Disneyland and WDW

[minniemumma]

Hi Guys,

So I am trying to plan a trip for October this year with DH and DD2.5.
We will be travelling from Melbourne and will have a layover in Brisbane and LA. Originally I was only thinking of going to WDW for 10 days and Universal for maybe 4 days and thats it, but now I'm thinking since we have a 4 hr layover in LA of staying maybe two nights there and breaking up the travel time and going to DL.

Has anyone done this? If so am I better off getting annual passes for DH and I? I plan on going back in 5 years when DD is older and doing a few more cities. If I break up the travel time like this will I be up for more expensive flights?

 

[AussieCaribou]

The cost of the flights really depends on the deals you can get. Our flights in Dec are Melbourne to LAX (10 day layover), LAX to Orlando (10 day layover), Orlando to LAX (4 day layover), LAX to Melbourne. The cost was the same as flying straight through.

We took our DD to disneyland for her second birthday. Great photos and memories for us though her memories (she's 15 now) are cloudy. ;0)

Having the stop on the way over helps with jet lag...but you will still have it in Orlando as well. Whichever you plan on doing, make sure to get plenty of sunlight as soon as you can, drink lots of fluids (water is best) and, at least on the first day, avoid high sugar/fat food.

Oh and DLR is a different type of magical...I'm all for going there... Don't forget to get photo pass +

 

[PinkCupcakes]

Hi!

I would definately try to break up the travel time if possible. WE are heading WDW for the first time this Octber/November but are also doing 8 nights at DL on the way home. We will have an almost 2 year old with us.

I'm not sure about extra costs involved with a lay over though.

You can get 2 day passes to DL. The annual pass will be more expensive. I would check out the Disneyland and Disneyworld websites to compare the cost of tickets and annual passes.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I personally like breaking up the trip with a layover in LA when heading to the East Coast. I normally do stay at least 2 nights if possible. If you have it all booked on your international ticket, it shouldn't add any more to the airfare cost.

The Disney Premium Passport is running at around US$1000 per adult the last time I looked; might be a little more now. If you're just after park entry tickets, it is going to be cheaper buying the entry tickets cf the Premium Pass. The equation changes depending on how much you will use the other discounts (food, souvenirs) and if you are planning on staying on-site (with a discount).

 

[losfp]

We're probably going to break up our trip next year with a 4-5 night stop in LA/Anaheim before proceeding to MCO. Never been to the East coast before (2 previous trips to Nth Am have been to CA/AZ and BC/AK) but I think with a couple of kids in tow, it will be a welcome adjustment to the timezone etc before a relatively short flight to FL.

wrt tickets, I think for your requirements getting the individual multi-day passes will be most cost effective. It costs around $700 to get a WDW annual passport, and about $1000 for a Disney Premier Passport (access to both DLR and WDW).

If you get a 10-day WDW pass, it is about $450ish. And a 3-day DLR pass at about $250. So about $700 per person, vs about a grand for the premier passport. If you were doing more days at DLR or WDW, split up over a few weeks (all the multi-day passes expire 14 days after first use) then the annual pass comes into play.

Good luck

 

[ssour]

I prefer to have a stop in LA on the way home if I'm planning one, works better for is with jet lag but everyone has different opinions. I hate arriving in LA early morning and trying to stay awake all day, I love continuing to the East Coast and going straight to bed!

 

[zanzibar138]

Personally I couldn't stand to be so close to DLR and not go! I prefer my stopovers on the way home though. On the way there I'm too excited about the trip to care about getting on another flight, but on the way home, I like to put off getting back to reality for as long as possible And as ssour pointed out, that early morning arrival at LAX after a long overnight flight isn't conducive to getting the most out of your first day anyway.

If you do decide to add a DLR visit, I would do at least 3 nights. You really need at least one full day in each park now that Carsland is up and running. The late night timing of the flights back to Australia mean that you would get at least half a third day in too before having to get back to the airport.

Assuming that was going to be your plan, the premier AP doesn't immediately seem to be worth it. With only 2 full days, I would even look at ditching the park hopper option, and just concentrating on one park per day, then spending the time before your final flight at whichever park you liked best. That would make the premier AP even less worth it.

