Considering a trip to Disneyland

[NiftyJ88]

We are thinking about a potential trip to Disneyland/San Diego. We were thinking 10 days with our time split between Disneyland and San Diego (zoo, Sea World, and beaches). Any budget tips? I'm trying to figure out how much it's going to cost us. It's 2 adults and dd who will be 5. We will be flying from the east coast. I've never been to CA (nor have I been on a plane in my adult life), so I'm feeling overwhelmed. Thanks for any advice!

 

[pixiewings71]

you should come visit the DL section on the boards...just a bit farther down the main page you'll find us.

 

[At World's End]

I grew up in San Diego, and I'm planning a trip back next summer. Hopefully I can help.

First, you will absolutely need a rental car. San Diego is very spread out and the public transportation is very limited. If you are only going to be doing Disneyland/Ca. Adventure in LA, you probably wouldn't need a car up there. DL/CA are right next to each other, with tons of hotels within walking distance or that have a shuttle. I can recommend the Homewood Suites Garden Grove. It's about 2 miles from the parks, but they have a shuttle. It's across the street from a Super Target which is very handy since they have at least a mini kitchen. They offer free breakfast and evening snacks, and there is a Starbucks in the hotel next door.

Knott's Berry Farm is another theme park about 15 minutes from Disney and it's alot of fun, and much cheaper than Disney.

SeaWorld offers a deal where you buy a day pass for $59 and get a 2nd day free. The zoo also offers package deals for the zoo and Wild Animal Park (about an hour away). Next to the zoo, there is a little railroad and carousel that's alot of fun. Seaport Village is a great tourist spot. Lots of restaurants & shopping on the bay. You can also take the ferry from the embarcadero ( a few blocks from Seaport V.) over to Coronado Island. At the ferry landing you can rent bikes/surreys. On the other side of Coronado, which the Grand Floridian is modeled after. Hotels in San Diego can get very pricey, especially in summer. My sister was there for a wedding this summer and was happy at the La Jolla Beach TravelLodge. It's just a couple of blocks from the beach. It was about $90/nt in summer. Mission Beach is very popular. There is a roller coaster, arcade and indoor pool there, and it's right across from Mission Bay, if you want to play in the water without the waves.

LegoLand would also be awesome for your DD. It's about an hour north of San Diego. It really caters to kids about 9 and under. They have a water play area, so bring a swimsuit and towel for DD.

I hope you have a great trip!

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

Definitely checkout the Disneyland section. they have a So California pass that gets you into several things...Disney, San Diego Zoo, Sea World and somethign else..It is really reasonably priced too. We are thinking of doing that in 2012.

 

[lattemomof3]

Definately check out the Disneyland forum section of the DIS- they are very helpful! We have stayed onsite for both of our trips, BUT, Disneyland is different from DW in that it is easier to stay offsite there - there are many nice hotels within walking distance of the front gates - a few offsite hotels are even closer to the entrance to DLR than the Disney resorts, you can save a lot of $ this way. You can easily see everything in Disneyland in 3 days, even 2 if you are pressed for time, that includes California Adventure. We stayed for 4 days @ the park, and also rented a car in San Diego & stayed 1 night there, we had fun walking around Sea Port village and took a ferry boat to Coronado Island. The next day we did Sea World (search for coupon codes before going- I just googled Sea World coupon codes and found 1 that saved my family of 5 $70!) We then drove to Carlsbad, stayed the night and did Legoland the next day- easily done in a day - and FABULOUS! My ds7 was in heaven. It is about a half hour drive from San Diego to Carlsbad. You can look at lego's website and call to receive a free Lego magazine subscription - inside the magazines are coupons- a free child entrance w/ an adult ticket. The magazine is great, too. We then drove to Anaheim for our 4 DLR nights. The weather in CA is great almost anytime you go, however, the ocean is pretty chilly except in July and August (this still did'nt deter my kids from wading and getting completely soaked). Have fun planning!

