First timer with a lot of questions!

[Spoogle]

Long story short, I have until Thursday night at midnight to decide if we want to spend a couple of day at Disneyland Wed., Nov. 2 - Sat., Nov. 5. I have a couple of questions and not a lot of time to research them on this site, yet. So, if some of you wouldn't mind giving me a little information (or pointing me in the right direction), I would GREATLY appreciate it!!

1. Is there any type of shuttle from the airport to the offsite hotels?

2. There are numerous hotels that are close within walking distance, correct? Any recommendations? We're looking for something clean and cheap. If we stay in one of those, can we still participate in a dining plan?

3. Are there any dining plans? Would you recommend them?

4. What does a park hopper cost?

5. Is 3 days enough to do everything?

6. Any other suggestions on how to do this on the cheap?

Again, I know all of this information is posted somewhere on this site and I fully intend to do all of my research, I'm just trying to decide what this may cost me and I have to decide by Thursday night at midnight in order to get Southwest's sale price of $32 from Vegas (we'll be there Sat-Wed).

 

[IBLarsen]

I can help with a few...I'm sure others will have more info, but wanted to get you started

There are shuttles from the airports to anywhere you want to go. We have found we can usually rent a car for cheaper than or same as paying for shuttles for 4 people each way. (Check Hotwire). I can't remember the names of the shuttles...someone here will

You can do a lot in 3 days at DLR, I would say it's worth it for 3 days.

Lots of hotels across the street from DLR. We always stay at the Fairfield Inn (Marriott property). A lot of people here like the HOJO (Howard Johnson), there is a best western that is the closest, and cheap. Again you can walk from all of these and there are several more along Harbor right there.

There are dining plans, but from all the research I've done over the years, not worth it. Nothing like WDW's plan. You basically are just trading your money for the equivilant in vouchers to use for dining. Not really a deal at all.

For ticket pricing, you can go to disneyland.com and see pricing. You can also get tix through getawaytoday.com. I also just saw an ad on expedia for buying tix through them, but didn't compare pricing.

You can bring in your own waters and snacks if you would like to save some money that way, there are grocery stores nearby if you rent a car or do grocery delivery.

hope this helps get you started! Good luck!

 

[TeddiBarra]

Disneyland doesn't have a dining plan. They do have prepaid vouchers, but you have to book via WDTC (or AAA or Costco, but they utilize the WDTC computers) to do this. It literally saves you no money out of pocket, the vouchers have set $ amounts, except possibly a few bucks on character dining, if you got vouchers that included that.

There are airport shuttles- they cost extra no matter how you book.

The cheapest way will be to do it piecemeal vs a package (tried if many many times over the years and always is). Yes, there are plenty of hotels w/in walking distance, the further you are willing to walk the less $ it will be. For instance those RIGHT across on Harbor are more expensive (being that none of them are 4 star hotels, etc).

Do you have a price range for hotels? The good news is that early Nov will be off season and you are likely to find cheaper rates.

Anaheim Plaza Hotel on expedia has regular d/d rooms for $60 a night. Another popular hotel is Hojo's (will probably be about $90 a night), Ramada is $99 a night on Expedia, Park Vue $115 (note: park vue includes hot breakfast). One other thing- remember that all room rates you look at in Anaheim do NOT include 17% hotel tax (even the disney hotels).

Yes, for 3 days, full days in the park by those who can do FULL days (meaning stay from 9 amish to 10pm ish) you will get "everything" you want done. Just saw in another thread Pirates is due to be down for a long refurb.

3 day hopers are $199 adults $183 kids.
Were I to recommend, I'd suggest spending a bit more on the Park Vue (you didn't say how many are coming? but I'm going to presume a family of 4 is "we") because you should be happy with the hotel, and that gives you a full hot meal in the morning for less than what you could buy elsewhere...

 

[Spoogle]

Thank you both for the information. I've done a little bit of research into dining and I realized that it's not worth it. I just wasn't sure because we've done the dining at WDW and it is INCREDIBLE!! We may just eat at the QS places and maybe eat at one nicer restaurant.

We are looking at the Holiday Inn near Downtown Disney. My husband travels a lot for work so he should have 1-2 free nights. He's going to call about them tomorrow. It's about 1/2 mile away and a 10 minute walk. Through the Disneyland site, four nights at the Holiday Inn and 4 day hoppers are $821 (for two of us). That seems pretty reasonable. Hopefully we can use those free nights and bring it down even more.

Do either of you have any information on the airport shuttles? Are they through Disneyland or some other company? I'd like to try to find some information on that. About how far is Disneyland from LAX?

Thank y'all!!

 

[IBLarsen]

For shuttles, I have heard most about SuperShuttle....there is also Prime Time and the DL Express bus. I haven't used any of these, as I said, we have gotten great rental car deals through hotwire. BUT if you go to the top of the forum (right side) you can search the forum for Airport Shuttles. I know there have been lots of info on this topic.


We always fly into SNA and it's super close. Not sure if you can get the same rates into SNA as you are looking at for LAX, but if you can, I highly recommend it. I think LAX is about 1 hour I have heard. From SNA (Orange County/John Wayne) it takes us 15 min. Just an option if you weren't already aware

Sorry I don't have more insight into the shuttle service. Hope the search bar helps out, or someone with experience can help out here

 

[HydroGuy]

Do either of you have any information on the airport shuttles? Are they through Disneyland or some other company? I'd like to try to find some information on that. About how far is Disneyland from LAX?

Thank y'all!!

See "Airport Proximity to DLR and Ground Transportation Information" by 3TinksAndAnEeyore www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2318297

 

[TeddiBarra]

If you mean the Holiday Inn on walnut (which I think you do), it's not really a 1/2 mile walk/10 minute walk. It's adjacent to the M&F structure (there's like this 20 foot tall concrete wall that literally separates the two properties) BUT you have to go all the way around, there are no short cuts (we even tried cutting thru the CM parking lot, no luck, they won't let you). It's a 20 minutes walk, closer to a mile... it can be done, but you MAY want to consider buying ART passes. We never did use ART when we stayed there a few years ago, but were very ready to a few times, just for the tired feet factor.

Check on Expedia- they have some good rates (like $80 a night).

 

[Spoogle]

So would we benefit more from booking our hotel and park tickets seperate instead of buying a package?

 

[cougarfan84]

So would we benefit more from booking our hotel and park tickets seperate instead of buying a package?

I would price it out both ways and see which one is cheaper. In general, the package doesn't include any discount. It's just a convenient way to purchase everything at once in a single purchase/location. In my experience, I have found that buying things seperately may let you have the flexibility to buy from places that have lower prices (e.g. discounted tickets through a ticket agency, or a discount from the hotel, etc.).

 

[TeddiBarra]

So would we benefit more from booking our hotel and park tickets seperate instead of buying a package?

I have never ever found it to be cheaper to do a package (however, mine never include airfare). But you could check both ways.

 

[starshine514]

We stayed at desert inn and suites. Last time I checked they we're $59 for your dates. $4 resort fee and $8 for parking (so if you stay there, take the shuttle from the airport - don't rent a car). My sister BF took the super shuttle from LAX. They were very prompt. It was $13 each way, after googling for an online coupon. DI&S has a crummy continental breakfast, but it will do.

Hope this helps!