Hi All! First Disneyland Trip...

[travelwith4kids]

Hi to everyone . I have been browsing the general forum for a long time and had heard there was a 'Aussie' section but do you think I could find it lol.

Now that I have I want to introduce myself and family.
DH and I live with our 4 girls (2, 5, 7 and 10) on the far north coast of NSW and we are very excited (VERY EXCITED) to be planning our first trip overseas with kids! It will be mid Sept-mid Oct 2015.

We were originally planning to fly into LAX and just do DL but it seems to have grown into a month long road trip as follows-
LAX- Anaheim-San Diego-Palm Springs-Kingman-Grand Canyon-Vegas-Death Valley-Yosemite-Columbia-San Fran-Monterey-Pismo and back to LA.

It will be the first time the kids go overseas and they are soooo excited about Disneyland. We have planned 3 days (will be getting the SoCal pass so a 3 day park hopper) but am entertaining the thought of adding an extra Disney day to the start so will be 4. Does anyone know if we can upgrade a 3 day ticket to a 4 day if it is bought in a SoCal pass package?
Or do you think 3 days will really be enough? DH thinks 3 is enough but the kids and I want MORE! We will also be visiting Universal Studios from Anaheim and then will have Sea World and the zoo in SD straight after... maybe we will be theme parked out?

I also have a character meal question... if we want a breakfast can you do it before park opens (so as not to use up Disneyland time) or would we be better off doing a dinner (by which time everyone will be exhausted and want a nice sit down)? Anyone have a recommendation?

We are on a fairly tight budget... this trip wasnt meant to happen until 2016 but we got too excited so are saving like mad for next year so are planning to book Anaheim Desert Inn. We thought it looks to be in a great spot but is cheaper then much of what we have looked at. Has anyone stayed here?

I have so many questions that I have of course forgotton them right now but will be back with more!

Thanks for any advice, we really are totally clueless but equally excited

 

[aussie shaz]

Very exciting! We love Disneyland and USA so much. We have been twice in the last few years. Our boys were 8 and 10, and then 10 and 12.

Our first trip we did some of what you are planning. We first went to Disneyland for 5 days, then Las Vegas (which we loved, but was sooooo hot). We went to the Grand Canyon and spent 2 nights there. We stayed at Kachina Lodge which was great. Very basic, but our room looked out over the canyon, and we could watch Elk eating the grass just in front of our room. If you're going to the Grand Canyon, make sure you stay in the actual park.

We then went via Kingman (just an overnight) to San Diego. We stayed in Carlsbad across the road from Legoland. If we did it again, I'd probably stay one or 2 nights at the Legoland hotel (which wasnt open when we were there) and then stay in San Diego on the beach. We didnt get the most out of SD, so didnt really enjoy it.

Regarding how many days at Disneyland. Lets just say after 5 days there the first time, we had 10 days there the next time.

We have done Minnie and Friends breakfast twice (which is in the park) and Goofys for dinner once. We much preferred the breakfast due the number of characters and the interaction with them. We did have longer at the parks than you though, so not sure about giving up time in the morning for that.

We also did Universal Studios. Probably Ok for the 7 and 10 year olds, not sure for the younger ones.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[travelwith4kids]

Thanks for your reply Aussie Shaz! It's great to have some experienced Australians to question!
We have booked Bright Angel Lodge for 2nts for GCNP as we definitely wanted to be in the park as well.
At this stage we arent going to Legoland... but it could change. DD7 is keen but the others not so much. I was told there is not much 'friends' (girl) lego theme which all mine are really into.
I wondered how we will go with Universal. Really our eldest is probably the only kid that will get many rides in there as DD7 is quite small. We thought we might as well go anyway as its still cheaper to buy the socal pass, even if we just go for half a day?
My preference was for minnies breakfast as our 2 yr old loves 'mee mouse', maybe if we add the extra day we will have time to fit it in. How long does it usually take for your meal and to really enjoy all the characters? I was thinking an hr?? Does it only start once the park is open?

 

[aussie shaz]

If you're going to have Universal tickets anyway, definately go. We did the VIP tour and loved it, but felt like we missed seeing the actual park and some of the roaming characters. We could have done with a second day.

