First Timers itinerary

[misty7260]

This is our first trip to DL. We are going with our dd6 and dd8, who will be turning 9 while we are at the resort. I have learned tons from this board, and made some plans and am looking for some advice from the experts.

We are arriving sometime in the afternoon on May 7, a Saturday, we are driving in from Vegas. I have booked conceirge at DLH, and 4 day ph passes. DH said we only needed 3 days, as we didin't need to go Sat. but i figured it wasn't much more, and would be worth it, even if we just wondered around and found things we will have reservations for.

My plan is to make reservations for BBB on Sun the 8th, dd's birthday, for both girls and then lunch reservations at Ariel's Groto that day. We will have the princess buckets delivered there for the birthday.

I am also planning on having the Mickey birthday package set up in our room on that Sunday.

Dh has heard that Goofy's Kitchen is a must, so we are planning either Breakfast or Dinner there on Monday, any suggestions on which would be best would be appreciated.

I really haven't got any other plans, as yet, other than to go with the flow, but anything could happen and that could change.

So far, how does it look? Anything you vets would change?

Thanks

 

[skiingfast]

How many days are you in vegas for? If it is 3 or more you will probably be ready to leave and get to DL around 2pm. It's 4 hours or less drive time and I doubt with the kids you will be up late.

Because you are hitting an off peak time you may only be there when Fireworks and F! are playing on the weekend. This might make it extra worth while to have the fourth day.


Also note the DD having the birthday is a child for tickets as she will be 8 when you arrive.

I would do breakfast at Mickey and Friends before Goofy's. It's in DL and will let you enter and eat before the parks opens. You get to see a bit of DL empty which is a treat. Still Goofy's is in Rehab and could be really great when it reopens. Just have to wait and see on that.

 

[appleseed1]

Thx. for the info.!

Best,

 

[misty7260]

Thanks for all the info.

We are only in Vegas for one day.

The current plan is to leave Thurs. night when dh gets off work, and drive to the Salt lake area, about 4 or 4 1/2 hours for us. Then we will get up and drive into VEgas on Friday, should arrive around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We just wanted the kids to see the city at night, it's super cool, and we thought we might do the dinner thing at Excalibur.

On Sat. morning we are going to get up and play it by hear, but probably not spend too much time in vegas, just get on the road, and be at Disney by early afternoon, so I think having the 4th day will be good thing.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Thanks for all the info.

We are only in Vegas for one day.

The current plan is to leave Thurs. night when dh gets off work, and drive to the Salt lake area, about 4 or 4 1/2 hours for us. Then we will get up and drive into VEgas on Friday, should arrive around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We just wanted the kids to see the city at night, it's super cool, and we thought we might do the dinner thing at Excalibur.

On Sat. morning we are going to get up and play it by hear, but probably not spend too much time in vegas, just get on the road, and be at Disney by early afternoon, so I think having the 4th day will be good thing.

Perhaps you want to stay in Vegas but we drove from the SLC area *45 min or so North of SLC ~ the Ogden area if you're familiar with N UT* to DLR in one day ~ we left home around 2pm and got to our hotel near DLR at 12am *so 1am UT time.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

This is our first trip to DL. We are going with our dd6 and dd8, who will be turning 9 while we are at the resort. I have learned tons from this board, and made some plans and am looking for some advice from the experts.

We are arriving sometime in the afternoon on May 7, a Saturday, we are driving in from Vegas. I have booked conceirge at DLH, and 4 day ph passes. DH said we only needed 3 days, as we didin't need to go Sat. but i figured it wasn't much more, and would be worth it, even if we just wondered around and found things we will have reservations for.

My plan is to make reservations for BBB on Sun the 8th, dd's birthday, for both girls and then lunch reservations at Ariel's Groto that day. We will have the princess buckets delivered there for the birthday.

I am also planning on having the Mickey birthday package set up in our room on that Sunday.

Dh has heard that Goofy's Kitchen is a must, so we are planning either Breakfast or Dinner there on Monday, any suggestions on which would be best would be appreciated.

I really haven't got any other plans, as yet, other than to go with the flow, but anything could happen and that could change.

So far, how does it look? Anything you vets would change?

