New to Disneyland......

[KristiA]

Hello all. My family and I are new to the Disney scene. We went to DW last year and absolutely fell in love with it. This year, funds are a little limited, so we are going to try DL.

So, what do you all recommend? Where to stay? Is a 3 day pass good enough so that we can also do the beach and other attractions around the area? What other attractions must not be missed?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[hlbtimes2]

A three day pass is good, but if you are going to be in the area longer I suggest getting a longer pass. Its not that much more for a 4 or 5 day, and that way if you get back to the hotel in the evening you can catch a couple rides, fireworks or shop.

As for hotels- if you are on a budget I would suggest the Candy cane inn or the Hojo's (howard johnson). Both have great reviews on www.tripadvisor.com Both are with in walking distance. Candy cane offers a private shuttle every 1/2 hour to the park and back. Which is great after a long day or if you have little kids. They also offer free breakfast ( a nice selection of cereal, bagels, pastries, fruit and juice). Hojo's offers two pools- one for younger kids and a regular, and has wonderful staff. If you are looking for a larger room, like a suite, I'm not much help- but take a look at trip advisor. I think the Park place inn, a best western, gets pretty good reviews and is close. There are also some other nicer hotels in the area, but I'm of no help on those either- top things for us are 1) clean and 2) walking distance. If we cant walk, we dont stay there. Of course there are also the 3 on site hotels, but if funds are low, I dont recomend them- they are expensive!

 

[SunshineOR]

You'll have a great time! I think the parks can be done in three days--plan one day for Disneyland, one day for DCA (although on a not crowded day DCA can be done in short time and you can get back over to Disneyland in the same day on the parkhopper!), and one day to catch what you've missed or return to favorites. We prefer four days to really take it slow and revisit favorites a lot, but I think you can do it in three. Honestly, our kids are pretty young and we are so in love with Disneyland that we don't do much off-site, so I don't have any recommendations for the rest of your stay.

The on-site hotels look fabulous but are really pricey. We had a good stay in Nov. at the Residence Inn. It's nothing fantastic, but it's clean, includes free breakfast and cheap ART transport that's really convenient to and from the resort. Don't know your family size, but the Res. Inn also has family suites that sleep up to eight, including bunk beds for kids.

 

[jakoky]

hi there, we are also going to DL in may, after visiting WDW dec 04...i have been to DL 5 times, but all by the time i was 13...my husband and 3 children have never been...but we all just LOVED WDW...i would love to go back, but the flight is very long for us, so we have chosen DL...I cant wait to take the kids...i think we are going to get 5 day passes, but we are actually there for 10 nights...i think that that will just give us lots of time...i know that we had 5 days in WDW and we needed 7 for sure..i am excited to see what my kids think of DL, my dad keeps telling me that he thinks they will be disappointed(he has only seen my WDW pictures, he has never been but has been to DL close to 15 times)...i think they will love it, it will be a different experience....i dont know how old your kids are, mine are going to be 15, 12, and 10 when we go and we are also going to universal and knotts water park(if it is open)...and my hubby wants a couple of days by the pool...and my oldest daughter wants a day of shopping...does anyone have any recommendations of where to go to shop that is close by, we wont have a car so will have to bus or taxi it....thx...have an awesome trip..BTW, when are u going?
sharon

 

[lntsmom]

We did DL last summer. First, make sure you sign up at MouseSavers to see what deals Mary has cut for her members. I got a wonderful room at HoJo's for $65 a night. Had I booked a month earlier, it would have be $10 less than that! I loved HoJo's because it's gift shop carries milk, yogurt, cheese, fresh fruit, muffins, etc. Of course, it's gift shop prices, but still much less than the parks. I took along individual boxes of cereal...you could take one big box, even, as the gift shop sells individual bowls and sppons! It saved us a ton of money. The room also had a free fridge, so we filled up our water bottles there and had chilled water to take along for free.

There is a McDonalds and a Denny's between there and DLR. Try going to the Anaheim Visitors Bureau website to see if they have coupons. I got 20% off the total order for McDonalds, which brought the price down to what our McDonalds at home charges. Denny's had out a sign about kid's eating free...I'm not sure which night, but I'm sure you could find that info.

