Help, 1st Timer w/ 2 year old

[ldmommy]

Hi all! We (DH and I) are taking our 2 year old to Disneyland for her 2nd birthday in October. We've never been with our baby girl and have a few questions.
1. We plan checking into the Grand Californian. Is that the closet hotel as far as the distance to the park? We figure the closer, the easier it would be to go back to the hotel for naps and such.

2. We plan on checking in on Saturday night - we'll get there late. Sleep and start to go to the park on Sunday. We plan on staying till Thursday. Is that enough time or is it too much time? We don't want her to be overwhelmed so we're trying to give ourselves plenty of time to go through the parks and not feel rushed.

3. Dining Plan - is it worth the money? It's been several (over 10 for me and over 20 for my hubby) years since we've been to Disneyland. How cost effective are the dining plans?

Sorry for so many questions - thanks in advance for your help.

Min

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I'll try to answer the questions I can.

1) The Grand Californian is basically IN Disneyland. Disneyland is not like Disney World where it's a gigantic property. So yes, you would be very close. I don't know if $$$ is an issue but they are plenty of off site hotels that are MUCH cheaper and are very short walks. We always stay off site at Disneyland because we can walk to cheaper hotels.

2) I'm assuming that you are planning to do California Adventure too. I think 5 days is more than enough time to cover the two parks. You won't be rushed.

3) Dining plan I dont' know about. Do they have the DDP at Disneyland? If they do, it's probably not worth it. I would suggest walking offsite to the other restaurants. Again, because there are so many places off site that are in walking distance, you really dont' have to stay on property.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Hi ldmommy and welcome to the DIS! I am going to move this thread over to the Disneyland board so more folks with Disneyland knowledge will see it.

 

[mindylovesmickey]

1. I think you will be very happy the the GCH, it's very close and convenient for naps and breaks. There are some off site properties that are just as close if $$ is an issue.

2. I think the amount of time is good, especially if you plan on taking naps and breaks away from the park, utilize the hotel amenities such as the pool and everything, I don't think any of you will get overwhelmed. You probably still won't see it all, but that will leave you things to do on future trips!

3. I don't think the dining plan is worth it, especially since you don't get change back on the vouchers. I could be wrong, though, maybe someone else could give you a better idea.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[EMAW]

Hi!

I agree with the PP, the GCH is super close, but not really any closer than some of the offsite hotels so if you want to save bunches of money I would check out HydroGuy's rules http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483 and some of the other posts. For example, we are staying at the Desert Inn & Suites for $99 a night for a two room suite.

The dining plan is not worth it at DL like it might be for some at WDW. There are lots of restaurants in DL, DCA and Downtown Disney but there are also many offsite.

We are going in June with our 6 and 2 year olds and are doing the parks for 5 days as well. We went last year and only spent 3 days in the parks and missed all of Adventureland and some other main pieces.

 

[Hound 109]

I'll try to answer the questions I can.

1) The Grand Californian is basically IN Disneyland. Disneyland is not like Disney World where it's a gigantic property. So yes, you would be very close. I don't know if $$$ is an issue but they are plenty of off site hotels that are MUCH cheaper and are very short walks. We always stay off site at Disneyland because we can walk to cheaper hotels.

This is correct, but technically the GCH is IN the Disneyland RESORT (aka DLR) which includes the 3 onsite hotels..... & also includes Disneyland (DL), Disney California Adventure (DCA), & Downtown Disney (DTD). fwiw, the GCH isn't inside Disneyland (DL), it's NEXT to DCA & a short walk to DL & is a wonderful hotel.

2) I'm assuming that you are planning to do California Adventure too. I think 5 days is more than enough time to cover the two parks. You won't be rushed.

I agree.

3) Dining plan I dont' know about. Do they have the DDP at Disneyland? If they do, it's probably not worth it. I would suggest walking offsite to the other restaurants. Again, because there are so many places off site that are in walking distance, you really dont' have to stay on property.

The DLR dining plan is NOTHING like WDW dining. Not a deal & not worth doing. DLR doesn't have the variety of WDW regarding dining. But one can find a nice meal (& restaurant) to eat at each day on a five day trip. Might want to review the dining sticky at the top of the DL board.