Thanks

Four days is probably better. Since you are going in early May, the parks will only be open longer hours on the weekend. Fantasmic and fireworks will run on the weekend but not necessarily during the week. Having both Saturday and Sunday nights will give you a better chance of seeing these shows and give you more nighttime hours in the parks.

I would consider Goofy's for breakfast on one of your weekday mornings; it gives you something to do with your girls while waiting for the parks to open. Goofy's will open at 7 AM, but Disneyland probably won't open until 9 or 10.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Also note the DD having the birthday is a child for tickets as she will be 8 when you arrive.

Child tickets at Disneyland are for ages 3-9, so there wouldn't be a question for OP in any case. If they go again next year and start their trip when their DD is 9 and then she turns 10 during the trip, they are ok with the child ticket the whole time, and I guess that's the point you were trying to make.

 

[skiingfast]

Thanks for all the info.

We are only in Vegas for one day.

The current plan is to leave Thurs. night when dh gets off work, and drive to the Salt lake area, about 4 or 4 1/2 hours for us. Then we will get up and drive into VEgas on Friday, should arrive around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We just wanted the kids to see the city at night, it's super cool, and we thought we might do the dinner thing at Excalibur.

On Sat. morning we are going to get up and play it by hear, but probably not spend too much time in vegas, just get on the road, and be at Disney by early afternoon, so I think having the 4th day will be good thing.

I would aim while it's night to get through SLC if you can stay in Provo that will get you close to the edge of the city and out of there fast the next morning. Otherwise as you may know I-15 is pretty sluggish during commutes. So you would get there at night after, make it all the way through the metro area and stay on the edge. You can get to LV pretty quick doing this.

If you are the kind of familes' that like picnic lunches on the way there is a nice rest area about 10 miles south of Cedar City.


Since you could have a whole evening in LV. I think the tournament of Kings dinner is a good idea for the kids. Also consider going to Fremont Street early evening after sunset for the light show. Other than that for kids maybe the volcano in front of the Marage, the pirates show at TI, and Bellagio Fountain, though kids will like WoC so much better that could be a waste.

 

[coaches24]

I really recomend Minnie and friends breakfast at the plaza inn in DL. We had a great time. I haven't been to any of the others but hear (from these boards ) minnies has the most characters.

Also the best meal my family and I had on our trip was easily big thunder ranch BBQ for dinner. All you can eat and it was about 24 a person when we went. Great food and service. And you are guaranteed to walk out full. If you like BBQ then this is a must.

 

[starshine514]

Since you could have a whole evening in LV. I think the tournament of Kings dinner is a good idea for the kids. Also consider going to Fremont Street early evening after sunset for the light show. Other than that for kids maybe the volcano in front of the Marage, the pirates show at TI, and Bellagio Fountain, though kids will like WoC so much better that could be a waste.

I second the tournament of kings dinner. We took our girls to Vegas in October and they LOVED the Bellagio fountain show and the lions at the MGM (my DD4 has a thing for lions - and they had cubs there). We didn't do the TI pirate show (but I hear it's now a 'siren' show with scantily clad females) or the Fremont Street experience (but I hear it's really cool). Oh, there's also a Disney Character Warehouse there (if you aren't getting enough Disney shopping in).

 

[misty7260]

You are all amazing. thanks for all the input.

We decided to take it easy and not rush, there are lots of things to do between Idaho Falls, and Disneyland. We are onlly going to be in Vegas 1 night, probably arrive around 2 in the afternoon. We are looking at the tournament of kings, but it is crazy almost $60.00 each, and children do not get a discount, so we may have to pass this time.

 

[Brady's Mom]

You are all amazing. thanks for all the input.

We decided to take it easy and not rush, there are lots of things to do between Idaho Falls, and Disneyland. We are onlly going to be in Vegas 1 night, probably arrive around 2 in the afternoon. We are looking at the tournament of kings, but it is crazy almost $60.00 each, and children do not get a discount, so we may have to pass this time.

You could also consider the extra 30-40 minutes outside of Vegas for the Hoover Dam. We considered it when we stayed in Henderson last year. We got to the Vegas area a little later than planned, though and didn't feel like driving the extra little bit.

We stop in Vegas a lot when we drive (we're in Utah) and it's a nice stopping point for us. We don't like to stay on the Strip - we usually stay at the Staybridge Suites in Henderson. Last April our rate was $70 a night and the hotel is only about 2 years old.