First time UK visitor as part of my honeymoon!

[Azza1987]

Hi everyone!

I'm usually posting on the disneyworld UK forum but I'm venturing over here as we've just booked our honeymoon flights so now it's official we're coming to California! We are going to be going on a road trip, but we're not doing much of LA as we can't fit it in to 19nights as we're saving it for another time but we are doing Disneyland because I can't go to Cali for the first time and not go to Disneyland!!

So we don't have a lot of time really but we fly our from the UK on Sunday 5th June and land in LAX at 11.45am US time! We're going to collect our hire car so we'll have it ready and then the plan is to head straight to Anaheim and go to Disneyland and try and last as long as we can to avoid Jetlag!

Then we'll have all of the next day Monday the 6th for California Adventure and the rest of Disneyland! Before we drive down to San Diego!

So basically can I have your absolute must do's that we need to see and do in a day and a half?

Restaurant recommendations? Is it like disneyworld do I need to start booking 180 days out?

Hotel recommendations? That has parking! I was thinking a Disneyland hotel but they seem quite expensive.

I plan to book my 2 day ticket on attraction tickets direct with hopper they are £144 each? Or should I just buy them on the day when I arrive?

Is it likely to be crazy busy being early June? We'll be there on a Sunday and Monday!

Basically any advice/tips you guys have for us UK first timers would be brilliant! Hopefully we'll figure out driving in the other side quickly so we can get there fast!

Sorry so many questions but I'm so excited to be going to the original Disneyland! Thank you

 

[mummabear]

Congratulations, DHs first time to Disneyland was on our honeymoon as well.
ADRs are made 60 days out at DLR rather than 180 like WDW. I would book Blue Bayou personally.
We liked Disneyland Hotel, you could do PPH which is a bit cheaper (but not a lot), we usually stay at the Hojo (but we have kids now)
I don't think you will save any money buying them earlier but it does save you lining up at the ticket booth.

 

[Jerryp49]

How far North in California do you plan to drive? I would recommend seeing Yosemite and San Francisco Bay Area over San Diego. If you get to S.F Bay , you can ride BART cheap ( Bay Area Rapid Transit ). It`s like the monorail except it runs 104 miles with 44 stations thru out S.F. and the East Bay. I would get on at a nice location like Fremont , ride thru the underwater tube to S.F. ,visit Fishermans Wharf, take Bart back across the bay to Pleasant Hill just to see the outlying areas, then back to Fremont.Avoid Richmond and Oakland.

 

[Azza1987]

Thanks guys! I'll have to set my reminder 60 days out so we can get in to some good dining places.

So our basic rough plan for the whole road trip is;

Sunday/Monday - Disneyland/Anaheim
Either drive down to San Diego Monday evening or first thing Tuesday.

San Diego until the Thursday

Then head back up the coast at tea time and stay somewhere around long beach for the night

Friday all day driving up to Pismo Beach, stopping off where we like.

Saturday all day driving up to Monterey via Big Sur.

Sunday - Monterey

Monday drive to Yosemite until Wednesday afternoon.

We might do Wednesday night in Napa Valley

Then head to San Fran airport - internal flight up to Portland until Sunday morning (we have friends there)

Back to San Fran until Thursday when we fly home!

 

[Serial]

Congratulations!

One thing to consider about buying tickets in advance vs. in person when you arrive -- Disney has been raising prices every year ahead of the busy summer season. February this year (probably due to the 60th anniversary celebration), May in 2014, June in 2013... You may want to buy your tickets in the early part of next year to lock in the current prices, or keep an eye out for rumors about price increases and buy your tickets online before it's expected to happen. Another upside is you can print your tickets ahead of time and spare yourself the wait at the ticket booth when you arrive.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of good suggestions for Disneyland here. Hopefully, the Diamond Anniversary celebration will still be ongoing and you'll get to enjoy the new shows and decorations (there hasn't been any announcement of an end date). I'll just add that making dining reservations at Disneyland is no where near as competitive or stressful as WDW. Most table service restaurants around the resort will have same day openings at good times with just a little bit of advance notice. You will want to have an ADR for the nicer restaurants like Blue Bayou in Disneyland (specify you want a waterside table when you check in -- you may have to wait, but it's worth it), Carthay Circle in California Adventure, and Napa Rose at the Grand Californian Hotel. Carnation Cafe, Goofy's Kitchen, and the Big Thunder Ranch Barbeque are also popular enough to warrant reservations.

Lastly, you should also check out the California sub forum for road trip ideas. I'd suggest here allowing for adequate time to make some of your drives in California. Big Sur is curvy as it is scenic and you'll find yourself driving slowly and stopping throughout the trip. It's good that you're giving yourself a full day. Monterey to Yosemite is a good 3.5 hours inland, and the usual two routes into Yosemite also involve windy roads at the end. June is a beautiful time to visit Yosemite as the waterfalls will be in full flow (hopefully from more rain this winter). Then, Yosemite to Napa is another 4 hours or more. Good luck!

 

[ADLFAN]

Congratulations! On your upcoming wedding and your first trip to Disneyland!

I think the beginning of June might be perfect timing, late enough that the Grad nights are just about done with, and before the summer season is at it's peak.

You'll want to identify your rides with Fastpass and collect those whenever possible. In Disneyland, at 1:00 or so in the afternoon, I would recommend looking as soon as possible for Fastpasses for Indiana Jones or Splash Mountain, or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, or Space Mountain. I would recommend not waiting in these standby lines even if no Fastpass is available, and trying them in the evening right before the park closes. We have the best luck scooting around right before closing and can usually get a few good rides in. I took the last ride of the night on a very uncrowded carousel on our last trip, I was alone, but I imagine it would be very romantic in your situation!

You can hold Fastpasses in both parks simultaneously, but DCA seems to have fewer rides utilizing it. Lets see what I remember...

DCA Fastpasses:
Radiator Springs Racers (these will very likely be gone already on your first afternoon, so be sure to try to ride it twice the next day, once in the morning and once at night! It requires some watching the clock at the distribution area, but that night time Fastpass was so worth it!)

Tower Of Terror

California Screamin

Goofy's Flight School (small cramped coaster)

Grizzly River Run

Soarin

Is that it? Let me mentally stroll through the park... For reference! Haha ok I added Soarin right away. It's the first major ride you come to, so it might as well be your first Fastpass. Love this ride!

If you find yourself with extra time, or for a 45 minute entertaining air conditioned break, I definitely recommend the Aladdin show in DCA.

Have fun planning!