Please critique my itinerary!!

[TwinsRmyLife]

Hello Dis vets

We are travelling to DLR on Sat Sept 20th, arriving around 1:00pm, leaving early Sat Sept 27th. Me, DH and DS and DD (12) So that gives us 6 full days of fun! I originally wanted to get a 5 day hopper, but I think a 4 day will do just fine as we also are going to Universal one day and will need a break/beach day in there somewhere. only my kids second trip so we are super excited!

So a question first. I think the most economical way to go for us is to get the citypass through costco.ca for $319 and add a day at disney and not use the seaworld day. I understand you get a credit and only have to pay the difference for the 4th day. I have heard the credit is $265, can someone confirm that has done it recently? so if I get a credit of 265 and the 4 day hopper rate is $289, I will pay $96 total for the 4 of of us to upgrade? can anything been done with the seaworld day if we don't use, give to someone else? I hate to see it go to waste

I understand the hours will be shorter, and although I know there is never a 'quiet' time at disneyland I researched the time we are going a lot before we picked the date as I think it one of the less busy weeks of the year. I have no interest in planning our days down to ride schedules and when we stop to eat etc, we want to take it easy, go with the flow and do what we want, when we feel like it..utilizing FP's and RSR tips of course too. so here is what I got:

Sat-arrive, unpack, head to a store to get groceries, hit DTD for a nice dinner, early to bed to get a good nights sleep!
Sunday-Disney
Monday-Disney
Tuesday-Universal
Wed-Rest day
Thur-Disney
Friday-Disney
Sat-travel home

What do you all think?? part of me wants to add a 5th hopper day on and do a half day in the parks on our arrival day, but the organized, realistic part of me wants us to utilize the arrival to get ready for the week. plus there is something magical about hitting DL first thing in the morning on your first day in the parks, rather than mid-day

would you change any days around? also, if you had access to a car and could go anywhere within reason, where is the best (most options and most reasonably priced) grocery store

Any advise would be greatly appreciated, you guys know best!!

 

[kitayama]

Itinerary looks good!
I like the idea of a day with nothing planned in the middle of your vacation.

As far as Supermarkets are concerned, I think there is a Food for Less on Katella, and a WalMart neighborhood store on Ball. I remember the Food For Less being in what looked like a sketchy area (I was there late at night though), so try to not look like a tourist. In other words, no Disney clothing on adults and no backpacks.

 

[MouseEXP]

I really hate Los Angeles traffic and that is why I would recommend Universal on Sunday.
A weekday trip to Hollywood can be bit of a hassle.

 

[superlarz]

I really hate Los Angeles traffic and that is why I would recommend Universal on Sunday.
A weekday trip to Hollywood can be bit of a hassle.

Great point! Driving across LA can be rough traffic wise. Universal on a weekday is a good idea, but you have to go to plan for traffic. There is gonna be very heavy traffic from 7-10am and 4-8pm. Outside of those times, there is still going to be traffic. Its a fact of life in LA.

 

[6Smiles]

We will be there the same time as you. There is a Halloween party Fri. the 26th so I believe although the parks close at 7p the parks will start getting crowded about 4pm. Just over 30 days to go

 

[TwinsRmyLife]

when you say the parks close at 7:00 do you mean everyone that is not part of the halloween party has to leave? no fireworks/evening shows??

 

[Diszona]

when you say the parks close at 7:00 do you mean everyone that is not part of the halloween party has to leave? no fireworks/evening shows??

That is correct. On the day of the Halloween party only those with a party ticket can remain after 7. Also, keep in mind that those with tickets can also go into the park 3 hours early (4 pm in this case) so it can get crowded during those hours. I am not sure how big a crowd the first party, on a Friday, is going to be but I imagine it is one of the larger ones. That is just something to keep in mind.

Touringplans has a crowd calendar that might be able to help you plan.

 

[rentayenta]

I really hate Los Angeles traffic and that is why I would recommend Universal on Sunday.
A weekday trip to Hollywood can be bit of a hassle.

I totally agree with this though I totally understand wanting to begin and end the trip with Disney.


What about spending that half day in Downtown Disney? Or maybe the evening that the park closes early? My kids love DTD.

 

[TwinsRmyLife]

It's not the worst thing to be kicked out of the park at 7:00 on the friday as we have super early flights the next day..BUT, that only leaves Sunday the 20th for fireworks and fantasmic. I'm not complaining though, I knew the hours would be shorter during this time, just thought we would also have that friday night for fireworks or fantasmic. we do plan on doing DTD on our arrival day and I'm sure will hit there during the week too. omg, I can't wait!

 

[laughinplace199]

We were just in DLR last week. For groceries, you may want to consider having Von's deliver to your resort. There was a promo code on their website for free delivery. When we had our groceries delivered, DH tried to tip the Von's guy, but he wouldn't accept it.