 

[TLuvsD]

I would not recommend Knott's Berry Farm for a 5 year old. It's a great theme park in it's own way, but it's heavy on the extreme roller coasters.
The San Diego Zoo is a lot of fun, the pandas are wonderful! The Wild Animal Park is great, but a lot of walking. If you want to feed the giraffe's go there first--they only eat so many cookies (it's fun and not too expensive). Check the zoo website for discount coupons.
Have fun!

 

[jenseib]

I had a nice long reply all written..then my computer had some UN Disney magic, and lost it.

But shorten version...You can get a Southern California city pass for 269 for adults and 229 for children. It include 3 days Disney park hopper, 1 day Universal, 1 day Sea World and 1 day San Diego zoo. If you are a memver of cosco, you can get it on the web site for around 239 for adults and 199 for children.

 

[GoofItUp]

Definitely check out the hotels across the street from DL/CA. And when I say across the street, I mean literally across the street. We stayed at the Anaheim Fairfield Inn which was an easy walk to the parks -- even with 1 wheelchair and 2 strollers! I booked directly through the Fairfield site, but later found a cheaper rate on another site (hotels.com I think). Fairfield has a price guarantee, so I got the lower rate + 10% off. I think our rate was somewhere around $80/night. The hotel is older, but clean and adequate. Unless you really need luxury, these hotels will be a good option.

We only did DL/CA while in LA (we were just there a few days pre-cruise) so we did not get a car. We used Zippy Shuttle Service for transportation from the airport to the hotel, hotel to the pier, and pier back to the airport. They had the best price and we were very satisfied with their service.

As others have said, check out the DL board. I'm sure you'll get lots more info there. Have a great trip!

 

[cepmom]

we just returned from a 10 day trip to Southern CA and Disneyland. Definitely check out the Disneyland board here...lots of helpful info. Our trip cost for 5 people (Dh and I, DD20, DD13 and DD10) ws about $3900 just to give you a ballpark idea. We did have free flights so that helped a lot. We flew into San Diego, stayed 3 nights in Carlsbad at the Inns of America Suites (close to the beach) Spent a day at San Diego Zoo, visited Coronado Island (soooo wish we could have stayed at the Hotel del Coronado) then stayed at the Howard Johnson in Anaheim, a 10 minute walk to Disneyland. Spent 3 days visitng DLR, a day at Knotts Berry Farm and a day at Huntington Beach. We flew home out of Ontario airport. I have to run to work now, but let me know if you have any questions; I'd be happy to give more info!

 

[NiftyJ88]

Thanks everyone! I will definitely check out the DL board. I didn't even realize there was one, probably since we never really considered going. I was thinking it would probably cost between $3500-$4000, so it sounds like I might be pretty close with my estimates. I will certainly let you all know if I have any other questions.

 

[meway]

I just bookmarked this post because this is exactly what I would like to do next summer with our family of 5 (and I like to plan ahead, lol!).

Thanks everyone for sharing the must-do's and names of hotels are especially helpful. I, too, will check out the DL section of DIS.

 

[maddiesmom0116]

I just bookmarked this post because this is exactly what I would like to do next summer with our family of 5 (and I like to plan ahead, lol!).

Thanks everyone for sharing the must-do's and names of hotels are especially helpful. I, too, will check out the DL section of DIS.

We are heading to DL next summer too. I am going to skip WDW a year due to the FL expansion in MK.

 

[jessica52877]

I think you are very close with your estimated costs. We fly from ATL to LAX (cheapest always to fly into from here) and our plane tickets run from $1000-1200 depending on the deals I can find. You have to search high and low though and when you see it jump on it! That does not include luggage costs. UGH!

Oh, we are a family of 3 too. DH, me and DS7, heading to the West Coast in October.

We stay at Howard Johnson Anaheim for $79/night with the entertainment rate. More info on all that on the DL board. And rent a car that runs around $300 for the week.

Added on to all of that of course are park tickets and food. We just drive to San Diego and back and then Legoland another day and up towards Hollywood one with Disney in the middle.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

This http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=26 is the DLR board here on the DIS *it's my favorite board* we love DLR