However, depending on whether you're planning to stay onsite, and what discounts are offered for AP holders, you could definitely save $300 on accommodation. If only one in your party has an AP, you can apply the discounts from that to accommodation, dining and merchandise. So it might be worth just getting one, then just getting everyone else the regular multi-day passes.

 

[minniemumma]

Ok wow you guys are so awesome.

I am thinking of doing DL on the way there as DD is turning 3 while we are away and if i do DL on the way home she wont be free anymore.
We will be staying on site at all resorts to make the most out of it! Fully immersed is what I'm going for!

On that note what are peoples tips for resorts at WDW, DL and universal if you have been?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Ok wow you guys are so awesome.

I am thinking of doing DL on the way there as DD is turning 3 while we are away and if i do DL on the way home she wont be free anymore.
We will be staying on site at all resorts to make the most out of it! Fully immersed is what I'm going for!

On that note what are peoples tips for resorts at WDW, DL and universal if you have been?

Depending on what resort discounts are on offer, it might be worth purchasing one Premium Passport. You could easily recover the $300 between accommodation, dining and merchandise.


Where you want to stay will come down to your budget.

The moderates at WDW are reasonable. I've stayed at POR and CSR. Either of the Port Orleans resorts are decent. I also like staying at Beach Club Villas because of the StormAlong Bay pool.

I normally stay at one of the good neighbour hotels at DL. For me, immersion at DLR is not the same as at WDW when so many of the (cheaper) good neighbour hotels are a short walk across the street from DLR.

I stayed at Royal Pacific at UO. For me and my family, that's the theming that suited us best.

 

[zanzibar138]

I am thinking of doing DL on the way there as DD is turning 3 while we are away and if i do DL on the way home she wont be free anymore.
We will be staying on site at all resorts to make the most out of it! Fully immersed is what I'm going for!

Well that's a pretty good reason for doing DLR on the way

I agree with PIO, immersion is not as good/important at DLR as it is just one part of a normal suburban area. Onsite hotels there are very expensive (there are no moderate/value options), but look great and come with extra perks. I'd love to stay at the DLH one day! Perks include unlimited Extra Magic Hours (EMH) at both parks, which could be useful for you if you have limited time there.

Carsland is still a big drawcard, and there is a morning rush for Radiator Springs Racers (RSR) which you'll get an edge on if you have EMH. Having said that, it is unlikely that DD would reach the height requirement and wouldn't be able to ride it. Since one of you will need to stay with DD anyway, you could take turns to do the single rider line, which will be much shorter at any time of day. Toy Story Mania (TSM) is the other major popular ride in DCA and has no fastpass. I think DD would be able to do that one, so it might be worthwhile going straight there at opening while the line is short.

If you're not overly concerned about EMH, you might be better off saving your money and staying offsite at DLR. There are plenty of clean and safe hotels just across the street, a 5 minute walk from the gates. If you get a 3 day pass or more, you will get one Magic Morning (MM) which can be used at DL on certain mornings. Go straight to Peter Pan before the line builds up, then hit the rest of Fantasyland.

If you do go with park hoppers, it's VERY easy to hop at DLR. You basically walk out of one park, cross the pedestrian walkway into Downtown Disney, and go into the other park. It takes less than 5 minutes if there's no line at the gate.

DLR is much more of a laid back trip than WDW, and you don't need to book anything 6 months in advance. If you want to eat somewhere specific at a specific time, I'd recommend making bookings, and if it's a character meal I'd probably do it sooner rather than later, but bookings only open at the 60 day mark, and you don't need to do the minute they open. Also, DLR has the legacy FP system, and the legacy PP system. Be aware that they do enforce the return window times on the FP.

I haven't been to Florida, so can't help with anything else sorry.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

With a young child I would definitely need a stopover. Even if it was just one night in an LAX hotel.

As for WDW hotels, I have only stayed in the Boardwalk Villas and The Animal Kingdom Villas (Jambo). We liked BWV, but loved AKV. Sitting on the balcony and watching the animals with my family, was such a lovely way to both begin and end the day. Plus the pool area was pretty cool - lush and relaxing.

