Early Stages of Planning

[buyerbrad]

My GF and I (ages 29 and 30)are planning on visiting California for 2 weeks next August. We are in the early planning stages so we can start saving. We have LOTTTTTTS planned and part of the reason for the trip is to visit every Major League Baseball park. There are 5 in California, so our schedule is slightly restricted by when the teams are at home. Here is our itenarary so far. All comments and advice is appreciated.

Flying from either Detroit, Flint or Buffalo (we live in Canada)and using hotwire.com (with help from betterbidding.com) to help determine the hotels.


August 2nd
- Arrive & check-in at Holiday Inn Express Garden Grove


August 3rd
- DisneyLand


August 4th
- DisneyLand


August 5th
- checkout Holiday Inn Express Garden Grove
- Universal Studios
- check-in to Holiday Inn Burbank


August 6th
- Warner Brothers Studio Tour
- Nationals @ Dodgers game


August 7th
- purchase 48 hours Starline tour pass and do all 4 loops


August 8th
- visit all points that we want to go back to on the 48 hour tour pass (ie. Santa Monica pier).


August 9th
- checkout of Holiday Inn Burbank
- San Diego Zoo
- check in at Holiday Inn Express Mission Bay


August 10th
- sleep in
- go to beach
- Pirates @ Padres game


August 11th
- sleep in
- visit Mission Bay Beach


August 12th
- visit SeaWorld


August 13th
- sleep in
- checkout of Holiday Inn Express Burbank
- check in to Holiday Inn Express Garden Grove
- Jays @ LA Angels game


August 14th

- checkout Holiday Inn Express Garden Grove
- Venice Beach
- start to drive toward San Francisco
- stay at ???????????????


August 15th
- Padres @ Giants 1:05 game
- stay at ???????????


August 16th
- use San Francisco City Pass to tour SF


August 17th
- tour SF
- Jays @ As baseball game


August 18th
- fly home

 

[bumbershoot]

I think I need a nap just looking at that itinerary.

I would...include more Disneyland ...

I would make sure you know that the SD Zoo is an ALL day zoo. It's HUGE.

And traffic in SD on a game day is nasty nasty nasty. As in, half an hour or more to just get out of the airport parking lot to the first turn to get going towards the highway. Just in case you didn't know about the traffic on game days...

 

[buyerbrad]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'd love to spend more time at Disney, but we don't have anytime to fit it in. We should be able to complete both parks with no problems if we arrive at gate opening. I guess we could go for a few hours the day we arrive depending on what time our flight arrives as we will have a 3 day hopper pass. However, it will be a verrrry long travel day. We were in Florida this year the week of July 4th and were able to complete every single ride, parade and show each day with no problems.


I like to get to the games real early...when the gates open....so hopefully this cuts down on the traffic problems. Plus, I can't imagine that many people attend mid-week Padres games in August do they?


As for the Zoo, it is the park of the 5 parks we are going to that we are least interested in. We'll just spend 5 or 6 hours there because it is included in our ticket offer. Plus, it is easier to see things when it is just 2 adults.

 

[Brady's Mom]

We like the Holiday Inn Express Garden Grove. We've stayed there on 2 visits to DLR. Driving and parking can be kind of a pain - but it is not hard.

AT&T park is FABULOUS. We love it. But, we're Giants fans - so, you know, its a given. LOL

When you are in San Francisco and if you are going to Chinatown - check out the Fortune Cookie Factory. It really does look like the picture in the link and it really is in an alley. We go there every time we are in SF. We love the chocolate fortune cookies.

It sounds like a really fun trip. DLR opening to closing in the summer is fun. Follow the tips for Fast Pass collection and you'll be fine.

 

[DLR29]

It appears that you have a fidelity towards Holiday Inns, but if I may make one suggestion is to stay at a place closer to DLR. There are so many places where you can walk to the parks and ensure that you get to the parks at opening. Sometimes the parking structure and trams and lines can take a very long time in the morning.

From what it looks like, you will be getting the So. Cal Citypass?? If so, then by all means at least visit the parks for a little bit on your arrival day or when you return for the Angels game.

Sounds like a very fun trip!

 

[buyerbrad]

I am kind of at the mercy of hotwire.com. We will only be using the room to sleep in as we will go from park opening to closing.

For 3 nights at the Garden Grove it works out to $56.87/nt with FREE parking.


My other options are

Anabella = $79.98/nt plus they charge an additional 11.50/nt for parking

Best Western Raffles = $79.98/nt + lots of bad reviews


Anything else is over $100/nt.


Any other suggestions/advice I should consider?

