Our Plans for Next Week (Advice VERY Welcome)

[jsmla]

We are a couple (56 and 60) and will be visiting the Disneyland Resort April 21-May 1 after attending a wedding in Las Vegas. We are staying at the Disneyland Hotel and have 4 Day ParkHoppers. Our party consists of:

Me-Huge WDW fan, I head down to Orlando at least four times a year and know Disney World like the back of my hand. Love theme parks and rides of all types. Super early riser, NOT a night owl. I am also a major planner. We don't always follow them but I love researching trips and filling notebooks with lists and itineraries. Went to DL several times in the late nineties/early 2000s but always as a chaperone to our daughter's dance team. Trying to keep half a dozen teenaged girls corralled doesn't leave you much room to enjoy a theme park. Or anything else, really. I know we went to the parks but remember very little. Those trips are a blur of sequins, false eyelashes and competition angst.

DH-Never been to DLR and not a theme park guy, outdoorsy, suffers fairly badly from motion sickness. Only going to DLR to humor his nutty wife. Okay with early mornings as long as he gets a break midday. Would much, much rather be in a canoe or hanging off the side of of a mountain or wandering around in the desert but we did that last trip out west. I was a very good sport about it all so now it's my turn . All the same I want to make DLR as painless as possible for the poor man.

Disneyland was an impulse add on to our Vegas trip so I did a bit of bargain hunting. I booked our room and tickets at a great discount through the Dapper Day event. April is my birthday month so I signed up with both Landrys and Patina. I have a $30 credit with Patina and $50 for Landrys. I also have a restaurant.com certificate for $50 off a $100 tab at House of Blues. We've used the HoB certificates several times in Orlando and find them to be a good value. I know that the greater LA area is chock a block full of fabulous local restaurants but we'll save them for another trip, preferably one when we'll have a car.


Here's what I've come up with so far:

Saturday 4/23
Spend the night at a Comfort Inn near the airport. We've never stayed here but NOLA has a huge jazz festival beginning next week and hotels were all crazy expensive even way out by the airport. I hate spending over $150 for a night in a budget motel in St Rose, Louisiana but it's either that or getting up at 2:30 AM. That's really early, even for me. For DH it's still last night. The rate does include a week's parking so it's better than it sounds.


Sunday 4/24
7:00 AM flight to Las Vegas. We'll be there for three nights to attend a wedding and its accompanying festivities. Staying at the Mirage-got two free nights and one at a reduced rate through MyVegas rewards.


Wednesday 4/27
8:50 AM-flight to SNA. This is the morning after the wedding and I'm beginning to have some regrets here. When I booked I was only thinking about getting to Disney ASAP. Now I'm worried that we may be too hungover for an 8:50 AM flight!

9:50 AM-land at SNA. We plan to use Uber to the hotel. I booked a grocery delivery for between 11:00-12:00, wondering if I should rebook for later. The order includes alcohol so we have to be there to accept it.

Lunch-undecided. We'll probably be starving, any suggestions?

Afternoon/Evening at Disneyland Park.

5:00-Paint the Night Dining Package at Blue Bayou. Still on the fence with this one. DH hates staking out parade spots (I'm from NOLA and enjoy me a good parade!) an hour or more in advance and I thought this would help. Any thoughts?

We'll probably head back to the hotel after the fireworks.


Thursday 4/28
Magic Morning at Disneyland-we plan on doing whatever is open in Tomorrowland during MM then nosing around other lands until lunchtime.

Lunch at Rainforest Cafe (Landrys credit) followed by poolside naps.

Evening at California Adventure.

7:45 PM-World of Color Dessert Party


Friday 4/29
7:00 AM-Early Entry at California Adventure

Lunch at Food and Wine Kiosks

Pool time

Open, probably return to whichever park we're in the mood for.

Dinner at Crossroads at House of Blues



Saturday 4/30
7:00 AM Magic Morning at Disneyland-this day we'll hit Peter Pan and other attractions in Fantasyland followed by other areas of the park.

Lunch-I would like to book a late lunch at Carnation Cafe, hoping for a patio seat with a parade view but disneyland.com is not cooperating. I was thinking 3:30 for a 4:30 parade time. Does that sound right?

Dinner at Tortilla Joes and a look around DTD.


Sunday 5/1
10:05 flight home We're flying out of SNA and plan on using Uber. Any suggestions on what time we should leave the hotel?


Thanks for reading, I know it's long but I really do appreciate any advice from you DL vets!

 

[gottalovepluto]

So first things first: you have those rewards programs down pat! Seriously, I love it!

