Hey I have a question for all you Californian and
DisneyLand buffs out there.....
In November I have a conference in Palm Springs (November7-12) and Jason and I were thinking of using our points to stay at one of the DisneyLand hotels before my conference. We'd probably look into flying over and checking in on either Saturday night, Nov. 3rd or Sunday morning Nov. 4th and then check out on the morning of Wed. Nov 7th. This woudl be a first trip for me to DisneyLand and Jason's first time ever even going that far West!!
So here are my questions:
1.) How many days should we plan on being there if we DON'T want our days to be jam packed full. We want to be able to relax (can you swim that time of year?) and enjoy ourselves. So is it better to fly in late on Saturday so we would have three full days there (Sunday, Monday & Tuesday) or is it fine to try to arrive on Sunday and have only 2 1/2 days total?
2.) Which hotel should we stay at? We're using points...so COST isn't so much a factor as is we want a nice room, with a good view, and great location to all that Disney has to offer.
3.) When you're flying there....what airport do you fly to? LAX?
4.) How do you get from the airport to the resorts/hotel? I imagine that Magical Express is a Florida thing only....but is there an equivalent in CA? Or do the Disney hotels have shuttles? Or would we have to rent a car or take a cab or what?
5.) Once we're AT Disney we won't need a car of any kind, right?
6.) When we check out, Jason will just fly back home to Rochester but I will need to travel to Palm Springs for my conference. Is it possible to fly there on a small, inexpensive flight? (And remember inexpensive is relative for me on this trip because work woudl actually be booking my flight from east cost to west...I'd probably only have to pay out of pocket for that small leg of the trip). Or would I be better off to rent a car for a one way (because I'm assuming it'd be easier to fly from Palm Springs back to Rochester rather than try to drive back up towards Anaheim and fly home from there)
7.) Any other advice for a first-time trip there? Attractions? Shows? Restaurants? etc.
Kelly is the DLR guru and I'm sure she'll have plenty of advice, but here is my shot at it:
1. DLR can certainly be done relatively well in 2.5 days, but 3 would definitely be more relaxaing and gives you some "wiggle room" in case the weather is not so cooperative. Also, there are some things like Fantasmic(?) and the fireworks that are only done on Friday and Saturday during the non-peak season. As for swimming: We have been known to have Santa Ana days and it can be warm, but Southern Californian's don't generally swim in November otherwise. Anyone from any place else would think it is plenty warm to swim though - we are just big wimps! If it drops below 70, it must be winter!
In Palm Springs it will be plenty warm to swim! Will you have an "tourist" time there? If so, I can give some suggestions here also.
2. Do you mean DVC points? If so, definitely Grand Californian, no question!! It is the closest of the 3 DLR hotels (all of them are easy walking distance though). It has a great view of CA and a separate entrance to CA. I think you can also have a good view of the DLR fireworks too, but the Disneyland Hotel may be better for the fireworks
. The Grand Californian is definitely the nicest of the three hotels. If you are using other hotel points, there are also good options.
3. LAX has the most options. John Wayne (Santa Ana) is the closest to Disneyland, and as Susie suggested Ontario is in between Palm Springs and Anaheim if you need to do a roundtrip ticket.
4. No Magical Express here. There are a number of shuttle services though such as Supershuttle and Cloud 9 shuttle (I think). There are probably car services also. Kelly will have info about this, I'm sure. A taxi would be expensive, and a rental car would be unecessary.
5. You definitely don't need a car once you are at DLR and it would just be a nuisance to pay for parking. Everything is a few minute walking distances from each other. The one reason to rent a car would be if you had a rental for the week to get to/from Palm Springs.
6. There is a number of commuter flights from LAX to Palm Springs, but it would be on a puddle jumper. By the time you got to LAX, checked in, etc, flew to Palm Springs, got to your conference hotel, driving would probably be easier. You will be driving midweek mostly reverse morning commute, so traffic really will not be too awful. I would recommend driving to Palm Springs rather than flying. It is not a bad drive and the freeways between are pretty easy to navigate. As for flying home to Rochester either Palm Springs or Ontario are good options. You will be on a smaller plane out of Palm Springs, but driving back toward LA from Palm Springs on Sunday night/monday morning can also take hours and hours of snailpaced traffic, especially if there is an accident.
7. Definitely make PS ressies for Blue Bayou. We eat here whenever we can. Ask for a waterside table. Another thing would be the Fantasmic Dessert Buffet. This also requires PS ressies and are hard to come by. We have never done it, but it is on the list of "things to do". I'm sure there is lots more, but I need to run to get DD11 from school and my mind is blanking right now ...
On a related note, we may be in Palm Springs the same weekend! We went to an awesome swim meet there last November, and I think the team is planning on going again. The Fall meet schedule won't be out for awhile though.
