It's official!! Woohoo!! (and what do I do next?!)

[DisSarahK]

It's official, we're heading to Disneyland in two months!!

I booked our hotel in January and kept my fingers crossed that we'd really be able to make the trip in September. Well, last night after lots of discussion, we decided to go ahead with it. Woohoo!! We're going from the 16th-20th of September and plan to spend Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in the parks.

I booked tickets on Virgin America for $716 for all four of us to fly from Seattle to LAX--$76 each way plus all the crazy fees. I figure that's a good price and with fuel prices going crazy, prices are likely to go up. I wanted to fly into SNA, but ticket prices were a lot more to fly there.

What is my next step?

Is it two months out that I can start making reservations? I'm thinking of a breakfast at Carnation Cafe (the children will love the waffles!), breakfast with Minnie and Friends (the 2.5 year old adores Pooh!), and dinner at Ariel's Grotto (princesses for the 4 year old). Are there any other places I should make reservations? We don't need fancy food and I need to be smart with money on this trip.

Grocery delivery to the Desert Inn and Suites is an option, right? How far out should I schedule that?

Eeep, I'm just SO excited!!!

 

[dalepool]

You did get a great price on your airfare. I agree SNA is easier to fly into but really the only difference is the travel time from lax to Disneyland ( shuttle does cost a bit more to). I would make my return reservvation for shuttle once you get to calif. I waited one time until the night before and found out all the slots for when I wanted picked up were taken so I ended up having to take a much earlier shuttle back to airport .

Remember to pack some snacks for in room -- find out where the cheapest place to buy water is and if you will have a refrig in room take your own water to park.

If you do not have a Disney Visa card apply for one now there is a 40.00 gift card once you make your original purchase and you get stroller rentals for free if you show your Disney Visa at the rental area. One other perk is a MEET and GREET located in DCA. This is only available to Disney CC holders and you will get a picture to boot. You can do this each day of your stay.
There are so many hints for Disneyland these are but a few--

Best suggestion I can give you is keep it slow and enjoy your trip. Make sure you take an afternoon break for naps -- oh, not for the kids --for YOU. Get to DL early as to take advantage of fantasy land rides early in day. (If you get a Magical morning definatley do that). You can ride in 1 hour what might take you 4-5 hours later .

 

[Queenbillabong]

You can start making PS arrangements 60 days out - Carnation Cafe is GREAT!! The breakfast at the Plaza Inn is also a must do for us.

Yes, you can arrange for groceries to be delivered to the DI. If you want them delivered before you arrive (I mean day of, not weeks in advance ;-) then you should phone the front desk and let them know so they can accept them for you. You don't need that much notice - a week or under would be more than enough time and you can let them know what day/time you want them delivered. If you set up an account on vons.com, there will be no delivery fee with a code - easy7 - for your first delivery!

Unless you are renting a car, you will need to find transportation to and from the airport. The Disneyland Express might be a good choice for the kids. They have a washroom on board and play Disney movies for the trip (which can be a little long - up to about 2 hours or so depending on traffice. It was over an hour for us any way in May).

HTH.

 

[DisSarahK]

Thanks for the advice--and YIKES on the length of the trip from LAX to the hotel. Ugh, I'm so not looking forward to that!

 

[mariezp]

Yes, you can arrange for groceries to be delivered to the DI. If you want them delivered before you arrive (I mean day of, not weeks in advance ;-) then you should phone the front desk and let them know so they can accept them for you. You don't need that much notice - a week or under would be more than enough time and you can let them know what day/time you want them delivered. If you set up an account on vons.com, there will be no delivery fee with a code - easy7 - for your first delivery!

Can you REALLY have the front desk at Desert Inn accept the groceries for you? That would be so great! Last year we had Von's deliver (which was absolutely great!) but I did hate having to allow 2 hours for the delivery time. I ordered my groceries pretty far in advance so I could make sure not to miss the time frame I wanted them delivered.

 

[DisSarahK]

Yes, I just called and spoke with the front desk at the Desert Inn and Suites and the nice man on the phone said that it wasn't a problem for them to accept groceries--just to call them and let them know that the groceries will be arriving.

 

[mariezp]

Yes, I just called and spoke with the front desk at the Desert Inn and Suites and the nice man on the phone said that it wasn't a problem for them to accept groceries--just to call them and let them know that the groceries will be arriving.

Good stuff to know!


DisSarahK, be sure to add that to your notes about the grocery deliver!
I am green with envy that you will be going in 2 months! I've got to wait 4 more. Sounds like you have a good start on your plans. Have a great time!

 

[Mililani Mouser]

too exciting!! we'll be there at the same time. i would trade your airfare price anytime, i have to pay $520 r/t per person ($2k ouch) to lax from honolulu, and that's on the redeye!!!

 

[DisSarahK]

too exciting!! we'll be there at the same time. i would trade your airfare price anytime, i have to pay $520 r/t per person ($2k ouch) to lax from honolulu, and that's on the redeye!!!

Ooooh, ouch! We wouldn't be going to DL if we had to pay that much for airfare! Really the airfare prices are what clinched the decision to go to DL this year--we figure they're only going to get more expensive with the crazy gas prices.

 

[FourM's]

DH and I will be there at the same time, for a wedding anniversary trip.
Patiently waiting until I can make dining reservations. Kids are not to happy we are going with out them but, oh well! We are from Washington state also. Good score on your airfare! I'm jealous. Hope your trip is great!

 

[princessLoLo'smom]

$716 sounds really good to me! I got $636 for PHX to SNA and that is the lowest possible rate on Southwest both ways at $69 each way for 4 people. However we are probably going to have to drive and save the money!

Have a great time and the whole grocery delivery thing is brilliant... I'd never have thought of that. We purchased those refillable mugs in WDW and had no difficulty filling them with water in the parks and even soda sometimes if a server was nice! Do they do that in DL? It saved us money not having to buy drinks all day in the parks and at the hotel! If you can freeze your bottled water it will melt slowly and stay cold... another trick I picked up in WDW last May.

 

[DisSarahK]

$716 sounds really good to me! I got $636 for PHX to SNA and that is the lowest possible rate on Southwest both ways at $69 each way for 4 people. However we are probably going to have to drive and save the money!

Have a great time and the whole grocery delivery thing is brilliant... I'd never have thought of that. We purchased those refillable mugs in WDW and had no difficulty filling them with water in the parks and even soda sometimes if a server was nice! Do they do that in DL? It saved us money not having to buy drinks all day in the parks and at the hotel! If you can freeze your bottled water it will melt slowly and stay cold... another trick I picked up in WDW last May.

Sounds as though you found a good airfare price too. At this point there is no way we could drive to DL--my younger child absolutely hates the car...driving from Washington to Oregon at the beginning of the summer was bad enough...driving all the way to SoCal would be torture!! Plus my husband doesn't have enough vacation days saved up for that.

A refillable mug is a good idea--I've read that you can get water for free in DL, so that would work well. We're definitely going to be bringing water containers of some sort in with us, especially as my children *only* drink water and milk--nothing else.

 

[wazowskiLOVER:)]

Yes, I just called and spoke with the front desk at the Desert Inn and Suites and the nice man on the phone said that it wasn't a problem for them to accept groceries--just to call them and let them know that the groceries will be arriving.

WOOO HOO !!! Thats great to hear because we're staying there when we go too and I want to get a case of sent to the hotel