Help! Disneyland in 2 days, on a budget...

[Kikisstar]

Disneyland newbie seeks expert advice for first trip:

We are avid WDW travelers, planning a WDW trip for mid-September 2016. When my family in Las Vegas decided to host a wedding 2 weeks later, and invited my girls (then 4 and 1) to be in it, we decided we needed to use this opportunity to rent a car and drive to Anaheim after the wedding. This will afford us precious little time in Disneyland for our FIRST EVER trip from 10/10-10/11. I could POSSIBLY stretch that to 10/9-10/11. But after going to WDW two weeks before that, and a wedding in Vegas on 10/08, we can't go breaking the bank on Disneyland.

As I understand it, we will be traveling in value season, and Mon/Tues in the park should be lighter foot traffic days. In WDW I would know exactly what to expect, but in Disneyland, I'm completely lost. I need help on where to stay on a budget that's a nice hotel within a very easy distance. (For WDW we are staying at Port Orleans - Riverside.) I plan on getting park hopper tickets as well. With our WDW trip, I know that Disney is likely about to announce a discount on our room for our dates of travel, as well as free dining. For Disneyland, I have no idea if they offer any kind of specials or discounts that may apply to those dates.

Basically if anyone can offer me any planning help, I would seriously appreciate it. My 4 year old is desperate to ride Snow White and Radiator Springs, so I'm really trying to make this trip happen for her.

 

[Geemo]

First off....

There are very few discounts or special for Disneyland. I will book and hope for lower rates to come up. If they do then I call and make changes to the reservations.

Here are a few links...
UnOFFICIAL 2016 Calendar
http://www.disboards.com/threads/2016-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3434866/

DLR abbreviations
http://www.disboards.com/threads/dlr-abbreviations-list.1520784/

Walking distance hotels
http://www.disboards.com/threads/walking-distance-hotel-list-w-discussion-details-of-hotels.2796786/

2 Maps of area around DLR
1. http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/Default.asp
2. http://anaheim411.com/2008_mapFRONT_xl.jpg

DLR hotels
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/hotels/

The two place we have stayed on Harbor when the 3 DLR hotels are out of budget.
General rule for rates is The Sooner You Book The Better The Rate Will Be.
1. http://tropicanainn-anaheim.com/
2. http://www.anaheimdesertinn.com/

Good luck with your planning.

Geemo

 

[azdisneylover]

If you have a membership to Costco, check out their packages. If you do not plan on going to a Character meal, you can use the premium character meal tickets elsewhere in the parks to help with your budget. Perhaps one of the days at DL, you can spend the morning and early afternoon exploring DTD, sleeping in and then go to Mickey's Halloween Party, then, you can get a 3 day park hopper instead of 4, or a 2 day park hopper instead of 3.
The closer the hotel, the better with little ones. Try to keep them on their schedule the best possible and that will help in having a nice visit.

 

[sherilaine]

I agree with Geemo - I think the term "value season" is a WDW term as I've never heard of it at Disneyland - they do not have to lower prices to entice visitors! If anything they are raising them to discourage people from coming.

Tickets will go up before your dates so I'd buy them NOW if you know you are going!

Also, October 10th is Columbus Day and the Mickey parties could be going on around that time ( I don't know for sure) but Halloween season will be in FULL swing. I'd not expect it to be slow, but manageable.

As to hotels, anything across the street on Harbor is easy walking distance and fairly affordable. I'd check out TripAdvisor and Google Maps to get a good idea of where is exactly "across the street" from Disneyland and what others have found in staying in those various motels/hotels.

Have fun!!

 

[Kikisstar]

Ahh, I completely failed to factor in Columbus Day. Whoops... I'm trying to decide what good neighbor hotel across the street would be easy on our budget and an easy distance? If the price is right, we would come over on Sunday and check in a night earlier. Otherwise, we are only going to be able to stay the one night. Any suggestions?

Also I think I saw 'value season' on this site somewhere indicating the last 3 weeks of October fell into that category, but it doesn't matter. I know this is a completely different ball of wax from planning a WDW trip. It just seems overwhelming since it's all new to me.