I believe with Minnie's that you can book in during Early entry, but not use your early entry. I'm not 100% sure though. You could call Disney Dining and ask. The only problem is, if you're only there on one day with Early entry, you'd be better to use it to go on rides, rather than eat breakfast. You could also book a late breakfast and make the most of the quite time earlier in the morning and have brunch there. Again, not sure what time it finishes.

I wasnt too impressed with Legoland. The kids still say it was great, but after going to Disneyland, it's quite a letdown, especially if you're not Lego mad. I think we had planned San Diego just to go to Legoland, and that's why we were letdown by both the park and Sand Diego itself.

The one thing I might change in your itinerary is doing Disneyland last instead of first. I think after Disneyland, some other places can be a bit of a letdown, especially for the kids. If you do Disneyland last, it might keep the kids interested and excited to go, and maybe use as bribery!! (Did I say that?!)

 

[travelwith4kids]

We did think about doing our trip in reverse with the theme parks last. We really just decided to do it this way as we were so excited to visit DL we wanted to do it straight away lol. Also the opposite direction would put us into 1 and 2 night stays straight away and I liked the idea of going straight to a 5-6 night stay... We only have a few rooms reserved though so could still change?

Have you used a travel agent for your trips Aussie Shaz? Or did you book it all separate yourself?

 

[Babysaurs]

Hi

We are also heading to the us next sept/oct
We are planning 4 nights in la, 7 nights at Disneyland staying at park vue across the rd, San Diego 3 nights, 5 night disney cruise to Mexico, then 2 nights lego land and hoping for flights via Auckland, Fiji or Hawaii for a few nights in the way home
Our kids will be 5 and 8 by then. Our son loves lego and we took them to lego land in Malaysia last year so it's a must this time too as that hotel wasn't opened when we went. Also they will have a Halloween thing on most likely then.
Lego land is a bit more for younger children so your 4 yr old would live it and maybe the 7, the 10 yr old prob not so much.
Don't forget Disneyland will have Halloween parties too some nights and if you don't have tickets you have to leave by 5pm?? Or maybe 7?
We plan on doing it
We will be getting the 10day pass for Aussies I'm not sure if we will spend all 7 days im Disney but nice to have the option and not have to rush to see everything and do everything we want with rest breaks too

 

[travelwith4kids]

Our plan will have us at Disneyland 13th (?), 14th, 15th and 16th of Sept. I thought this was before the Halloween parties began? Our kids would love to do a party but I think we miss them?

 

[Babysaurs]

Yes you will probably be a bit early for Halloween party unless you end up doing disney last

 

[aussie shaz]

I booked everything direct. Much cheaper and many more options that travel agents don't have.

 

[mellyB]

So exciting. We are travelling in sept/oct next year as well and doing a very similar trip to yours with an added additon of hawaii. Its our first time overseas since having our twins who are 5 today. There will be myself, hubby, DS who'll be 11 and DD x2 and they'll turn 6 whilst we are away.

We are planning on getting the 10 day DL pass available to aussies and spending at least 5 days in the parks. We are going to stay at the Park Vue like Babysaurs. From what we've been told you'd want at least 5 days in the parks, so it might be worth considering.

Our plan is to do legoland & the zoo whilst in San Diego. When we are in LA we'll do universal studios and after a recommendation from someone who recently went we're planning on staying at the Magic Castle Hotel in LA.

I'm also planning to do as much of the booking myself as possible. Good luck with all your planning and booking and can't wait to hear more details as you get it all booked.

 

[zanzibar138]

Welcome Glad you found the Aussie boards - took me a while to find them too!

You will find that you're not alone here in having trips that mysteriously grow. I must also warn you that it not only affects length, but frequency too!

Your itinerary sounds amazing! So many wonderful places. Just be aware that it will be HOT in those desert areas. If you can, it might be better to consider doing your itinerary in reverse so that you hit those areas in October instead of September. There are a few pros and cons to doing DLR at the beginning or the end of your trip. I'll go through a few (and this is based on what has happened in previous years).

