Help with tricky final itinerary please!

[ahill004]

Ok - we are about to book a deal at the Hotel Del Coronado in July from a sunday to a friday. We have to stay those days of the week. So my question for you experts is this:

Do we do DLR first or last? Here are the two possible scenarios.

Fly in Wed. to LA and stay at DLR until Sunday morning when we checkout and head down to San Diego for the 5 nights at Hotel Del Coronado. OR

Do we fly into San Diego on a Sunday and stay through Friday at the Hotel Del Coronado and then travel up to Anaheim from Fri - Tues or Wed of the following week.

Here is the last bit of crucial info. My girls will want to see disney as soon as they see it. So if we do the second option we get one more day but we would likely see DLR/DCA over the weekend instead of a thursday and friday. DH doesn't want to spend 4 days at DLR so he will definitely want to see Newport Beach and some other area stuff.

I guess I need to know if DLR is significantly busier on the weekends and therefore we should just scrap the extra day with option two or if the extra day in the LA area is worth it? HELP?!!

 

[tinkcollector]

Both itineraries have you there over a weekend, right? So, at that point I would do Disney first. Here's my reasoning. My Husband hates crowds, so I would want to go home from vacation with him relaxed rather than stressed. So, I would end the vacation with the relaxing, lazy days at the Del.

 

[Dizneydaz]

I would do the opposite-here's why

Leave Disneyland for last. I think your girls may be disappointed in SD after being at DLR. Not saying there is anything wrong with SD-I love SD but it's no Disneyland!

What are you planning on doing while in SD?

Yes the crowds can be more on the weekends than the weekdays but July is high season no matter what day. It used to be that the weekends were always worse but now with the AP holders mucking up the works (count me in as one of them!) things are different. The 2 cheapest AP are blocked out for the entire month of July (count me as one of those) and the Deluxe is blocked on Saturday. So the only AP who can go on the weekend in July are the Premium AP on Sat and Sun. and Deluxe only on Sundays. That's why Saturdays are actually a great day to go.

Get into the parks when they open, get all the FP you can (remember DL and DCA are on separate systems and you can get FP for rides in both parks at the same time.) Use the FP you gathered early in the day later in the day and night when the ride lines get longer. Don't overlook crossing over between parks. The parks are only about 2-3 mins. walk apart.

Have a great time!

 

[sonnyjane]

I'm unclear as to what airport(s) you are flying into/out of. You mention flying into both LA and San Diego? I would, obviously, try to make my final destination the closest one to the airport from which I'll be leaving.

I kind of agree with Disneydaz in that San Diego, while awesome, is no Disney, so you might want to leave on a high note and save DL for last. Also, as the PP stated, the weekends, while generally more crowded, will have most AP holders blocked out during July weekends.

I do, however, also agree with tinkcollector in that San Diego will be a far more relaxing time than at Disney, so if you want to get Disney out of the way while you're all still "full-steam", that might be best.

In other words, I agree with both lol!

 

[skiingfast]

I would say most important leave DL to the end. You kids will remember it the most and not be bewildered why they are still on vacation and not at DL.

Despite that some AP's are blocked on the weekend a lot of the ones who aren't blocked during the week have to work. But while DL is busier on the weekend so is the beach, Legoland, SD zoo ecetera.

The worst dilemma you will have is driving on Friday from SD to LA, a rushour commute that is horrid.

But still DL at the end. Plus you DH and youself will need to remember the the whole idea behind taking a trip. Relax you're on vacation.

 

[ahill004]

What time would be best to leave San Diego on a Friday to get to DL if do save DL for last?

 

[HydroGuy]

What time would be best to leave San Diego on a Friday to get to DL if do save DL for last?

If you are leaving from Hotel Del you are pretty far away and have to navigate the bridge and everything. If you want to make rope drop you should leave by 5:30AM at the absolute latest. 5AM would be better. It would be one of those things that if you leave at 5AM you might get to DLR by 6:30AM and say "sheesh we left too early". But if you left a little later you might not arrive until 8AM.

If you do not care that much about making rope drop the first day I still would leave by 5:30AM to avoid as much traffic as possible. If you do not care at all when you arrive at DLR then I would leave after 8AM.

 

[ahill004]

Oh no! i don't think we want to do rope drop on that Friday. Way too much for DH and probably me. But I we do want to miss rush hour traffic. Can we sleep-in, have some breakfast and then head up to DLR mid-day and miss traffic or does rush hour continue all day long on Fridays in July?

 

[HydroGuy]

Oh no! i don't think we want to do rope drop on that Friday. Way too much for DH and probably me. But I we do want to miss rush hour traffic. Can we sleep-in, have some breakfast and then head up to DLR mid-day and miss traffic or does rush hour continue all day long on Fridays in July?

No one knows the answer to your questions except the traffic gods. For example, we were in SoCal last weekend for a wedding. We arrived at LAX on Saturday. We got our rental car and headed north at 3PM. We hit traffic most of the way. On Sunday night we came back at 9PM and there was no traffic at all.

Odds are if you go mid-day on Friday you will not hit traffic. But the traffic gods may get you anyways. If it was me I would leave anytime 9AM to 11AM from Hotel Del. And I would offer a sacrifice to the traffic gods before I left.

 

[mad hatter fan]

Midday traffic should be fine. You could consider going to DL on Saturday, go to the beach on Sunday, and back to DL on Monday or Tuesday. That way you miss the busier Sunday and can do something more relaxing in between.

 

[ahill004]

That sounds perfect. I will leave around 11am or a little earlier and we will hit DLR on Saturday and Monday or Tuesday. Sunday we will hit Newport Beach or another beach. Thanks for much guys!