I would say don't plan that MM in DL too much. Sometimes what you want to ride isn't open yet (even thought it's supposed to be) and you could find yourself at Alice before you're brain has even registered that you've left Tomorrowland! (Literally Matterhorn is half in Tomorrowland, half in Fantasyland those areas are so close.) So it's not a big deal to bounce back and forth between the 2. I would also consider trying to hit PP on Thurs MM vs Saturday MM. Saturday's are busier in the parks and in theory that means more people at the MM racing for PP. Others will know more about that here than me, I've seen lots of discussion on PP at rope drop but never done it myself.

Carnation Café won't guarantee patio seating, just FYI. You can request but that's all. Once out on the patio you'll see the parade go by up high but people line the street in front of the patio to watch the parade. Here's a link to a photo I found that shows you the little patio area, the walkway in front and the street where the parade is. (hope the link works, never done one like that before!)

Oh and for that morning flight: So. Much. Coffee.

Have a great time!!

 

[Nevada Jen]

So here are my thoughts. First, you should probably move your food delivery back at least a half hour. It might be safest to have lunch from room service and move your food delivery back a whole hour. If DH is not a big theme park fan, you might want to start at DCA your first afternoon and then head over to DL for your dinner reservations. DL is likely to be pretty crowded when you are going in. DCA might be as crowded but you won't notice it as much because the walkways are bigger. Maybe enter through the GCH entrance, grab a Soarin Fastpass, do lunch at Smoke Jumpers (or whatever it is called now) right by Soarin and then hopefully it will be your fastpass time and wander through that way (its way more naturey) to the front of the park and then out the gates and across the way to DL park, hitting a ride or two along the way. It is fun to take the pirates ride first before you eat at BB. I think it makes BB taste better You shouldn't have to do the dining package to enjoy the parade without a wait for two adults if you are willing to watch from IASW. MAybe not even if you want to watch on main street and stand at the back.

I think I would hit the Fantasy land rides on your first MM at DL because it is a school/work day. If you do it on a weekend, you will have crowds of people who would otherwise be in school, I would think. Having done MM for one land each day, I barely noticed the people in Tomorrowland (and it felt like we crossed most of the park off our list that morning by not stepping foot into Fastasyland) but Fantasyland was very crowded right away. Go Tomorrowland on the second DL magic morning.

Other than that, I like your plan.

 

[JenEMT]

Looks like great plans to me! DH and I will be there the same exact days and I have nearly the same schedule. Minus your dining plans though. We will be doing Fantasyland on Thursday MM, then Tomorrowland on Saturdays. For the same reason others stated. We have carnation cafe reservations at 430 Saturday, I believe lol.

One piece of advice I'd throw in is to download the Disneyland app (if you haven't already). We used it often. To check wait times, fp return times, etc.

Have a great trip!

 

[LizzyS]

We'll also be in the parks on the 30th! I think it looks like you've thought a lot of things through already and I don't see any major issues in your planning. My number one piece of advice is always to be flexible and let things go with the flow. Super rigid plans generally set you up for disappointment.

 

[tammytam]

I don't have much advice.. as I'm a newbie myself! I just wanted to add that I will also be there next week (with my daughter). We'll also be doing MM on Thursday morning and also contemplating the WOC dessert party Thursday night (still undecided if I should splurge)! I'm sure we'll be unknowingly crossing paths at some point Have so much fun!!!!

 

[taniahappy]

We will be there on May 1 !! Yei !!! ... I am a huge Vegas fan myself so I am loving your itinerary, it looks perfect to me.

 

[GeneralTso]

Good call on your Blue Bayou PTN package. We just did it and it was great. Your seating area is in front of the train station on Main Street. You can see the parade coming down Main Street and again right in front of you. There's plenty of room. Only curb spots get to sit (officially) but many were sitting throughout the area and it was no big deal. We got to the spot at 8:15 for the 8:45 parade and it was easy.

We also used Uber to and from SNA. Had cars pull up within 10 minutes of request. Cost $19 getting to Grand Cal and $17 from GC to airport. A fraction of the price of a cab. Both awesome drivers too.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Look through this thread for some very helpful info: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets

 

[cheshiregoofy22]

In case anyone is looking, restaurant.com has HOB discount certificates for Anaheim. It's $20 for a $50 gift certificate on a minimum $100 tab. Not a huge savings, but a little something someone might find interesting.

 

[ElenaJane]

Just wanted to say hello as DH and I will be there 4/26-4/30, staying at the DLH! I scheduled BB PTN on 4/28 and also reserved the WoC Dessert Party 4/29. I just don't know the park like I do WDW, so I wanted to be sure we had good places to view the parade and WoC! The advice that people have given me is get to security/bag check EARLY. Like at least 45 minutes, so 7:15am for early mornings. I bet we will cross paths without even knowing it!

