Finally planning our first trip!

[kiwigirl]

well, after lurking for several years, hoping and waiting, and three unexpected years of hospital and second transplant for my daughter .... finally we are cleared to travel so I can start planning our dream trip to Disneyland!!!

My daughter is now 11, my son 14 and I’m thinking 4-5 days Disney so we can come and go and rest more as my girl still struggles with tiredness. The kids would like universal and my husband would like a break from theme parks to visit the coast- not sure San Diego, Catalina island, la beaches there isn’t a plan yet.

I’d love any advice on hotels, other places to visit/shopping/fun outings etc please. We are taking this out on the mortgage because life’s too short right! My parents and my sister and family may do the trip with us too!

Anyhow thanks in advance xxx

 

[Montanabel]

Hello @kiwigirl

Wonderful news about your upcoming trip. Sound like your family totally deserves a holiday and if your parents and sister + her family can come along too, well the more the merrier!

Not sure when you are thinking of travelling. I personally love Halloween at Disneyland, the decorations are amazing, your kids might like to go along to one of Disneyland's Halloween parties, they can dress up and go trick or treating. This year we are going at Christmas time so can't really comment what that like (well, not yet) but others here might be able to share there experiences. The other time we have gone is around Easter. Not a lot of decorations but lovely spring weather (although can get busy with Spring Break). One bonus of going at this time is that Wondercon is on around Easter time (usually the week before) and if members of your family are into comics/superheros/science fiction, they'll probably enjoy this.

I image you already looking at hotels and are familiar with the ones within walking distance. We always stay at the Desert Palms Hotels and Suites. Its about a 12 minute walk to the Park, they have a range of different accommodation options (from standard hotel rooms to suites), free wifi, free parking (if you will be renting a car) and free breakfast (with hot options) which helps saves a bit of money. There are heaps eateries around, including the Cheesecake Factory who have the most amazing cheesecakes.

We've visited San Diego, but only to do the Zoo and Seaworld, which we really enjoyed. Can't comment on the other locations but doing something slightly different from theme parks sounds like a great idea. Universal Hollywood is fun, I like Disneyland better, but Universal does have the Transformer ride which is (in my opinion) one of the best theme park rides ever.

Sounds like you have some awesome planning to do. Wishing your daughter all the best.

 

[carnivalkid]

Sounds like your family really deserves this holiday!!

In terms of accommodation highly recommend staying on one of the hotels close on harbour street... we are a howard Johnson family and have always loved our stays there. Other possibilities for you I would suggest are the courtyard Marriott theme park entrance (better water park for your age kids) or for a more basic option Fairfield inn by mariott.

A ticket option to look into is the pass that is available to only Australian and NZ residents you can get through flight centre and a few other agents. They offer us a 5 or 10 day park hopper pass (the 10 day is only about $40 dearer than the 5 day) it gives you so many options to go the park for only a few hours while doing other things in the area..... e.g. we might go for a few hours in the morning and then to a baseball game at angel stadium in the evening/night without feeling like we have "wasted" a ticket day.

Huntington beach and laguna beach are great areas to visit. Santa Monica is one of our favourite ever places to stay and explore.
Paradise cove is an amazing private beach in Malibu where you can rent lounges and umbrellas and have a lovely relaxing beach day.
Knotts berry farm is another great amusement park close by to Disney... they also have a water park option (not used personally as our ids are a bit little).
Long Beach is another nice area to visit where you can explore the Queen Mary ship.

If you go to universal there is a great area called Universal city walk that you go through to get to the front gate... it is amazing at night with lights, shopping, resteraunts, movies and other fun stuff.

 

[AussieNSW]

Last year we did thanksgiving and into Christmas season. The park was beautiful and the extra events were fun. They also have Christmas makeovers for a number of rides. Consider booking events that allow to buy a meal and get tickets that mean you don't have to stand with huge crowds to watch things. This may help with your daughters tiredness for example world of colour dessert party which apart from desserts gives you a seat.
My family also enjoyed going to an ice hockey game Anaheim ducks.
This may be a bit much for you but we went to the Black Friday sales and would love to go again.
Consider some hotels near the toy story parking lot such as Homewood suites Anaheim convention centre it's just next door to the parking lot which means you can catch a bus straight up to Disneyland. Probably lesson walking than some of the hotels across the rd from Disneyland. It also gives you a kitchen free breakfast and a free snack dinner I think it is mon- thurs. walking distance to a Denny's and IHOP and Walgreens. Also has a lovely pool and coin operated washing machines and dryers and you can get rooms that have a seperate bedroom and tv area.

