Help me plan my next trip

[corinne76]

**new here so please tell me if this is in the wrong place.

So we're planning to go to DL/DCA in October 2015. My daughter has a week off of school and we figure the crowds won't be as bad as when I had originally wanted to go, which was first week of June.

Our plan is to leave Hawaii at night on Friday night, and get to California in the morning. Yes, I totally take advantage of that first day.

My kids will be almost 8 (a girl) and 4.5 (boy).

I plan to do 5 days, maybe hopper. Last time I stupidly bought tickets at the gate and didn't have an early morning. We went last June and my son was still too small to do the bigger rides like RSR and Splash Mountain so I'm pretty excited that he's bigger and not afraid of kid sized roller coasters anymore.

DD is still into the Princess thing, so I'm considering Ariel's Grotto. We did do Fantasy Faire last time.

My random and excessive questions:
*Is Ariel's Grotto worth it? Or is there another eatery we should do instead? I'm also considering the PLaza Inn breakfast
*Can anyone recommend a good schedule? When should we do early morning, and should it be DL or DCA? We hopefully can get to the park before lunch (after getting bags and the car and changing) , and all the way til Friday (I may throw in a day at Legoland and a day at the zoo) Disney does not have to be a consecutive 5 days.
*Anna and Elsa! Is the meet and greet ridiculous? They weren't there the last time we went and DD MUST meet them
*Anything else we need to do?

I feel like we missed so much. I hadn't been to DL for 15 yrs before last year's trip. It was relearning where to go and what to do. My kids can easily go all day at the park so I want to try and hit as much as I can.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I appreciate it!

 

[lalasmama]

**new here so please tell me if this is in the wrong place.

So we're planning to go to DL/DCA in October 2015. My daughter has a week off of school and we figure the crowds won't be as bad as when I had originally wanted to go, which was first week of June.

I think this is a great time to go. The parks will be decorated for Halloween, which will be fun, and I think you are right about the crowds being less. There may be, depending on when in the month you go, Halloween parties that will close DL down a bit early.

Our plan is to leave Hawaii at night on Friday night, and get to California in the morning. Yes, I take advantage of that first day.

Will your kids sleep on the plane? Mine doesn't, which is why I ask Then again, I don't think any of us sleep well the night before a trip to DL! Might as well take advantage of the day if you think your kids can handle it!

My kids will be almost 8 (a girl) and 4.5 (boy).

Great ages for another trip to Disneyland, assuming your boy is over 40"!

I plan to do 5 days, maybe hopper. Last time I stupidly bought tickets at the gate and didn't have an early morning. We went last June and my son was still too small to do the bigger rides like RSR and Splash Mountain.

I'd definitely consider doing park hopper tickets. In my experience, I always like to be able to go back and forth. If one park is more crowded for some reason, I love the ability to just hop on over to the other park! And, heck, sometimes, I'm just hankerin' for a ride on (whatever ride), and I like the ability to just head on over to it, no matter what park it is in!

The girl is still into the Princess thing, so I'm considering Ariel's Grotto. Or is there another eatery we should do instead?

Ariel's Grotto is still the place to meet the most Princesses in the easiest and least amount of time!

My random and excessive questions:

(There's no such thing as excessive questions around here!)

Is Ariel's Grotto worth it?

This varies on how big your budget is, and what goals you hold. In our case, it's not worth it... but my daughter is "ho-hum" about princesses! Our nanny's family *loved* Ariel's Grotto, because her DD (also 8.5yo) is very much into Princesses. *We* wouldn't spend the money on it, because our daughter isn't interested, but plenty of people love it, and consider it very worth the price.

Can anyone recommend a good schedule? WHen should we do early morning, and should it be DL or DCA? We will have Saturday, and all the way til Friday (I may throw in a day at Legoland and a day at the zoo) Disney does not have to be a consecutive 5 days.
Anything else we need to do?

We don't do a specific schedule. I start the day asking everyone what they want to accomplish today (certain ride, certain snack, etc), and try to knock those out of the way, multiple times if possible in the case of specific rides. In our case, Hubby loves Radiator Springs Racers. So, we may start out in California Adventure (DCA) and head straight there, riding stand-by, and then go get a fast pass (FP) for it for later in the day. And our daughter "must" ride Indiana Jones (IJ) every day, so when we head back to DL, we head over there for a FP as well. In my case, I love my tiki birds and Dole Whips, so we often get the IJ FP, and then enjoy a Dole Whips and the birdies while waiting for the FP time window to come up. Then, we know we have done everything that each person wanted, and we count it as a "successful" day--anything else beyond our "must-do"s is just extra magic!

