Short trip to DL from east coast?

[magicalfoursome]

My family has been to WDW many times but we have never visited DL. We live near Philadelphia so Cali is a far trip. We are considering going this summer. Is it silly to go for only 4 or 5 nights? We would love to stay longer and go to San Diego but we are trying to keep the cost down. Thanks!

 

[amym2]

From what I've read on these boards, 3 days is typically enough to cover both parks (at least I hope so!), so 4 or 5 days would give you plenty of time. You could probably even fit in some beach time. We're flying from the midwest this summer and will do 3 days in San Diego and 3 days at DLR.

 

[IBLarsen]

My family has been to WDW many times but we have never visited DL. We live near Philadelphia so Cali is a far trip. We are considering going this summer. Is it silly to go for only 4 or 5 nights? We would love to stay longer and go to San Diego but we are trying to keep the cost down. Thanks!

I can't really tell you if it's worth it, but most people on the boards will say any days at Disneyland is better than none

We like to spend 4 days, with 3 you wont see everything, but you can still do a lot! Some prefer even more days. But it's not like WDW, you can see and do most if not everything in 4 days. You can easily park hop between the two parks.

I wanted to chime in about the cost though. Check expedia. We just booked because prices dropped drastically for us yesterday/today for air and hotel together (we are coming from Texas). The hotel that was cheapest for us was the Fairfield across the street and that's where we always stay anyways. It was about half the cost than if I were to book air and hotel separate! Check it out, maybe it will help you as well

 

[magicalfoursome]

The problem is my DH. He loves Disney but thinks CA is too far to travel for just 4 nights. Do others from the east coast fly to Ca for a few days and just do Disney? Sounds good to me! I want to visit DL so badly!! My DS is 12 and DD15 so I feel I need to make this trip soon!!

 

[kyirish25]

Not exactly east coast but I live in Kentucky and we are flying out on a Monday and back home on a Saturday. So we will only have 4 full days at Disneyland as Monday & Saturday are travel days.

So, no, I don't think it is silly to travel ALL the way to California for a shorter trip. We want to be home with family for Easter and will head out the next day but want to get back on Saturday so we can readjust to the time zone before heading back to school and work on Monday.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, if you need to keep costs down but your husband wants to stay longer, let's brainstorm!

Have you read HydroGuy's tips in the "sticky" thread about DLR? He gives lots of tips about hotels and all of that. Have you noticed that many of us advocate staying at HoJo (especially if you can get the Entertainment Card rate which is gotten by contacting the Anaheim hotel *directly*)?

What do you want to do in San Diego? If you want to do both places, I would recommend getting two one-way tickets, just flying into an Anaheim area airport (you want to start at DLR b/c the time difference is working FOR you to get the all important EARLY hours in at DL), then getting down to San Diego and finding a hotel there, doing what you want to do, then fly out of SAN.


I calculated that last year I spent upwards of 18 days in DL/DCA, and I still haven't seen or done all I want to do.

 

[magicalfoursome]

Thanks everyone!

bumbershoot-- I will check out that sticky. I guess I feel like I want to stay at a Disney hotel because that is what we always do at WDW. I do not like staying off property there. Disneyland is different-- right? Hotels surround the park and there is no special transportation from the Disney hotels--right? It is my understanding you just walk to the parks. In San Diego I would love to go to a beach and maybe SeaWorld. I like the idea of flying into one city and out of the other.

 

[Judy from Boise]

there is no wrong time to take a DL trip, however if you really think it is perhaps a "once in a lifetime" trip, it might make sense to wait one more year based on the construction going on at DCA. Waiting 2 years will get you a whole new land !

 

[bumbershoot]

Judy does have a good point.

Here is the tips compilation.

No, staying onsite is nowhere near as important as it is at WDW. Onsite guests can take the monorail into Tomorrowland in the opening hour, but unless you're staying at DLH and would walk by the monorail station anyway, that honor is a bit dubious in my opinion (mainly b/c each time we tried it while staying at PPH the monorail was closed, and each time we did it while staying at DLH, the line was so long that we would have done better, timewise, to just walk!). Onsite guests can have purchases sent back to Bell Services at their resort, available for pickup the following morning. Onsite guests can charge back to their room. Onsite guests get access to the Magic Morning during their stay, not just the one allowed with tickets of 3 or more days.

