Disneyland planning 101

[Heidi K]

We just got back from a great WDW vacation and now we have the Disneyland bug. My husband and I are thinking of planning a trip for just us, no kids, in a year or two. We'll be coming from Western New York. I spent one day at Disneyland as a teenager and he's never been.

What do we need to know as we start planning? For example, what's the best time of year to go (weather and crowds), how many days should we plan for both parks, where should we stay (on a budget), etc? Thanks for your help!

 

[Geemo]

We just got back from a great WDW vacation and now we have the Disneyland bug. My husband and I are thinking of planning a trip for just us, no kids, in a year or two. We'll be coming from Western New York. I spent one day at Disneyland as a teenager and he's never been.

What do we need to know as we start planning? For example, what's the best time of year to go (weather and crowds), how many days should we plan for both parks, where should we stay (on a budget), etc? Thanks for your help!

We come from the Pacific Northwest, I find anything from October to March to be fine for weather. We don't like the heat of the warmer months. The smog seems to be a little worse then.

As for crowds.... That's a really hard one to judge these days. We try to avoid the Major Holidays.

Look at this link for what's up for 2017. Keep in mind the thread is a work-in-progress.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/2017-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3528760/

Geemo

 

[nikkislaght]

Disneyland from my point of view is easier to navigate than Disneyworld. if you are looking for low crowds late Jan, Feb and up to Mid March are good times to go.but keep in mind this is when they do a lot of refurbs and some of the major rides can closed. . March April you have Easter and Spring break crowds a good week before and after Easter.. and it gets busy.. Weather wise April is good , for me its still a bit cold.. but then again we have had heat waves in April too.

We go 5 days, but total our trip is about 8 to 9 days.. with a day and playing in other parks.... I travel with 2 kids so we take our day off half way through the trip.

Its easy early in the year to plan your trip, we are going in Feb this year and booked our tickets this week. as for dinning this April on our trip I was booking Disney restaurants for the next day and getting the times I wanted..

They still use the old Fast pass system so no need to book FP+ months out. which is nice .

Its easy to do both parks in one day, so getting park hoppers is the way to go for us. and when you break it down financially its not that much more than a non hopper..

We usually stay in a time share hotel up the road from Disney so cant really give you an idea of hotels.. but our next trip we are staying in a hotel up the road and we got a great deal with return air and hotel . In the quiet months you get better hotel and air deals..

Hope you have a great trip. !!

 

[chickapin parterre]

....so should I just show up in Western New York and let the trip fall in place or should I buy a guide book for the best planning to experience your part of the state which is very much like Western oregon?