I'd do your early morning on a weekday. I can't remember the back and forth schedule any more. (We're military, and go with the Salute tickets, which don't have early morning hours.) We prefer to do Fantasy Land on a weekday morning, when crowds are generally quieter, so if we had an early morning, that would probably be our strategy.

Breaking up Disneyland with a trip to LEGOLAND or the zoo would be a nice thing! I'd do one or the other (or both!) in the middle of the week, with 2-3 Disney days on either side of Lego/zoo. It allows a bit of a break on the legs! Disney allows 13 days, I believe, from the date of first use, to finish using the ticket, so this won't be a problem at all.

Just re-read your paragraph, and you said you'll be there Saturday to Friday. So, honestly, I'd do Lego or the zoo Saturday (less walking, will allow time to get to the hotel and bed at a reasonable hour). Sunday, Monday at Disney. Tuesday at the zoo/Lego (whatever you didn't do Saturday). Wednesday to Friday back at Disney.

I feel like we missed so much. I hadn't been to DL for 15 yrs before last year's trip. It was relearning where to go and what to do. My kids can easily go all day at the park so I want to try and hit as much as I can.

It's changed a LOT in 15 years, as you discovered last time! I'd been a few times growing up, including a trip when I was 17, and when I went 15 years later (the difference of 1997, I think, to 2012), there were so many things that weren't how I remembered them at all, and I spent a bit of time feeling very lost, and trying to assimilate my memories to what I was seeing with the 2012 trip! The good news, at least for me, was that after that 2012 trip, I remembered things so much better, and each successive trip has been less wandering-due-to-being-lost

Thanks in advance for any advice. I appreciate it!

My answers are above, in blue

 

[corinne76]

Thank you! I hadn't thought of Halloween parties. Boo. Her fall break is typically the first full week of October. DH just wants to go then because it won't be AS crowded and maybe a little cooler. I'm all game for going in June again. I just want to go

The last time we went, she got out of school on Friday and we flew at 11pm. Kids slept almost the whole 5 hr flight. They were so excited when we got to California that they didn't realize how little sleep they had. We did Knotts first because I was afraid they would be too tired and would waste a day at DIsney but they went full blast til about 10pm. So I think I'm just gonna head straight to Disney this time.

I'll wait to see how into the princesses she is when it gets closer, but we may just have to do the Grotto. I think this trip will be it for her princess-loving days so we might as well do it now. She insists that she won't be too old to dress up too. DS isn't into characters much, I think they still kinda freak him out. All he wants to do is see Mater and Lightning in Cars Land. it's pretty much all he remembers from the last trip. he was just barely over 2 after all.

He's about 38.5" barefoot (I totally measured him yesterday. i'm not crazy, I swear). I will stretch him and put lifts in his shoes if I need to. I told myself we were going in June, which is exactly 2 years from when we last went. October is pushing my waiting limit LOL. I dont want to wait any longer.

I think I may love Disney more than the kids Nothing wrong with that right?

 

[corinne76]

What's riding stand-by?
We did some fast passes, and rider switches (we went with my bff and her family last time, may be just the 4 of us this time). no clue what stand by is. How does it differ from FP?
we completely missed the FP for RSR the first day we did DCA and only rode it once the 2nd day. I would love to do it at least twice this time.

Lego on Sat may be a good idea, since it's a smaller park. The only drawback is that we'd have to drive to get there, whereas DL is right there you know? We stayed off site last time, but across the street.

 

[lalasmama]

What's riding stand-by?
We did some fast passes, and rider switches (we went with my bff and her family last time, may be just the 4 of us this time). no clue what stand by is. How does it differ from FP?
we completely missed the FP for RSR the first day we did DCA and only rode it once the 2nd day. I would love to do it at least twice this time.

Lego on Sat may be a good idea, since it's a smaller park. The only drawback is that we'd have to drive to get there, whereas DL is right there you know? We stayed off site last time, but across the street.

Riding "stand-by" is the regular line. I misspoke in my last post, and should have said we do single rider stand-by, which gets us through much quicker than regular stand-by. I'll edit that in a moment. In case you haven't done single rider, it's basically kind of like a FP for people who don't have to ride with the rest of their group. Adults and kids over 7 are allowed to do it. We use it most often with Matterhorn. Our family rule is "the first time ever, we ride as a family" and any time after that, we can do single rider. My daughter is 10.5yo now, so she's all about trying to be independent when we aren't too far away... and single riders are a great way to do that. We're going to be a ride car before/after her, give or take, so she's only without us for mere moments, and totally restrained, so there's not much of a safety issue (at least, how I see it). There's 8 rides, I believe, that are set up for single rider (let's see--I think it's Grizzly River Run, Soarin', Screamin', Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, Goofy's Sky School [not 100% sure on this one], and I can't remember the others). Since you will have a 4yo with you, it won't make too much sense to use single rider, unless only 2 of you (like hubby and daughter) want to ride a ride.

