Questions about a trip

[Badge]

So, I am thinking about making a trip down to the Disneyland area in Oct IF I can manage to get Blizzcon tickets. Blizzcon is taking place Oct 21 and 22 at the convention center near Disneyland. However, it has been years since I have been to Disneyland and it was with my family. This time will be a solo trip and I plan on spending a few extra nights to visit the parks. However, I have a ton of questions!

1) What area hotel do you suggest staying at? I will not have a car, so it HAS to be within walking distance of both the convention center and the parks. I am not the biggest fan of the ART(?) system they have and would rather walk.

2) Whats the best way to get to the hotel from the airport and back again. Since this is a solo trip and I can't rent a car, I am worried about how I will get to the hotel and back to the airport. Does Disneyland have something like Magical Express if you are not staying at one of their hotels?

3) What are the crowds normally like around this time?

4) What are my ticket options? I figure I will get down there thrusday 10/20 and visit the parks that night. Then spend the next two days at the convention center and go back to the parks on 10/23, 10/24, and 10/25. Can I just buy a 4 day park hopper or do I have to buy a 6 day ticket eventhough I will not be going to the parks two of the days?

5) How much does the halloween party ticket normally cost? Is it worth the money?

Hopefully I manage to get tickets to this event, but they normally sell out within seconds! If not, I still may make the trip becuase all this thinking about going to Disneyland has me excited!

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[Hound 109]

Comments below:

So, I am thinking about making a trip down to the Disneyland area in Oct IF I can manage to get Blizzcon tickets. Blizzcon is taking place Oct 21 and 22 A Friday & a Saturday at the convention center near Disneyland. However, it has been years since I have been to Disneyland and it was with my family. This time will be a solo trip and I plan on spending a few extra nights to visit the parks. However, I have a ton of questions!

1) What area hotel do you suggest staying at? I will not have a car, so it HAS to be within walking distance of both the convention center and the parks. I am not the biggest fan of the ART(?) system they have and would rather walk.

I'll let others comment, but I'm thinking that the Candy Cane Inn (CCI) is about 1/2 way in between DLR & the Convention Center. Plus they have a DEDICATED shuttle (not ART) which could come in handy for you.


2) Whats the best way to get to the hotel from the airport and back again. Since this is a solo trip and I can't rent a car, I am worried about how I will get to the hotel and back to the airport. Does Disneyland have something like Magical Express if you are not staying at one of their hotels?

Which Airport?


3) What are the crowds normally like around this time?

Moderate during the week & crowded each night & on the weekend. (Can you visit DL EARLY in the AM before going to the show....& then return in the evening with a couple of FPs?

4) What are my ticket options? I figure I will get down there thrusday 10/20 and visit the parks that night. Then spend the next two days at the convention center and go back to the parks on 10/23, 10/24, and 10/25. Can I just buy a 4 day park hopper or do I have to buy a 6 day ticket eventhough I will not be going to the parks two of the days?

You can get a 4 day pass & don't have to use it on consecutive days.....but price a 5 day (& 6 day).....probably not much more money & see if it makes sense to get those in the event you want to visit a couple of hours on that Fri or Sat.

5) How much does the halloween party ticket normally cost? Is it worth the money?

Don't know how much.....I did the Halloween party in WDW & didn't feel it was worth the extra $$....but others love it.


Hopefully I manage to get tickets to this event, but they normally sell out within seconds! If not, I still may make the trip becuase all this thinking about going to Disneyland has me excited!

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Have a great time planning a visit to Walt's Park.

 

[Sherry E]

Check out the first and second posts on Page 1 of the Halloween at DLR Superthread - the Welcome/Intro post and the Table of Contents. There are links to party information (complete with prices from last year - we still don't know the dates or prices for the party this year) and all kinds of other information that will be helpful.

Generally, October has become a pretty busy month at DLR, due in large part to the Halloween season. I think last year was the busiest October/Halloween season thus far. It's very busy at the start of the month and then the crowds taper off a bit after Columbus Day, picking up steam again right before Halloween. Some folks have said that DLR was so busy last year in October that they don't want to go at that time again.

 

[sacteach]

We went last year for the Blizzcon/DL combo. I went with my friend, her husband, and two sons. The boys did BC, we did DL. We stayed at Portofino and it was very conveniently located to both; Candy Cane Inn is also very convenient. We walked to both places, only used the car once. The guys all drove down on Thursday morning, we flew down on Thursday night (flew into Long Beach).

The 4-day hopper has to be used within 13 or 14 days of the first visit, so you could easily fit that within your schedule. But, as mentioned, the 5 or 6 day is no much more. My friend's husband did Blizzcon during the day on Friday, then came over and joined us at Disneyland that night for Fantasmic and he liked being able to come in even for just a couple of hours, so you might consider that also.

I used Super Shuttle to get back to the airport as I needed to get back before them and they drove home. There is a Disney shuttle, but it only serves John Wayne and LAX and I prefer to fly into Long Beach as it's usually cheaper.

We were in the parks on Friday and Saturday, and the crowds were decent, not too bad. The shortest waits were in the 10-15 min. range and the longest were 45-60. But, we utilized FPs quite a bit and never waited that long.

We didn't do the Halloween party, so I don't have any info on that.