Based on your pencilled in dates in mid-September, you'd be at the parks right at the beginning of Halloween time (Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain will be open with their Halloween overlays, and you'll have some pumpkin decorations on Main Street), but before the Halloween parties start. Without the parties going on, you will have more park time without having to worry about DL closing early. Having said that, this year the park did close early on a couple of nights in early September, we assume for private/staff parties. It opened an hour early though. This is traditionally a quiet time of year, so you wouldn't have to worry about crowds so much. However, we were there on those dates this year and it was HOT.

If you're keen to do a party, you'd be able to if you waited until the end of your trip. The parties run later into the evening than DL's usual hours at that time of year, and also include a fireworks show, so you would be getting extra park time and another fireworks viewing opportunity there (at an extra cost of course!). You'd also be ending the trip on a high. I agree with the others that it is sometimes hard to move on from DLR if you're doing it at the beginning of the trip.

IMHO, 3 days is not enough time at DLR for a first visit with small children (especially when it's hot and you have shorter hours). We were three fit and healthy adults, and we needed to take an afternoon break pretty much every day with the heat. It was fine though, because we had a week (with the 10 day Aussie passes), so there was plenty of time to rest when we needed to, take our time with meals, get good spots for shows etc. Universal Studios is a big and expensive trip from Anaheim, especially if you don't have a car and get a tour bus there. We were completely exhausted at the end of the day, and most of the people on the bus slept for the drive. Even for 2 adults who are into thrill rides, we didn't think it was worth it, and would have left at lunch time if we could have to go back to DLR. With small children, I would be tempted to ditch Universal and spend the extra time at DLR. If you can stretch it, I think 5 days would be a good amount of time.

I also want to make sure you're aware that Fantasmic! and the fireworks are only offered on weekends at that time of year. I have noticed that your pencilled in dates are all weekdays (apart from the 13th if you go ahead with that). If you want to see F! and the fireworks, you will need to make sure you include at least one weekend. You can see F! and fireworks on the same night, but you will have to compromise on your viewing spot for one of them. World of Colour is still offered every night at this stage, so you should be able to see that on a weekday.

As for character meals, there is a little trick with the Minnie and Friends breakfast that could buy you some park time, but it will only work if you're there for 2 early entry days at DL. It opens 20 minutes before ropedrop on early entry days. At that time of year the first slot would be 7:40am I think. Book the first slot, and you will be just about done by the time the park opens to regular guests at 9am. We had a great time there, HEAPS of characters! We were there for over an hour and a half (for 2 adults). Another option is to do breakfast at Storyteller's (aim for 8-8:30ish) on a non-early entry day to DCA. If you show your breakfast receipt, you can use the hotel entrance to DCA. We walked straight through at about 9:30am, and were one of the first at rope drop. Otherwise, maybe you could do an early character meal on your last day before you leave for your next destination. I recommend breakfast as I think it's better value, it's a great magical way to start the day, and there's only a couple of options for dinner (if you wanted to do Minnie and Friends it's only open for breakfast).

We stayed at Desert Inn & Suites for the RunDisney part of our trip. Feel free to peruse the first couple of days of my TR for some pictures of the room (we got the largest parlor suite with the 2 full bathrooms). For location, it can't be beat. The room was nice enough, and clean, with plenty of room for everyone. They have some really great value suites! It's not luxury, but everything does what it's supposed to (eg beds are comfy, good showers, towels are small but do the job, pool is clean but not resort style, breakfast is basic but gets you through, wifi is good etc). I'd definitely recommend it for a budget trip where you'll be spending most of your time in the parks, especially when it's hot and you might want to take afternoon breaks.

We also went to Palm Springs on our recent trip, and had a great time there! Make sure you take the cable car up Mount San Jacinto, and check out Joshua Tree National Park (we did Palm Springs straight after DLR, so it will be coming to my TR soon).

We also stayed at Bright Angel Inn on our trip to the Grand Canyon. We loved it, highly recommend! I'm also a big advocate for making sure you do some sort of activity while you're there. The Grand Canyon is magnificent and awe inspiring, but there's only so long you can stand around and look at it, especially for little kids.

We have been to San Francisco, but didn't spend much time there so can't really comment too much on it. PIO is the expert there, but she's on her own trip at the moment. Hopefully she'll see this when she gets back and give you some ideas. If you're interested in Alcatraz, I recommend the night tour. As well as getting access to some different areas, you also get to watch the city skyline light up as night falls. It was pretty spectacular! Vegas I can't really help with as we were only there for 1 night and all we did was see the Lion King.

