Stitchwitch
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2012
- Messages
- 16
We just returned yesterday from our Spring Break trip to Disneyland and I thought I'd post our observations. DH and I took several trips to Disneyland prior to having kids, but this was only our second trip with our two kids. Last time our kids were 3 and 6. This time they were 6 and 9, and I have to say their current ages were perfect. We had a lot of fun on our last trip, but this one was so much easier now that they are both tall enough for most rides. No more strollers and we only had to use child swap for a couple of rides.
Crowds - Crowd wise we felt like the parks were significantly more crowded than our summer trip 3 years ago. Hard to know if that is because it was Spring Break or because crowds are just higher these days in general. Thankfully we were mentally expecting high crowds, so we were prepared for long lines and took lots of patience with us. We did rope drop every day, and except for our early entry day, started at the park that did not have early entry. Wednesday morning at Disneyland felt delightfully uncrowded until almost noon. It rained on Thursday and a little on Friday. Thursday felt quite crowded, but Friday actually felt surprisingly uncrowded. I suppose that may have been because locals stayed away due to the weather. We took a break every day after lunch and either swam or relaxed in our room. We did 5 days at Disneyland, which was exactly perfect. It was enough time to do almost everything we wanted, with time on the last day to repeat several. I do wonder what the parks will be like after Star Wars Land opens. I can only imagine they will be even more crowded than they are now, for quite some time. Will 5 days be enough then?
Hotels - We stayed at three different hotels over the week, which was not ideal but just how things worked out. We stayed at the Hojo, Legoland Hotel, and the Park Vue. The Hojo is our favorite and we would have stayed there the entire time, but it was full most of the week. Therefore we did a couple of nights there, then one night at the Legoland Hotel, and then the rest of the week at the Park Vue. Our kids were the perfect age for the Hojo waterpark and we really liked that our room had a sink in the bathroom and one outside the bathroom. That room also had lots of counter space and drawer space. The Legoland hotel was exceptional and we felt like it was a good value. It was more expensive, but a buffet breakfast was included. The kids loved the bunk beds and having their own area. There was a treasure hunt they did that led to the code to the box in our room that contained two small Lego sets they got to keep. The bathroom was thoughtfully designed with a stool for kids who couldn't reach the sink. I'm surprised more hotels don't provide this. The pool had foam legos that the kids loved playing with. All in all we really felt like the Legoland hotel added a lot to our visit to that park, and we'd definitely stay there again if we ever do Legoland again. Finally the Park Vue was great. The location can't be beat and the beds were very comfortable. The cleaning staff would rearrange the kids stuffed animals each day, which our kids really got a kick out of. One day they made a little bobsled out of towels and lined them all up on it, which was so cute! The only drawback to the Park Vue is the lack of drawer space in the room. We had to keep some items in our suitcases, but that really was a very minor issue. We loved all three hotels and wouldn't hesitate to stay in them again.
Legoland - We did 1 day at Legoland and stayed 1 night at the Legoland Hotel. Legoland was a very nice park, well kept with nice rides. Our kids are lego crazy, so they really loved it. Their ages were perfect for the rides at Legoland. DS particularly loved the car driving ride and DD loved the dragon roller coaster. As nice as the park was, Legoland really is a park that is aimed at primarily kids. The difference with Disneyland is that all of us, DH and I included, enjoy the vast majority of rides equally. 1 day at Legoland was plenty. We skipped the water park and the aquarium.
Cost - Wow, this trip was so much more expensive than our past trip. Everything from the cost of airfare to the cost of food was a lot higher and it really added up. I'm not surprised given prices just go up over time and the parks are so popular, but at this rate of cost increase we are going to have to save a lot harder before we can afford another trip. One thing that helped was that we brought our own drinks into the park each day. We purchased them at Target and stored them in our hotel fridge. The cost of the exact same drinks were 2 to 3 times higher in the parks. We also cut way back on souvenirs and we skipped the photopass since they eliminated the length of stay pass. I saw far fewer photopass photographers in the park this time, so I wasn't too sad about not having it. We bought our hopper tickets through Last Minute Travel club and that saved us a nice amount. For Legoland we were lucky and found two coupons on the back of the free Lego packets the Lego Store hands out when you spend a certain amount at the store. We got them around the holidays when we were buying Christmas presents. The coupons were for a free child ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket. This saved us a lot and I'm go glad we found those coupons.
