**June 2016 check in**

[xlsm]

Ok, I think I am caught up with our new additions
If I missed anyone or mistyped a date, let me know and I'll fix it!!

Hope everyone's doing well...this is a crazy week for me, and I'm so ready for it to be over!

 

[Misskitty3]

Hey, maybe we'll see each other around the HoJo! Free and easy parking was one of our main reasons for choosing to stay here too, and I know my kids will like the pool - My oldest (he'll be 13 in August) does not enjoy the go-go-go vacation style, and will revolt if we don't have some down time, lol!! He gets a day at the beach, so between that and some pool time, he should be pleasant enough!

What beach are you planning to visit? I am a big believer in down time too! I like to have at least one day off in the middle of our park days!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

I am coming from Oregon so I can appreciate the gloom and overcast. We were there in October and I was shocked at how hot it was. I will be looking forward to cooler weather.

We are from Oregon too.

 

[jadelsp]

We are from Oregon too.

I love how many Oregonians are on here. I am also taking a couple days and driving down.

 

[E&As Mom]

DL newbie here! We are seasoned veterans of visiting WDW, but it's been on our list of vacations to head West (we live in Ohio) for a number of years. It'll be myself, DH, DD (14) and DD (11) going from June 27th-July 3rd and staying @ Paradise Pier. I'm completely lost when it comes to planning much for this upcoming trip... we are going to wing it the best we can! Not planning on a lot of TS type meals (maybe 1 or 2?). We may have made a dumb move in buying 5 day park tickets, but we figure this gives us some leeway in only spending the amount of time we really want/need in the parks vs. feeling like we have to do everything in 2 or 3 days. I know that the parks are much smaller than the parks @ WDW, but again, being newbies (and probably our only trip to DL as a family), we figured we try and take advantage as much as we can while we are out there. We plan to rent a car for a day or two in order to visit the ocean (never been to California or seen the Pacific before!). Plus, I'd love to take a few hours to see downtown LA, Hollywood, etc.

Looking forward to learning what I can from you all!

 

[Khokhonutt]

We may have made a dumb move in buying 5 day park tickets, but we figure this gives us some leeway in only spending the amount of time we really want/need in the parks vs. feeling like we have to do everything in 2 or 3 days. I know that the parks are much smaller than the parks @ WDW, but again, being newbies (and probably our only trip to DL as a family), we figured we try and take advantage as much as we can while we are out there.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, against what I see many recommend, we're doing 5 day tickets as well. Our reasoning is similar to yours. This is our first trip to DLR and we don't know for sure when we would make it out there again, so we want the extra time to wander, do stuff twice, whatever. I'm really enjoying our planning for this trip because we've always enjoyed doing just enough planning to be prepared, but not so much planning that it's stressful. We prefer to plan free time to change plans as we need. The changes at WDW with FP+ and the way you almost have to fight to get in certain meals has turned me off a bit, so I'm loving the idea of the old FP system, planning a couple of must do meals, then playing the rest by ear.

 

[AZMermaid]

We are doing 5 day hoppers too and we go about every 18 months. Well, DH and I ran the captain America 10K in Nov, so we got APs. But the kids are getting 5 day passes. This is the longest we have ever gone and really looking forward to it. We will do 3 full days, a partial day on arrival day (only plan is for the kids to run free around Redwood Creek Trail- but we should have roughly 4 hours in DCA). We are planning an off day at the pool and will go into a park on departure day until lunch time. We might go in for the morning of our off day. If that happens, we won't go in on departure day. We have detailed but flexible plans for the full park days!

 

[xlsm]

DL newbie here! We are seasoned veterans of visiting WDW, but it's been on our list of vacations to head West (we live in Ohio) for a number of years. It'll be myself, DH, DD (14) and DD (11) going from June 27th-July 3rd and staying @ Paradise Pier. I'm completely lost when it comes to planning much for this upcoming trip... we are going to wing it the best we can! Not planning on a lot of TS type meals (maybe 1 or 2?). We may have made a dumb move in buying 5 day park tickets, but we figure this gives us some leeway in only spending the amount of time we really want/need in the parks vs. feeling like we have to do everything in 2 or 3 days. I know that the parks are much smaller than the parks @ WDW, but again, being newbies (and probably our only trip to DL as a family), we figured we try and take advantage as much as we can while we are out there. We plan to rent a car for a day or two in order to visit the ocean (never been to California or seen the Pacific before!). Plus, I'd love to take a few hours to see downtown LA, Hollywood, etc.

Looking forward to learning what I can from you all!