Well, if you've gotten through all that lot, I admire your dedication Feel free to ask away as you think of anything else

 

[travelwith4kids]

Thanks for your detailed reply zanzibar. We are most probably going to leave the trip in the order we have got it, DH is particularly happy with it. We are pretty used to hot, we live far north coast NSW without aircon! Hopefully its not too hot for us...
We were thinking if we come on the Sat we could see the fireworks from either downtown disney or the desert inn roof top and then catch fantasmic on the Sunday (its on the sunday?). Do you think this will work ok? We were particularly trying to have our disney days mid-week as we want as quiet as is possible with 4 kids. Not sure if it will matter about shorter hours for us, I dont think the girls will be able to power on much after the sun goes down anyway.
We will have a car for the whole time and plan to drive back to LA for Universal but maybe if we decide (and it could be last minute'ish) we could skip it and upgrade our tickets for DL to include an extra 2 days rather then 1?
Would we only get one magic morning with our 3 day park hopper that will be upgraded to a 4 (maybe 5)? Would love to do minnies breakfast but dont want to loose our only magic morning... If not I like the idea of going back for the last time slot and that could be an early lunch.
Glad to hear you liked the Desert Inn, we really wanted to avoid the shuttle with the kids and will be so handy to walk back if we really need to (though probably wont want to waste our DL time lol).
Our Palm Springs stop will be very brief, just one night, we intend to stop at Julian (for apple pie!) and then anza borrego DSP to see the big statues/sculptures. We will do the Aerial Tram whilst we there (either in the afternoon or next morning but we wont do any real hikes up there, just have a look and experience it!). As we leave palm springs we plan to stop at Joshua Tree, amongst other places or the way to Kingman for another overnighter.
I'm thrilled we got bright angel lodge, we were told it fills out VERY quickly so we booked our second choice (2 adjoining rooms) online and then rang up at midnight our time to try and beat the phone rush to book a family room (these arent online). The phone lines had been opened for 15min when DH got through and the family rooms where already gone so we were happy with getting something. The kids really want to do some junior ranger programs so they can do the first one here. I dont think we will manage any proper hikes with the littlle ones... we'll see.
Alcatraz is definitely on the list for SF, we actually have a big list for activities for the kids and things we want to visit. I am a bit worried about us using public transport with 4 kids. We live regionally and our kids have hardly ever used public transport, a few buses for school excursions and a couple of trains when visiting Sydney when they were tiny.
The kids are in my ear annoying me at the moment and DH wants me to come outside and help with snake finding (very ecited about that...not) so cant think of any questions right now but will be back.
Thanks again!

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks for your detailed reply zanzibar. We are most probably going to leave the trip in the order we have got it, DH is particularly happy with it. We are pretty used to hot, we live far north coast NSW without aircon! Hopefully its not too hot for us...

Hopefully it won't be as hot next year. All the locals were telling us it was unseasonably hot this year. For us arriving from a Melbourne winter (end of August), it hit us extra hard. Probably wouldn't be as bad for you

We were thinking if we come on the Sat we could see the fireworks from either downtown disney or the desert inn roof top and then catch fantasmic on the Sunday (its on the sunday?). Do you think this will work ok? We were particularly trying to have our disney days mid-week as we want as quiet as is possible with 4 kids. Not sure if it will matter about shorter hours for us, I dont think the girls will be able to power on much after the sun goes down anyway.

You could definitely do that. I recommend watching from the hotel if you can (the rooftop deck was closed while I was there ). I forgot to mention as well, if you're booking the Desert Inn & Suites way in advance (we booked October last year I think), make sure you call a few days before you arrive to confirm your reservation. Between when I booked and when they tried to take our deposit, the credit card I used to book it had expired and been replaced. So of course when they tried to take our deposit it declined. Instead of contacting us for another credit card number, they just ditched our reservation Luckily they hadn't re-booked our room, but it could have been very messy and stressful!

The only problem with watching the fireworks from afar like that is that you won't get the soundtrack or the castle effects. The castle effects is honestly something I could live without, but it's definitely not the same without the soundtrack. Maybe you could try to find it on iTunes or something and have it playing while you watch?