Have fun planning a trip to Walt's park.

 

[B9erSteve]

Hi all! We (DH and I) are taking our 2 year old to Disneyland for her 2nd birthday in October. We've never been with our baby girl and have a few questions.
1. We plan checking into the Grand Californian. Is that the closet hotel as far as the distance to the park? We figure the closer, the easier it would be to go back to the hotel for naps and such.

You'll love GC, It's a great hotel with one of the top rated pools in the nation (according to AAA) The travel time to and from the parks in very short and you will like that come naptime. I usually stay at DLH because It's more my style and price range with only a slight trade off in hotel to park time.

2. We plan on checking in on Saturday night - we'll get there late. Sleep and start to go to the park on Sunday. We plan on staying till Thursday. Is that enough time or is it too much time? We don't want her to be overwhelmed so we're trying to give ourselves plenty of time to go through the parks and not feel rushed.

You may want to plan for a short trip into the park on Saturday night if time allows. I don't go often in October and I can't remember if they are doing Fantasmic and fireworks every night or not at that time. If so then no problem but if they have cut back to off-season times you may find that to see those shows you will need to be there on a Fri, Sat or Sun night. That will make your Sunday night pretty busy and you may want to split up Fantasmic and the Fireworks up into two different days. You will have plenty of time. I think that you have planned just enough time with a small child. We just got back from a whole week, in which we spent all but one day in Disneyland. It was great. Lots of time to just relax and play rather than hurry, hurry, hurry!

3. Dining Plan - is it worth the money? It's been several (over 10 for me and over 20 for my hubby) years since we've been to Disneyland. How cost effective are the dining plans?

I can't imagine that the DP would be a good deal. Especially if it is implemented the same as it is in WDW. There is not that many sit down restaurants present and you will find yourself at counterservice more often than not. Do plan on spending a good chunk of change on food. Being onsite really makes it difficult for an easy run offsite for a cheap breakfast. I find that all of my meals are park related when I am onsite (Just too lazy to go get the car, load up, run to McDonalds, or other such inexpensive fare, then repark and hike to the park all before opening of the maingates!)

 

[grizbuzz]

We've stayed at GCH with a 2 year old (and younger) and it's fabulous. Some advice I have is to be aware that rooms can be very far from lobby. First time we got a Downtown Disney room which had a long long walk and also had some noise. Good to get a room closer to the elevators.

I also had experience with the GCH referred babysitters for my 2 and 4 year old and it went very well.

Have fun! Should be a fabulous trip.

-Jennifer

 

[bumbershoot]

I can't imagine that the DP would be a good deal. Especially if it is implemented the same as it is in WDW. There is not that many sit down restaurants present and you will find yourself at counterservice more often than not. Do plan on spending a good chunk of change on food. Being onsite really makes it difficult for an easy run offsite for a cheap breakfast. I find that all of my meals are park related when I am onsite (Just too lazy to go get the car, load up, run to McDonalds, or other such inexpensive fare, then repark and hike to the park all before opening of the maingates!)

Criminy, just walk up to McDs!


The dining plan at DLR. Instead of credits for a meal, you get vouchers with dollar amounts. So if you buy $10 exactly of food, you hand over a $10 vouchers. And you've pretty much PAID $10 for that $10 voucher.

If you buy $4.50 worth of food and use a $5 voucher, you do NOT get change.

If you don't want to lose those 50 cents, you can add to your food order, so, for instance, now you're buying $5.50 worth of food, not "losing" the 50 cents from the no-change problem, but you're now paying 50 more cents out of pocket.

If you want to pre-pay for your meals, it makes more sense to just buy gift cards before or during your trip, and pay for (almost) everything with the card(s).

Now, I have heard reports of "snack" vouchers, and the dining plan does include some character meal vouchers, so depending on which character meal you choose, you *can* come out a *bit* ahead. But you're going to have to plan VERY well to not lose money or pay extra money with the vouchers.




Feel free to read my trip reports linked in my signature. Well not the one linked with "The Carousel", that was a solo trip. But included in the "trip report" links are 2 one-day trips and 2 longer trips with me and our almost 4 year old, starting when he was just over 1.