How many days and side trip

[Mintycake]

Hi there....DL newbie planning to be there from Sept 10 - 17. So far have only booked my flights and am wondering how many days we'll need at the parks. We are two adults and DD (age 7). We are planning to stay at the Disneyland hotel and are coming from the East coast so plan to do the early entry that we get with the hotel stay.

We are flying in and out of LAX and would like to take a side trip to Hollywood to see the sign as well. So I'm trying to figure out the logistics of this and also, how many days will we need at the parks? We plan to do some pool days as well. I was thinking of 4 day hoppers. There will be a number of rides we will skip as DH and DD do not like rollercoasters or getting wet so that rules out a few off the bat.

Any advice? TIA.

 

[chickapin parterre]

...well...writing of bats...you can probably cross off the Haunted mansion
.....and you can experience the sierra Nevada California experience while the family is poolside......getting wet!!!

 

[SMD]

You should get 4 day hoppers for your family and 5 day hopper for you so you can have a day full of coasters and water rides.

Are you renting a car, and would it be for the whole trip or just for the side trip? If you arrive early enough you could easily stop in Hollywood to see the sign. If you want to plan a whole day side trip, then I'd look into other things you'd want to do in LA. If that's the case, you have to decide if how you're going to get to DLH and if it makes sense to rent a car for the whole trip. You'll need some kind of safety seat unless your daughter is taller than 4'9".

 

[tarheelalum]

I know people from other parts of the country love to see the sign but in general, Hollywood usually disappoints.

 

[deetman]

I'm a big fan of seeing whatever movie is playing at El Capitan Theater, and shopping at the store/having some ice cream.

 

[Mintycake]

You should get 4 day hoppers for your family and 5 day hopper for you so you can have a day full of coasters and water rides.

Are you renting a car, and would it be for the whole trip or just for the side trip? If you arrive early enough you could easily stop in Hollywood to see the sign. If you want to plan a whole day side trip, then I'd look into other things you'd want to do in LA. If that's the case, you have to decide if how you're going to get to DLH and if it makes sense to rent a car for the whole trip. You'll need some kind of safety seat unless your daughter is taller than 4'9".

We weren't planning to rent a car but we might for the side trip. Since we fly home Sunday at 6pm I was thinking of checking out of disney Saturday morning and moving to a hotel in LA and then doing a tour of some kind. That way it's easier for us going home. Alternatively we could do it when we arrive and check into DL on tuesday.

 

[SMD]

We weren't planning to rent a car but we might for the side trip. Since we fly home Sunday at 6pm I was thinking of checking out of disney Saturday morning and moving to a hotel in LA and then doing a tour of some kind. That way it's easier for us going home. Alternatively we could do it when we arrive and check into DL on tuesday.

If you get a hotel at LAX Saturday, you could transfer from DLR to LAX, rent a car from LAX, do your side trip on Sunday and then return the car at LAX in the afternoon. You might want to price one way car rentals from LAX to Anaheim and Anaheim to LAX. It may turn out it's cheaper to either start the trip in the car and drop it when you get to Anaheim or rent in Anaheim and drop it at LAX at the end of the trip. In either case you might save the cost of an airport transfer in addition to the car rental.

 

[Frozen2014]

This is our first trip so not talking from experience (only from own planning). If in CA for 7 days but only doing 4 days or so at the park, maybe you want to look at staying elsewhere in LA? It depends on the other things you are planning.
We are also flying in and out of LAX, and then starting our trip in LA so we booked a hotel in Hollywood for first 4 nights. While there we have a tour planned, will do Universal one day, do Warner Brothers Tour , go to Santa Monica Pier, and La Brae Tar Pits or Children's Science Center. Then we will transfer to Anaheim and spend 5 nights there (4 park days). We're still working out the car rental but will either rent a car for our whole LA portion (rent from airport and return in Anaheim) or rent for last 2 days in LA (since we can do without it for first few days) and then return in Anaheim. Or we will also look at keeping car for duration of the trip as SMD states above it if ends up being cheaper (but don't think so in our case).

 

[Mintycake]

This is our first trip so not talking from experience (only from own planning). If in CA for 7 days but only doing 4 days or so at the park, maybe you want to look at staying elsewhere in LA? It depends on the other things you are planning.
We are also flying in and out of LAX, and then starting our trip in LA so we booked a hotel in Hollywood for first 4 nights. While there we have a tour planned, will do Universal one day, do Warner Brothers Tour , go to Santa Monica Pier, and La Brae Tar Pits or Children's Science Center. Then we will transfer to Anaheim and spend 5 nights there (4 park days). We're still working out the car rental but will either rent a car for our whole LA portion (rent from airport and return in Anaheim) or rent for last 2 days in LA (since we can do without it for first few days) and then return in Anaheim. Or we will also look at keeping car for duration of the trip as SMD states above it if ends up being cheaper (but don't think so in our case).

