Questions for Sept/Oct visit

[JLoMT]

Hi everyone, we are planning a family trip with 4 adults and 2 kids (age 4 and 9, my parents, my husband and myself). We are flying into LAX Sunday, September 28th and staying until Friday or Saturday October 3/4, staying at the Desert Inn and Suites in a parlor suite. I just started planning this week and it is so much more overwhelming than I thought! There are just so many choices for everything, my head is spinning! I have a few questions and any input/suggestions would be much appreciated!

1. We fly into LAX at noon on Sunday. I am wondering what we should do to fill up this day. I was thinking Downtown Disney and relaxing at hotel. Can you see the fireworks from either of these places? I don’t want to use up a park hopper pass for ½ a day. Any other suggestions for arrival day activities?

2. Day 2 (mon) and Day 3 (tues) we will do Park Hopper and hopefully Mickie’s Halloween party assuming it is on a Tuesday. That is generally the day they have it during the week, correct?

3. Day 4 (wed) we’ll do Universal Studios and Day 5 (thurs) Park Hopper – Do you suggest breaking it up like this, or doing Universal Studios at the end of the trip? I thought it might be nice to break up the Disney days so we don’t get overwhelmed, but maybe it’s better to do them back-to-back?

4. Day 6 (friday) is a toss-up between flying home or staying an extra day. If we stay, what other activities do you suggest? I think we will all be a little burnt out from amusement parks – especially my 60+ parents. Looking for a little more relaxing day if we do stay.

5. My parents may take one of the Park Hopper days to go golfing on their own. Any suggestions for a place close by that is just a leisure course?


Just some background FYI: My parents and I have been to Disneyland twice 20+ years ago. This will be my husband and my kids’ first trip! We are going to surprise the kids the morning we fly out. I am so excited!

So glad I found these boards. They have been such a huge help so far!

 

[valiamo]

Should be a great week to go, we are there the same week, Saturday night to the following Saturday.

Don't forget to look up both the Halloween thread

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3270919

and the September OR October Thread, you will find lots of others who are on the way there during September and October.

Link to Octobers thread

http://http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3261801&highlight=october+thread

With your schedule, Sunday evening will be one of the few times you will see the fireworks, I either watch them from the hotel or go on site.

Tuesday (I am hoping) is the Halloween Party and there should be fireworks that night.

Monday to Thursday are low attendance #'s in the parks, so they will be busy, but not super busy. Good time to get all the disney in at once! There is no such thing as to much Disney.

Friday of that week is Gay Days, and the park will be very, very busy, you might want to do Universal on Friday.

Have fun with the surprise!

Ask lots of questions, there are tons here willing to answer them!

 

[laura&fam]

1. We fly into LAX at noon on Sunday. I am wondering what we should do to fill up this day. I was thinking Downtown Disney and relaxing at hotel. Can you see the fireworks from either of these places? I don’t want to use up a park hopper pass for ½ a day. Any other suggestions for arrival day activities?

2. Day 2 and Day 3 we will do Park Hopper and hopefully Mickie’s Halloween party assuming it is on a Tuesday. That is generally the day they have it during the week, correct?

3. Day 4 we’ll do Universal Studios and Day 5 Park Hopper – Do you suggest breaking it up like this, or doing Universal Studios at the end of the trip? I thought it might be nice to break up the Disney days so we don’t get overwhelmed, but maybe it’s better to do them back-to-back?

4. Day 6 is a toss-up between flying home or staying an extra day. If we stay, what other activities do you suggest? I think we will all be a little burnt out from amusement parks – especially my 60+ parents. Looking for a little more relaxing day if we do stay.

5. My parents may take one of those day to go golfing on their own. Any suggestions for a place close by that is just a leisure course?


Just some background FYI: My parents and I have been to Disneyland twice 20+ years ago. This will be my husband and my kids’ first trip! We are going to surprise the kids the morning we fly out. I am so excited!

So glad I found these boards. They have been such a huge help so far!

You can sort of see the fireworks out of the bathroom window in the Desert Inn & Suites parlor suite, at least the one we stayed in. It's not that great of a view though so I wouldn't plan on it too much. Not sure about the view from Downtown Disney.

Generally it is Tuesday but they randomly change days. Hopefully the dates will be released July 1.

Haven't been to Universal so can't help you there.

