Budget/ticket questions !

[kathy040690]

Hello me again

For our upcoming trip august 22-26 i have a few questions !!

First for tickets i am debating between 3 day park hoppers which we would take the day we fly in as a swimming pool relax day. We get into LAX at noon and staying at the new courtyard.
If we do park hoppers we plan to do one park in the morning for opening go back to the hotel for a swim/ let the baby nap in the early afternoon and to the opposite park for the evening.

OR

get 4 day base tickets and going to the parks each day including the day we fly there.

Travelling with 4 kids aged 7,5,3 and the birthday Girl who is turning 1 the day we arrive !!!

now the budget question
the day we get there i figured we would just do mcdonalds for lunch before either heading the parks or the pool and a cheap dinner somewhere quick as well. I have budgeted about 100 for this day

the other three days i have $300 a day budgeted. I plan to go a grocery store run the first day we get there and grabbing some cereal and milk/juice for the kids breakfast each morning.
Would 300 a day be enough ??

Also hoping to give each kid (besides the baby) $100 they can spend on whatever they want and after that is gone its gone. We will obviously be buying the food for everyone so the 100 would be for souvenirs and little toys they will "NEED" to have !!

any other advice I should know about ?? Any help is appreciated !!
While i have been a few times this is the FIRST trip where its just my Hubby Kids and I !!!

 

[dec2009mama]

IMO -- I would do the 3 day parkhoppers vs a 4 day base

if you arrive at LAX at noon (unless delay) and depending on how you get to your hotel, it may take 3+ hours from the time you land til you get to your hotel then you also plan to hit up a grocery store taking more time ~~ id say you won't be at the park gates until 5pm-6pm.

I am not sure what closing hours are in August (10pm or midnight) but it would only allow you a few hours in the park with 4 kids that have been travelling all day

I'd rather let the kids hang out our arrival day, get rested/orgnaized and start fresh the next morning and you will enjoy having the flexibility to go back and forth between parks for the 3 days

 

[Angrose]

I would get the 3 day park hoppers. Your flight arrives at LAX at noon, which means by the time you get your luggage, rental car or shuttle, drive to Anaheim and check-in, it will be about 3pm. Perfect time for an afternoon of swimming, dinner and early bedtimes to get ready for an early start in the morning. For dinner, I have seen a lot of people suggest Pizza Press (just a few doors down at the Carousel Hotel) and Marri's which has delivery.

For the food budget, I would say that $300 a day is more than enough. I'm not sure what type of dining you will do, but if you ate breakfast in your room then you would save a lot of money. Plus if you are able to get to a store or do a Von's delivery then you will have some snacks/fruit that you can bring to the parks. I always figure $5 per snack in the park, for CS meals: $10 for a kid's meal and $15-20 for adult's meals (including drinks). That would bring you to about $190 for lunch, dinner, and a snack in the parks for everyone each day (including the baby). So, I think you'll be fine and would even have enough to splurge on a TS restaurant or character meal.

The new Courtyard looks great. I would love to try it out some time. Have fun!!

 

[kathy040690]

Perfect! Honestly we like quick service meals . With the 4 kids it's always easier to do it that way. Although I hope to do carnation cafe once while there !

Makes a lot of sense to do the 3 day tickets. I kinda knew that made more sense but I guess I just needed to hear it from others !

I'm really hoping for longer park hours ! Want to make the most out of a short trip !

 

[disneyfirsttimer18]

Having hoppers is awesome. Our first trip, we started at one park, break in the afternoon l, then the other park. Worked awesome.

For our family of 5, we got breakfast at the hotel(DLH, not free) then lunch, dinner and snacks in the parks for less than $200 a day. I think budgeting $300 per day is more than enough especially if you're buying groceries for breakfast.

 

[ADLFAN]

I agree, you'll be better off relaxing and settling in to get a good night's rest before hitting the parks at rope drop the next morning with three day Park Hoppers. You'll get one magic morning entry at Disneyland if you buy your tickets ahead of time online. They offer magic morning on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and you can get in and enjoy rides in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland an hour before the general admission crowd.

I would recommend buying your tickets ahead of time just to avoid the additional line at the ticket booth.

Have fun planning! My hubby and I will be there that week too and I can't wait to see the new stuff- the Frozen play and the new Soarin movie!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Please don't go to McDonald's! You can get that at home. On your first night I'd at go somewhere in DTD or pizza press. We enacted to go there smelled so good but let's ended up walking by. Even if it's earl of sandwich in DTD.

Also, try to get the kids to not buy stuff 1st day. Shop around so they can see what they want. Less regrets and lay day saying they didn't mean they wanted that they really want this...

 

[tarheelalum]

Air travel in and out of LAX is pretty bad and often delayed. I would relax the first day and take the 3 day park hoppers. Make sure everybody goes to bed early and have them up early ready to go. Have a great time!

 

[kathy040690]

Please don't go to McDonald's! You can get that at home. On your first night I'd at go somewhere in DTD or pizza press. We enacted to go there smelled so good but let's ended up walking by. Even if it's earl of sandwich in DTD.

Also, try to get the kids to not buy stuff 1st day. Shop around so they can see what they want. Less regrets and lay day saying they didn't mean they wanted that they really want this...

we decided since the day we arrive is my daughters first birthday we might take them to the rainforest cafe in down town Disney !! I think they would all really enjoy that !!

I will try not to let the kids buy on their first day !! Makes a lot of sense !!

 

[Butterfly123]

we decided since the day we arrive is my daughters first birthday we might take them to the rainforest cafe in down town Disney !! I think they would all really enjoy that !!

I will try not to let the kids buy on their first day !! Makes a lot of sense !!

