First Trip Planned

[Oglet]

Okay so this is my very first step in planing a trip to DL. 2 Adults and 2 Children (11 and 6) Since we will be flying in I am wondering if we need to rent a car or anything and any tips etc would be great.

Im looking to stay on property somewhere with easy access to the park and probably not too expensive and dont plan to venture away from Disney during our trip.

Any ideas, suggestions Dining etc would be great.

 

[emacat]

A rental car would be great if you need to go to a beach,etc., but if you plan to stay right near Disney the whole time, you can use either the shuttles, that will take you to and from the airport, or a service. We are using one of the ones recommended on lastminutedeals.com, because we loved that we could have a private shuttle and driver waiting for us at our terminal, and also take us back at the end.

My kids love going to Minnie's breakfast on the first day. It's a great way for them to take it all in before running for the rides, and the food is amazing. they'll get to meet some characters and get souvenir buttons to take home.

 

[Oglet]

Sounds like a shuttle will be the best option. We live in Orlando, FL so we really have no interest in going to the beach and would be going this time purely for Disney. How many days would you suggest? 4 or 5?

 

[ykmom]

When we went last year we used the grayline Disneyland Express to get to and from the Airport. We did, once we were there decide to rent a car for a day to go to long beach to see the Queen Mary. We had planned to spend the entire time at disneyland, but decided we needed a break!

When we go this fall I will spend more time planning the dinning as we didn't really and ended up just eating at whatever was closest once we were getting grumpy from hunger - not the best plan. We did really enjoy the Jazz kitchen in Downtown Disney

 

[emacat]

Try this, it's the Disneyland shuttle. http://graylineanaheim.com/airport_info.shtml

We go five days, just so that it's not run, run, run. The kids love having some time to relax by the pool and splash around, and honestly, fitting in a few hours here or there will be a nice break for you, too.

We also take the little shuttle to and from the good neighbor hotels and Disneyland, so if you stay in one of them, I highly recommend it. The first day we thought we'd go on foot, no problem, but on the walk back, both us and the kids were worn out. The rest of the time, we did the little shuttle from the Hojo, and it was great. The hotels will get you the tickets and the shuttle times (about every 15 minutes) when you check in.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I am so glad that I found this thread. We are a family that are WDW veterans but have never gone to DL (ask me any question on WDW and I can surely answer it, but ask me a question about DL, well that is a different story ). Well, DH and I decided that next Sept. or Oct. we would like to spend a week (with kids of course) in DL. We just talked about renting a car so we can do other things than Disney since none of us has ever been to California before. I am really excited to hear the advice all you DL vets can give to us DL Newbies . Just out of curiousity, is there any sort of DL guide books that would be good to get so I can familiarize myself with the West Coast Disney? TIA. To the OP, sorry to hijack your thread, we are newbies ourselves and am looking for the best advice here on DL.

 

[emacat]

Honestly, Pooh, I find advice online is better than any guidebooks I've looked at for previous DL trips. I go between the Hojo message board, allears.net and here. Between them (and I hope it was okay to put those other two on here) we've found everything we need, from groceries to dining, transport to coupons.

 

[HydroGuy]

I am sure you will have a great time at the DL (Disneyland) theme park and everything else at DLR (Disneyland Resort). See "Disneyland Resort Lingo for Newbies" - www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2214012

This thread is popular around here and last I checked had 30,000 views: "A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599. I happen to agree with everything it says.

Three days is considered the minimum to have a solid DLR visit. Four is better. For us five days would be too much. Four days at DLR is roughly equivalent to 10 days at WDW.

Be very careful about choosing your days in June. There are AP trends that do not exist at WDW and you will be completely unfamiliar with. Hope you have not locked in dates yet.

For June see:

"Understanding AP Blockouts and Impact on Crowds" http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2365983

"The Scoop on Grad Nights at DLR in May and June" - www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400

And finally see:

"Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319

 

[mystic_path]

OOOH a new Disney Planner!!!

As an adult I have been many times, and at an average adult pace for me it takes about 4 days to see it all. Anything over that is just chillax time to go back and revisit your favorite shows and attractions.

Keep this in mind though:
Big shows like Fantasmic & the fireworks will only play on weekends. Fri-Sun. Although the new World of Color show is to be premiering in June. I heard rumor this particular show many run every night for the first while.

As for getting to the hotel from the airport there are several options

a) Rent a car, but if your not going anywhere besides Disney, this will be a waste of money. You do not need a car to go to Disneyland and to stay in the area.

b) The Disneyland Express, which is like a big Gray Hound bus which will drop you off, but you need to understand that there are other people who will have to be dropped off as well, and so that can be a bunch of time wasted depending on how many drops are going to be made.

c) Super Shuttle is a company who supplies small Vans which hold up to like 8 people, and they also make drops at other hotels along the way to drop off the people in your van. You never know, you might luck out and be the first ones dropped off, but you will not make as many drops as the Disneyland Express.

d) If you fly in to SNA (John Wayne) Which is the closest air port to Disneyland, you can get a taxi for just your family for around $40. Personally to me this is the best option. Super Shuttle from SNA although LAX does have Super Shuttle as well, it is around $10 per adult each way anyways. At least for a few extra dollars you will go directly to your hotel. Personally for my family this has always been our favorite option and will use it again for our up coming trip.


