Disneyland Newbie... Jan 2015

[kamik86]

Well my DH and I have decided instead of doing Disney World again in Jan we will do 4 days in San Diego and 4 days at Disneyland.

Dates for Disneyland will be 1/21-1/24

So now I have some questions
How soon do I have to book? I want to sell our DVC points that we won't use in FL and just say at a good neighbor hotel this time. So a part of me wants to make sure those sell first (think I'm just going to use Dave's service since I have never rented points before) I know if this was Disneyland I would already be late for ADRs!

From Disneyland is LAX the easiest to fly out of? I want to stay in airports that SW flies to because I have so many points and don't pay for flights.

Any tips/must do places to eat or anything else I should know as someone that is really used to Disney World but new to Disneyland?

 

[kamik86]

Bump

 

[Butterfly123]

I can't help with DVC info, sorry. John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County is the closest airport, but don't know about SW flying from there.

For great information about DL just for WDW vets, read Hydroguys famous sticky at the top of the this forum. Once you do that you might have more specific questions, but he really lays out a wealth of really great info that you will find really useful.

Here is the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

 

[sunflare]

Definitely read the Hydroguy link... it's really good. SW does fly into SNA, but only from certain cities, so you may have to hunt it down. It's tons more convenient than LAX, though, so it's worth it.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Another John Wayne airport lover here. (Airport code is SNA.)

One thing I highly recommend at DLR is the park hopper. You can walk between the parks so easily it doesn't make sense to not have one.

Also, don't skip rides at DLR just because they also have them at WDW. In many cases, the Disneyland version is better. (One ride that is identical, minus the queue, is Soarin'.)

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

SWA serves SNA and LAX. SNA tends to be more expensive or to require a connecting flight while LAX has cheaper, more direct service. We fly SWA from Chicago, and always choose LAX for these two reasons. I'm not of the opinion that SNA is significantly more convenient than LAX. The drive is half as long (30 minutes vs. an hour, more or less) but once you're in your shuttle or taxi, it's really negligible and all depends on traffic.

Given your travel dates, TS restaurants will probably be walk-ups. I wouldn't stress at all about making them more than a couple of weeks out. (And of course you can't until November, anyway.)

HydroGuy's superthread is amazing and will answer lots of your questions.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Keep in mind that if your flight lands/leaves at a time where you'd be driving during rush hour traffic...LAX could be kind of bad.

 

[kamik86]

Thanks for the info. I will definitely check out the other thread.

I checked SNA airport and to get home it would cost MUCH more and have to do 3 legs... so LAX it is.

I'll be driving up from San Diego when we arrive, and then flying home from LAX. Although in order to not drive in LAX may have to see if there is somewhere closer to drop off our rental car and we could just take a shuttle.

 

[KalamityJane]

We are flying SWA in and I chose LAX instead of SNA because the flights were way cheaper, and the Grayline Anaheim bus (the Disneyland Magical Express sort of - you have to pay for it but it is the closest thing to ME that DL has) is only $13 cheaper to go from SNA, so it wasn't worth it to go to SNA.

We have flown into SNA before and it is super convenient if you are flying Alaska from Portland since it's a direct flight.

 

[Larissa]

I thought Pirates and Small World at WDW didn't hold a candle to their Disneyland versions.

 

[Sherry E]

(The OP has not posted in this thread since early August, but since the thread was bumped up I will contribute some suggestions...)

You will most likely get to experience the beautiful It's a Small World Holiday -- which opened in early November and is scheduled to stay open through January 25th. It is a thorough transformation of the regular IASW ride inside, but at night the façade comes alive in glorious color.

Also, in addition to the all of the new "Frozen Fun" that is currently taking place in California Adventure, Olaf's Frozen Ice Rink and the Winter Village (which opened as part of the holiday season in November) in Downtown Disney will remain open through all of January and into February, so you will see those as well. In Disneyland, the Storybook Land Canal Boat ride has gotten an Arendelle addition as well.