Disneyland Newbie needs advice

[Corrine 1973]

On Wednesday I went to a meet at my son's High School about their spring break field trip. The class is taking a trip to California next spring and are going to DL for 2 days, Universal for 1, and a few other places in California. I haven't been to DL for over 40 years and figured it was a good time to return. But I really don't know anything about DL except it right next to DCA. Any advice, information, or places to get information would be grateful.

1. While I will be going at same time I will not be chaperoning since it will be even more as a chaperone than we will paying for his trip.
2. I have a friend who is a CM at the local DO. She wants to go and offered to split costs with me and get me in parks for free. She even gets discounts on Universal and Knotts Berry Farm if we want to go.
3.She already booked a stay at the Travel Lodge which she says is across the street from a store.
4. Tentative dates are March 21-26, 2020

Thank you in advance!!!!

 

[CableKC]

If you have the time to spend.....I'd recommend at least 1 full day at DL, 1 full day at DCA and then one last day where you can park hop between both parks to catch any rides you wanted to go on again and/or you missed the first time around. I'd recommend not parking on those 1st two days and just spend one day at each. IMHO, simply walking between both parks wastes time. Not much, but IMHO enough where you can just take it slow and not have to rush from ride to ride.

Be sure to book some dining reservations at a sit down restaurant 60 days ahead of time so that you can enjoy a nice sit down dinner.

Take a look at the rides that you may want to go on and plan accordingly.

Take advantage of what the DL app has to offer ( Mobile Ordering for food, wait times and MAX Pass....if you can afford it ).

No matter what, don't rush and enjoy yourself. If you haven't gone in decades, it's way different than the last time you remember.

Enjoy!

 

[azdisneylover]

Welcome and have fun planning your trip to CA! Ask any questions. Knotts is very close to Disneyland, and if you can swing it, I would say go. It has lots of thrill rides. Mrs. Knotts chicken dinner is very good. (That is what started Knotts!)

 

[theluckyrabbit]

This thread has lots of great information for you: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets. This sticky from the top of the first page has TONS of information to help you: * DLR Info/Links - Maps, Hotels, DISer Reviews, Hydroguy's tips, NEWBIE INFO here!. Have fun planning your trip! Feel free to ask any further questions!

 

[BadPinkTink]

2. I have a friend who is a CM at the local DO. She wants to go and offered to split costs with me and get me in parks for free. She even gets discounts on Universal and Knotts Berry Farm if we want to go.

Just be careful with this. Many CM friends and family tickets are on the day ticket, one day tickets. While it sounds great to get in using a CM friends and family ticket, there are some limitations and conditions.

When I have been to Disney with a CM, this is how it worked, your friend may or may not have the same type of ticket

1. The CM and friend have to enter the park at the same time
2. The CM will show their Disney ID and say this is my friend.
3. The entrance CM will then print out 2 tickets
4. Your friends name will be printed on the back of both tickets. This means that you are a guest of your friend and your friend is responsible for you in the park. This means that any negative behaviour on your part, depending on how severe, could in theory get your friend fired.
5. As you are a guest of your friend, you are supposed to be with your friend at all times in the park.

• As the tickets are on the day tickets, and not advanced bought from Disney, if you want to add Maxpass, you can only add it once you have entered the parks.
• As you have to enter the parks each day with your CM friend, you will have to make sure you are both on the same page regarding how early or late you go to the parks. For example, you might want to be there for rope drop, but your CM friend may want to sleep in.
• The same way with staying late, you may want to stay until close but your friend may want to leave after the fireworks.

3.She already booked a stay at the Travel Lodge which she says is across the street from a store.

I would get the exact location of the Travel Lodge before committing to sharing the room. I checked on the map and both Travel Lodges, while near the parks, would not be locations I would choose. Disneyland is basically like a city block. There are two entrances, east which the Harbour Boulevard pedestrian entrance and west which is the Mickey and Friends Parking Lot, Downtown Disney and Disney onsite hotels pedestrian entrance. Many hotels advertise as being across the street from Disney, and yes they are BUT they are across the street from the north (Ball Road) and south (Katella Avenue) WALLS of Disney property. These hotels have a far longer walk to the actual security bag check entrance of Disney, as you have to walk 2 sides of a city block.

Many of us here on DIS advise staying at a hotel / motel on the Harbour Boulevard side of Disney. Some are even directly across the street from the cross walk into Disney property and the approx walk from your room to Disney bag check, if you time the traffic lights right can be less than 10 minutes!

I would advise having a good look at Choosing The Right DLR Area Hotel For You and have Google Maps open so that you can see exactly where everything is located

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...
3.She already booked a stay at the Travel Lodge which she says is across the street from a store...

Do you know the address of this hotel? If this is the Travel Lodge on Disneyland Dr., then it is walking distance (about 10 minutes from the Mickey & Friends parking structure and the free M&F tram). You do not have to be parked in the structure to use the tram. It is an easy walk to the structure from that hotel -- you would go through bag check on the ground floor of the structure before boarding the trams. If you care to walk about 5-10 minutes further, you could go through bag check at DTD and then walk through DTD to the park gates.
If it is the Travel Lodge on S. Harbor Blvd., then I think you are walking distance to the Toy Story parking lot, where you can take the free shuttles to the parks. But it might be easier to take Uber/Lyft, especially if you will be splitting the fare with your friend. I'm not sure which store your friend is talking about, but there are lots of walkable options for basic groceries and sundries in that area: just in the area of Harbor and Patella there are the 24/7 CVS, Walgreens, 7-11, and the A Mart. For more extensive grocery selection, many people here use Vons.com or Amazon for delivery to the hotel. There is a Target on Harbor, about a mile south of the parks.

