Disneyland on the way to Hawaii?

[theluckyrabbit]

About the hotel choice... it really depends if you want/need a "nicer" hotel or if the standard DL motel is enough for you.. If you just do 1-2 days I recommend spending as much time as possible in the parks and as little as possible time in the hotel. So I would suggest you take a look at the motels right at the crosswalk. (We always stayed at the Anaheim Inn which is often a couple $$ cheaper for us than the BWPPI and has warm breakfast)

I agree with this, especially with so few days and a 5 yo. And if the 5 yo will need a nap each day, then a closer hotel will be even more convenient.
OP: the thread I linked for you above about finding the right DLR hotel for you has very good, helpful information on categorizing the hotels around in the DLR area dnd determining which category is right for you.

 

[mentos]

Funny I actually have a similar (tenative) itinerary in June. IMHO, two full days would be sufficient as long as a) you're a nearby/close/on-property hotel (helpful for the nap, as mentioned above) and b) you have MaxPass (which may be less important for that 5 year old, all we ever FP with her is IASW, HM, and Soarin', haha).

Our intinerary looks like this:

June 6 - land at 1pm, checking in to hotel by 2:30pm. Spend afternoon/evening at DL.
June 7 - DCA in AM, DL in PM
June 8 - Open itinerary (DL? DCA? Flip a coin! It's fun!)
June 9 - AM check out and flight to Maui

I feel like my biggest issue would be packing.... having a 3 day trip followed by a flight and a 7-10 day trip, i'd have trouble compartmentalizing stuff (I tend to become less organized as time goes on).

 

[ktlm]

We are in the central time zone too--- we did the opposite and it worked really well for us. We flew straight to Hawaii (with a 2 hour layover at LAX to walk around- eat dinner etc). Did Aulani and then Maui, and then on the way back we stopped at DLR/CA. Stopping on the way back really helped us deal with the time change. The time change didn't bother us much going to Hawaii. We were so excited to get to Hawaii that we stayed up a full 24 hours from the time we got up at home until we went to bed at Aulani- we were having too much fun once we got there. I was ready to give it up at 23, but DD insisted we were so close we had to stay up the other hour just to say we did. The first morning there we just relaxed at the pool, lazy river, and beach and the time change never really bothered us. Stopping at DLR on the way back, the 3 hour time change wasn't too much to deal with, and then after a few days there, the 2 hour time change once we got home didn't bother us at all.

2 full days will just give you a taste of DLR. Yes, it is smaller than WDW, but there is so much packed into that space. We like to spend 4-5 days there. If you could add at least 1 more day, I would, but if not- I would take whatever you can get. I would also do hoppers-- unlike WDW hopping takes about 5 minutes at DLR-- the park gates are separated by a plaza and are only about the length of a football field apart- it is a shorter walk between parks then it is to walk from the bus stop to the gate in most instances at the WDW parks. . Stopping at DLR on the way there or back would be a great way to get your first visit at DLR in. We used to be WDW people (and to some extent still are). I took DH with me to CA on a business trip and we spent 1 day at DLR-- after that we decided to take ONE family trip there so then pre-school DD could see a show they had at the time- 10 years later and we have been to DLR every year since.

 

[natebenma]

We have broken up our two trips from the east coast to Hawaii with visits to DL.

In 2014, our family with boys aged 16 and 13, spent 3 1/2 days at DL (California Adventure), then 4 days in Oahu, 4 days in Maui and 1 day on the Big Island to do a helicopter/Volcano National Park tour.

Just this past February, my husband went to DL for 2 1/2 days on our way to a week on Maui.

We really liked doing it this way.

 

[Iceman93]

If you're going to try to "do" Disneyland in a day or two to help acclimate on your way to Hawaii, I predict an epic fail. Can you have fun? Sure! Think if someone asked if they should visit WDW for one day on their way to boarding a cruise. It's far, FAR from ideal but of course one can do it. And one can have a good, fun day.

Since you asked for advice, mine is to just fly to Hawaii and maximize your time in that magical place. And if you absolutely MUST break up the trip, then spend a good three days at Disneyland so you can enjoy the place without doing an unrelaxing death march trying to see as much as possible in too short a time...

 

[lcp9]

I would also vote 2 full days, and BUT that depends on how much your son likes Cars IMO (and also his height.) When we first took our oldest (daughter) was 5, and our second son was 3, DCA was probably a half day for us just because of height requirements and she didn't care about Cars and he kind of did but maybe like an hour. Now my daughter is 8 and I have 3 boys (6, 4, 2) and Cars itself is almost a full day for the boys, plus everyone but the 2 year old can ride everything.

 

[bethwc101]

If you can do two days in parks, I would vote for getting single park passes. Start at DL on day one then do DCA on day two. If you feel like DCA is enough, then great. If not, upgrade your tickets to park hoppers and walk over to DL. It would only add an extra five minutes walking to DL from DCA.

 

[Disco Lemonade]

We did this on the way back from Hawaii. We did two days on that trip, but 3 days is what I prefer. That is part of what I like about DL. 3 days and I feel like I’ve done it for this trip. It is especially nice if at least one day is a hopper. So easy to do there.