 

[Heymy]

My 2 cents for your stay in SF....the Courtyard By Marriott Downtown it's on Second Street. The ballpark is very walkable (a couple of blocks) and there's lots of great eats and drinks along the way. Unfortunately we don't live in the city anymore, but when we head down for a game, it's the only place we stay. Sounds like an amazing trip...DH and I always wanted to do that...but kiddos gave us a detour

 

[buyerbrad]

Thanks for the advice on SF... I should have an idea in the next couple of days where we might stay. I'll be sure to post when I know.



Also............ we have decided to add one extra night to the start of our trip for more DISNEY!!!! We now plan to leave one day earlier. do a full day at each Disney park and on the "added day" do another half day of Disney and go to a show taping!

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'd love to spend more time at Disney, but we don't have anytime to fit it in. We should be able to complete both parks with no problems if we arrive at gate opening. I guess we could go for a few hours the day we arrive depending on what time our flight arrives as we will have a 3 day hopper pass. However, it will be a verrrry long travel day. We were in Florida this year the week of July 4th and were able to complete every single ride, parade and show each day with no problems.

DL and DCA have more rides than the WDW parks. In fact DLR's two parks have only 10% less rides than WDW's four parks added together.

Forgetting about the shows at DLR (which is a mistake IMO) just doing all the rides in two days would be very difficult. If it can be done it would be exhausting and not very fun.

We will only be using the room to sleep in as we will go from park opening to closing..

DLR is open 16 hours. I have done open to closing and it is exhausting. And I am a high energy person in good physical condition. Two days in a row? It just does not sound like much fun.

IMO here is the fun way to do DLR in the summer:

1. Get there before opening.
2. Ride lots of rides and get lots of FASTPASSes
3. Take a break to your hotel mid-day for at least three hours. Swim and take a nap.
4. Come back late afternoon and power out until midnight.

You can get almost as much done and feel much fresher. See "Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319


I also happen to agree with DLR29 about hotels. If you drive to DLR it will cost you $12 for parking. If you stay at a Harbor hotel they too have free parking but you can walk to DLR. That will save you $12 a day. But the proximity to the parks is worth paying the extra money.

See "HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862

Also............ we have decided to add one extra night to the start of our trip for more DISNEY!!!! We now plan to leave one day earlier. do a full day at each Disney park and on the "added day" do another half day of Disney and go to a show taping!

Cool. Most of use would suggest at DLR the one park/one day thing that people do at WDW is not the best use of time. Most experienced DLR folks park hop every day at least once if not two or three times.

Plan to spend every day at both parks.

For more on this see "Why I ParkHop at DLR" by Hound 109 www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1491961

Finally, another disappointing thing about your current schedule is that August 3-4 are Tue/Wed and one of the coolest shows at DLR is the Aladdin stage show at DCA. But it only shows on Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun. If you could work that in it would be fun.

 

[buyerbrad]

Wow...another very detailed reply. Thanks so very very much. I'd love to stay in a Harbout Hotel, but can't seem to find a hotel that beats my price of $56.87. Even with the $12 parking it is still below $80. When we are staying for 18 nights in a hotel, a $30-40 savings per night goes a lonnnnnnnnnng way.....perhaps one of you kind readers can find something closer for the same price (August 1-4th).


Our schedule is also influenced by baseball games so we have to go to certain games when teams are at home.


Finally, with so much we want to do we are trying to do everything that is in a certain area on consecutive days so we can stay in hotels for 3-4 nights at a time and not have to drive 40-50 minutes to get somewhere every morning.


PLEASSSSSSE keep the input coming.

 

[Judy from Boise]

DL and DCA have more rides than the WDW parks. In fact DLR's two parks have only 10% less rides than WDW's four parks added together.

Forgetting about the shows at DLR (which is a mistake IMO) just doing all the rides in two days would be very difficult. If it can be done it would be exhausting and not very fun.


DLR is open 16 hours. I have done open to closing and it is exhausting. And I am a high energy person in good physical condition. Two days in a row? It just does not sound like much fun.

IMO here is the fun way to do DLR in the summer:

1. Get there before opening.
2. Ride lots of rides and get lots of FASTPASSes
3. Take a break to your hotel mid-day for at least three hours. Swim and take a nap.
4. Come back late afternoon and power out until midnight.

You can get almost as much done and feel much fresher. See "Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319


I also happen to agree with DLR29 about hotels. If you drive to DLR it will cost you $12 for parking. If you stay at a Harbor hotel they too have free parking but you can walk to DLR. That will save you $12 a day. But the proximity to the parks is worth paying the extra money.

See "HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862


Cool. Most of use would suggest at DLR the one park/one day thing that people do at WDW is not the best use of time. Most experienced DLR folks park hop every day at least once if not two or three times.

