Considering Disneyland Trip - many questions

[MonoMan]

We are very experienced with WDW and DCL and are now considering a trip to DL in summer 2017. Does anyone know when the 2017 packages for DL are announced? I would also appreciate any advice regarding planning or tips. We will definitely be staying at a DL resort. Thanks!

 

[Nevada Jen]

I'm not sure what you mean by 2017 packages. Disneyland doesn't really do free dining or anything like that. As far as I know, you can just book your hotel through the Disney site and get tickets that way. I think staying at an onsite hotel is a great plan. It gets you early entry to the parks everyday (and is the only way to get early entry to DCA). Be prepared, the hotels are expensive for what you get. What will work best for you really depends on the needs of your family. We always end up choosing Paradise Pier concierge level because it is cheaper than a standard DLH room and I like the single tower format better than the multiple buildings and hallways format of the others. A lot of people stay offsite (some of the motels are closer than the on site hotels) and that is considerably cheaper but I really try to avoid that because I just don't call it a vacation if I am staying in a motel and the walking distance hotels with interior corridors and room service are so expensive that getting early entry by staying at the slightly more expensive paradise pier make sense to me.

My other advice is to read these boards. You can pull off DL with almost no planning or experience but by reading these boards you will pick up tons of good information that will make your trip extra special.

 

[BadPinkTink]

like @Nevada Jen said above, California is very different to WDW.

• There are only 3 onsite hotels
• No Magic Bands
• Paper Legacy Fastpass
• ADR from 60 days and no where near as stressful.
• 2 Parks which are beside each other so walkable park hopping

Is early entry important to you ?
if yes - then if budget allows stay onsite
if no - offsite might be better option

Is short distance between hotel and park important to you?
if yes - offsite hotels / motels on Harbour have shorter walking distance than onsite hotels

Is inside corridors important to you?
Some of the offsite motels have inside corridors
All 3 of the onsite hotels have inside corridors

Once you have figured out the above, you are well on your way of deciding whats best for your family

 

[GatorChris]

If you're talking about the Disney hotels, they don't have their dates out for next year yet. But they may be loading them hopefully by July1. Many hotels in the area haven't released their 2017 dates yet, possibly waiting for Disney to release their dates. Some places where you can book 2017 that are close by are HoJo, Park Vue Inn, and BW Park Place Inn. I know because I've been looking at a trip in Feb.

As for tips for a rookie, my best advice is to lurk. Start reading up on all these threads and ask questions when it's confusing. Have fun planning!

 

[Azjenn]

If I remember correctly DL doesn't release their dates for rooms until around september. Unlike WDW, DL does things only a few months out. You won't see park times released far in advance either. We just finished having annual passes for DL this last year and went quite a bit coming from arizona, so if you have any questions I would be happy to help answer them if I can. We are pretty seasoned WDW travelers too and the parks are very different!

 

[azdisneylover]

If you belong to Costco, AAA, Credit Union, you might want to keep an eye on them starting around October or later. With Costco, the price you see on the Disneyland site is usually the cost of the trip, but, if you book through Costco, you will receive a few goodies (like one premium character meal for each member of your party - Goofy's or Ariels are the premium character meals, the rest are regular), lanyard and pin and a couple of other things. What I do if I want to know the approx. cost of a trip but the dates are not posted, is put in the busiest time of the year so I will get the most expensive cost and that gives me a price to start saving for until the dates are posted.

 

[MonoMan]

Thank you so much everyone for all of the advice and tips!!! Our power and internet was just restored after being 7 hours without it and it went out right as I was trying to post a response with more details. I tried to price out a room/tickets yesterday and was told the packages are available yet for 2017. I believe they were referencing a resort/tickets package. We are definitely going to stay at a DL hotel but I'm concerned about the lines/crowds in the summer and how many days I should allow for us to really get a great experience without feeling the pressure to rush. We've been to WDW so many times and are able to get FPs for our favorites and don't feel pressure to see everything because we know it won't be long until we return. I will definitely start checking out all the threads here for recommendations.

 

[buttercup3]

What ages are your kids? I traveled with my 8mo son and 4yo daughter and had to keep stopping to nurse and do diaper changes and urgent potty breaks! That adds a ton of time! We did 4 days and there was a lot closed (we went in February) and we still didn't do everything.
This year we're going in early December and our kids are now 7 & 4 and we're still doing 4 days so we can take our time and enjoy all the shows and parades without feeling rushed!
California Adventure has a couple places that my kids could play for hours...the Redwood Creek Challenge area and the Bugs Land splash area (when the weather is nice) and the Animation Academy which is a great place to beat the heat in summer! So I like to spend a part of 2 separate days in those areas.
I have heard that 3 days is more than enough for some and barely scratches the surface for others! Just depends on the pace you and your family keep and what all you want to see and do! Have a great trip!!