 

[Corrine 1973]

If you have the time to spend.....I'd recommend at least 1 full day at DL, 1 full day at DCA and then one last day where you can park hop between both parks to catch any rides you wanted to go on again and/or you missed the first time around. I'd recommend not parking on those 1st two days and just spend one day at each. IMHO, simply walking between both parks wastes time. Not much, but IMHO enough where you can just take it slow and not have to rush from ride to ride.

Be sure to book some dining reservations at a sit down restaurant 60 days ahead of time so that you can enjoy a nice sit down dinner.

Take a look at the rides that you may want to go on and plan accordingly.

Take advantage of what the DL app has to offer ( Mobile Ordering for food, wait times and MAX Pass....if you can afford it ).

No matter what, don't rush and enjoy yourself. If you haven't gone in decades, it's way different than the last time you remember.

Enjoy!

Good morning and thank you for the advice. I definitely planning on doing at least one full day at each park. Might just stay at Disney if it works better financially. We even talked about just doing QS places this trip since I will be probably walking around all day with my mouth hanging open in awe.

Welcome and have fun planning your trip to CA! Ask any questions. Knotts is very close to Disneyland, and if you can swing it, I would say go. It has lots of thrill rides. Mrs. Knotts chicken dinner is very good. (That is what started Knotts!)

Good morning. I have watched Justin Scarred on YouTube and his episodes at Knotts. It looks like a lot of fun and I think this is where we would be going if we decide to go to somewhere else but Disney. That chicken looks good.

This thread has lots of great information for you: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets. This sticky from the top of the first page has TONS of information to help you: * DLR Info/Links - Maps, Hotels, DISer Reviews, Hydroguy's tips, NEWBIE INFO here!. Have fun planning your trip! Feel free to ask any further questions!

Good morning and thank you very much. I will be checking these out.

Just be careful with this. Many CM friends and family tickets are on the day ticket, one day tickets. While it sounds great to get in using a CM friends and family ticket, there are some limitations and conditions.

I would get the exact location of the Travel Lodge before committing to sharing the room. I checked on the map and both Travel Lodges, while near the parks, would not be locations I would choose. Disneyland is basically like a city block. There are two entrances, east which the Harbour Boulevard pedestrian entrance and west which is the Mickey and Friends Parking Lot, Downtown Disney and Disney onsite hotels pedestrian entrance. Many hotels advertise as being across the street from Disney, and yes they are BUT they are across the street from the north (Ball Road) and south (Katella Avenue) WALLS of Disney property. These hotels have a far longer walk to the actual security bag check entrance of Disney, as you have to walk 2 sides of a city block.

Many of us here on DIS advise staying at a hotel / motel on the Harbour Boulevard side of Disney. Some are even directly across the street from the cross walk into Disney property and the approx walk from your room to Disney bag check, if you time the traffic lights right can be less than 10 minutes!

I would advise having a good look at Choosing The Right DLR Area Hotel For You and have Google Maps open so that you can see exactly where everything is located

Good morning and Thank you for your advice. This is not the first time my friend has gone to Disney with us. 2 years ago she came with me and 3 of my kids on our trip to WDW. We have similar styles of touring so I believe we will be fine. She used both kinds of passes to get us in that time (my eldest was given a ticket while the rest of us go in with her) so I am very familiar with the rules. My only fear is that she might not want to go on some of the rides I want to go on.
I relooked at her message about the hotel and it is on Disneyland Dr. She booked it because it was such a good deal but already said we can cancel and get something else at a latter time. I will take a look at the link.

Do you know the address of this hotel? If this is the Travel Lodge on Disneyland Dr., then it is walking distance (about 10 minutes from the Mickey & Friends parking structure and the free M&F tram). You do not have to be parked in the structure to use the tram. It is an easy walk to the structure from that hotel -- you would go through bag check on the ground floor of the structure before boarding the trams. If you care to walk about 5-10 minutes further, you could go through bag check at DTD and then walk through DTD to the park gates.
If it is the Travel Lodge on S. Harbor Blvd., then I think you are walking distance to the Toy Story parking lot, where you can take the free shuttles to the parks. But it might be easier to take Uber/Lyft, especially if you will be splitting the fare with your friend. I'm not sure which store your friend is talking about, but there are lots of walkable options for basic groceries and sundries in that area: just in the area of Harbor and Patella there are the 24/7 CVS, Walgreens, 7-11, and the A Mart. For more extensive grocery selection, many people here use Vons.com or Amazon for delivery to the hotel. There is a Target on Harbor, about a mile south of the parks.

Good morning and thankyou for your reply. I relooked at her message that she sent me. She says it is on Disneyland Dr across the street from an Anaheim Resort transit stop at a Staybridge. She also says it is next to an AM/PM convenience store.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... Good morning and thankyou for your reply. I relooked at her message that she sent me. She says it is on Disneyland Dr across the street from an Anaheim Resort transit stop at a Staybridge. She also says it is next to an AM/PM convenience store.

We just drove by this Travel Lodge today on the way to the Mickey & Friends parking structure. It is right next to a gas station with a mini-mart (must be the AM/PM mentioned). If your friend can get a good rate, the hotel across the street, the Majestic Garden, is much larger than the Travel Lodge (it used to be the Sheraton Anaheim) and has a private shuttle to the Harbor side parks entrance.

 

[Corrine 1973]

We just drove by this Travel Lodge today on the way to the Mickey & Friends parking structure. It is right next to a gas station with a mini-mart (must be the AM/PM mentioned). If your friend can get a good rate, the hotel across the street, the Majestic Garden, is much larger than the Travel Lodge (it used to be the Sheraton Anaheim) and has a private shuttle to the Harbor side parks entrance.

Thank you. I will mention it to her.