]

Thanks for all the tid bits of info Im not sure of anything pacific we want to see just yet, 1st i was trying to see if it was in the budget for 4 of us 3 being paid for should cost $2000 ??? with flight were from OHIO ! My husband keeps saying" maybe we should drive I'll take 2 weeks off " Im not sure with the little one yet how she would do as of now she is 3 months and colic We do the whole magic your way pass at WDW. do they have that at DL where they take your luggage off the plane and to your room and you dont have to worry about it or transportation they have a bus for you??
Im just wondering what the cheapest place to book through is like a package or something?

thanks ~Nicky

 

[Goofy_Mom]

Thanks for all the tid bits of info Im not sure of anything pacific we want to see just yet, 1st i was trying to see if it was in the budget for 4 of us 3 being paid for should cost $2000 ??? with flight were from OHIO ! My husband keeps saying" maybe we should drive I'll take 2 weeks off " Im not sure with the little one yet how she would do as of now she is 3 months and colic We do the whole magic your way pass at WDW. do they have that at DL where they take your luggage off the plane and to your room and you dont have to worry about it or transportation they have a bus for you??
Im just wondering what the cheapest place to book through is like a package or something?

thanks ~Nicky

There is no magical express at DL. They do have the Disneyland Express, but it's not free and (from what I hear) they do not get your bags for you. We live in Central Cali so we've always drivin the 6 house. From what I hear from other posters they either take a cab, rent a car, or take the super shuttle.

 

[Mommy two Princess]

this link was great thank you !!!!

 

[disneymama83]

Since this is your very first trip to the DLR, I would recommend planning your visit for at least 4-5 days(if you can). This will help since you are traveling with younger children which means you will be going at a slower pace. We too have small children and we go for at least 5 days. We've done shorter amounts of days before and didn't really feel like we were able to accomplish all that we wanted to.

HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!!!

 

[HydroGuy]

There is no magical express at DL. They do have the Disneyland Express, but it's not free and (from what I hear) they do not get your bags for you. We live in Central Cali so we've always drivin the 6 house. From what I hear from other posters they either take a cab, rent a car, or take the super shuttle.

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

 

[skiingfast]

Thanks for all the tid bits of info Im not sure of anything pacific we want to see just yet, 1st i was trying to see if it was in the budget for 4 of us 3 being paid for should cost $2000 ??? with flight were from OHIO ! My husband keeps saying" maybe we should drive I'll take 2 weeks off " Im not sure with the little one yet how she would do as of now she is 3 months and colic We do the whole magic your way pass at WDW. do they have that at DL where they take your luggage off the plane and to your room and you dont have to worry about it or transportation they have a bus for you??
Im just wondering what the cheapest place to book through is like a package or something?

thanks ~Nicky

As mentioned they don't have anything like DME. They don't have a dining plan like WDW either, plan to pay OOP for meals. You can do ticket and room packages for onsite and offsite hotels, but their is little if any insentive to do so.

If you stay onsite you can go to Magic Mornings which is like am EMH, it's at DL on Sat, Sun, Tue and Thur. If you stay offsite and have at least a 3 day PH you can do this once. So an hour early you can go to Fantasy and Tomorrowland only.

Also you can go to Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness which is an opening party with characters to toontown. You get this once when you stay onsite.

So in summary you are best off looking for transportation, a hotel, food, and tickets that fit your need seperately. At least be in this mind set and not looking forward to a MYW package.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

Also you can go to Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness which is an opening party with characters to toontown. You get this once when you stay onsite.

Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness is only available if you buy a Disney package with hotel and park tickets. There is a list here on the boards for people who would like tickets to this event and the kind DISboard members who pass them along if they didn't use them on their trip. You can add yourself to the list here: Anyone have tix for TT Morning Madness?