With the ages of your kids, I'd suggest Lego on Saturday. As you note, smaller park, and it will allow you to get back to your hotel early enough to catch up on any missed sleep from the night before, and be bright-eyed for the first Disney day. But I'd have a heck of a time not going to Disneyland that first day!

 

[lalasmama]

Thank you! I hadn't thought of Halloween parties. Boo. Her fall break is typically the first full week of October. DH just wants to go then because it won't be AS crowded and maybe a little cooler. I'm all game for going in June again. I just want to go

The last time we went, she got out of school on Friday and we flew at 11pm. Kids slept almost the whole 5 hr flight. They were so excited when we got to California that they didn't realize how little sleep they had. We did Knotts first because I was afraid they would be too tired and would waste a day at DIsney but they went full blast til about 10pm. So I think I'm just gonna head straight to Disney this time.

I'll wait to see how into the princesses she is when it gets closer, but we may just have to do the Grotto. I think this trip will be it for her princess-loving days so we might as well do it now. She insists that she won't be too old to dress up too. DS isn't into characters much, I think they still kinda freak him out. All he wants to do is see Mater and Lightning in Cars Land. it's pretty much all he remembers from the last trip. he was just barely over 2 after all.

He's about 38.5" barefoot (I totally measured him yesterday. i'm not crazy, I swear). I will stretch him and put lifts in his shoes if I need to. I told myself we were going in June, which is exactly 2 years from when we last went. October is pushing my waiting limit LOL. I dont want to wait any longer.

I think I may love Disney more than the kids Nothing wrong with that right?

I think that first week in October would be a GREAT time to go! I'm not sure exactly when the Halloween parties start, but if they are going then, just move over to DCA instead that evening for more park hours!

Having a 10yo daughter, I totally get milking those last days of Princess love! She would never admit now that she likes princesses still (and yet, when alone, she still dresses up as Rapunzel and still begs to watch Frozen and Cinderella ad nauseum).... I miss those days when school shopping meant finding princesses and being set!... This last trip, DD was 9 years old (there for her 9th b-day) and she dressed up every day. One day, it was just a pink tulle tutu with a multiple princess shirt (and leggings, of course!). Hubby thought she was too old to dress up, but I'll admit that I loved getting that final dress-up time, getting all sparkly! She's our last one (baring any miracle) so I'm trying to avoid pushing her through growing up too fast.

Your trip is in 2015, correct (so 15 months away)? Your son should be plenty tall in that time if he's 38.5in now! And then he'll be able to see Mater, Lightning, and everyone else in Cars Land, and ride on RSR!

I know I love Disney more than my kids When we went in 2012, I ended up planning a mommy weekend a few months later, when this exchange happened:
Daughter: "Mommy, are you going to Disneyland when I stay at Auntie's?"
Me, cringing with guilt: "Yes, I am."
Daughter: "That's okay. You love Disneyland more than I do. Will we go to the beach when you get back?"
Me, exhaling happily: "Of course!"

Now, she takes for granted that I go to Disneyland without her, and she knows she gets to go to Disneyland every other year, and I go yearly for my mommy trip, and that she gets a much happier mommy when I have my mommy-Disney time

 

[corinne76]

Riding "stand-by" is the regular line. I misspoke in my last post, and should have said we do single rider stand-by, which gets us through much quicker than regular stand-by. I'll edit that in a moment. In case you haven't done single rider, it's basically kind of like a FP for people who don't have to ride with the rest of their group. Adults and kids over 7 are allowed to do it. We use it most often with Matterhorn. Our family rule is "the first time ever, we ride as a family" and any time after that, we can do single rider. My daughter is 10.5yo now, so she's all about trying to be independent when we aren't too far away... and single riders are a great way to do that. We're going to be a ride car before/after her, give or take, so she's only without us for mere moments, and totally restrained, so there's not much of a safety issue (at least, how I see it). There's 8 rides, I believe, that are set up for single rider (let's see--I think it's Grizzly River Run, Soarin', Screamin', Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, Goofy's Sky School [not 100% sure on this one], and I can't remember the others). Since you will have a 4yo with you, it won't make too much sense to use single rider, unless only 2 of you (like hubby and daughter) want to ride a ride.