As for hotels, if you want to stay On site, maybe you can find entertainment rates, or some promotional package. Usually they have some amazing deals from January to the end of April where you can stay a few nights and get 2 free. Kind of like the one that is currently going on but is holding out until the end of October where you pay for 5 nights and get 2 free. The Grand Californian is the most expensive of the on site hotels, but it has its own access into Disney's California Adventure park that only hotel guests can access.

There is however a ton of fantasic off site hotels which are closer to Disneyland then the On site hotels. The Howard Johnson is a big favorite among us Disboarders, as there is usually some sort of discounted rate going on. The rooms there are really decent, and the pool exceptional . But I would highly recommend looking into the Carousel, and the Tropicana as well. They have great rooms and are less then a 5 minute walk quite literally to the main gates of the park. They (including the Hojo) are around many restaurants as well. Tons of option.

 

[Oglet]

Thank you for the great advice. We are not going until late February / March next year. I need to double check maingate blockout dates and make sure this time is open or should be open for maingate usage.

Im really excited about going to DL with my family as we are majorly burned out on WDW and DL has that something special that WDW doesn't have probably since it was and always will be Walts place.

Ive noticed airfares are kind of expensive at the moment from Orlando would anyone have any tips for Airports to fly into? Im sure over time airfares will change and better deals will become available does anyone have any idea of what a ballpark figure for a return ticket might run? I've seen $600 from uniteds website however I know better deals "should" become available

 

[mystic_path]

Thank you for the great advice. We are not going until late February / March next year. I need to double check maingate blockout dates and make sure this time is open or should be open for maingate usage.

Im really excited about going to DL with my family as we are majorly burned out on WDW and DL has that something special that WDW doesn't have probably since it was and always will be Walts place.

Ive noticed airfares are kind of expensive at the moment from Orlando would anyone have any tips for Airports to fly into? Im sure over time airfares will change and better deals will become available does anyone have any idea of what a ballpark figure for a return ticket might run? I've seen $600 from unites website however I know better deals "should" become available

I have to agree. WDW is great, but if it werent for Disneyland, there wouldnt be WDW in Florida, or Disneyland Hong Kong, Paris etc. There is something more magical to me about the originality of it all.

You might want to try looking into LAX if the packages are really expensive. Sometimes flying into LAX can be cheaper. Super Shuttle can be taken from LAX to the Disneyland area, which is about a 45 to an hour drive from LAX. It will be longer if you take the Disneyland Express from LAX, as I stated in my last post, the DL Express holds more people, and it depends on which terminal you pick your bus from. The more full, the bus the faster your getting to Disneyland as the bus wont stop at the other multiple terminals a long the way to pick people up. You will get right on the freeway and keep driving.

A friend of mine and his girlfriend just booked the same trip I did for the same hotel and everything, but decided to fly into LAX. They saved about $200 per person and got the Super Shuttle which cost $17 per adult one way. I dunno how much for kids. But from LAX Super Shuttle may be your best option.

Oh I also wanna mention if your gonna book through a travel agent such as "Getawaytoday" or "Oribtiz". Their prices seem to drop a little bit every Wednesday, and I dunno why that is. But ive toyed with that for over a year and a half now and it has never failed me yet. Good Luck!

 

[HydroGuy]

Thank you for the great advice. We are not going until late February / March next year. I need to double check maingate blockout dates and make sure this time is open or should be open for maingate usage.

I did read the posts but somehow got the idea that you were talking about June. Sometimes I switch back and forth between posts and must have gotten confused.

Anyways, with your dates make sure you understand off-season - "What You Should Know About Off-Season at DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18462889

 

[Hound 109]

This thread is popular around here and last I checked had 30,000 views: "A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599. I happen to agree with everything it says.

This thread (above) is absolutely the starting point for any WDW vet visiting DLR for the first time. Better than any guidebood & 99.99% accurate with especially useful info for the disboard type visitor. Read it twice.


Then read the rest of Hydroguy's tip threads:

HydroGuy DLR Tips Compilation: www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483



Have a great time planning a visit to Walt's Park.

 

[emacat]

I did read the posts but somehow got the idea that you were talking about June. Sometimes I switch back and forth between posts and must have gotten confused.

]

Actually, HydroGuy, I'm the one going in June. That might have been what you noticed.

June is absolutely crazy, but for us we go because our friends live there and have AP's, and we try to schedule a few days with them at Disney around the time we go. However, for a first timer, I would indeed avoid the AP/grad nights, if possible.