Planning a Disneyland Trip???s

[LMO429]

I have been to Disneyland back in 2008 and stayed onsite at the Grand Californian for 4 nights.

This upcoming trip I am trying to figure out how long I should stay at disneyland? If I wanted to go to L.A. would I need to rent a car? Could you stay at Disneyland for a week with no car and be able to be within a reasonable cab distance of other attractions?

I am just trying to plan something and trying to figure out some options. Any input would be appreciated. It would be a group of 4 woman going in the 30 to 65 year old range. Thank you again.

We do plan on staying at the Grand Californian in May 2013

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

I wouldn't take a cab into LA personally, it can get pricey ($80-$100 one way) doing that over and over.

You can easily stay in DL (esp at the GCH) and not need a car I would look into renting a car for the full time or daily for any side trips from the downtown Disney Alamo location. I'm doing that on our upcoming trip for both a day at Legoland and Huntington Beach, both car rentals were around $35- much less then a cab plus we don't have to pay for parking or the hassle of a car full time

 

[LMO429]

I wouldn't take a cab into LA personally, it can get pricey ($80-$100 one way) doing that over and over.

You can easily stay in DL (esp at the GCH) and not need a car I would look into renting a car for the full time or daily for any side trips from the downtown Disney Alamo location. I'm doing that on our upcoming trip for both a day at Legoland and Huntington Beach, both car rentals were around $35- much less then a cab plus we don't have to pay for parking or the hassle of a car full time

so you can walk to the alamo from the grand californian

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

Yep, its in Downtown Disney down by the Disneyland Hotel, rainforest Cafe and ESPN Zone end. If you go onto maps on Disneyland.com and look at the Downtown Disney one, you will see where it is

 

[abdgeek]

You only need about 3 days to see DL/DCA. Use the other time to see LA or the surrounding areas. The last time I was there, I rented a car from the DTD Alamo for about 3 days to sightsee. The cars are parked in the lot between the three disney hotels(right across the street from GCV)

 

[LMO429]

You only need about 3 days to see DL/DCA. Use the other time to see LA or the surrounding areas. The last time I was there, I rented a car from the DTD Alamo for about 3 days to sightsee. The cars are parked in the lot between the three disney hotels(right across the street from GCV)

would you think staying at disneyland hotel for the week and doing day trips via car a good idea or would you suggest staying at another hotel in la. for 3 nights. i was thinking 4 nights disneyland 3 nights la

 

[KateDrake]

Depending on what other attractions you want to see, it might be better to split your trip. For example, you could rent a car for the first couple of days and stay in San Diego if you wanted to see the zoo and Sea World. Or stay closer to LA if you want to see Hollywood, art museums, etc. Then you could move to Disney for the rest of your stay. It's kind of a pain to switch hotels, but DLR really is kind of far away from many of the other attractions. But if you stay at the GCH, you will not need a car, and it would actually be kind of a pain since you'd have to pay for parking.

What other attractions are you planning on visiting? If you can tell us that, we can all give you more tailored advice to your specific trip. Sounds like it is going to be a fun one, whatever you decide!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

you know some ppl say you only need 2 or 3 days for dl dca but some stay 2weeks to see all so if your first time or first time in a few years id try 3-5days at dl dca.
have fun tho

 

[LMO429]

Ideally I would like to make this trip as easy as possible and if we do not have to rent a car I would rather not.

 

[sechelt]

Not sure about pricing but there used to be tour busses that would pick up from the hotels for places like Universal and Hollywood. Anyone know if that's still available? Might be an option to avoid driving.

Personally, I've driven all over the place while staying within the DL resort area. I liked being able to pop back over to DL after our day trips. The exception was San Diego. We made that a separate trip.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I would say that four to five days, at the least, would be fine for your trip. Now that Cars Land is open there is much more to do and see. With that being said, you can move at a comfortable pace and dedicate two days to each park as well as some extra pool and DTD time.

DL is about 35-45 minutes from Hollywood. I would suggest renting a car or looking into public transportation like a train instead of using a cab service.

 

[Sherry E]

Taking a taxi up to L.A. from DLR would definitely not be a wise idea. Those sneaky cab drivers have ways of taking "the scenic route" and managing to get stuck in traffic to boot. Meanwhile, your fare hikes up and up...

Maybe taking a cab to Knott's Berry Farm wouldn't be too bad, as it is at least in Orange County (Buena Park) and not too, too far away from Disneyland.

I live in L.A. - right in the Farmers Market/The Grove/Los Angeles County Museum of Art/La Brea Tar Pits area of town. I'm also approximately 10 minutes away from Hollywood. It takes about 40-45 minutes to get down to Anaheim (and back again) with no traffic. That is the key - going when there is no traffic. If you happen to be going back and forth when traffic is at its peak, it can take at least twice as long.

I would suggest a shuttle or something like that - and I have used shuttles to get to Disneyland from where I live - but those are very expensive for point-to-point service (with no airport stops). However, other than renting a car for yourself, a shuttle or taxi would be the most direct route, and probably the fastest.

Anything that's less expensive - like if you can find a tour bus that will take you to Hollywood from Anaheim - usually takes longer and is not a direct ride from Point A to Point B.

I would say that the length of time needed for a visit to DLR seems to differ with each person. Some folks will burn out on all things Disney after 3 days. Some will stay for 5 days and feel it is not enough. There are some members of this board who travel from Australia and/or New Zealand and end up staying 2 weeks at Disneyland! In fact, our very own DIS'er, mariezp from Texas, stays about 2 weeks!

I think it all depends on what you want to do with your time while here - pack a lot into it, or take everything in at a more relaxed, leisurely pace!