Plan to spend every day at both parks.

For more on this see "Why I ParkHop at DLR" by Hound 109 www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1491961

Finally, another disappointing thing about your current schedule is that August 3-4 are Tue/Wed and one of the coolest shows at DLR is the Aladdin stage show at DCA. But it only shows on Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun. If you could work that in it would be fun.

I want to be HydroGuy's dittohead! Very good advice

 

[buyerbrad]

It has been two weeks since my last update and a few things have changed since using your info and reading the board daily. The 3 major updates are:

1) We have reorganized our schedule because we finally came to the realiztion that back to back full days at Disney will be way too much. It will mean a little more driving, but also result in a little more sleep.

2) I have booked my return flight home. We were planning on flying home from San Francisco, but with the Canadian/American dollar nearly at par and a price of $108 from OAKLAND to home we booked that last night.

3) We have added an entire EXTRA DAY to include an extra half day at Disney.

Here is our new/updated plans that I would still love to hear some feedback on.

August 1st
- check-in to Holiday Inn Burbank
- possibly visit a beach depending what time our flight arrives

August 2nd
- Universal Studios (assume 9am-8pm park hours)
- check in at Holiday Inn Express Garden Grove


August 3rd
- DisneyLand - arrive for MM hours at 7am. Due FantasyLand, grab some FPs
- switch over to DCA when it opens to ride Toy Story and grab a FP there then back to finish off the main park - See F and the Fireworks that night


August 4th
- Show Taping (find a show/game show to go watch being taped. This will also allow us to sleep in!)


August 5th
- Back to Disney (ride Nemo first, grab a FP for something else, then over to DCA). See the Electrical Parade that night


August 6th
- checkout of Holiday Inn Express Garden Grove
- Warner Brothers Studio Tour (around 11am-noon so we can sleep in again)
- Nationals @ Dodgers game
- check-in to Holiday Inn Burbank


August 7th
- purchase 48 hours Starline tour pass and do all 4 loops


August 8th
- visit all points that we want to go back to on the 48 hour tour pass (ie. Santa Monica pier).


August 9th
- visit Laguna Beach
- check in at Holiday Inn Express Mission Bay


August 10th
- SeaWorld


August 11th
- sleep in
- go to beach
- Pirates @ Padres game


August 12th
- visit Zoo (We know it is a big place, but we are only planning on going for part of the day)
- leave San Diego and check in to Holiday Inn Express Garden Grove


August 13th
- ANOTHER DISNEY Half Day - see Alladin show and Billy Hill
- Jays @ LA Angels game


August 14th

- checkout Holiday Inn Express Garden Grove
- Venice Beach (if we visit Venice Beach on the first day, we are just going to drive the coast and make some stops)
- start to drive toward San Francisco
- stay at ??????????????? ( I need to do some more hotwire research as to where to stay. What area would be best for touring SF?????)


August 15th
- Padres @ Giants 1:05 game
- stay at ??????????? (same as above)


August 16th
- use San Francisco City Pass to tour SF
- Stay at ??????? (same as above)


August 17th
- tour SF
- Jays @ As baseball game
- Still need to find an Oakland Airport area hotel


August 18th
- fly home from Oakland

 

[HydroGuy]

That sounds busy! But I think it will make your DLR portion more enjoyable.

FYI there is new night time spectacular opening at DCA in March 2010 and you may want to work that into your schedule one evening. See http://micechat.com/forums/disneyla...ture-project-tracker-v-90.html#post1055374148

 

[buyerbrad]

Very Cool...

So each park will now have 2 nightime shows/parades per night?

- Fantasmic
- Electrical Parade
- Fireworks
- the new water show


Do you think it would be possible to do 2 per night?

 

[HydroGuy]

Very Cool...

So each park will now have 2 nightime shows/parades per night?

- Fantasmic
- Electrical Parade
- Fireworks
- the new water show


Do you think it would be possible to do 2 per night?

The rumor is that EP will move to DL in 2010 as part of DL's 55th anniversary celebration. No one knows yet how that will work with Fantasmic, fireworks, etc.

 

[buyerbrad]

A couple of more exciting updates:

1. We booked our room in San Francisco. We are staying at the Tuscan Inn at the Fishermans Warf for $79/nt for 3 nights using hotwire.com. All of the reviews sound amazing and I got it at a fantastic price.


2. HUGE drop in flight prices this morning. I was able to get a flight from Detroit to Burbank with a connection in Salt Lake City for $136 Canadian!!!!
Flight leaves at 6:35am and we land in Burbank at noon.
Very happy with this price!!!