Help please with some Info?

[kyton]

Hi everyone just wondering if you can help me out with a few bits of info? I haven't been to mainland USA since 2004, DH since 2009 so we are a little rusty. We always had a family member pick us up from LAX however they have now returned to living in Australia so we have to find our own way to The Disneyland Hotel.

There will be the 5 of us -DH, myself plus 7yo, 5yo and 2.5yo. From what I have read the older two are still required to sit in booster seats by CA law which is fine as we have small ones we can pack but I really don't want to lug the "baby's" full car seat with us. This to me signals we are better off catching a shuttle from LAX to Disneyland. Is The Disney Shuttle the best / most convenient for Disneyland Hotel or does anyone have any other suggestions?

We are going 13-23 Sept - is it really important to prebook meals? We are normally pretty laid back and tend to leave things to the last minute so have always found somewhere ok to eat on our previous visits. Even at Aulani we never pre-booked just left it to the Gods each meal LOL.

I just keep reading all these threads about prebooking meals, running around like mad people getting fast passes etc and wonder what happened to simply going to Disneyland, walking around and enjoying it? Please reassure me it is still like that!

 

[becpee]

Magical express all the way, it'll drop you off at the hotel door

We didn't prebook any meals when we were at DL in 2009 (wait, the character breakfasts we booked after we checked into the hotel).

It's not such a big thing I don't think compared to WDW, not quite as much foot traffic (although i'm not sure what September is like).

 

[Kangarucci]

The Disneyland Resort Express has a return family pass from LAX to Disneyland for $99.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Congratulations on your trip and I hope your family has a great time. Are you planning on hiring a car during your time there?

Pre-booking dining is more important for WDW than it is for DLR.

If you're staying at Anaheim, there will be enough food options along Downtown Disney or a short walk to the Garden Walk where you'll find Cheesecake Factory, Bubba Gumps and PF Chang. There are also food options along South Harbour Blvd.

I've never really had to book for the restaurants in DTD; except maybe at Rainforest Cafe during peak dining time (or go early).

If you want to eat at some of the more popular Disney restaurants eg Blue Bayou; you might want to consider booking. But you could always check at Guest Services in the morning or a couple of days before if there is a table available.

Have fun!

 

[BecBennett]

Another +1 for the disneyland express from lax.

If there are any restaurants you *really* want to eat at while there then I'd prebook those, otherwise you should be fine just going with the flow.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using DISBoards

 

[kyton]

Thanks everyone. We haven't stayed on site at Disneyland - always across the road or up a bit but this time having the kids we thought it was more sensible to stay at DL. Plus we just returned from Aulani and the kids adored it so we thought we would do it all again.

We will hire a car to be picked up a day or so after we arrive - DH is extremely proficient at driving in the US, this will be his 10th trip to mainland (Hawaii we are currently planning our 10th and 11th trips as I type LOL - and we always have a car there too). But he didn't want to pick up the car at LAX after a long flight, battle the traffic and cope with 3 kids.

Thanks again.