Can I ask which tour you booked? I was thinking of renting a car in Anaheim on Saturday, driving to LA hotel, and then touring around Saturday and returning the rental to LAX on Sunday. We are staying at the DL hotel since my husband gets a discount there (enough to put it on par with surrounding off site hotels). DH is super nervous about driving in LA - for me I'm okay with it since we're from Toronto, so probably similar. The only things my family wants to do is see the Hollywood sign, and also see the walk of fame, and maybe venice beach. I'm not sure if it's worth renting a car if I can just do a tour that will do all that for me without the bother of driving. I figure we can uber from DL to LA hotel.

 

[Frozen2014]

Can I ask which tour you booked? I was thinking of renting a car in Anaheim on Saturday, driving to LA hotel, and then touring around Saturday and returning the rental to LAX on Sunday. We are staying at the DL hotel since my husband gets a discount there (enough to put it on par with surrounding off site hotels). DH is super nervous about driving in LA - for me I'm okay with it since we're from Toronto, so probably similar. The only things my family wants to do is see the Hollywood sign, and also see the walk of fame, and maybe venice beach. I'm not sure if it's worth renting a car if I can just do a tour that will do all that for me without the bother of driving. I figure we can uber from DL to LA hotel.

Small world. We're from Toronto too (well we live in Vaughan). Great that you get a good deal at DL hotel! We're staying offsite as they are just too much.

Haven't booked yet but we're looking at "Grand LA Tour" from Guideline Tours. Link is https://tourslosangeles.com/package/la-city-tour-the-grand-tour/ It hits a lot of the spots we want to go so it fits in well (including Griffith Observatory which I heard is hard for parking). It does include Hollywood Sign, Walk of Fame (and more). There is also another tour with Santa Monica beach but thing we want to hit that on our own time.

We are looking at uber too (even for the first few days when we don't really need a car).

Enjoy your trip. Let us know what you decide.

 

[Mintycake]

Ha small world indeed!
I'm not really sure what we'll do. DH is pretty against leaving the Disney bubble at all!

 

[Canadian Girl 77]

Another Toronto girl here - Oakville. We found the Disney bubble in California to be much less important than in Florida. DD was 7 (almost 8) when we went. She found 5 park days to be too much - and she loves all rides. We stayed in three hotels during our last trip. 6 nights in Grand Californian (conference for DH), 2 nights in San Diego and 3 in Hollywood.

 

[Mintycake]

Another Toronto girl here - Oakville. We found the Disney bubble in California to be much less important than in Florida. DD was 7 (almost 8) when we went. She found 5 park days to be too much - and she loves all rides. We stayed in three hotels during our last trip. 6 nights in Grand Californian (conference for DH), 2 nights in San Diego and 3 in Hollywood.

My DD will be almost 8 as well. She does not like coasters, so stuff like California Screaming, Space Mountain, and Matterhorn will be out. She also doesn't want to get wet so no Splash Mountain or Grizzly River Rapids. Maybe we could get away with a 3 day pass then if we're not doing that? We'll also probably do rider swap for Indiana Jones.

I'm wondering if we can get away with 5 days at DL - 3 or 4 day hoppers with lots of pool time (early morning, afternoon pool, maybe a few more rides around dinner) and then 2 days in LA/Hollywood.

 

[azdisneylover]

The time you are going in September is on the warm side. (Some people say it is hot) I would get at least a 4 day park hopper if not a 5 day park hopper. During the afternoon, go back to the hotel and have a great time by the pool, take a nap, and then, in the late afternoon, head back into the parks to ride favorite rides again, watch the parades, etc. We enjoy watching a movie in the early afternoon, then sitting down for a late lunch/early dinner at Tortilla Joes before heading back into the parks. You guys might enjoy learning how to draw the characters in the Animation Academy Building. The characters scheduled for the day are posted in front of the building daily with the time, so you can plan accordinly.
What ever you decide to do, have a great time!

 

[Mintycake]

Thank you for this. I think we're going to stay at the resort. I have a tendancy (due to our limited holidays) to try to cram in so much into my vacation that I often forget to relax (much to the chagrin of my spouse). I think we'll do 5 day park hoppers and just enjoy the park and pool!