 

[purple figment]

Since you are familiar with WDW, check out Hydroguy's thread for Disney World vets:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/

DL has been consistently busy so you won't find a "low" season anymore. In october it will be busy with Halloween activities and you will be there for Columbus Day. However, it is still easier to plan for DL than for WDW. There are no Magic Bands, FP+ to book 60/30 days in advance and dining reservations do not have to be made 180 days in advance. DLR still uses the paper, day of FP. Table service restaurant reservations don't open up until 60 days in advance and even then many can be made much closer to your trip days. The 2 parks (DL and DCA) are very close together - approximately 150 steps from one park to the other and although smaller, DL has far more attractions compared to the MK.

As far as staying offsite, there are many places within walking distance. Geemo linked a thread about the nearby places. The closest is the Best Western Park Place Inn which is at the crosswalk right at the main entrance to the Disneyland Resort. We have stayed there many times as well as Hojo's, the Fairfield Inn and Ramada Maingate.

 

[smartlabelprint]

There is no value season.

I like best western park place inn. Book through Costco. If none available call the hotel they're nice.

Monday's aren't light.

 

[Caseheidi]

We were at DLR at this time in 2012 and discovered that most schools in UT, AZ and N CA have a fall break, and many families head to DLR. so be prepared for crowds. We were very surprised at how busy it was on week days.

There are many great affordable hotels on Harbor Blve, and some that are shorter walks the DH. I agree with PP on checking out pricing and location. We have had luck with some of the Best Westerns, but we did walk to the parking lot and took the shuttle in.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Oh yeah, we don't rent a car. Just get an uber from the airport or if LAX then a shuttle.

 

[SplashMo]

Stay at one of these three hotels:

Best Western Park Place Inn Free: breakfast (BF), fridge, micro, wi-fi, $10 parking, Costco discount :/B, P
Park Vue Inn Free BF, free parking, fridge, micro, wi-fi, $2 resort fee, B
Tropicana Inn and Suites Free sm. BF, other BF items available for $, fridge, micro, $9 parking, $10 for wi-fi, B, P

They are not as nice as POR but very easy to walk to the park. They are also not as nice as the value hotels at WDW. However they are very convenient and close.

Use the park hopper each day. Do FP RSR first and later on grab a FP for WOC. Do find Pirates, IASW and Haunted mansion on the map before hitting the parks. Also TSMM.

You can have active FP in both parks. Once everyone has entered the park with a ticket that day a FP runner can run to the other park to get FP there as well... I have not measured it but hopping between parks seems less walking then say AK front gate to the Safari. What I mean by that is starting in the middle of Dineyland and running to the far point of California Adventure. Skip downtown Disney unless you have a non park day.

The single rider lines are great if you portions of your group want to ride INDY for instance.

 

[Geemo]

Here's another favorite of mine for determining locations and distance to the parks.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3...&m=h&gz=0;-1179189741;338091968;0;0;37549;665

One dot is at the center of the Esplanade.
The other is at the crosswalk on Harbor Blvd.
This is where everyone staying on Harbor crosses to go to the parks

You can even see the Monorail track, look for it in the Esplanade.

Geemo

 

[amyg1975]

Stay at one of these three hotels:

Best Western Park Place Inn Free: breakfast (BF), fridge, micro, wi-fi, $10 parking, Costco discount :/B, P
Park Vue Inn Free BF, free parking, fridge, micro, wi-fi, $2 resort fee, B
Tropicana Inn and Suites Free sm. BF, other BF items available for $, fridge, micro, $9 parking, $10 for wi-fi, B, P

We love BWPPI, and have also recently stayed at the Tropicana. However, Tropicana no longer serves a small breakfast, but they have a small store on site that sells pastries and coffee, plus things like fruit, bars, and cereal, and yogurt.

Both places have said they are fully booked online, but when I contact them, they really do have rooms available.

 

[kathy040690]

we have stayed at
best western park place
park vue
ramada maingate (now grand legacy i believe)
candy cane inn and
red lion

i would stay at any of them again. my favorite out of them would be the candy cane inn for the hotel it self and best western for closeness to the park and it was also very clean.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Fairfield inn is also nice if you prefer hotel.

Courtyard Anaheim theme park entrance is brand new.

