Help me plan two days before our DL stay in June

[limace]

We are booked into the villas at the Grand Californian from Monday June 18-Saturday June 23. We arrive at SNA on Saturday the 16th and are trying to decide what to do for those two nights.

We will have 5 people those days-2 adults, 2 12 year old girls, and an 8 year old boy. My husband went to college in Southern California and loves the beach and the ocean (more than he loves DL) so I was thinking we'd spend Sunday (Father's Day) at the beach and maybe do a VRBO near the beach....so recommendations about that would be great (or a hotel that would be good for 5 and not insanely expensive). He also suggested this morning we consider Sunday at USH-we have never seen Harry Potter and kids have never been at all. If so, where would be a good place to stay? We will have a rental car, but close and convenient is nice. I've looked a bit at VRBO but don't know the area at all so have no sense of what is really convenient to the park.

And finally, we'll check into the Grand on Monday. My thought is get there pretty early for good room assignment, though I don't think we'll do the parks that day. I know traffic will be a bear. Actually I guess that's my other question:

We'll have five day hoppers and we fly out of SNA on Saturday at 4 pm. Between Monday and Saturday, we'll need to make one day a non-park day. I had thought Monday; we'll be changing hotels that day, so could do beach or whatever. My oldest and her boyfriend and his daughter arrive that night, so that would give them five days at the park too. And now that we know Pixar Pier opens that Saturday (and Screamin is my 12 year old's favorite ride) we'd like to at least try to make it on before we fly out. But are we crazy to even attempt? What day would you skip?

 

[PHXscuba]

If Monday is a transition day then it would be a good day to not do a park. It gives you plenty of time to sleep in and check out from wherever you are and mosey to the Grand. Unless the weather looks bad one day later that week and you want to switch things around on the spot.

If you want to do Screamin' I'd get other people's buy-in to make that a park day as it would only give you a half-day and much of that could be consumed with the one ride. There's always a chance they might do soft openings/test runs that week, so keep an eye and ear on Pixar Pier.

If Sunday is Father's Day I'd let your husband decide if he wants to do the beach or Universal more. Universal will obviously be a long day and much more expensive. If you are doing Universal I would suggest a hotel/condo up near there for Sat/Sun nights. If not, Newport Beach or Huntington Beach would be good locations for a 2-night stay. I'm not such how many condos in either area will do a 2-night stay during summer high season.

PHXscuba

 

[calilou]

My thoughts are that Universal Studios and the beach really aren’t convenient to combine so I recommend doing either/or your arrival weekend. Since you’re flying into SNA I say do the beach that first weekend, especially since it’s Father’s Day and you said your husband loves the beach. I would stick with an OC beach, maybe Huntington Beach? It’s so classsic plus I think you’ll find more options for a lower price than Newport Beach or Laguna Beach. There are quite a few beachfront hotels in HB. But ask your hubby, he may have a favorite beach since he’s lived in the area. If you stick with OC, you’ll be in close proximity to Disney on Monday. Traffic should die down around 9am. Since you’ll have a day off from Disney during the week, that may be the day you do USH if you decide to add it in. I think it’s totally do-able in a day and you can easily work around the traffic if you leave a little after AM rush hour and return later at night.

 

[HydroGuy]

LOL we will be at GCV on those exact same days except we do not check in until Tuesday.

I think your Father's Day Sunday at the beach is the right way to go if that is what DH wants. But if you really want to do USH then trying that Monday will be a push with 5 straight Disney days after a day at USH. So I wouls lean towards Sunday at USH and Monday at the beach.

If you decided to skip USH and do the beach Sunday, then what to do Monday? Well my crew is a different mix than yours (age and gender) and we are planning to Star Wars: Secret of the Empire at DTD - https://www.thevoid.com/dimensions/starwars/secretsoftheempire/. Not sure if your crew are Star Wars fans like us.

You can of course check in early as you said and enjoy the hotel. You also can catch a movie at the AMC theaters there. Maybe head over to Tangaroa Terrace in the evening at DLH?

If it were me I would try NOT to cram stuff into Sunday + Monday and then go straight to DLR Tuesday. YMMV.

 

[smartlabelprint]

You’ll get a longer day Monday but miss out on the EMH Saturday. Hard choice IMO. I’d probably go Monday.

 

[HydroGuy]

You’ll get a longer day Monday but miss out on the EMH Saturday. Hard choice IMO. I’d probably go Monday.

LOL, I guess I was taking for granted they would want to experience Paradise Pier and the Incredicoaster on Saturday. For me that would be a no brainer but of course everyone is different.

 

[disneylover102]

Monday sounds like a good day to skip, just because of those that won’t get there that night. But keep in mind that 5 park days in a row can get tiring. I would definitely still go on Saturday. You could still go on Incredicoaster with a short wait as long as you get there early. You could rope drop it or make sure to at least make sure to be there at park opening or really soon after, because then you could get a Fastpass (that would be even easier if you bought Maxpass, because then you could get a Fastpass right as you enter the park. I would personally RD it and also get a Fastpass- then you could ride twice with a short line!)

 

[limace]

Thank you all! I think we will skip Monday-perhaps beach Sunday, staying around Huntington Beach-and then head to GCV on Monday morning for room assignment and then we can hang out at pool, do Downtown Disney, go grocery shopping for the week, etc. I would rather have a break day in the middle of the trip, too, but it’s not gonna work well on this trip.

Super excited! It’s our first time staying at the Grand and our first time staying on our own DVC points. And daughter’s boyfriend has never been on an airplane and hasn’t been to Disneyland since he was 6.