 

[Tashinwdw]

This will be a wonderful trip for you and your family. It truly is a remarkable happy place. I have spent more time at WDW than Disneyland, so not sure I can add anything. I am sure if you have been here for IF you go to san diego, I really liked old san diego town. (I did that prior to kids - so not sure what they would think) we stayed at best western park place opposite the entrance, it was suitable but nothing flash but they had a family room which meant all 6 of us could fit in the one room. We found it strange after being at WDW for 3 weeks that there were so many aussies at DL. even at Dannys everyone that walked in had an aussie accent. didn't realise at the time but in some aussie states the school holidays were on so that may have explained that. I have done MNSSHP and highly recommend that, and would love to do a Christmas at a Disney park. good luck with all your planning

 

[alisonette]

Just stopping by to say, "Congrats!" I'm in the process of planning our first ever Disney trip to Disney World and the feeling is incredible. Especially when things have been hard and it's been a long awaited and dreamed of! For advice, I had a friend who went to Disneyland on a budget and stayed at the Fairfield Inn. She really recommended it for it's location and price. For a family, I've also heard Howard Johnson is good.

 

[karen1987]

well, after lurking for several years, hoping and waiting, and three unexpected years of hospital and second transplant for my daughter .... finally we are cleared to travel so I can start planning our dream trip to Disneyland!!!

My daughter is now 11, my son 14 and I’m thinking 4-5 days Disney so we can come and go and rest more as my girl still struggles with tiredness. The kids would like universal and my husband would like a break from theme parks to visit the coast- not sure San Diego, Catalina island, la beaches there isn’t a plan yet.

I’d love any advice on hotels, other places to visit/shopping/fun outings etc please. We are taking this out on the mortgage because life’s too short right! My parents and my sister and family may do the trip with us too!

Anyhow thanks in advance xxx

Sounds like a well-deserved trip, kiwigirl! You'll have a blast!

My ten cents...we've only visited DLR at Halloween-time, so can only recommend that time of year. However, we've had an amazing experience both times and the crowds have been very manageable. On our first time to DLR we stayed at Park Vue Inn (highly recommended) and got a 5-day park hopper ticket in advance (I will message you the link), and were able to cover both parks and Downtown Disney at an enjoyable pace. Park Vue Inn is literally bang opposite the entrance to DLR and there is an amazing ice-cream shop onsite, which also offers 10% discount to Park Vue Inn guests! A decent hot and cold breakfast buffet is included too and you can see the fireworks from their courtyard!

If you're comfortable in doing so, I would recommend hiring a vehicle as LA is very spread out and will give you more flexibility to explore.

Universal Studios Hollywood is good fun and has many of the same rides and lands as Universal Studios in Orlando, minus the big roller coasters, but at Universal Studios Hollywood you can go on the backlot tour, which is very cool!

If you and your family are into it, the California Science Centre, Los Angeles Natural History Museum and the La Brea Tar Pits are all worth a visit, particularly the California Science Centre, which now houses the Space Shuttle Endeavour. This is where a car will definitely come in handy.

For food options outside of DLR, I would recommend The Pizza Press, which is a few minutes walk from Park Vue Inn. Delicious made to order pizza at a reasonable price (maybe not the NZ prices we're used to though!).

Good luck with all your planning and looking forward to hearing all about it!

We're based in Rotorua btw

 

[kiwigirl]

Thanks for all your replies! So exciting to even be chatting about it! I forgot to say we probably will go around September and I’m taking them both out of school. It’s really hard to decide on a hotel - walking distance or a bus ride? I would like one that provides the extra bed as the kids are too old to share!

Do you guys book the hotels yourselves through sites like Expedia or via a travel agent? I will look at arestravel for Disney tickets - great tip. Also if we want to see all the things like universal, science museum, tar pits etc should we split our stay? I remember doing the universal day trip from Anaheim 20 years ago (!) and found it a long tiring trip.

But I can see the hotels in Anaheim seem cheaper than say Santa Monica and Hollywood areas - we won’t be driving - it’s just a stress too far, so we’ll be relying on Uber/taxi/tours.