 

[jsmla]

So first things first: you have those rewards programs down pat! Seriously, I love it!

I would say don't plan that MM in DL too much. Sometimes what you want to ride isn't open yet (even thought it's supposed to be) and you could find yourself at Alice before you're brain has even registered that you've left Tomorrowland! (Literally Matterhorn is half in Tomorrowland, half in Fantasyland those areas are so close.) So it's not a big deal to bounce back and forth between the 2. I would also consider trying to hit PP on Thurs MM vs Saturday MM. Saturday's are busier in the parks and in theory that means more people at the MM racing for PP. Others will know more about that here than me, I've seen lots of discussion on PP at rope drop but never done it myself.

Carnation Café won't guarantee patio seating, just FYI. You can request but that's all. Once out on the patio you'll see the parade go by up high but people line the street in front of the patio to watch the parade. Here's a link to a photo I found that shows you the little patio area, the walkway in front and the street where the parade is. (hope the link works, never done one like that before!

Thanks for the explanation of how close everything is, no matter how hard I try I can't seem to stop using the Magic Kingdom at WDW for reference. It really helps to have the distances put into perspective. DH hates tromping around theme parks. He can go all day on some god forsaken trail in the back of beyond but at WDW it takes about ten minutes before he starts to get "tired".

I went ahead and booked Carnation Cafe for 3:30. I plan on asking and letting them know we don't mind waiting for an outside table. No biggie if it doesn't work out. We have to eat and aren't really all that interested in having Louisiana style food inside a theme park in California. Pretty sure it's better here at home.

I moved our Vons delivery to a 12:00-1:00 PM window. We'll just have lunch at the hotel if we have to wait on it.

We'll also swap our two MM days at Disneyland. I had no idea the day of the week made such a huge difference, so thank you. It makes sense that DLR would have more locals given it's location. I think Saturday may be a blackout day for some APs but there's no point in not switching.

I really, really appreciate all of the help. Y'all are the best!

 

[jsmla]

In case anyone is looking, restaurant.com has HOB discount certificates for Anaheim. It's $20 for a $50 gift certificate on a minimum $100 tab. Not a huge savings, but a little something someone might find interesting.

Thad have coupon codes and sales pretty much all of the time. I think I paid less than $5 for ours.

 

[jsmla]

Good call on your Blue Bayou PTN package. We just did it and it was great. Your seating area is in front of the train station on Main Street. You can see the parade coming down Main Street and again right in front of you. There's plenty of room. Only curb spots get to sit (officially) but many were sitting throughout the area and it was no big deal. We got to the spot at 8:15 for the 8:45 parade and it was easy.

We also used Uber to and from SNA. Had cars pull up within 10 minutes of request. Cost $19 getting to Grand Cal and $17 from GC to airport. A fraction of the price of a cab. Both awesome drivers too.

Thanks for the positive review of the PtN dining package! I wasn't sure but think we'll keep it. I'm pretty short and usually have to line up well in advance to make sure I can see. Can you see the fireworks from the reserved area?

Love those Uber prices! Did you get picked up outside baggage claim?

I looked into the GC because it seemed like it has the better location but I'm not a fan of lodge decor and really like the retro(ish) DL feel of DLH. I've stayed in most of the national park lodges and those trips all involved a rather unpleasant amount of hiking, rafting and general outdoorsyness. I always associate lodges with being damp, cold and tired!

 

[jsmla]

Okay, revised plan!

Wednesday

9:50 AM-Flight lands at SNA, Uber to Disneyland Hotel

12:00-1:00 AM-Scheduled delivery from Vons! Lunchat Trader Sam's while we wait.

Disneyland in the afternoon/evening. 5:00 PM Paint the Night Package at Blue Bayou.


Thursday

Magic Morning at Disneyland with a focus on Fantasyland. Hyperspace Mountain if the lines aren't too bad.

Lunch at Rainforest Cafe followed by some pool time. Hopefully room will be ready!

Evening at DCA. 7:45 PM World of Color Dessert Party


Friday

7:00 AM-Early Entry at California Adventure

Lunch at the Food and Wine Festival

Pool time

Return to park of choice

Dinner at House of Blues


Saturday

7:00 AM-Magic Morning at Disneyland

3:30 PM-late lunch at Carnation Cafe

Downtown Disney

8:00 PM-Dinner at Tortilla Jo's


Leaving Friday and Saturday fairly loose. We'll see how the crowds are and just go with the flow.

Better?