But in terms of being closeby, yesterday I was playing around on mapmyrun.com, and noticed that the walk from the Tropicana, one of the closest offsite motels, to the center of the Esplanade (the big area right between DL and DCA) is .29 mile, while walking from the place where DLH meet DownTown Disney to the same spot in the Esplanade is closing in on half a mile. The walk from GCH is about the same as Tropicana to that Esplanade spot, BUT that doesn't include the walk from your room (which during our stay made it the same distance as though we were walking from HoJo's parking lot).



Seaworld is good, especially if you take the time ot see the Pets Rule show! We LOVE that show. My brother, who has the same personality that the character Michael Westen from Burn Notice has, loves that show b/c he loves their kitties. Brother and my sister in law bought annual passes to Seaworld simply so they could go see that show at will (they live in San Diego). They've been known to meet for lunch there!

I haven't found big discounts on SW passes, but if you thought you'd want to go for two days, I often see "2 for 1" tickets on seaworld's website. That gives you the chance to see all the shows you want to see AND wander around to visit the Clydesdales, penguins, etc etc without rushing.


What it comes down to is that you don't have to have a 4 or 5 star hotel trip, in order to have a GREAT trip.

 

[NattysMom]

We live near Philadelphia and I got a crazy good airfare for a trip this June. Be flexible with the airport you want to fly into. Try SNA/LAX/LGB/ONT. Also, be flexible if you can flying home to PHL or EWR even ABE and ACY.


Being used to staying onsite at WDW I hesitated at first about an off property hotel in DLR but I just can't justify the cost of the Disney hotels when you can walk across the street for a fraction of the price!

Since you save a lot of travel time walking between the two parks, people really seem to say that 4 days is perfect. Good luck with your decision!

 

[magicalfoursome]

The sticky from Hyroguy is great!! I love that he has a section for WDW vets guide to DL. You guys have convinced me to stay offsite and save $$. I am thinking of HoJo. Any suggestions for a hotel in San Diego on the beach? I am kinda picky about my hotel. I want to stay at the Hotel Corando but the prices are toooo steep!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Be flexible with the airport you want to fly into. Try SNA/LAX/LGB/ONT

Good idea!

And to add on, while working out the money for flying, be sure to note all the different costs for all the different options for each airport. For instance, we flew into ONT once. I thought the super Shuttle price would be the same that I'd seen going into SNA. Boy oh boy was I wrong! Got rid of all the savings on the flight with that error. SNA has a flat rate each way per person. ONT has a hefty "first person" fee, and you pay that first person going each way. My son and I flew in first, so I paid that fee, then my son was cheaper. Then DH flew in apart from us, and he flew back out of ONT, so he paid the first person fare both times for himself. Painful mistake!

So get chart where you write it all down, to make sure you're comparing apples to apples, etc.

 

[holden]

Another philly gal here! We are heading to DL in late June for a 4 night trip (2 days in DL/DCA). DH has to go for business, so our hotel and some meals are free. We know we won't see it all, but we'll see what we can. We are a bit spoiled as we have never encountered crowds at WDW (we go off season and really don't wait more than 10min. for rides). I'm not expecting that when we go to DL.

Enjoy your trip!

Forgot to add: We're staying at the Hilton. It might not be the best, but it's free!

 

[WereObsessed]

For 5 nights, IMHO, not at all, especially since you kids aren't too young. DL has a certain whimsy to it that DW simply cannot compare to, and preteen kids are at a good age to recognize it. If you can get a direct flight, I say absolutely.

 

[NWgoofyfamily]

We flew with our kids aged 10, 10, and 11 from Seattle to Orlando for our first WDW trip a couple years ago. We had been to Disneyland every year, but I got it in my head that I really wanted to do WDW and I wanted to do it sooner than later. We flew the red eye, then stayed 4 days and 3 nights. Most people wouldn't have done that, but we have no regrets. That is how long we could be gone and it was better than waiting until the next summer when we could go for longer trip - which we did. I knew we wouldn't do everything and it would be a fun short trip and it was. It was awesome. Good luck with your decision.

 

[heatherleigh]

I would stay at the West Inn in Carlsbad (if you plan on doing LegoLand). That's where we are staying this fall. They got excellent reviews on TripAdvisor and the prices aren't bad.