Disneyland Newbie

[IHeartTink04]

Hey all! I have been to WDW 6 times but I have NEVER been to DL! So my husband and I have been thinking about going this summer and I have a TON of questions!

How many days do I need to plan to stay there?
Should I get the dining plan?
If I want to go to San Diego should I just drive and continue to stay on DL property or should I split the stay?

So many questions and I am sure I will think of some more!!!


Thanks for your help!

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

How many days do I need to plan to stay there?
2-3 days would be great depending on if you want to do DCA and if/how many children you have. We always do both parks with 3 days and find it to be enough to see everything but of course we never want to leave.

Should I get the dining plan?
It's up to you but I wouldn't as it doesn't save you any money.

If I want to go to San Diego should I just drive and continue to stay on DL property or should I split the stay?

I would split the stay. Traffic between the two is not the most pleasant to be in especially every day back and forth.

Welcome to the DL boards and let us know if you have more questions.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Definately check out all the "stickys" on the top of the forums, they are full of very useful information!!

3 days is good, but we always opt for 5+. We have tended to go during very busy times, so we allow extra time for lines, etc.
The dining plan is not the same as WDW. They are vouchers for a certain number of character meals & dollar amts ($15, $10 & snacks). They do not give change on these & so you're constantly trying to figure out which voucher(s) to use to get close to the meal where you can cover the balance with some change. I found these to be more of a problem then help.

I wouldn't advise staying in Anaheim & driving to San Diego. It's about an hour drive, but the traffic is horendous & it could take you that long just to get out of the Anaheim area.

Feel free to ask lots of questions....but do read the above mentioned articles as they will answer many, many questions.

Welcome to the forums !!!

 

[Eeee-va]

You're going to have so much fun!

I think the main thing to always keep in mind is that everything in DL is SO much closer than WDW. You walk across an esplanade to get from Disneyland Park to Disney's California Adventure, instead of taking a bus/driving, so park hopping is totally different. The majority of visitors to DL are locals, so that affects crowd flow too...but you'll see a lot more info on that in the stickies.

I think the more days the better, but I think you should be able to see everything in 3 days. Like WDW, it's fairly cheap to add on more days. So unless you have a huge family, I wouldn't personally consider it a waste to get a 4 day pass and really only be in the parks for 3.5 days of it (if you had to leave in the afternoon, for instance).

I'm not all that familiar with the dining plan, but I wouldn't get it. Again, everything is SO close, you can walk to Downtown Disney or walk out of the park and across the street and eat at Denny's or other restaurants. I think it's better to be open to eating whatever and whenever you want. (Not getting it would also leave you more open to splitting meals if that's an option for your party's appetites.)

I agree with others that splitting the stay between DL and San Diego is probably best. If you really just want to spend one day/afternoon in San Diego and then come back to Anaheim, then I could see where you might consider just driving, as it would be a lot of hassle to change rooms. But there are a lot of things to do in San Diego, so I think you could spend two days and one night there (or more) and enjoy it. The weather is generally a little cooler than Anaheim as well.

 

[mikayla73]

As the other mentioned, the stickys above have lots of great info so be sure to check those out too.

How many days do I need to plan to stay there?
I'd do at least 4, 5 would be better. That allows you to take your time and really take it all in. You don't feel rushed. You can do it in less, but if given a choice, I would choose longer. I have gone to DL 3 day weekend trips and I have always left not getting to do something that I had wanted to.

Should I get the dining plan?
The dinning plan is really just vouchers that you prepay for. I have not used it, but from what I have read it seems more of a pain because as others mentioned you don't get change back so you have to spend at least the amount of the voucher and still carry some sort of payment option for the rest.

If I want to go to San Diego should I just drive and continue to stay on DL property or should I split the stay?
I'd say it depends on what you want to do in SD. We have usually stayed at DL for our entire trips and did day trips to SD, to go to the zoo or Sea World. We leave in the morning and come back that night, but we only do that for one day of our trip, then spend the rest of the time in the DL area. If you want to "see" San Diego, I'd say split the trip between the two.

 

[HydroGuy]

Here is something that might help:

"Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319