I definitely agree that trying to maximise your park hours while it's quiet is probably your best bet

We will have a car for the whole time and plan to drive back to LA for Universal but maybe if we decide (and it could be last minute'ish) we could skip it and upgrade our tickets for DL to include an extra 2 days rather then 1?

A car will definitely make it easier! I don't think you can change days like that on the SoCal pass, so if you're set on getting one of those, I guess you may as well go to Universal since you'll be paying for it. I forgot to answer your previous question about being able to upgrade for extra days at DLR too! Unfortunately I don't know about that. Maybe you could post a question on the Disneyland forum?

If it was me, I'd probably just get a 4 or 5 day DLR pass (and not bother with Universal at all this time around), and additional tickets for SeaWorld and the zoo. If you can add an extra day to your SoCal pass though, 4 days is definitely better than 3.

Would we only get one magic morning with our 3 day park hopper that will be upgraded to a 4 (maybe 5)? Would love to do minnies breakfast but dont want to loose our only magic morning... If not I like the idea of going back for the last time slot and that could be an early lunch.

That's why I suggested that would only work if there were 2 early entry mornings during your stay. So you use one of them for your early entry that you get with your 3 day (or more) pass, then you use the other one for your breakfast. You only get one magic morning with your pass, regardless of the length of it (even for the 10 day passes, you still only get one MM!).

Glad to hear you liked the Desert Inn, we really wanted to avoid the shuttle with the kids and will be so handy to walk back if we really need to (though probably wont want to waste our DL time lol).

It depends entirely on your family whether you'll need a break or not. At least being so close, the option is there. It's also handy in case you forget something, suddenly need raincoats or jackets etc too!

Our Palm Springs stop will be very brief, just one night, we intend to stop at Julian (for apple pie!) and then anza borrego DSP to see the big statues/sculptures. We will do the Aerial Tram whilst we there (either in the afternoon or next morning but we wont do any real hikes up there, just have a look and experience it!). As we leave palm springs we plan to stop at Joshua Tree, amongst other places or the way to Kingman for another overnighter.

Just a quick idea for the aerial tram. If you're not planning to do any hiking or anything up there, consider going later in the day. I think from 4pm you can get a discounted twilight ticket. We had a cabin to ourselves on the way up just before sunset! We had time to take in the views from each part of the lookout when we first arrived, and also do a short walk before the sun set. After sunset, we went back out to the lookout for a view of the lights. The cabin on the way back down was packed right to the limit (we were the last in line and were told we might not get on). It was fun though as every time we went over a support, there was a big 'ooooh' from the group.

I'm thrilled we got bright angel lodge, we were told it fills out VERY quickly so we booked our second choice (2 adjoining rooms) online and then rang up at midnight our time to try and beat the phone rush to book a family room (these arent online). The phone lines had been opened for 15min when DH got through and the family rooms where already gone so we were happy with getting something. The kids really want to do some junior ranger programs so they can do the first one here. I dont think we will manage any proper hikes with the littlle ones... we'll see.

Nice work with the Bright Angel. Shame you didn't get a family room, but I agree getting any room there is good! I think the junior ranger program would be a great activity to do there. I agree that hiking would probably be difficult for you!

Alcatraz is definitely on the list for SF, we actually have a big list for activities for the kids and things we want to visit. I am a bit worried about us using public transport with 4 kids. We live regionally and our kids have hardly ever used public transport, a few buses for school excursions and a couple of trains when visiting Sydney when they were tiny.

At least public transport would be a novelty for the kids! I hate using public transport because it's such a dull way to get around. You could make it part of the sight-seeing experience. San Francisco has heaps of different sorts of public transport - you could see how many different sorts you can ride while you're there

I'm sure the other DISers who have kids (which I don't) will chime in with any suggestions for making public transport easier.

The kids are in my ear annoying me at the moment and DH wants me to come outside and help with snake finding (very ecited about that...not) so cant think of any questions right now but will be back.
Thanks again!

Good luck with the snake! I guess it's the time of year for it!