Paint the Night Blue Bayou - I saw the negative review of this, but in the end I decided to keep our reservation, and I'm really glad that I did. I think for us there were three reasons why it made sense for us: 1) we went at a highly crowded time so viewing spaces were hard to come by 2) our kids are still young enough that we really wanted to go to the earlier parade, and 3) we wanted to eat at BB anyway. I looked up the menu and once I added what we would spend on what we would order it wasn't a huge amount more to do the package. The viewing area was across from the Main Street train station. We were fine with being in the second row rather than being on the curb, so we showed up about 35 minutes prior to parade start. There was an orderly line when we got there. The cast members walked each family in at first and directed them to a curb spot. Once the curb spots were full they let everyone else in line in and said to sit wherever we wanted to. We sat in the second row and then stood when the parade started. I would recommend not showing up any later than we did. There were a few families that had to be behind us. Thankfully we are short and they were very tall, so I think everyone had a nice view.
Ride Closures - When we first decided to take this trip the closure of the ROA and the train had not been announced yet. Once they were we almost canceled our trip. We've been to Disneyland when the ROA was drained several years ago and it really did diminish the experience. However we took a look at the long list of attractions that were going to be open and decided to keep the trip. I'm so glad that we did. Thankfully the coffer dams were installed so we didn't have to see the river drained, and we really tried to do a lot of things we either hadn't done or rarely do on this trip which was very enjoyable.
Disney Magic - There is always something that stands out after a trip as being especially magical and this time it was the super hero meet and greets. Our meets with Thor, Spider Man and Captain America were amazing. All three really took time to talk to the kids and they were very charismatic and very in character. It's really a shame that the Thor meet and greet is no more. Of the three I'd actually say it was the best and we were lucky to see it before it was closed.
Fresh Baked - Like how an author dedicates a book to someone who inspires them, we'd like to dedicate this trip to Fresh Baked. Our entire family has watched Fresh Baked on Youtube every Saturday morning for the last several months. We save up the week's episodes and then binge watch them. We did so many things we wouldn't have because we saw it on Fresh Baked. I don't think we would have taken the time to visit the super heros had we not seen the meet and greets on the show. So if you're out there Fresh Baked, we love you!
All in all it was a fabulous trip. We'd love to return every year, but unless we suddenly find another source of income we'll need 2- 3 years to save up again. Most likely we won't return until Star Wars Land opens. Not sure if we'll do Spring Break again. If our Spring Break falls the week before or after Easter then definitely not. If it falls two or more weeks away, then maybe. We don't take our kids out of school for vacations, so if not Spring Break then we'll do summer again. Thanks so much to the Disboards. We don't post on here much, but we've learned so much from those who do post here.
Crowds - Crowd wise we felt like the parks were significantly more crowded than our summer trip 3 years ago. Hard to know if that is because it was Spring Break or because crowds are just higher these days in general. Thankfully we were mentally expecting high crowds, so we were prepared for long lines and took lots of patience with us. We did rope drop every day, and except for our early entry day, started at the park that did not have early entry. Wednesday morning at Disneyland felt delightfully uncrowded until almost noon. It rained on Thursday and a little on Friday. Thursday felt quite crowded, but Friday actually felt surprisingly uncrowded. I suppose that may have been because locals stayed away due to the weather. We took a break every day after lunch and either swam or relaxed in our room. We did 5 days at Disneyland, which was exactly perfect. It was enough time to do almost everything we wanted, with time on the last day to repeat several. I do wonder what the parks will be like after Star Wars Land opens. I can only imagine they will be even more crowded than they are now, for quite some time. Will 5 days be enough then?
Hotels - We stayed at three different hotels over the week, which was not ideal but just how things worked out. We stayed at the Hojo, Legoland Hotel, and the Park Vue. The Hojo is our favorite and we would have stayed there the entire time, but it was full most of the week. Therefore we did a couple of nights there, then one night at the Legoland Hotel, and then the rest of the week at the Park Vue. Our kids were the perfect age for the Hojo waterpark and we really liked that our room had a sink in the bathroom and one outside the bathroom. That room also had lots of counter space and drawer space. The Legoland hotel was exceptional and we felt like it was a good value. It was more expensive, but a buffet breakfast was included. The kids loved the bunk beds and having their own area. There was a treasure hunt they did that led to the code to the box in our room that contained two small Lego sets they got to keep. The bathroom was thoughtfully designed with a stool for kids who couldn't reach the sink. I'm surprised more hotels don't provide this. The pool had foam legos that the kids loved playing with. All in all we really felt like the Legoland hotel added a lot to our visit to that park, and we'd definitely stay there again if we ever do Legoland again. Finally the Park Vue was great. The location can't be beat and the beds were very comfortable. The cleaning staff would rearrange the kids stuffed animals each day, which our kids really got a kick out of. One day they made a little bobsled out of towels and lined them all up on it, which was so cute! The only drawback to the Park Vue is the lack of drawer space in the room. We had to keep some items in our suitcases, but that really was a very minor issue. We loved all three hotels and wouldn't hesitate to stay in them again.
