Help please....time to get serious with planning

[mellyB]

We are planning on travelling to disneyland for xmas next year and going to hawaii and san diego along with a cruise to mexico that I've already booked for 5 days.

Have started thinking that we do WDW instead as hubby really wants to go. Our 10 year old son would love kennedy space centre and his only other requests are universal studios and lego land. Our twins who'll be 6 at the time of our trip just want to see the princesses

We are locked into our cruise departing la on 16 december and apart from that we are completely flexible. Thoughts on what we should/could do.

 

[aussie shaz]

With Disneyland, that's already a HUGE trip. Not sure whether the extra flight over to WDW and the hassle of booking meals, fast pass plus etc at peak season would be worth it. That's just my opinion.

 

[PrincessInOz]

A couple of questions.

Have you and the family been to California before?
How long are you planning on being away for?

 

[mellyB]

With Disneyland, that's already a HUGE trip. Not sure whether the extra flight over to WDW and the hassle of booking meals, fast pass plus etc at peak season would be worth it. That's just my opinion.

I was more thinking to not to do disneyland at all and just do WDW. So we'd use LA as more of a stop over and do the cruise and then head down to orlando.

 

[mellyB]

A couple of questions.

Have you and the family been to California before?
How long are you planning on being away for?

We are planning on being away for 4 weeks. Hubby & I have been to California before but many years ago. The kids have never been. I'm thinking we use LA as our stop over and do the cruise and then head down to Orlando. Is Universal better in Orlando?

 

[jevs]

Universal in Orlando has Harry Potter.

If it helps, I debated long and hard over DLR/WDW for our first trip, we ended up doing DLR as I wasn't sure how we would all go travel wise and wanted things to be simple. This upcoming trip we are doing WDW for the bulk and having a few days in Anaheim before getting on the plane home.

There is a lot to see at DLR, Cars Land is just fantastic and isn't at WDW. It will be interesting to see how I like WDW in comparison with DLR and Disney Paris.

 

[aussie shaz]

Sorry, yes I understood that. I've not been to WDW for years, but have looked into it. It just seems to be a more 'difficult' trip. If you haven't been to Disneyland, I'd go there instead.

 

[PrincessInOz]

With 4 weeks, either DLR or WDW is doable. It will come down to how much planning you want to do. WDW is great and if you've never been before, the planning includes deciding:
1. Where you want to stay - on-site vs off site vs budget considerations
2. Where you want to eat - choosing restaurants and then having to lock in ADRs 180 days out.
3. What rides you want to get on - working out your FP+ 60 days beforehand. This will involve setting up an account on My Disney Experience and navigating your way around that site.


DLR is a lot more relaxed in comparison.


If you are a Harry Potter fan, then the Universal in Orlando is the one to go to. (Unless you're heading to Japan).

It won't be the same but the California Science Centre is now home to the Space Shuttle Endeavour.If you decide to stay in the West Coast, then your DS might be able to check this out as n alternative.


I don't compare Orlando to a vacation in SoCal anymore. They each have their pros and cons; and they offer a very different kind of holiday. It will come down to what you and the family really want to do.

 

[mellyB]

With 4 weeks, either DLR or WDW is doable. It will come down to how much planning you want to do. WDW is great and if you've never been before, the planning includes deciding:
1. Where you want to stay - on-site vs off site vs budget considerations
2. Where you want to eat - choosing restaurants and then having to lock in ADRs 180 days out.
3. What rides you want to get on - working out your FP+ 60 days beforehand. This will involve setting up an account on My Disney Experience and navigating your way around that site.


DLR is a lot more relaxed in comparison.


If you are a Harry Potter fan, then the Universal in Orlando is the one to go to. (Unless you're heading to Japan).

It won't be the same but the California Science Centre is now home to the Space Shuttle Endeavour.If you decide to stay in the West Coast, then your DS might be able to check this out as n alternative.


I don't compare Orlando to a vacation in SoCal anymore. They each have their pros and cons; and they offer a very different kind of holiday. It will come down to what you and the family really want to do.

Thanks for this info. We've decided to stick to DLR this trip. Hubby still really wants to do WDW, but we'll wait to 2017 like we originally planned.

 

[mellyB]

Sorry, yes I understood that. I've not been to WDW for years, but have looked into it. It just seems to be a more 'difficult' trip. If you haven't been to Disneyland, I'd go there instead.

That's what we've decided to do. We'll do DLR this trip and go to WDW in 2017.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Glad that you and the family made a decision. Now for the fun parts. Enjoy the planning.

 

[Tashinwdw]

Another bonus to waiting is that Avatar Land may be open when you go in 2017.