We usually only ate one meal per day in the parks, which was a big savings.

3 days is enough if you are spending full days, and don't mind if you only get to do some of your favorites one time. Be sure to plan around parades and shows if they're important to you.

If you have time, be sure to leave a few hours to wander around Downtown Disney. We had lunch at the ESPN Zone...my kids loved it and the game room upstairs (they got their game fix, lol!) I don't know if you still get points on the Park Hoppers, but between those and the ones you get if you sign up for the ESPN Zone membership, they played for free for nearly 2 hours...and we left with points still on our cards!

If you have boys, be sure to go to the Lego Store there. Plan to budget so they can fill a container with the cool pieces they carry; things you can't buy separately anywhere except at the Lego Store.

I wish we'd had more time to just wander down there, but, alas....

Personally, there isn't anything else in the LA area that called out to me. I did all the touristy stuff back in the 70's, and had no wish to go back to any of those places. Folks who go more often should have some great suggestions, tho!

Have fun on your trip!

 

[momsgoofy]

We did DL last summer. First, make sure you sign up at MouseSavers to see what deals Mary has cut for her members. I got a wonderful room at HoJo's for $65 a night. Had I booked a month earlier, it would have be $10 less than that! I loved HoJo's because it's gift shop carries milk, yogurt, cheese, fresh fruit, muffins, etc. Of course, it's gift shop prices, but still much less than the parks. I took along individual boxes of cereal...you could take one big box, even, as the gift shop sells individual bowls and sppons! It saved us a ton of money. The room also had a free fridge, so we filled up our water bottles there and had chilled water to take along for free.

There is a McDonalds and a Denny's between there and DLR. Try going to the Anaheim Visitors Bureau website to see if they have coupons. I got 20% off the total order for McDonalds, which brought the price down to what our McDonalds at home charges. Denny's had out a sign about kid's eating free...I'm not sure which night, but I'm sure you could find that info.

We usually only ate one meal per day in the parks, which was a big savings.

3 days is enough if you are spending full days, and don't mind if you only get to do some of your favorites one time. Be sure to plan around parades and shows if they're important to you.

If you have time, be sure to leave a few hours to wander around Downtown Disney. We had lunch at the ESPN Zone...my kids loved it and the game room upstairs (they got their game fix, lol!) I don't know if you still get points on the Park Hoppers, but between those and the ones you get if you sign up for the ESPN Zone membership, they played for free for nearly 2 hours...and we left with points still on our cards!

If you have boys, be sure to go to the Lego Store there. Plan to budget so they can fill a container with the cool pieces they carry; things you can't buy separately anywhere except at the Lego Store.

I wish we'd had more time to just wander down there, but, alas....

Personally, there isn't anything else in the LA area that called out to me. I did all the touristy stuff back in the 70's, and had no wish to go back to any of those places. Folks who go more often should have some great suggestions, tho!

Have fun on your trip!

Curious...noted that you said something about signing up at the ESPN Zone membership?? Did you do this before your trip or during? DS will be 14 right before we go and of course, sports and video games are tops in his book so I'm thinking of going to the ESPN Club for a meal...so, why not save some cash on the video games? We're probably going to get 5 day hoppers, which if I remember correctly, includes something toward rewards at ESPN, but if you could share the rest of the info...membership...I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[hlbtimes2]

You sign up before you go, on their web site. Sorry, I'm at work and cant get a link right now- just google it. They send you an email to bring with you. You have to sign up with in the 30 days before your trip ( but not more then 30 days before). You used to get a $20 gift card and a small cooler, but they no longer do that. Oh, and you have to have ID that matches the info you used at sign up.

 

[Pir8girl]

Does ESPN Zone have video games for little guys like 6 yearolds? Or is it mostly a teenage hangout. We've never gone in because DD wasn't interested and DS couldn't read lol!

 

[momsgoofy]

You sign up before you go, on their web site. Sorry, I'm at work and cant get a link right now- just google it. They send you an email to bring with you. You have to sign up with in the 30 days before your trip ( but not more then 30 days before). You used to get a $20 gift card and a small cooler, but they no longer do that. Oh, and you have to have ID that matches the info you used at sign up.

Thanks! I will check into it when we get to within the 30 days mark!