DisneyLand... Should I go?

[Stevegriswold]

Hi,

I will be flying into LA in Jan. I have an international flight but it does not leave until very late at night. I could catch an early flight to LA and get a cab to Disneyland between my flights.

I have only been to downtown Disney in CA during a flight layover about five years ago with my wife.

I have been to Euro Disney several times and WDW countless times. I would love to see Disneyland, but my wife and kids also want to go, but that would beat least two years until we could afford an actual vacation to CA for everyone.

Questions:

1. How do I get to Disneyland from LAX and how do I get back?
2. I assume there is no issue with my checked luggage sitting at LAX for 10-12 hours between flights.
3. Would you go, or wait two+ years and try and go as a family? My wife has been before when she was younger.
4. If you went, would you do MK or cal. adventure, or parts of both?

 

[safetymom]

I would go in a heartbeat. I would take the Disneyland Express bus. Not sure though that the airport would keep the luggage since check in is usually 4 hours before departure.

I would go to Disneyland and save California Adventure for your next visit.

 

[Kristina]

Hi! Part of me says go! Always go to Disney if you can, right? Then at the same time it might be really special to discover Disneyland with your family. Then again you might feel that two years is a long time to wait? If you are very interested in Disney and the history of the park, and love all the little details then going without the kids would be great so that you could concentrate on those aspects of it. I think to it would be cool to have seen CA before they complete the major refurb it's going through now.

Pete and Walter were there, you could find and listen to that podcast to help you with your decision. I believe they took the Disneyland bus and had good luck with that but, wait..now I'm thinking they had to wait an hour for it? Another idea would be to book a towncar, that's what I'd do.
I'm not sure about the luggage at the airport but give them a call to be sure. I would want to do both parks but I would spend 75% of my time in Disneyland, and I would skip CA entirely if they weren't refurbing it.

Good luck with your decision !

 

[msteddom]

I hate to be a downer, but I would not risk it unless you could fly in the day before. It takes about an hour to get from LAX to Disneyland, and traffic can be horrific. I'm not sure what you would do with your luggage either. I would hate you to stress about possibly not making flight because you're stuck in traffic somewhere.

Disneyland is wonderful, but I would wait until you could make trip with your family. Good luck with your decision!

Melissa

 

[mmmears]

I say go for it. We had a 10 hour layover in London once and we had a great time running around, and we just made sure to get back early to the airport.

My family goes to DL about once a year. It's definitely do-able in a day, especially if you're alone. Just focus on the things that are unique to DL (& Pirates, because it's much better at DL), and if you have time you can walk across the plaza to CA. Honestly, DL is jam-packed with stuff to see and do. You can easily spend the whole day at that one park. It has more attractions than the MK, but they're all close together. This means you can cover the park so much quicker.

You can bring back your family a souvenir -- and then you'll know it you really think you want to take the whole family to LA or not. And if you do, you'll be ready to plan for it!

We never go to LA without stopping for a day at DL!

 

[kc5grw]

I say go for it. On my way back from the Philippines last month I scheduled my connecting flight out of Tokyo so that I had 3 nights in Tokyo. I spent 2 full days at Tokyo Disney. I didn't know when I'd be able to get back through Tokyo anytime soon, so I felt it was something I HAD to do. The DDs on the other hand thought it was not all that cool that dad went to Tokyo Disney without them.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

That's a rough call.

I would say it depends on the day of the week you come in. On a weekday, you can easily cruise a good chunk of the park and get a lot accomplished between 10am and 4pm. I don't know if you'll feel the price of a hopper ticket is worth it to do both parks. It is nice to see DCA, though and you could definitely finish that park in the allotted time.

Definitely allow plenty of time to get back, if you do go. The only question would be luggage. I would call the international terminal at LAX or your international air carrier and see what they recommend for your bags. Tell them what you want to do and see what they advise. Also, call the DLH or GCH and talk to Bell Services and see if you could store your bags with them. That might be your best solution.

Good luck in whatver you decide. I agree that it is better than sitting all day at LAX. If that's what you end up doing, though, the Encounter Restaurant in the middle of the airport in tasty. It was also designed/themed by Disney Imagineering.