We love to swim and hang out at the beach for at least a day. Of course we live really far from a beach and in a pretty cold climate so we don't mind cold weather.

 

[zanzibar138]

1. We fly into LAX at noon on Sunday. I am wondering what we should do to fill up this day. I was thinking Downtown Disney and relaxing at hotel. Can you see the fireworks from either of these places? I don’t want to use up a park hopper pass for ½ a day. Any other suggestions for arrival day activities?

I assume you're flying domestic? I only ask because if it's an international flight you'll need to factor in a couple of hours for actually getting out of LAX.

Downtown Disney is a great place to spend an afternoon and get a feel for what's in store without 'wasting' a ticket. Having said that, I believe somewhere is currently offering a free 4th day when you purchase a 3 day hopper, so maybe that would be worth investigating to give you more options?

I believe Desert Inn & Suites has a rooftop viewing deck where you can see the fireworks (we're staying there later this year too and I remember seeing it somewhere in my research). Otherwise you'll be able to see the higher fireworks from Downtown. We ate outside at Naples one night and were surprised with a partial view of the fireworks which was nice. As the PP mentioned, at that time of year, you can only expect fireworks Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

2. Day 2 (mon) and Day 3 (tues) we will do Park Hopper and hopefully Mickie’s Halloween party assuming it is on a Tuesday. That is generally the day they have it during the week, correct?

It is expected that MHP will be on Tuesday nights again this year, but nothing has been announced yet.

3. Day 4 (wed) we’ll do Universal Studios and Day 5 (thurs) Park Hopper – Do you suggest breaking it up like this, or doing Universal Studios at the end of the trip? I thought it might be nice to break up the Disney days so we don’t get overwhelmed, but maybe it’s better to do them back-to-back?

I would definitely do Universal between your Disney days. It is nice to break it up a bit. Plus (and this is the main reason why I suggest it), Universal doesn't have the magic that Disney does. Even my non-Disney loving DH wanted to go back to Disneyland after the first couple of hours! I would have hated to not be able to go back for an extra dose of magic before we left.

4. Day 6 (friday) is a toss-up between flying home or staying an extra day. If we stay, what other activities do you suggest? I think we will all be a little burnt out from amusement parks – especially my 60+ parents. Looking for a little more relaxing day if we do stay.

There are plenty of beaches around the area. If you won't have a car, I believe you can do a bus tour. Again, not sure where you're from and whether beaches will appeal to you.

There's also Catalina Island, but by the time you get there and back it might be a long and tiring (not to mention expensive) day.

5. My parents may take one of the Park Hopper days to go golfing on their own. Any suggestions for a place close by that is just a leisure course?

[/QUOTE]

Sorry can't help here!

 

[sweethannah]

If you are considering adding a day have you thought about not using one of your hopper days for the tuesday and instead save that hopper day for your last day or using the extra day on the day you arrive? This gives you a little mid week sleep or R&R time too since you don't have to be at the park super early. With the mhp tickets you can enter at 3pm on Tuesday parties.

 

[Nonsuch]

...We fly into LAX at noon on Sunday. I am wondering what we should do to fill up this day. I was thinking Downtown Disney and relaxing at hotel. Can you see the fireworks from either of these places? I don’t want to use up a park hopper pass for ½ a day...

Although you will only have half a day, Sunday will be your only chance to see Fantasmic!
You will be able to watch fireworks from the Fantasmic viewing area, certainly better than anywhere outside the park.

Tuesday is good day for MHP
Although most parties sell out, Tuesday seems less crowded than Friday.
You might want to not use your park hopper on this day.

 

[JLoMT]

Although you will only have half a day, Sunday will be your only chance to see Fantasmic!
You will be able to watch fireworks from the Fantasmic viewing area, certainly better than anywhere outside the park.

Tuesday is good day for MHP
Although most parties sell out, Tuesday seems less crowded than Friday.
You might want to not use your park hopper on this day.

Good points everyone. I think we may use a park hopper Sunday when we arrive so we can see the fireworks from the fantasmic viewing area
Then we'll use another park hopper Monday
MHP at 3:00 on Tuesday. Just relax around downtown Disney and hotel pool beforehand.
3rd park hopper on Wednesday
Thursday - down day maybe add a 4th hopper.
Friday - universal studios