Critique My Trip!

[CamdenLab]

We leave in just a few days for our first family trip to Disneyland!

First, as a family of five we are driving from Portland, OR to save money. We had the time, so it wasn't a big deal for us. We also decided to take our dogs since we are renting a house close to the resort. We had a hotel planned, but for various reasons, from personality traits (DF would lose his mind in a hotel room) and so forth, we decided to rent the house.

We leave on Friday (afternoon) and arrive on Saturday around 2pm. We'll spend the rest of Saturday settling in, shopping for food and sleeping since we're driving through. However, if we're all wide awake we might spend some time at Downtown Disney in the early evening. We'll play this by ear depending on how exhausted we all are.

I know everyone will at our Rest Day but this is pretty important for my DF (who thrives on taking breaks) and we have three kids, 4th - 8th grade, that we're taking out of school and one of which has a tough time as it is when he's in school all year.

We are celebrating each of the kids' birthdays here, so that is why they each get a Birthday Pin. This was their collective 2008 birthday gift.

Sunday
Disneyland
8 AM – Midnight (Magic Morning @ 7 AM)

6:30 AM: Arrive at Disneyland for 7 AM Magic Morning
First Time Pins!
Noon: Home for lunch & naps
4:00 PM: Dinner at McDonalds @ Harbor Blvd.
5:30 PM: Get seated for parade
6:30 PM: Parade
8:30 PM: Get seated for fireworks
9:25 PM: Fireworks
12 AM: Home

Monday
DCA
10 AM – 6 PM

9:00 AM: Arrive at DCA
Erin’s Birthday Pin!
1:00 PM: Lunch at Corndog Castle
4:15 PM: Get seated for parade
5:15 PM: Pixar Parade
6:00 PM: Home for dinner

Tuesday
Rest Day and/or Newport Beach depending on how tired everyone is and where we stand on homework.

Wednesday
Universal Studios Hollywood
10 AM – 6 PM

9:00 AM: Depart for USH (to avoid rush hour traffic)
10:30 AM: Arrive at USH
1:00 PM: Lunch at Park
6:00 PM: Park closes
7:00 PM: Dinner at Hard Rock Café @ City Walk
Hollywood to peek at Star Walk?

Thursday
Disneyland
10 AM – 8 PM (Magic Morning Day)

8:30 AM: Arrive at DL for Magic Morning
Kara’s Birthday!
3:00 Late Lunch at Blue Bayou 3pm – just for me and Kara for Kara's B-Day -- the rest will eat elsewhere (Mexican food?) because there is nothing on the menu that will make them happy and DF will at the cost for five people.
5:15 PM: Billy Hill & The Hillbillies Show
8:00 PM: Home for dinner

Friday
Disneyland
8 AM – Midnight

7:00 AM: Arrive at Disneyland
Brandon’s Birthday!
10:30 AM – Noon: Goofy’s Character Meal Brunch (PAID)
Noon: Go home and nap
4:00: Dinner at home
5:30 PM: Get seated for parade
6:30 PM: Parade
8:30 PM: Get seated for fireworks
9:25 PM: Fireworks
12 AM: Home

I have the Magic Morning tip list and all that good stuff in regards to rides and when and Fastpass information.

Thanks!

 

[TiggerNZ]

Can't possibly critique your trip as I have never been to DL, but it sounds wonderful, a nice mix of relaxing and fun.

Its great that you can celebrate all the kids birthdays while you are there, and a day at Universal Studios will be fun, I went there (OMG ) over 7 years ago, bet it has changed a lot, but we had an absolute blast.

Have a great trip won't you, and be sure to let us know how it goes......

 

[CrazyDuck]

Horrible plan!!!! Only beacuse I was not invited!!!

Looks like you are doing 2 MM's... I take it you got your hoppers from getawaytoday?

