Need Cost Effective Planning Advice

[shaycamp21]

I am trying to plan a short trip to Disneyland for my family (Dh, myself and dd's ages 8 & 9) in August. This is just a little bonus trip before we fly off to Honolulu for our cruise and a few days in Waikiki (sp?). Since the cruise and land stay is quite pricey I wanted the DL portion of this trip to be as economical as possible (Dh, though he likes Disney does not share the same passion --so I have to really sell this to him).

So here is the thing, I was thinking of staying three nights at the Candy Cane Inn (is seems nice and is reasonable). The first night (Aug 5) I wanted to do a character dinner (Goofy's kitchen) and check out DTD.

I was thinking the next day (Aug 6) of just doing DL since we have one day passes leftover from WDW (they are not hoppers but I emailed DL guest relations and they said they can be used for admission to one park). Then I was thinking of just buying another single use ticket for everyone to do DCA the final day (Aug 7--we fly out on the am of the 8th).

Is it worth paying the extra $ to park hop? Is it silly not to park hop with the parks being so close (the last time I was in DL was in '92 so there was no DCA or DTD from what I remember)?

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[jencav5]

You are correct, there was no DCA or DTD in 1992. Things will be very new & different for you!

Park hopping is fun & easy at DLR; however, I do not think it is worth the extra money if you're trying to do this trip for less. Also, considering that you haven't been there in awhile & don't have long to stay, it would be easy for you to stay in one park all day. The two parks are close, but it still takes time exiting one and entering another, depending on crowds, etc. You can maximize your time better by staying in one place and doing one park at a time. I doubt that you will have time to regret the park hopping since you'll be so busy!

 

[HydroGuy]

I think you have a good plan and is the right way to go to save a few dollars. Aug 6 is a Wednesday and that is the best day of the week to go to DL so you have a good plan there. Aug 7 is then of course Thursday and there is enough there to keep you busy all day. Be sure to see the Aladdin show at DCA!

 

[bumbershoot]

This is possibly the only time I've seen us saying "hopping is great but you've made a good case for not doing so".

And actually you could wait to buy the one-park pass, to see if maybe you will want to hop. Go to whichever park the first day, and then next day decide if maybe you didn't get "enough" of it, and would want to go back during part of the that day.

What a fun trip you are taking!!!!!

 

[Dobie]

It is really hard for my family to be at DLR and not go to DL (thinking about the first night.) It is also hard to get the most out of DL (fireworks, parade, Fantasmic) with just one night. And, it is REALLY hard to spend the whole day at DCA and not want to scoot over to DL. The parks are so close that they are, really, one park.

May I suggest plan B:

Skip the Character Dinner. It is very pricey.

Instead, buy a two day park hopper. Go to DL the first evening--eat somewhere cheap. Then, spend the next day parkhopping, and use your DW ticks on the final day.

Just a thought. (gotta go--garlic bread is burning!)

 

[shaycamp21]

Wow. Great advice. Skipping the character dinner Hmm something to also consider though my dd's were hoping to go to Goofy's Kitchen I guess because it reminds us of Chef Mickey's which is one of our fav's at WDW (not so much for food but for character interaction and fun atmosphere). Though I'd hate to miss out on doing both Fireworks and Fantasmic (I saw Fantasmic when it first premiered at DL and think it's better than the one at WDW). Is is possible to do both Fantasmic and Fireworks on the same night if we go to the later Fantasmic?

What about the Electric Parade at DCA (does that still go on)? Is it anything like Spectromagic at WDW?

A quick OT question, does anyone know if we can get a shuttle from the Candy Cane Inn to LAX for our flight out the final morning?

Thanks again.

 

[HydroGuy]

What about the Electric Parade at DCA (does that still go on)? Is it anything like Spectromagic at WDW?

It is now called the Disney Electrical Parade and it does still go on at DCA but is seasonal. I would expect it to happen this summer nightly. IMO it is somewhat similar to SpectroMagic. I thought Spectro was better but they are both fun.

 

[bumbershoot]

For the shuttle, there's Super Shuttle (I've used it but not to/from LAX and I liked it), there's Primetime Shuttle. There's also a Grayline bus called the Disneyland Express. Candy Cane Inn isn't on the schedule of the DE bus, so you do have to make reservations.