Legoland - We did 1 day at Legoland and stayed 1 night at the Legoland Hotel. Legoland was a very nice park, well kept with nice rides. Our kids are lego crazy, so they really loved it. Their ages were perfect for the rides at Legoland. DS particularly loved the car driving ride and DD loved the dragon roller coaster. As nice as the park was, Legoland really is a park that is aimed at primarily kids. The difference with Disneyland is that all of us, DH and I included, enjoy the vast majority of rides equally. 1 day at Legoland was plenty. We skipped the water park and the aquarium.
Cost - Wow, this trip was so much more expensive than our past trip. Everything from the cost of airfare to the cost of food was a lot higher and it really added up. I'm not surprised given prices just go up over time and the parks are so popular, but at this rate of cost increase we are going to have to save a lot harder before we can afford another trip. One thing that helped was that we brought our own drinks into the park each day. We purchased them at Target and stored them in our hotel fridge. The cost of the exact same drinks were 2 to 3 times higher in the parks. We also cut way back on souvenirs and we skipped the photopass since they eliminated the length of stay pass. I saw far fewer photopass photographers in the park this time, so I wasn't too sad about not having it. We bought our hopper tickets through Last Minute Travel club and that saved us a nice amount. For Legoland we were lucky and found two coupons on the back of the free Lego packets the Lego Store hands out when you spend a certain amount at the store. We got them around the holidays when we were buying Christmas presents. The coupons were for a free child ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket. This saved us a lot and I'm go glad we found those coupons.
Paint the Night Blue Bayou - I saw the negative review of this, but in the end I decided to keep our reservation, and I'm really glad that I did. I think for us there were three reasons why it made sense for us: 1) we went at a highly crowded time so viewing spaces were hard to come by 2) our kids are still young enough that we really wanted to go to the earlier parade, and 3) we wanted to eat at BB anyway. I looked up the menu and once I added what we would spend on what we would order it wasn't a huge amount more to do the package. The viewing area was across from the Main Street train station. We were fine with being in the second row rather than being on the curb, so we showed up about 35 minutes prior to parade start. There was an orderly line when we got there. The cast members walked each family in at first and directed them to a curb spot. Once the curb spots were full they let everyone else in line in and said to sit wherever we wanted to. We sat in the second row and then stood when the parade started. I would recommend not showing up any later than we did. There were a few families that had to be behind us. Thankfully we are short and they were very tall, so I think everyone had a nice view.
Ride Closures - When we first decided to take this trip the closure of the ROA and the train had not been announced yet. Once they were we almost canceled our trip. We've been to Disneyland when the ROA was drained several years ago and it really did diminish the experience. However we took a look at the long list of attractions that were going to be open and decided to keep the trip. I'm so glad that we did. Thankfully the coffer dams were installed so we didn't have to see the river drained, and we really tried to do a lot of things we either hadn't done or rarely do on this trip which was very enjoyable.
Disney Magic - There is always something that stands out after a trip as being especially magical and this time it was the super hero meet and greets. Our meets with Thor, Spider Man and Captain America were amazing. All three really took time to talk to the kids and they were very charismatic and very in character. It's really a shame that the Thor meet and greet is no more. Of the three I'd actually say it was the best and we were lucky to see it before it was closed.
Fresh Baked - Like how an author dedicates a book to someone who inspires them, we'd like to dedicate this trip to Fresh Baked. Our entire family has watched Fresh Baked on Youtube every Saturday morning for the last several months. We save up the week's episodes and then binge watch them. We did so many things we wouldn't have because we saw it on Fresh Baked. I don't think we would have taken the time to visit the super heros had we not seen the meet and greets on the show. So if you're out there Fresh Baked, we love you!
All in all it was a fabulous trip. We'd love to return every year, but unless we suddenly find another source of income we'll need 2- 3 years to save up again. Most likely we won't return until Star Wars Land opens. Not sure if we'll do Spring Break again. If our Spring Break falls the week before or after Easter then definitely not. If it falls two or more weeks away, then maybe. We don't take our kids out of school for vacations, so if not Spring Break then we'll do summer again. Thanks so much to the Disboards. We don't post on here much, but we've learned so much from those who do post here.
we also did the BB PTN and loved it. We were just a week ahead of you guys 
