New Here- planning our first trip to Disneyland

[LizzyQ]

I've never been to Disneyland (or other Disney theme park), and I am planning our first trip for Mid-May 2011 with my family (DH and 2 boys who will be 4 and almost 2). I'm looking for a ton of advice!!! We are going to be visiting on a strict budget, staying at Dolphin Cove Timeshare, we are a vegan family, and we want to celebrate my older son's 4th birthday while we are there (again, on the cheap). If anyone can point me in the right direction for these specifics, please let me know, thanks!

 

[nana50]

On the Vegan issue, my kids ate at chinese restaurants. We always got a list of restaurants nearby. The phonebooks still have them listed. At the park, At Hungry Bear their hamburgers were Vegan, not just vegetarian, so we always ate lunch there. There is a link, (I don't know how to do them) that lists the menus for all the Disney and California adventure restaurant and snack places.

 

[Flitterific]

On the Vegan issue, my kids ate at chinese restaurants. We always got a list of restaurants nearby. The phonebooks still have them listed. At the park, At Hungry Bear their hamburgers were Vegan, not just vegetarian, so we always ate lunch there. There is a link, (I don't know how to do them) that lists the menus for all the Disney and California adventure restaurant and snack places.

Here's the link to the website that nana mentioned: http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm. I think if you browse the menus there, it will give you a good idea of the prices and the food selection at those places. I'm sure there are other vegans out there who can give you more tips though. Good luck and have fun!

 

[letthembelittle]

We stayed at Dolphins Cove in November and really liked it and our kids were about that age too, you can read more about our trip on my trip reports. I am not sure about the vegan stuff though. I hope you have a great trip!

 

[LizzyQ]

On the Vegan issue, my kids ate at chinese restaurants. We always got a list of restaurants nearby. The phonebooks still have them listed. At the park, At Hungry Bear their hamburgers were Vegan, not just vegetarian, so we always ate lunch there. There is a link, (I don't know how to do them) that lists the menus for all the Disney and California adventure restaurant and snack places.

Here's the link to the website that nana mentioned:

THanks! This is very helpful!

Just curious... is there a Trader Joes in the area? We don't have one in Utah and I like to stock up on Trader Joes stuff when I travel out of state

 

[LizzyQ]

We stayed at Dolphins Cove in November and really liked it and our kids were about that age too, you can read more about our trip on my trip reports. I am not sure about the vegan stuff though. I hope you have a great trip!

Hey Neighbor! I'm glad you liked Dolphins Cove, I was reading reviews on it that didn't seam that great... but I think they should be done renovating by next year (I hope). Driving from SLC, did you stop half way (St. George or Vegas)? Last time we took a California trip, DS1 was almost one so we were stopping all the time.

 

[letthembelittle]

We too had read some of the bad reviews but it was fine while we were there, we had a little issue with ants but it was quickly taken care of. The rooms were really big and it was great to have our own kitchen. We did stay in Vegas on the way down since we left after dd was done with preschool for the day, we planned on driving straight home but decided to stay in St George because of snow on the way home. We are going again in April and plan on just driving straight through, it does take longer with the kids

 

[nana50]

Here are three Trader Joes in the area
Trader Joe's Locations

Results of search near anaheim, CA


1-3 of 3


3.5 miles
View Map Trader Joe's Mall of Orange (46)
2114 N. Tustin St.
Orange, CA 92865
Phone Number: 714-283-5697
Trading Hours: 9:00 am - 9:00 pm



5.7 miles
View Map Trader Joe's Brea (11)
2500 E Imperial Hwy
Brea, CA 92821
Phone Number: 714-257-1180
Trading Hours: 8:00 am - 9:00 pm



6.0 miles
View Map Trader Joe's Yorba Linda (176)
19655 Yorba Linda Blvd.
Yorba Linda, CA 92886
Phone Number: 714-970-0116
Trading Hours: 8:00 am - 9:00 pm



1-3 of 3

 

[LizzyQ]

Yay about Trader Joes! It will help us to have a kitchen in our condo too!

More Questions:

Is mid-May a good time to go (arriving around May 15th) and going to the parks (DL & DCA) Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday? I figure weekdays will be better than the weekends, and we use less of our timeshare credits that way too. Both DH and I are college students so this will be the week after the spring semester ends for college students, which might make it a little more crowded, but since most school-age children are still in school mid-may, hopefully not too much?

The other Question: We want to have a small birthday celebration for DS1 (4th Bday)... can you give me some inexpensive suggestions? We need to bring our own cake (dietary restrictions), but we don't want to just have it at the condo we are staying... we want something a little more special, KWIM?