Couple of Questions from DL Newbie

[sz9144]

Family and I have been to disneyworld twice, but never to disneyland.

We are considering going end of august before school starts up (I am a teacher and work an extra six weeks in the summer, so august is my only time to go). I have two boys who will both be 5 yrs old in august.

we have the disney rewards card- does anyone have advice on best ways to use the card for maximum discounts at DL?

For disney world, every summer they offer the free dining plan when you stay and also buy park tickets- does DL offer a similar package in the summer?

We are not big fans of cattle bussing to and from the park- how far is the walk from the disney hotels? are there any nondisney hotels close enough to walk from?

should we rent a car?

what is the best airport to fly into? (we are coming from chicago ohare)

is it worth it to buy a meal plan?

thanks so much for any assistance!

 

[Albertan mom]

Family and I have been to disneyworld twice, but never to disneyland.

we have the disney rewards card- does anyone have advice on best ways to use the card for maximum discounts at DL?

For disney world, every summer they offer the free dining plan when you stay and also buy park tickets- does DL offer a similar package in the summer?

We are not big fans of cattle bussing to and from the park- how far is the walk from the disney hotels? are there any nondisney hotels close enough to walk from?

should we rent a car?

what is the best airport to fly into? (we are coming from chicago ohare)

is it worth it to buy a meal plan?

I have been to DL 2x, so I am not an expert, but can answer a few....

I don't know anything about the Disney rewards card, they don't offer it to Canadians.

So far, they have never offered free dining in California. Can't see it happening anytime soon, especially not in the summer. They just don't need to, it is busy enough.

The Disney hotels are close. Grand Californian is right in CA. Disneyland Hotel is right off DTD. Paradise Pier is quite a jaunt away though.
Harbor Blvd. has many great hotels, that are very close. We stayed at the Park Inn (now called Camelot Inn) and it was great. We were so close, it was awesome. 5 minute walk to the entrance. Hubby left DL to get me a sweater from the hotel, it took him a total of 12 minutes to get from DL, to the hotel, through the gates and back. Awesome!! The next time we went we stayed on South Manchester at Holiday Inn Anaheim Area. It was way to far to walk. We did not enjoy the shuttle part of it. Waiting for the shuttle, having to be squished in, and especially the run at the end of the night to make sure you got on one.
We will never stay anywhere other than Harbor again.
Check this out, it is a great map with links:
http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html

Should you rent a car....that is really personal preference. If you plan on going anywhere other than Disney, you may want one. We took the shuttle to Universal Studios (it is free now). It wasn't so bad. Hubby liked being able to look around and not have the stressful drive. We took the shuttle from LAX too, it wasn't great, it took 2 hours. Depends on how many drop-offs there is. We rented a car the next trip, took it to Knotts, Sea World. But we only shuttled it to DL, because it was free and easy. Also didn't want to pay for parking at DL.

I don't think the meal plan is worth it. It is not like the plan at WDW. It is more gift certificates. It looks way more complicated than the great plan at WDW. Again, your choice.

HAve a great time!!!

 

[ter-moo]

We have the disney rewards card- does anyone have advice on best ways to use the card for maximum discounts at DL?

You get a 10% discount at a few restaurants (DL-Rancho del Zocato, Carnation Cafe and REdd Rockett's Pizza; DCA - Pizza Oom Mow Mow, Wine Country Trattoria and the Vineyard Room; Hotels - Yamabuki, Granville's (dinner only) and PCH Grill (dinner only).

There's a 20% discount on the following tours: Welcome to Disneyland, A Walk in Walt's footsteps, From Imagination to Celebraiton and Discover the Magic.

You get FREE stroller rentals and a meet and greet event at Ariel's Grotto in DCA.

You get 10% off purchases of $50 or more at Disneyland Resort stores and pin cart locations, with some exceptions.

For disney world, every summer they offer the free dining plan when you stay and also buy park tickets- does DL offer a similar package in the summer?

I haven't seen anything like this available. You probably don't really need the dining plan here anyway.

We are not big fans of cattle bussing to and from the park- how far is the walk from the disney hotels? are there any nondisney hotels close enough to walk from?