 

[Tablefor5]

Looks like fun! I too have made an itinerary and Excel Spreadsheet. (I am not kidding-I'm a Virgo )
It's great to celebrate all the birthdays
Just remember (as I obsess): a plan is just an outline- make sure to have a few moments of Whatever's and Spontaneous Fun!
Make Many Memories!!!
We are going for a week, but my school-age has a Fall Break so no homework.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

your overall itinerary sounds good but a couple things I would reconsider on doing..mainly because of when you are going...you are hitting the calm before the oct. crowds are gonna hit so you are coming at a good time..therefore, one of the things you put in here is arriving at 9am on a 10 am day with no mm..seriously you dont need to get there that early...if you got to the parking lot at 9:20 you would be completely fine...for one, in the am, DCA is not crowded ...it doesnt even start getting its crowds until early afternoon...now coming during an mm day or to DL period I would consider getting there a bit early myself just not sure you need to be in line an hour before...maybe get to the parking lot an hour before...also as far as the fireworks go, because they are shown on weekends and weekends are crowded period, the chances of you getting a seat that also gives you good viewing if you go at 8:30 are slim to none..usually by then it will be pretty packed...so you might want to rethink that one...also, you may not need to wait an hour sitting, for the pixar parade...ive gone during a weekday and got good view just showing up 20 minutes before...you have to judge it by the crowd...other than that it looks good and I hope you have a great time

 

[CamdenLab]

Horrible plan!!!! Only beacuse I was not invited!!!

Looks like you are doing 2 MM's... I take it you got your hoppers from getawaytoday?

Yep! We decided to go that route since we're going off-season and thought the extra time would be nice.

 

[CrazyDuck]

I noticed on your first and last day ar DL you have a parade and fireworks scheduled in both days! Not to mention the fact that you scheduled 1 hour of waiting both shows on both nights! It is the same parade and the same fireworks show on both days! You really expect a 10 and a 14 year old to want to sit around for hours on end waiting for shows they already saw especially on their last night in Disneyland? Good luck with that! Also you plan on going back to the house to nap at noon, then drive back to the park, then walk to McDonalds for dinner at 4pm? Since you are already out why not get some real food for dinner?

 

[Krissy Marissy]

I am from portland too! We are driving down in April...but we've been many many times and so we are not going to have a planned out vacation like you do. I have a couple suggestions, like they said...no need to wait an hour for the parade in DCA unless the park is oddly crowded. I would suggest waiting longer for the fireworks, people will wait longer than you think! Maybe send the rest off to ride a ride while you wait? The parade at DL will be more crowded than over at DCA. I guess my main advice is just keep an eye on it and see how crowded it's getting. If you stroll by and lots of people are waiting and it isn't your hour window yet....get a spot then anyway. If you walk by and no one is there...check back in a bit or just come back when you had planned. Plans are good but you have to play it by ear too as there are LOTS of things like time issues that are out of your control. I hope you have a great trip!!

 

[Judy from Boise]

Do you have hoppers ? If so consider spending time each day in DCA. With Soaring, screaming, and ToT, it might very well have 3 of your kids favorite rides......for the little ones monsters and turtle talk are especially fun.

 

[StitchFanZ]

I've done the drive from Oregon. The rest time on Saturday is a good plan!
I'll second the DCA comment. My 12 and 13 yr olds favorite rides were Screaming, Soaring, and Grizzly and we hopped back and forth betwen the parks each day. The also loved POTC and Space Mountain.

Also, take some cheap ponchos in case you end up with one kid that wants to get wet on Grizzly or Splash Mountain and one that doesn't.

We were there 5 days and they looked forward to the parade every night. They picked a different location each time so they got to see different stuff.
I also made them walk up to Innovations - they thought the description was boring but once up there they thought is was really cool. The ASIMO robot demo is worthwhile if you have any kids that enjoy technology.

Enjoy and treasure the time.

 

[jakoky]

hi there, ohhhh, u are gonna have so much fun...i have only 1 suggestion...be willing to be flexible...we actually went in with no plan, and got so much done...one of our days we planned to go into DL, the line up was crazy(and we were at least 1/2 hour early) so on the spur of the moment we went to CA...and the best is, we got dreamed less than an hour later ...we never did breaks in the day, but we dont have small kids....first trip though, our youngest was 9 and there was no way we could have dragged her outta the parks ...have fun and just go with it...plans are great, especially if you are willing to change it up a little when you want...have fun

sharon

 

[fairykin]

Just thought I'd let you know since you mentioned going into Newport Beach on tuesday...

The Bowers Museum is in Santa Ana.. and they have World Class Exhibits. I just flew in there to see China's Terra Cotta Warriors..it was Really Superb.

Bowers Museum also has a kewl childrens museum that is hands on.

The Bowers also has a nice resturant. It's worth going to. Bowers is one of my favorite museums.

Santa Ana just a breath away from Newport Beach.

Have a Happy Trip and Travel Safe!