At Universal I stayed at HRH. Loved the pool, and would perhaps consider going back for the pool alone. But as far as theming goes, I think the other 2 hotels would have been more my cup of tea. Once the new HP area opens, I predict Universal will be pretty manic for the rest of the year. If it was me, I'd definitely want to stay in one of the 3 hotels that offer express pass and early entry.

I know you never mentioned budget, but I think if it came down to deciding where to spend the most money on accommodation, I would make an onsite hotel at Universal my first priority, money spent on a nicer onsite hotel at WDW my second priority, and staying onsite at DLR my last priority.

 

[mindy32]

I didn't have a huge budget for WDW accomm (DH & I, no kids) as we'd already been away for weeks but still wanted somewhere fairly nice so chose Port Orleans Riverside, absolutely loved i t , the resort was super pretty and we made good use of the jacuzzi in the pool area. If we ever get back there we intend to stay there again ( unless I win lotto and can afford a deluxe!).

 

[WanderlustNZ]

unless I win lotto and can afford a deluxe!

...or rent DVC points and it makes a deluxe as cheap as a moderate.

I didn't mention this option in my previous post as in all likelihood minniemumma has left it too late to rent points for this year.

 

[Tashinwdw]

We are staying offsite for DL and have only stayed at Boardwalk at WDW, this trip we will be staying at the Wilderness and BLT. I have heard all the disney budget ones are good, I like the look of Art of Animation. We are a family of 6 so our options were not as big as yours will be. I really dont think you can go wrong with any of the Disney accommodation. To help choose, I would check out all the resorts, read reviews but also look up youtube, thats what I did to help choose the resorts we wanted to stay in, once we had an idea it came down to money and which one had deals available.

It might not be too late for renting DVC, you never know your luck, it is a good option to stay at a Deluxe at a cheaper price. I also think the villas are good because you have the kitchen and it really cuts down the cost when you can eat there instead of out for every meal.

 

[lffam]

Ok wow you guys are so awesome.

I am thinking of doing DL on the way there as DD is turning 3 while we are away and if i do DL on the way home she wont be free anymore.
We will be staying on site at all resorts to make the most out of it! Fully immersed is what I'm going for!

On that note what are peoples tips for resorts at WDW, DL and universal if you have been?

We went last Oct/Nov and we did a stopover in LA fro 2 nights i think. We did this as the time before when went (2010) DS was 7 and he really got hit hard with the flight over and was basically out of it for 24hours. of course all will be different and I'm not saying your experience will be that. last year we did consider doing a straight through to MCO on same day, but the memory of the earlier trip made us decide against. With the benefit of hindsight, we could have as we all travelled a heck of alot better this time, but this was luckily because we were lucky enough to be at the pointy end of the plane (tick off the bucket list) and this made a world of difference.

We had 2 nights in LA then on to MSO. not sure who you are flying internal with, we flew Virgin America there (AA back) and they were fantastic.

I like your plan for 4 days or US. We only had 2 days and was too short for us. That place rocks , its alot of fun. We stayed at RPH and because we were at the parks all day we never got to enjoy any of the resort other than one dinner in the resort (Trade Joe's) and one breakfast on the day we left. I would definitely stay for longer next time.

WDW - wow the choices can be overwhelming. I struggled to choose. I was looking for a balance of comfort, resort style, proximity and of course costs. We are all different and have different likes and dislikes. We originally chose Caribbean Beach, but in end swapped to Wilderness Lodge and this was perfect for us. Yes it coset more but it was more the style and resort we wanted. We arranged our trip with not alot of notice ( ~4 months i think) so it was too late to get DVC points for the villas, otherwise this I would have.

DL was our first Disney trip and very special place for us. I'd go back there every year if I could. I'd happily spend a week there (but you certainly don't need that much time), just spending time in the parks at the hotel ( Grand Californian where we stayed ) We tried to squeeze in a trip to DL on our way back but just couldn't make it fit.

the thought of your trip makes me want to do another one myself! good luck with the planning and ask any questions you might like here (or PM me), plenty of knowledgeable people here and they love to share . for me it helps me relive and start planning my next one!!