First Disneyland Trip

[dtr_angel]

I know I've posted here before a few times - I'm happy to say that my husband & I are officially planning on first Disneyland trip - finally! We don't know the week yet, but we should know soon. It will be sometime between the middle of May, and the end of August this year. My husband gets a week vacation that goes from Saturday to Saturday. We're planning on the day we get there not to visit a park. Then our next 4 days will be spend at the two parks (two days at each, is that enough?) and on the 6th day we fly home. Planning this trip will be so much different than planning a WDW vacation.

Hotel - We'll be staying at a Good Neighbor hotel. Any recommendations? We don't want to spend too much per night, our only requests is that it's not too far away, the hotel is really clean, and preferably has a pool. I'd LOVE to stay at one of the DLR but they are really expensive :S

Transportation - We are going to use Disneyland Express to get to and from the airport. We're going to fly into either John Wayne or LAX. I know John Wayne is closer to DL, but flights seem to be cheaper into LAX.

Food - we are going to just pay out of pocket for our food & meals while at DL. We'd like to do some table service meals, as this is what we are used to doing at least once a day on vacation in WDW. Any recommendations? Will we need to make any ADRs?

On the first day we get there, we're not planning on going to a park. If we get the earliest flight out, with the time change we will be getting to California around lunch time. If the Dodgers are playing, we'd like to see a Dodgers game. Something I've always wanted to do was going on one of those tours of celebrities homes or some sort of tour of LA - I guess I watched too much I Love Lucy when I was younger anyway, would it be possible to do either one of those things without renting a car? I'm just wondering how easy it would be to leave the DL/DTD area to do non-Disney things.

 

[Dizzy4DL]

4 days is perfect. There isn't quite enough in DCA for 2 whole days though.
The walk between the parks is only a few minutes, so park-hopping is a breeze!

I have only stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn.
It isn't fancy, but it's clean, has free breakfast and a simple pool.
And the walk....5 minutes to the main DL entrance!
But most people on these boards seem to prefer Hojo's up the street.

I thought it was cheaper to fly into LAX too.
But on this next trip we will be flying into John Wayne for the same price.
We will be using Super Shuttle for transport.

Out of pocket for food is the only way to go at DL.
They don't have the same dining plan as WDW, it's really just vouchers.
You are better off buying gift cards ahead and paying with those.
And yes, for the table service meals, you should call for Priority Seating since
you will be there when it's busier. You can call 60 days in advance.
(714) 781-DINE

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[zeitzeuge]

Four days is PLENTY of time for both parks. We did four days once and honestly by the fourth day, we were kind of over the parks (if thats even possible, I know) and were ready to do something else. By the third day we had rode almost everything multiple times. Some attractions, way more then we could count.

We always stay at Fairfield Inn on Harbor, which is about 89-119 a night, short walking distance to front gate, clean, nice staff.

We prefer John Wayne and it's only a 20 minute shuttle ride. LAX though, is cheaper flights. Sometimes, $100 cheaper for each ticket. LAX is bigger and kind of a pain to get through, and the drive is about 40 min when traffic is ok. We deal with the time difference to save money by flying to LAX. If we're not worried about money, we fly into John Wayne.

You don't have to worry about ADR's as much at DL, unless you want to eat at Blue Bayou. Put your name in early in the day if you eat at Cafe' Orleans, which is a must. The best gumbo and pomme frittes.

 

[becpee]

I don't have much to add, what websites are you looking at for accom?
Check them all, they have deals out all the time, we stayed at Paradise Pier for under $100USD per night.

Try Expedia and Hotels.com

We also had no trouble eating at any restaurants with no ADR's, booked a couple of character breakfasts while there.

Have a great trip, I Disneyland

 

[Dreaming of Main St]

I don't have any good info on hotels or LA tours, but I will share my thoughts about the food. We're WDW vets too and were used to enjoying nice table service meals at Disney. When we started going to Disneyland a few years ago, we found the table service options were a little more limited, so we mix it up a bit more. Here are some of our favorites...

Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen - table service - this is our fav! If the weather is good, it's so nice to sit outside and enjoy the DTD atmosphere

Jazz Kitchen Express - counter service - kid's fav

White Water Snacks - counter service at GCH

Cafe Orleans - table service - Disneyland

Wine Country Trattoria - table service - DCA

Pacific Wharf Cafe - counter service - DCA

Tortilla Jo's - table service - DTD

 

[blackjackdelta]

Four days is plenty enough for only two people. You can google Holloywood tours to find something to fit your budget and time frame. We like DCA to get away from the Disneyland insanity but that has been changing the last few years and with more construction going on it may take more time to navigate the landscape. Have fun when you get there.

Jack