Planning my first trip...

[stefknee]

I am currently in the early stages of planning our first trip to Disneyland. I live in VA and have been to WDW more times than I can count but my 4 year old and myself are taking a trip to California in July and I thought this would be a nice surprise. I have a few questions for you seasoned visitors!

- Where can I get the BEST discount tickets? I need two adult tickets and a child ticket. I've found them online for about $140-150. A one day ticket is fine but if I can find a 2 day hopper pass for an affordable price I'm okay with that too. We will also have someone with us that is a CA resident and can buy tickets if there's an extra discount somewhere that involves that. ANY tips on bringing down the ticket price would be greatly appreciated!

- When is the best day to go? We will be in CA July 20 - 28 and going during the week is absolutely doable and even prefered. I know with parks around here there are certain days/times that are better than others so any opinions here would help! =)

- Any other tips I may need? We are staying about 30 minutes away from DL so i don't need any hotel information but if there are any other tips you can share with me I'd love you forever.


Thanks in advance for any assitance!

 

[HydroGuy]

I am currently in the early stages of planning our first trip to Disneyland. I live in VA and have been to WDW more times than I can count but my 4 year old and myself are taking a trip to California in July and I thought this would be a nice surprise. I have a few questions for you seasoned visitors!

- Where can I get the BEST discount tickets? I need two adult tickets and a child ticket. I've found them online for about $140-150. A one day ticket is fine but if I can find a 2 day hopper pass for an affordable price I'm okay with that too. We will also have someone with us that is a CA resident and can buy tickets if there's an extra discount somewhere that involves that. ANY tips on bringing down the ticket price would be greatly appreciated!

The two that come up most around here are

Ares Travel http://www.arestravel.com/

and

Get Away Today http://www.getawaytoday.com/

I have used Ares many times but never GAT. Many others around here have used GAT.

- When is the best day to go? We will be in CA July 20 - 28 and going during the week is absolutely doable and even prefered. I know with parks around here there are certain days/times that are better than others so any opinions here would help! =)

The best day as in you are only going for one day? If a day trip in July then Wednesday will be the best. No Magic Mornings and furthest from weekend.

If multi-day then it depends a little on if you are staying onsite or off and how many Magic Mornings you can get, but for th emost part stick with Monday-Thursday in the summer to get a little crowd relief.

See "Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319

- Any other tips I may need? We are staying about 30 minutes away from DL so i don't need any hotel information but if there are any other tips you can share with me I'd love you forever.


Thanks in advance for any assitance!

I cannot emphasize enough that if you are doing a 2+ day trip to DLR that you forget the idea of staying 30 minutes away and stay closer. It will make your trip a different trip. Many of the things that can go wrong and ruin or detract from your trip will be a non-issue if you stay close by. This includes:

o Late arrival at the parks
o Getting tired and hot and cranky and having no good place to go to rest and cool off
o Lnoger lines since you will be forced to stay at the parks all day during the periods of longer lines.
o Greater energy and flexibility to see Disneys awesome night time shows like World of Color and Fantasmic.

If you stay close by you can easily do twice as many rides per day - maybe three times as much - and see more shows. And be more refreshed and enjoy things more.

My two cents - do whatever you want. See above link on Summer visits and also these links:

"Hidden Time Losses When Using a Car At DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1381580

"HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862

 

[Hound 109]

Read all of HG's links. Then read all of the links in his tip thread compilation link.(in his signature).

Especially read his DLR for WDW veteran tip thread. Essential reading.

Post again & have fun planning a visit to Walt's park.