 

[smartlabelprint]

We go often. If you have older teens & adults 4 days is nice.

We have 2 under 2 and our 1st 4 day trip together was not enough with nap breaks. We're going 6 days in October.

 

[Laz]

like @Nevada Jen said above, California is very different to WDW.

• There are only 3 onsite hotels
• No Magic Bands
• Paper Legacy Fastpass
• ADR from 60 days and no where near as stressful.
• 2 Parks which are beside each other so walkable park hopping

Is early entry important to you ?
if yes - then if budget allows stay onsite
if no - offsite might be better option

Is short distance between hotel and park important to you?
if yes - offsite hotels / motels on Harbour have shorter walking distance than onsite hotels

Is inside corridors important to you?
Some of the offsite motels have inside corridors
All 3 of the onsite hotels have inside corridors

Once you have figured out the above, you are well on your way of deciding whats best for your family

I would like to add that you want to ask yourself if you want to be immersed in the Disney Bubble when deciding on a hotel. We love the DLH and are willing to pay the extra cost for being in the bubble. However, the savings you get by staying offsite may get you an extra day in the parks or a Character Meal.

 

[Phoenixrising]

The 2017 dates for the DL hotels should be released late July/early Aug. I've been debating whether I want to stay at PP for my DL trip next year, so I went Phishing off the DL website and got this info. For me personally I just can't justify the expense, when I can stay at the BWPPI for less than 1/2 the price. But that's just me.

 

[Laz]

The 2017 dates for the DL hotels should be released late July/early Aug. I've been debating whether I want to stay at PP for my DL trip next year, so I went Phishing off the DL website and got this info. For me personally I just can't justify the expense, when I can stay at the BWPPI for less than 1/2 the price. But that's just me.

Very understandable, I would say that if you want a break from the parks, Take the monorail and go visit the DLH. It is a short walk from the station. You will see some great pictures from the past and get a taste of the atmosphere. You could then stroll back through Downtown Disney or even take a look at the GCH.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Your new favorite resource (if you haven't already found it) is the thread "A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" by HydroGuy: http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/
How many days is personal preference, to me the minimum amount is 3 days. My favorite is 5 days, that's what we do. We hit all of our favorites a couple times and have plenty of time to browse all the shops and see the shows and chill at the pool (although days 1 & 5 are half days as we hit the parks on arrival day and departure day).

 

[azdisneylover]

We are definitely going to stay at a DL hotel but I'm concerned about the lines/crowds in the summer and how many days I should allow for us to really get a great experience without feeling the pressure to rush. .

Since you know you will be staying at a DL hotel, I would say to stay at least 6 nights so you can take a break from the parks in the middle of the week to play in the pool, take in a movie, enjoy DTD and your hotel. This will keep you rested for the rest of the week in the parks.

I have stayed at all three hotels, and I like them all. The Grand first, then DLH, then PPH. If there was a way to make the walk from PPH to the parks where you didn't SEE the cars/traffic, it would be a tie with DLH. They all are nice in their own way.

 

[MonoMan]

Your new favorite resource (if you haven't already found it) is the thread "A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" by HydroGuy: http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/
How many days is personal preference, to me the minimum amount is 3 days. My favorite is 5 days, that's what we do. We hit all of our favorites a couple times and have plenty of time to browse all the shops and see the shows and chill at the pool (although days 1 & 5 are half days as we hit the parks on arrival day and departure day).

Thank you - I will check out the thread. We are considering six days so we have time to enjoy the resort and pool and just not feel rushed.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Does Disneyland offer 6-day tickets now? Or do you have to get a 5-day and a 1-day?

 

[whoever]

Does Disneyland offer 6-day tickets now? Or do you have to get a 5-day and a 1-day?

Nothing past 5-day.

 

[danceanddisney2010]

We used to get 3 day tickets.. and it was great! of course we could always stay longer but we were able to get everything done. In 2012 our family spent 5 days in the park and with the crowd levels increasing it was much needed. If we did our usual 3 days .. we would have been extremely rushed and probably would have missed out on some of the stuff. Now we stay 6 nights every trip!

 

[bcla]

I remember back when there were no multi-day tickets. Heck - I remember ride coupons. Of course it was a different experience where Disneyland was surrounded by a big parking lot and the Disneyland Hotel was across a busy street.