With the ages of your kids, I'd suggest Lego on Saturday. As you note, smaller park, and it will allow you to get back to your hotel early enough to catch up on any missed sleep from the night before, and be bright-eyed for the first Disney day. But I'd have a heck of a time not going to Disneyland that first day!

oh ok! I think I did see single rider lines, I think Splash Mountain and RSR??
DD isn't super independent, so I can't imagine her going alone. Though she's so different at DL. She jumped right in and did the Phineus and Ferb dance party, when at home, she's be much to embarrassed and timid to dance around like that in public. The kids also listen much better while they are there

I'd have a hard time not going to Disney the first day too. But I also wouldn't want to have a short day because we get a late start. I will have to talk to hubby about that one. he's the one that would have to drive to Carlsbad after being on a plane all night.

I think that first week in October would be a GREAT time to go! I'm not sure exactly when the Halloween parties start, but if they are going then, just move over to DCA instead that evening for more park hours!

Having a 10yo daughter, I totally get milking those last days of Princess love! She would never admit now that she likes princesses still (and yet, when alone, she still dresses up as Rapunzel and still begs to watch Frozen and Cinderella ad nauseum).... I miss those days when school shopping meant finding princesses and being set!... This last trip, DD was 9 years old (there for her 9th b-day) and she dressed up every day. One day, it was just a pink tulle tutu with a multiple princess shirt (and leggings, of course!). Hubby thought she was too old to dress up, but I'll admit that I loved getting that final dress-up time, getting all sparkly! She's our last one (baring any miracle) so I'm trying to avoid pushing her through growing up too fast.

Your trip is in 2015, correct (so 15 months away)? Your son should be plenty tall in that time if he's 38.5in now! And then he'll be able to see Mater, Lightning, and everyone else in Cars Land, and ride on RSR!

I know I love Disney more than my kids When we went in 2012, I ended up planning a mommy weekend a few months later, when this exchange happened:
Daughter: "Mommy, are you going to Disneyland when I stay at Auntie's?"
Me, cringing with guilt: "Yes, I am."
Daughter: "That's okay. You love Disneyland more than I do. Will we go to the beach when you get back?"
Me, exhaling happily: "Of course!"

Now, she takes for granted that I go to Disneyland without her, and she knows she gets to go to Disneyland every other year, and I go yearly for my mommy trip, and that she gets a much happier mommy when I have my mommy-Disney time

Yes, 2015. I can't wait. I'm probably more excited than the kids are. I want to think of what rides to go on, where to eat. they don't care right now. DD remembers it well so she's kind of excited, but not nearly as excited as I am.

And a no kids weekend at DL?! That would be awesome! You must live close? I'm in Hawaii so a visit takes planning. If we lived closer, I'd totally have an annual pass. We do have Aulani Resort here but it's the same at all

 

[lalasmama]

oh ok! I think I did see single rider lines, I think Splash Mountain and RSR??
DD isn't super independent, so I can't imagine her going alone. Though she's so different at DL. She jumped right in and did the Phineus and Ferb dance party, when at home, she's be much to embarrassed and timid to dance around like that in public. The kids also listen much better while they are there

I'd have a hard time not going to Disney the first day too. But I also wouldn't want to have a short day because we get a late start. I will have to talk to hubby about that one. he's the one that would have to drive to Carlsbad after being on a plane all night.



Yes, 2015. I can't wait. I'm probably more excited than the kids are. I want to think of what rides to go on, where to eat. they don't care right now. DD remembers it well so she's kind of excited, but not nearly as excited as I am.

And a no kids weekend at DL?! That would be awesome! You must live close? I'm in Hawaii so a visit takes planning. If we lived closer, I'd totally have an annual pass. We do have Aulani Resort here but it's the same at all

We live near Portland, so it's only a 3 hour flight. We're military, so our tickets for DL are less than $150 for 3 days. And we stay at Desert Inn, so $70/night... Which means with airfare, a 3-day trip for a mommy weekend is less than Hub's annual golf membership. It's a good thing work understands my Disney habit

 

[corinne76]

We live near Portland, so it's only a 3 hour flight. We're military, so our tickets for DL are less than $150 for 3 days. And we stay at Desert Inn, so $70/night... Which means with airfare, a 3-day trip for a mommy weekend is less than Hub's annual golf membership. It's a good thing work understands my Disney habit

We stayed at Desert Inn last year too. I just posted a thread about staying on site and if it's worth it. I love how affordable staying across the street was, but since we can't get to DL that often, I wonder if I should just go for the whole experience.

 

[lalasmama]

We stayed at Desert Inn last year too. I just posted a thread about staying on site and if it's worth it. I love how affordable staying across the street was, but since we can't get to DL that often, I wonder if I should just go for the whole experience.

I'm all about pinching pennies, so we stay off-site. But if it's a rare/once-in-a-lifetime trip, I would totally stay on-site! I think the thing that gets me is that, even with the military discounts, it's about $100+ less per night to stay at DI&S... and $200/night is a lot of Dole Whips! But, I would totally stay on-site if we could afford it easier!