The Disney hotels are all in walking distance with the Grand Californian being the closest. The hotels along Harbor are even closer than the Disneyland Hotel (Howard Johnsons, Carousel, Desert Inn, Best Western, etc.) and the CAndy Cane and Portofino aren't a bad walk either.

My personal favorite is the Candy Cane. It's nice, has a good breakfast and besides being walkable, has it's OWN shuttle bus every half hour--which is rarely crowded.

Look at the maps on the top of this board to get your bearings.

should we rent a car?

what is the best airport to fly into?

Fly into Orange County (John Wayne). It's small, manageable and very close. I wouldn't mess with a car unless you're going other places. From the airport, you could take a taxi ($35-40 flat rate) or an airport shuttle. Check the airport's website for shuttle services available. There's also a bus, but it takes too long!

 

[HydroGuy]

we have the disney rewards card- does anyone have advice on best ways to use the card for maximum discounts at DL?

For disney world, every summer they offer the free dining plan when you stay and also buy park tickets- does DL offer a similar package in the summer?

Nope and nope.

We are not big fans of cattle bussing to and from the park- how far is the walk from the disney hotels? are there any nondisney hotels close enough to walk from?

All of the Disney hotels are within walking distance, but the GCH is closest. There are numerous non-Disney "Good Neighbor" hotels within walking distance. See the links in this thread: "HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862

should we rent a car?

No! Unless you need it for things other than DLR, a car will not help you and will be a time consuming drain on your time if you choose to use it to get back and forth to the parks. If you get a nearby hotel then a car of course will be of no help.

what is the best airport to fly into? (we are coming from chicago ohare)

John Wayne is the closest to DLR. You also have LAX and Ontario.

is it worth it to buy a meal plan?

DLR is much weaker than WDW in the area of dining, and most would say "no" to this.

thanks so much for any assistance!

You may find some useful info here: "A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

 

[exDS vet]

Not much more I can echo here except the airport and car things. If you are familiar with Ohare than LAX would be about the same (size, congestion, etc). LAX is also much further from DLR than Orange County (John Wayne, SNA). At the same time, Orange County is usually more expensive to fly into.

As for renting a car, I say do it, unless you don't plan on leaving the Disneyland area. Knott's is very close (10 mins on Hwy 5), There's also the beaches, and San Diego is about 90 minutes south. If it's your first time to California, I would recommend taking a day or two to explore the area.

As far at the parks are concerned, you will need at least 2 full days at Disneyland and half or one day at DCA. DTD is much smaller than WDW's. Its only about a third of the size, and if you've done most of those restaurants in the past, you can avoid much of it. ESPN Zone is nice, and of course WOD is required.

I believe Disneyland Hotel is still the best, for the amenities and the Peter Pan Pool area. If you want to splurge, then the Grand Californian is for you. I would avoid Paradise Pier and stay at a neighboring hotel. Candy Cane is always very popular, although I haven't stayed there. Carousel is not bad. Castle Inn is not good. The Anaheim Marriott is very nice, but not within walking distance.

Good luck with your planning.

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

We will be flying out of Chicago too! We live about 1 hour south - but we will do Midway. Southwest seems to have deals (only through May for now). I have been searching for 2 months now on information - we are doing San Diego (Sea World & Zoo - then Lego Land) 1st then going up to Disneyland & Universal Studio's.
John Wayne/Orange County is only approx. 14 miles from Disneyland & there are a ton of hotels right across the street from DL. I have read on this site that some are actually closer than the DL hotels (and alot cheaper too).
We are renting a car, but will probably turn it in when we get up to Anaheim there is no need for a car there.
Have fun!!

 

[funnygarcia]

Another option is to fly on Jet Blue from Ohare into Long Beach airport.
Long Beach is a very old small airport (they use it in movies sometimes), but closer to DL than LAX or Ontario airports.

They have Super Shuttle from Long Beach but unliek the larger airports, you need to reserve in advance.

 

[kaoden39]

I have never thought about the need of a rental car because we drive down from northern California. Honestly I like to stay onsite and once I park my car it doesn't move again. One thing about Southern California is how busy the roads are. Especially the highways and unless you are used to the busy roadways be forwarned. Even living in the San Francisco bay area which has some very busy highways I still do all I can to avoid the LA ones.

Michele