Disneyland planning questions

[wdwscout]

Hi guys. DH and I were just brainstorming this afternoon about when/how to go to California to take in both Disneyland and a visit to his aunt in San Francisco. No dates yet- just initial sparks of ideas.
I have a couple of questions to throw out there before we do any hard core planning:

1) When is the DLR Food & Wine event? I know spring sometime- but there are no dates on the DLR website.

2) Where are they in the California Adventure renovations? I know they are well underway- but what it the target completion date?

3) What is the name of the "reputable" bus line to get from LAX to DLR?

4) I will start investigating air options- which airport to fly in and out of, whether to fly one way to the LA area, rent a car to drive to SF and then fly home from there, fly round trip to LA or SF and another round trip from one to the other, or make a 3-way flight. Anyone ever do this- any ideas or caveats to watch out for?

Once we decide if we really are going to do this- I will start posting on the DL forums. I just wanted to throw out the question here for some quick feedback! I know much of this has been discussed recently on the podcast- I just don't remember all the episodes.

Thanks everyone for any advice or opinions!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

To answer your questions...

1) Food and Wine is usually in April and May
2) DCA renovations will conclude in 2012. Keep in mind they are doing the rennovations in stages, so they are trying to minimize the effects this has on the guests attending. The biggest changes are in the Paradise Pier area, meaning that 2/3 of the park are completely not affected. The Orange Stinger just went down and they are still working on the new light show for the lake. Once the Stinger is reborn as the Symphony Swings, something else will go down. That was what they did with Mickey's Fun Wheel.

3) You want to take the Disneyland Express operated by Gray Line Tours. http://www.grayline.com/Grayline/de...tivities&cd=OS&cat=Transfers+&+Other+Services

Make sure you do your reservations in advance, as there are other services that might try to convince you they are the DL Express.

4) LAX has the most options, but not always the cheapest prices. The Los Angeles and San Francisco Areas have several airports and if you are a little flexible, investigate airlines for both trips separately. You may come out better in the long run. For instance, Southwest has numerous flights a day from LA to SF and are really cheap comparatively, but they may not be the best one from your home to LA.

Good luck and certainly the folks on the DL Board can help you with all of this, too.

 

[wdwscout]

Thanks Nancy!