 

[LivingforDisney]

So exciting for you. I have been to Disneyland in September, it was hot, we always stay across the road from the parks, so we could just walk back for a rest or swim, without the hassle of waiting for a shuttle, had enough of that in WDW lol. Have stayed at Fairfield Inn, Carousel Inn, which I beleive is no longer around and the Camelot Inn, all were great.
If going in Sept u might want to check cause some of the rides close while they decorate them for Halloween, the park looks great, we didn't do the party cause my kids are not into Halloween.
Xmas was my favourite time there, the weather was great during the day but a little chilly at night.
If u want to do DL and Universal without a car , I would do a split stay, we always stay Hollywood Orchard Suites, u are right in the action of Hollywood Blvde and The Highland Mall is right there, my kids loved that area, lots of crazies out and about, but we always felt safe , didn't wander too far at night. But during Te day caught the subway one stop I think it was to Universal and we caught The public bus to The Grove, Farmers Markets and the tar pits.
I would book myself on line when u find a hotel that suits you, it's hard the bed situation with kids that age, I know, maybe son sleeps with hubby and u with daughter, otherwise u will have to get something bigger than a standard room.
Good luck with your planning

 

[kiwigirl]

So exciting for you. I have been to Disneyland in September, it was hot, we always stay across the road from the parks, so we could just walk back for a rest or swim, without the hassle of waiting for a shuttle, had enough of that in WDW lol. Have stayed at Fairfield Inn, Carousel Inn, which I beleive is no longer around and the Camelot Inn, all were great.
If going in Sept u might want to check cause some of the rides close while they decorate them for Halloween, the park looks great, we didn't do the party cause my kids are not into Halloween.
Xmas was my favourite time there, the weather was great during the day but a little chilly at night.
If u want to do DL and Universal without a car , I would do a split stay, we always stay Hollywood Orchard Suites, u are right in the action of Hollywood Blvde and The Highland Mall is right there, my kids loved that area, lots of crazies out and about, but we always felt safe , didn't wander too far at night. But during Te day caught the subway one stop I think it was to Universal and we caught The public bus to The Grove, Farmers Markets and the tar pits.
I would book myself on line when u find a hotel that suits you, it's hard the bed situation with kids that age, I know, maybe son sleeps with hubby and u with daughter, otherwise u will have to get something bigger than a standard room.
Good luck with your planning

Thanks for your advice. I might try a bit later in the year oct/nov if it’s too hot as I think that will make my daughter tired and grumpy!

 

[karen1987]

Thanks for all your replies! So exciting to even be chatting about it! I forgot to say we probably will go around September and I’m taking them both out of school. It’s really hard to decide on a hotel - walking distance or a bus ride? I would like one that provides the extra bed as the kids are too old to share!

Do you guys book the hotels yourselves through sites like Expedia or via a travel agent? I will look at arestravel for Disney tickets - great tip. Also if we want to see all the things like universal, science museum, tar pits etc should we split our stay? I remember doing the universal day trip from Anaheim 20 years ago (!) and found it a long tiring trip.

But I can see the hotels in Anaheim seem cheaper than say Santa Monica and Hollywood areas - we won’t be driving - it’s just a stress too far, so we’ll be relying on Uber/taxi/tours.

Personally, I would say walking distance is preferable as you'll be able to get into the parks quicker. But I guess staying further out and taking a bus would be cheaper?

We've always booked the hotels directly through the accommodation website, or on Expedia or Booking, whichever is cheapest.

To do DLR and then other bits in LA, and without a car, a split stay would be your best bet I think. In LA we've stayed at Hollywood Celebrity Hotel, which is right behind the Dolby Theatre, Chinese Theatre and the Walk of Fame. This hotel was also a short walking distance from the subway, where you can get a train directly to Universal Studios Hollywood. The subway ticket was a couple of US dollars each and about 10-minutes each way.

Can't comment on hotels around Santa Monica as we've always driven there and then left a few hours later. When we did look at staying around there though it was quite pricy. Perhaps look at staying a little further out from Santa Monica? We recently stayed 1-night in Culver City, which was a 15-min drive away from Santa Monica Pier.

We have used Uber in LA before we got a rental car and this was really easy to use with the app and cheap too!

 

[Montanabel]

Hi!
We also book accommodation ourselves, either directly with the hotel or via Expedia. If you don't want to book a suite, maybe you can look for a room that comes with two beds and a sofa bed? That way your kids will get their own bed.

We also do a split stay when seeing attractions in both LA and Anaheim. In terms of travelling around, Uber is really easy to use to get around if you don't feel comfortable in driving.

I would agree with LivingforDisney, September is hot. We were there last year and there were a couple of days around 40 degrees. October still has great weather, just a little bit cooler.

 

[aussie shaz]

We also book hotels ourselves through online agents (Booking.com etc) or directly through the hotel. Whichever is cheapest.
I would definately stay right across from the parks. We have stayed at Park Vue and Howard Johnston. The feeling of being so close to Disneyland when we stayed at Park Vue was amazing. Walked out our door and could see the entrance!
We hire a car when we go. Wouldn't go without it. It's so good to be able to explore, visit Walmart, In N Out burger, shopping etc. So much fun. We did 15 nights in Anaheim and just drove when we went to Hollywood, Universal etc. I wouldn't do day trips from Anaheim though if I didn't have a car.