That sounds like a fun plan. I think the 3 day hoppers sound like a wise choice. Have fun!

 

[Aladora]

I will try not to let the kids buy on their first day !! Makes a lot of sense !!

We make DS take a picture of everything he wants and then on our last day in the parks we go through the pics and he decides what he really wants.

 

[Indiana Scott]

Another vote for the 3 day PH's!

 

[IBLarsen]

I too would do 3 day park hoppers. Much more flexibility unless you can really have at least a half day. I think your food budget is plenty. Honestly for souvenirs, we usually let the kids get a couple things (we have to take it all home on a plane!), and have never spent $100 per child, if you are on a tight budget, you could easily back that down and still let the kids pick something special. One of our traditions (more costly) is to start with Goofy's Kitchen for dinner on our arrival night. This has been a highlight with the kids because they got to see so many characters, and I felt like it helped with wanting to stand in so many lines at the parks wasting ride time. (we of course did still, but it helped to get some of those meet and greets done). So if you wanted to do one special meal, I would recommend this for a variety of ages and genders.

 

[mickey+minnie91]

I would also get the park hoppers. I love going back and forth and RSR is my favorite ride and I personally would try to get FP for that each day you are there. I would also consider going to DTD that night you arrive. Call rainforest now to make the reservations. They are not connected to the disneyland resort ones so you can make them with no credit card and cancel if you change your mind. I would use this time for dinner and checking out the downtown area and get it out of the way. You also can get back to the hotel early enough to go to bed and be ready for the next day. This way you arent using days you have tickets checking out DTD. Also really like Earl of sandwiches. If you sign up for their club you can get a free brownie or cookie. Its also easy to get to during a day in DL because you can ride the monorail and get right over to it. Saves walking and the kids will enjoy the ride.

 

[Sagginit]

Park hoppers for sure. With the disconnected paper FP system you can really work it to get a lot done in the two parks. Also with the App you can check ride times. I know with kids it may be hard to shuffle back and forth but if everything in MK has huge lines you can hustle over to DCA if it has lower crowds and with the App it will help you know.

I was happy with the QS meal options and only had one buffet meal in my 4 days there, which we ended up liking less than the QS meals we ate. We liked the food at Flos and there is a Mexican themed restaurant in the wharf area of DCA that served huge meals too. Flos almost has the feel of a TS too, so with kids I think its a great choice as you get the ambiance without the cost/wait. If you get some of the adult meals you can split between kids or just get the kids meals as they are decently priced enough. There is a Walmart Marketplace not far that I hit up and they had a ton of prepackaged snacks. We only bought snacks twice in the parks as we had so many options to pack and bring in (snacks there can be killer, the turkey leg was about $9-11? I think and Churros were pricey too). There are tons of restaurants outside the parks too around the hotels, I would do a quick google map search to see what your options are. You may want to stop at those if you take a mid-day pool/hotel break. Since we were two adults we had three dinners after park closing in a nearby restaurant. $300 a day should be plenty if you don't eat too many TS and bring in some snacks (plus you already plan to have breakfast covered with in room meals).

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Please don't go to McDonald's! You can get that at home. On your first night I'd at go somewhere in DTD or pizza press. We enacted to go there smelled so good but let's ended up walking by. Even if it's earl of sandwich in DTD.

Also, try to get the kids to not buy stuff 1st day. Shop around so they can see what they want. Less regrets and lay day saying they didn't mean they wanted that they really want this...

We have been very successful in the past (at other parks since we haven't been to DL yet) at making a list every time we saw something we wanted. On the last night, we looked at our list and decided what we STILL really wanted, and we bought those items the last day.

 

[Realfoodfans]

we decided since the day we arrive is my daughters first birthday we might take them to the rainforest cafe in down town Disney !! I think they would all really enjoy that !!

I will try not to let the kids buy on their first day !! Makes a lot of sense !!

Try and make a booking if you do decide on Rainforest Cafe - we went as a walk up first time with a little one and was a 2 hour wait - always book now!

 

[heybets30]

Are you a member of Landry's Select club? It costs $25, but you get that back right away as points on the card. Also, if you or your husband have a birthday in the month you travel (if you do - use that name to sign up!), you'll get an additional $25 in points added to the card for us the month of your/his birthday. Also - as a Landry's select member, you get priority seating - including RC Anaheim. They send coupons ALL THE TIME. We have a Rainforest Café in Woodfield Mall, about 5 miles from our house - as well as Morton's Steakhouse where we earn points. Most of the coupons they send in the mail can be stacked too & are good at the RC Anaheim ... $5/off, free kids meal with adult purchase, free appetizer. The servers are really good at helping you max your discount.

My husband refuses to dine there anymore after both our cards were part of the data breach in December, but I'll sneak my kids to the mall periodically because they love it so much for the atmosphere ;-)

 

[Winnowill]

We have been very successful in the past (at other parks since we haven't been to DL yet) at making a list every time we saw something we wanted. On the last night, we looked at our list and decided what we STILL really wanted, and we bought those items the last day.

On our first trip (DD was not quite five), we refused to buy her anything in the parks. That was our strategy for our departure day, since we weren't planning on visiting the parks but didn't intend to leave until after lunch. So we said that was her day to buy whatever she wanted (within reason) at World of Disney. That saved us carrying stuff out of the parks AND her being upset at being able to see the parks but not visit them.

 

[sunflare]

I'd vote for Pizza Press over Rainforest. Rainforest can get crowded and loud, and the kids might be overstimulated after a long travel day. Pizza Press is smaller, has amazing food at a really good price, and a bunch of craft beers if you're into that