 

[Ndusmama]

I see many people have given you hotel recommendations. All are good. With little ones I recommend the plaza in character dining in the morning with Minnie. Make reservations at 60 days and you can get in before park opens.
In terms of crowd control and questions. first or second weekend in October is usually Anaheim gay days. Crowds really aren't bad. In terms of going with little kids, DCA has more older rides and less kid rides. You could easily do all kid rides in half a day just get there at opening. If you want to check out crowd forecast I love www.isitpacked.com.

 

[Nevada Jen]

Also, if you are envisioning driving from Vegas on Sunday, you should plan on starting really early or plan for an 8 hour drive. If you start early enough you might be able to get there in time to have a good day at Disney on Sunday. I wouldn't waste time on downtown Disney if you just hit it at WDW unless you are going there for food. So I don't think you need to factor downtown Disney into your plans at all.

 

[TalkDisnerdytome]

Also, if you are envisioning driving from Vegas on Sunday, you should plan on starting really early or plan for an 8 hour drive. If you start early enough you might be able to get there in time to have a good day at Disney on Sunday. I wouldn't waste time on downtown Disney if you just hit it at WDW unless you are going there for food. So I don't think you need to factor downtown Disney into your plans at all.

Yes start early especially since everyone that lives in California who visited Las Vegas for the weekend will be going back home on Sunday. I live in Vegas and when we return from visiting California the traffic from Vegas to California is crazy busy on Sunday but lucky for me the traffic from California to Vegas on a Sunday isn't bad at all XD.

 

[Diszona]

To get the best prices you will need to look at other vendors than Disneyland themselves. The most convenient is probably a website like GetAwayToday that has both hotel and tickets bundled together. They do offer discount pricing on hotels and tickets, though I have found with some extra effort there are other places like Orbitz, last minute travel and way.com that sometimes have better ticket prices (or hotel prices in the case of Orbitz). The nice thing about GetAwayToday is that if you find a price at another website that is better but you aren't sure if you trust them they will match it if you call them (and the other price is from a legitimate 3rd party vendor). I you decide to go this route, however, I would book early rather than later, a lot of the closest hotels get booked up early (though you can still usually find rooms available at other travel sites).

 

[Ndusmama]

Traffic from Vegas that weekend will NOT be bad Sunday. It is a holiday weekend. Traffic on Monday. I wouldn't do it! If you can get out of here (Vegas) Sunday that weekend I recommend you do that. As Talkdisnerdytome put it traffic leaving here normal weekend gets busy weekends. But 3 day weekend is much worse. It will normally take you 4 hours to get to Disney FYI.

 

[Geemo]

Disneyland newbie seeks expert advice for first trip:

We are avid WDW travelers, planning a WDW trip for mid-September 2016. When my family in Las Vegas decided to host a wedding 2 weeks later, and invited my girls (then 4 and 1) to be in it, we decided we needed to use this opportunity to rent a car and drive to Anaheim after the wedding. This will afford us precious little time in Disneyland for our FIRST EVER trip from 10/10-10/11. I could POSSIBLY stretch that to 10/9-10/11. But after going to WDW two weeks before that, and a wedding in Vegas on 10/08, we can't go breaking the bank on Disneyland.

As I understand it, we will be traveling in value season, and Mon/Tues in the park should be lighter foot traffic days. In WDW I would know exactly what to expect, but in Disneyland, I'm completely lost. I need help on where to stay on a budget that's a nice hotel within a very easy distance. (For WDW we are staying at Port Orleans - Riverside.) I plan on getting park hopper tickets as well. With our WDW trip, I know that Disney is likely about to announce a discount on our room for our dates of travel, as well as free dining. For Disneyland, I have no idea if they offer any kind of specials or discounts that may apply to those dates.

Basically if anyone can offer me any planning help, I would seriously appreciate it. My 4 year old is desperate to ride Snow White and Radiator Springs, so I'm really trying to make this trip happen for her.

Have you checked some flight from Vegas to one of the airports around DLR?
LAX, SNA (Orange County/ John Wayne airport) or LGB (Long Beach)
You might find it less expensive to fly. I know Jet Blue has some flights for $45, depends on the day you fly.