 

[aussie shaz]

Regarding the fireworks. If you are not in front of the castle, they are just boring old fireworks you could see anywhere.
They are my favourite nighttime spectacular and I would see them over and over again instead of Fantasmic or World of Color. But only if I was in the park and immersed in the whole thing, including music and atmosphere.

And regarding the weather. We were in the US in late August 2011. Disneyland was fine, probably low 30's most days. But Las Vegas was the killer. It was 43C every day. It felt like walking into an oven. Never felt heat like that before.

 

[zanzibar138]

Regarding the fireworks. If you are not in front of the castle, they are just boring old fireworks you could see anywhere.
They are my favourite nighttime spectacular and I would see them over and over again instead of Fantasmic or World of Color. But only if I was in the park and immersed in the whole thing, including music and atmosphere.

Exactly what I was trying to say! If it's just the novelty of fireworks that you want to see, it's fine to watch it from the hotel, but you won't get any specific Disney magic from it. They are definitely meant to be viewed from in front of the castle.

And regarding the weather. We were in the US in late August 2011. Disneyland was fine, probably low 30's most days. But Las Vegas was the killer. It was 43C every day. It felt like walking into an oven. Never felt heat like that before.

Late August was actually cooler than mid-September for us. For the run weekend, the day time temperatures were probably low 30's for us too. However, when we went back in mid-September, they were definitely closer to 40 (people were saying it was over 100, which I think is around 37). But as I said, that was unseasonably warm. I would expect all of your lower elevation desert time to be around 40 or above in September. We had around 42-43 in Palm Springs, which cooled off to probably 38 or so as we reached the higher elevations on the other side of Joshua Tree NP. I think I was getting a bit of heatstroke in Palm Springs and felt quite sick one afternoon. After some water and a short nap in our air-conditioned room, I was ready to go again.

 

[Tashinwdw]

We actually found LA weather rather chilly especially after about 4pm, it could be because we had spend 5 weeks in Las vegas and Florida though. I agree with Las Vegas being the hottest, both times we have been there august and September we have found it the hottest place we had visited. We had 3 days in Disneyland and felt if was enough to see the must see and do things with time to do things twice. Again that would be because we had just spent 3 weeks at WDW and Dh was abit over the theme parks etc. I would recommend having longer than 3 days especially with younger ones as you dont want to feel you have to be out there doing the parks when they kids are tired and want to rest. It will be a better holiday if you can do it at a mild pace.

I am also a person who loves fireworks, I can watch them from afar and still enjoy them but nothing beats being up close and feeling the boombs from the crackers and the music and atmosphere of being up close to them.

 

[travelwith4kids]

Thanks again!
So fireworks in front of castle are a must... we do love fireworks! Is there just one showing of fantasmic each weekend night? (forgive my ignorance, I dont even know what it is. A night performance show?) I think we would still prefer a quieter weekday in the park over a busier weekend day with fantasmic... maybe. Will have a think.

The SoCal pass will save us over $500 which is why we thought we would get it. And I was sure (??) that I read somewhere that you can upgrade your 3 day before the end of your last day at the ticket window. Credited the amount of a 3day and we pay difference (which I think will be about $100). If someone thinks we are going about this wrong and can do it cheaper feel free to leave suggestions

We will definitely be booking early for Desert Inn so thanks for the heads up to check with them before arriving! With 4 kids we def. need everything to run smoothly and work out as planned. I was watching Aug dates and they didnt become available until mid Sept so guess will be about the same for Sept.

Great advice for the Aerial Tram, we would probably be going late arv anyway so might as well wait until then if its cheaper!

I think the kids will have a blast on public transport, it will be so new for them. It will be Mum and Dad who will be stressing! They out number us 2-1, guess its lucky we have 2 hands each!!

We will be fine with high 30's. Low 40's and we might be seeking out some aircon or pools... We arent in Palm Springs or Vegas for very long at all and Death Valley is a one day drive thru so will really appreciate the cars aircon!

And we couldnt find the snake.... its out there somewhere

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks again!
So fireworks in front of castle are a must... we do love fireworks! Is there just one showing of fantasmic each weekend night? (forgive my ignorance, I dont even know what it is. A night performance show?) I think we would still prefer a quieter weekday in the park over a busier weekend day with fantasmic... maybe. Will have a think.