I'll add you to the first page travelers log

We're new to the west coast too, and also have 5 day tickets, with hoppers. We originally planned on three park days, but would rather have the flexibility to come and go on our day trip days to the beach and LA, in case we want to take in a fireworks show or ride something again.
Planning this has me all out of whack, because our family LOVES FP+ at WDW, and our days there are so easy, that this will be an adjustment! But I think having the extra days to go see things again or do something we missed will be a huge help in letting us feel like we've experienced things properly!

I'm so curious to see how all of us WDW vets do on our first visit - there's a lot of us on this June thread!

 

[xlsm]

What beach are you planning to visit? I am a big believer in down time too! I like to have at least one day off in the middle of our park days!

We're probably going to the Newport and Laguna Beach area
Maybe Crescent Bay Beach.

I want to go to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center

 

[CherylGonz]

We may have made a dumb move in buying 5 day park tickets

We haven't been for 5 years but we also bought 5 day passes and taking 1 day to do a Hollywood tour. My DD (15) and niece (17) desperately want to see the Hollywood sign. We won't have a car so I'm going to book a tour. I like having the 5 day passes so that we can relax a bit. I still follow a touring plan so we can maximize our time there as well. Before kids we did park opening to park closing for 2 days. I can't imagine doing that anymore.

 

[Rockiedave]

We will be at DL June 9-12, staying at Paradise Pier. It is my kids' (20 and 13) favorite hotel of the on-site options. We have been to DL many times, but usually go in July. This is our first trip in June. Are there many differences in the crowds between June and July?

 

[E&As Mom]

Thanks everyone for the reassurance on the 5 day PH ticket... I was worried that it was going to be too much, but we just figured with it being our first trip, we want to make sure we have lots of time to do everything at both parks and then do certain things more than once if we can. I am so excited to see the differences in the rides/attractions between DL and WDW.

I have no idea what to expect crowd wise! We usually go to WDW in September when crowds are lower, but I know it's going to be the middle of summer when we hit DL. Everything I have read suggests that it will probably feel more crowded @ DL (the walkways are more narrow?), but I refuse to worry about it. I think I'm more worried about getting around LA on our days off We figure we'll head to either Laguna, Newport, or Huntington Beach (those look to be semi-close to Anaheim). But I would really love to see the Santa Monica Pier, too.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

We may have made a dumb move in buying 5 day park tickets

Hi. We have been numerous times before and this is the first year that we will be buying the 5 day hoppers. Our last trip was for 3 days, and we spent all 3 days in the park, but it felt rushed to me. I would like to be able to spend more time in the parks and also feel relaxed enough to take breaks away from the parks and to be able to experience things multiple times if we want to. We will only be there for 4 full days, so the other day will be probably arrival day, so we can start off at Downtown Disney (buying our souvenirs first, so I am not too tired to shop or care like last time when we waited till the end) and then evening parade and fireworks and staying till park close.

I grew up going to DL and we never went to a TS restaurant. I have only done TS restaurants in WDW, but only once last trip and it was DTD, not Disneyland. Not sure why, guess it is just because that is how we have always done it.

 

[hlbtimes2]

We will be there June 18-22, staying at the candy cane. We are celebrating my daughters high school graduation.

 

[Misskitty3]

For those that will be at Disneyland over Father's Day with a dad, are you planning anything special besides obviously being a DL?

 

[bdub]

Hello, we're starting our road trip either the 9th or 11th, and we'll arrive in Anaheim on June 12 with plans to stay until the 20th. I chose the new Homewood Suites by the convention center this time. We are also hoping to hit other attractions, including a three night stay in San Diego.

Oh, and we're driving down from the Corvallis, OR area and just started planning this a couple of weeks ago. I'm half excited and half overwhelmed!

 

[ten6mom]

We will be there June 20-24 at Desert Inn and Suites. I had originally planned to bring both my kids (9 and 11) but my 11 year old says he's getting kind of tired of DL so it may be just me and my baby! Trying hard not to cry about that!

 

[SA-TX]

June 11 through the 15th at Disneyland. Then Universal.

 

[xlsm]

For those that will be at Disneyland over Father's Day with a dad, are you planning anything special besides obviously being a DL?

After you posted this, I looked up the date for Father's Day. 6/19. Looks like we'll be there then...my DH got a dirty look from me, because he's celebrated his last two birthdays at Disney World, and now a Father's Day at Disneyland. I'm the fanatic in the house, where's MY special occasion trip??? LOL!!! Unfortunately for me, my birthday and Mother's Day are not good travel times for us because of the kids' school schedules. Maybe one day I'll get my trip

Looks like I need to come up with something special for DH on that day now...Hm...Ideas from anyone familiar with the area? Should we skip the parks that day because of elevated crowds?

 

[Kimberly1]

We will be there June 18-22, staying at the candy cane. We are celebrating my daughters high school graduation.

We are coming to Candy Cane as you leave. We arrive the 21.