 

[crazy Cat Lady]

Congratulations on your trip Kiwi Girl. I'm just back and can recommend mid November as a good time to visit. Lowish crowds and the weather was nice.

We have always stayed at the Holiday Inn in Walnut St which is about 15 min walk from the gates however I'd not recommend them (and wont stay there again) as the rooms are now very tired and the bathrooms more so. There are a stack of hotels closer that everyone has mentioned above. Use Google Earth to have a "walk around" the area to see what would suit your family.

We only spent one day at Disney this time (park hoppers are a must with them so close together) and found that Max Pass was well worth it for us to fully utilise the fast passes via the app and get ride photos. Mind you, it was just the two of us, but being able to book a RSR FP while still being in Disneyland finishing up a few rides there saved us a good 1 hour wait in the stand by line (FP for RSR ran out just after lunch). To give you an idea we booked the FP for RSR about 11 am and it gave us a FP return time of 3.30 pm. GoTG FP were also gone completely by 1.30 pm on a level 6 crowd day Monday.

Side note, security for DL is located outside Downtown Disney. The day we went we were through security in 3 minutes and having excellent bacon and egg rolls at the Earl of Sandwich by about 7.50 am (9.00 am open for DL, 10 am California Adventure that day) before joining the line up at the gates around 8.20 am. People who arrived at 9 am told us that they waited almost an hour to get through security due to the attacks that had happened in NYC the day before. Everything was being searched, so travel light and go early and you'll get more done.

If you buy your universal tickets online from them you get in to the Harry Potter area an hour before the park proper opens, which will save you time and crowds. We got in early at 9.00 am and had ridden FoTHG by 9.30 (if you get motion sickness wait for the tablets to kick in properly before riding it... ask Crazy Cat Boy how we know this! What a waste of a ticket! Doh.). They didn't open the bottom part of the park until 11.00 am which was disapointing to us as by 10.30 am we'd done the upper level and had to kill some time before they'd let us go down the escalators.

We stayed in Hollywood at the Holiday Inn express. I think given my time again I'd probably choose Lowes instead. It was closer to the metro station Hollywood and Highland which we used for 4 days and looked like a much nicer hotel. The Red line that runs through that station will take you to Universal inside 20 minutes (catch the free shuttle from the stop to the park, that's a very steep hill to walk up!) and to downtown in about the same. You can also jump off at different stops in between and catch the metro buses to La Brea and The Grove or train down to Santa Monica very easily. With only rudimentary knowledge of where we were going we managed to get around pretty easily. Google Maps when it was working for us was great with stops and arrival times for the buses.

If you decide to go downtown and want to use the Angels Flight Railway to go up and down the steep hill from the central markets it will only cost .50 cents per ticket if you have a metro pass and $1 if you don't. It's an adorable little trip and if you have lunch at the markets (lots of food options) and then go up to The Broad or the other galleries it'll save you some walking.

Santee Alley was interesting but it's a long and crowded strip so if your daughter gets tired easily I'd give that a miss. It's mainly cheap fashion so if you want cheap jeans it's the place to be.

We had dodgy wifi/data reception while we were downtown and found that the bike hire kiosks had pretty good maps that helped us out of some tight spots if you have the same problem!

If shopping is one of your I actually purchased some great tops and workout gear at Walmart. Cheap and pretty good quality for the price. I have to say that this trip I found the outlet stores not to be as good value as they have been in the past.

HTH and have an amazing trip!

 

[dabecs]

Yay congratulations!

We went in March this year and stayed at the Camelot Inn family suite, it had a king size bed, couch and dining table (and a tiny kitchenette) in one room and then the second room had 2 queen sized beds and the bathroom. It was plenty of space for our family of four and a very short walk to DL. We could even watch the fireworks from the hotel at night. It didn't include breakfast which was a bit of a downside but there is a McDonalds right next door and an IHOP between the hotel and the main gates

The planning is half the excitement!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I would second staying near Disneyland (like Camelot or HoJos) for your daughter for that part of the trip as getting tired may also hit her suddenly and she won't want to be mucking about having to catch buses though I guess you could just jump in a taxi. Really wanted to say I was so pleased to hear she has been cleared for travel and come good after her second transplant. Have to run so just quick comment now but all the best with your planning. It can get very tiring and hot so plan lots of downtime too and I would think travelling might be a bit more like how you'd plan with youngsters with a busy am, a rest then back later in day/eve but I am basing this on my experience of friend's teenager who had been ill and gets tired quickly still.