In my experience, F! will be on at 9pm and 10:30pm weekend nights in September. If the fireworks are more your thing, it is possible to stake out a good spot for those, view them, then high-tail it over to the Rivers of America to view the second showing of F! There will be lots of people doing the same thing and the walkways will be very crowded. Try the bridge over POTC if you don't see any good spots available. Cons are that your kids will have to stay up very late early in the trip, and you will spend a lot of park time that night waiting around. BUT it's your only chance to see both shows.

The SoCal pass will save us over $500 which is why we thought we would get it. And I was sure (??) that I read somewhere that you can upgrade your 3 day before the end of your last day at the ticket window. Credited the amount of a 3day and we pay difference (which I think will be about $100). If someone thinks we are going about this wrong and can do it cheaper feel free to leave suggestions

If you really want to do all the attractions on the SoCal pass, and you're happy with the time you'll have at DLR, then it sounds like good value

We will definitely be booking early for Desert Inn so thanks for the heads up to check with them before arriving! With 4 kids we def. need everything to run smoothly and work out as planned. I was watching Aug dates and they didnt become available until mid Sept so guess will be about the same for Sept.

Great advice for the Aerial Tram, we would probably be going late arv anyway so might as well wait until then if its cheaper!

I think the kids will have a blast on public transport, it will be so new for them. It will be Mum and Dad who will be stressing! They out number us 2-1, guess its lucky we have 2 hands each!![/QUOTE]

We will be fine with high 30's. Low 40's and we might be seeking out some aircon or pools... We arent in Palm Springs or Vegas for very long at all and Death Valley is a one day drive thru so will really appreciate the cars aircon!

I assume your hotels in Palm Springs and Vegas will both have lovely pools that you can head to for a cool off I've always wanted to go to Death Valley, but I'm planning to save it for a cooler time of year

And we couldnt find the snake.... its out there somewhere

 

[LivingforDisney]

Just my two cents worth.
The first time I took my kids to DL they were 8 & 10, we stayed the first 3 nights, in a Lax hotel, we got public transport all over, loved it, the buses were great and got to see the locals of L.A lol.
This got us over any jet lag and ready for Disney.
We caught the bus to The Grove, the tar pits ad other places. Another day we caught the bus to Santa Monica, we did have to change buses though, but we made it there and back.
We then spent 10 days at DL, it was in September, we didn't have to go to the parks for the full day, we did some shopping, caught the bus, and some lazing around the pool.
My kids handled it well, as we had free days!
From Anaheim, we drove to Williams in Arizona, loved it here, we caught the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon, we only had 5 hours there, but we didn't want to do any hiking ect, so it suited us, just to walk around the top. Was very hot there.
Then we drove to Las Vegas and had 5 nights, didn't see half of it, we did a show, outlet shopping ect.
It was stinking hot here and so so crowded.
IMHO, your kids are going to need some time out, don't forget once u arrive, they would already of had a mammoth trip to get there.
Then we went again the next year (scored some mega cheap flights)

This trip, we stayed at The Orchid Suites, Just behind the mall in Hollywood Blvde, fantastic place.
Got the train one stop to Universal, the bus to the grove and then headed to Dl for 10 nights.
This was also Sept.
I am sure you will have a fantastic time whatever way you do the trip. But in 3 days, not sure if u will do everything in both parks.

 

[travelwith4kids]

mmm... as much as I would like to do both fireworks and fantasmic I know it really wont be realistic for the kids to be watching at 10.30. They will just be way to exhausted. I think I wont stress too much about doing everything, fit in what we can whilst still remaining sane lol and then we can plan to come back when the kids are older.

Thanks for your 2cents LivingforDisney! I love hearing how others have done their trips! I am worried that this trip will be 2 fast passed for the kids being that they are still so young and then will become too stressful and not fun. We cant increase our time so maybe we could think about dropping somethings so we have more 'down time'. It was originally far less 'full' an itinerary but just keeps growing! That is why we will most probably do 4 days at DL. With an extra day we can take it a little slower, DH doesnt want any longer then that though (he actually doesnt even know about the extra day yet lol, might just tell him when we are there )

The Orchid Suites is where we are thinking of staying in LA at the end of our trip. Probably just for 2-3 nights, depending on flights.