Some questions from a first-timer :)

[Madame]

Hi all!

We are tentatively planning our first DLR trip for the last week of August 2016 & I' m doing some research. I've read through the excellent threads for WDW vets going to DLR - what an excellent resource!! I still have some questions if anyone could help out..?

1. We are debating the Paradise Pier vs. the Hojo across the ride. We are a family of 5 so the Hojo should be a no brainer, but I have read many reviews about traffic noise. Has anyone stayed there in a King kids' suite (King, bunks, pull-out sofa)? Are they all located in building 1 facing the hwy? I've also read some negative reviews on cleanliness...? I am trying to take the reviews on Yelp & TripAdvisor with a grain of salt, but would appreciate Dis input! Finally, has anyone used the Mousesavers code - 2015 arrivals are 20% of your stay. A 2016 deal like this could save us substantial $!

I've been researching PP as well. Are the top floors reserved for concierge only? Are the elevators really that bad?

2. We would like to visit Universal for a day while there, but the cost seems exorbitant!!!! Car rental, tix, etc. Anyone have experience doing this on the cheap - we are not planning on renting a car but taking a bus service from either LAX or SNA.

3. We are planning the last week in August (we do WDW that week so heat is a non-issue). Will it really get crowded? This is WDW's value season, but DLR's regular season, which is why I'm asking. I am assuming there are never any public offers this week. We would arrive and depart on a Saturday to try & avoid week-end crowds as much as possible. We had low crowds this Aug at WDW with all the heat & humidity, but by no means were they non-existent. We can deal with crowds I am trying to get an out of 10 idea for that week...

4. Park-hoppers are a must?

5. Knottsberry farm seems like a very cool/close family place to visit at a reasonable price - is there enough for a 9 year old and 2 7 year olds to do for the day?

6. My DH is worried that the QS restaurants will be swamped given that there are less reservable dining options. Will we be fine as long as we eat a bit before traditional meal times?

6. We are coming from Ontario Canada (near Detroit) so we are trying to get as much bang for our airfare buck as possible. We will have 2 travel days. 5 days for DLR (will we need 5 days?) and 1 day for either Uni or Knottsberry. Seaworld doesn't really interest us, but is there anything else that's close that's a must-do. I've seen Legoland mentioned but am unsure about the cost of renting a car etc.

7. Do most people buy their tickets at the gate/hotel desk. All of this non-planning is making my uber-planning self a bit nervous!!

Thanks so much!

 

[nannyz]

I have stayed at HoJo many times and have never been bothered by traffic noise, regardless of which building I was in.

I would say that park hoppers are a must simply because it is so easy to go from one park to the other. We usually go back and forth a few times every day.

We always go in the summer and have never found the QS restaurants to be terribly bad. We do try to eat at times other than the usual meal hours.

 

[SMD]

It's hard to predict things 2 years out, since DL has been changing year over year lately. But this year, the weather was not significantly different in July and August. It was (and is right now) unusually humid. But in July more APs will be blocked, whereas in August they will be newly unblocked and you usually see a rush of people. Especially this year when the summer offerings started after the AP block went into effect in June and lower level APs only got a few weeks to experience them. Of course who knows if there will be anything special in 2 years and following the 60th. To be honest, we don't know what level APs will be offered then either.

This year the DL half marathon was August 31st, but assuming it stays on Labor Day weekend, it shouldn't effect crowds as much the last week of August, but there could still be some uptick that last week if more people decide to make a long trip out of it due to their local schools starting late that year. Again, very hard to predict.

I've seen many Canadians post about using Air Miles to buy park hoppers, so you may want to ask around about that. I would definitely buy the tickets in advance. Look for an authorized reseller, there are many recommended here often, like Orbitz, way.com, getawaytoday, they all have various offers. There will be at least 2 price increases between now and Summer 2016, with one most likely coming in April/May/June 2016. If you can say for certain that you're going in say March of that year, and the tickets don't expire before the end of August, you can save a little that way.

As far as renting a car, there are rental places in Anaheim where you can get a 1 day rental for whatever day trip you choose. Depending on their height your 7 year olds may need car seats. Plus the laws may change and make the maximum age even older than 8. So that's something you'll want to look into closer to the trip too.

 

[grnflash]

Hi. Late August is awesome! Yes hot, but slow (for real, slow) - all the OC and LA schools are back in session. 2 years out is a long time off to predict anything accurately, but here's our experience this year, which was pretty much the same as both years prior:

Crowds - No uptick this year due to the half (we were there midweek before Labor Day.) Lines were so short, we even caught PP with a 15min wait, Alice and Matterhorn at 20 were probably our longest lines for anything in DL. And we practically walked onto everything except TSMM in DCA - it was really slow over there. We didn't get our RSR FP until the afternoon on Thurs - got a 6:30 - 7:30 return.

Hours were still longer than off season and fireworks and F! were showing daily. We had a great view of the fireworks from the hub on Thurs, walked right into a viewing area 5 minutes prior to the start and there was tons of space for more people. We did the second F! another night - walked right up and sat down in a prime waterfront spot on the rail after the fireworks.

Other thoughts on your questions:
Parkhoppers - yes, get them

When to buy - I'd buy prior, even if it's just the day before you go. That way you can go straight to the gate. Why wait in one more line than you have to.

Dining - Obviously with the low crowds, QS lines were short (very short) during meal times, virtually nonexistent otherwise. Do not worry about this at all. You can make reservations at full service places that are important to you - it'll probably make you feel better. But even the Blue Bayou was adding names to the wait list when we were there last month.

Knotts Berry Farm - it's fun and yes, plenty to do. They do some great discounts for advance purchase.

Sidetrips - have you thought of going to the beach instead of another theme park? I think that's kinda a must-do.

Hotel - I have no experience with HoJo. I'd give the benefits of PP another look though. Of course staying at a Disney hotel always adds to a trip, especially for first timers there for a week. The pool slide is great, the rooms are large and maybe we've just been lucky, but we've never had an elevator issue. It's close to DD where you may end up having some of your meals. Plus you get early entry every day!

 

[Aladora]

I can give you some input about Disneyland tickets as a fellow Canadian.

First off, yes, get the parkhoppers. It is SO easy to hop between parks and if one park gets a bit crowded, then you can just jump over to the other one.

As for where to get tickets, if you can get them with Airmiles then I would do so as long as you were not saving the AM for something else. If you don't collect AM yet, then start now! By the time you are ready to get your tickets in 2016, you could have enough to get all the hoppers you need!

If not Airmiles, then I would look at way.com, Flightcentre and Orbitz via ebates.ca and see which one has the best price. Flightcentre is in Canadian $ but way.com is less expensive depending on the exchange rate. You do have to call way.com and order them over the phone but I've done it and it was quick and easy.

Orbitz via ebates.ca is sometimes the better deal especially if ebates is giving a nice % back.

When it gets closer to your dates, I would start comparing all the options and see which is better at that time. Definitely get them early in 2016 if you can, before the price increases for the year.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Parkhoppers: absolutely.

Universal: Harry potter may be opening by then, but if you're FL vets that may not be a big deal for you, that opening is something you won't get a feel for until much closer into your date but watch for that park to be swamped when that happens because us Californians have literally been waiting for years.

Knotts: browse their website. This will give a basic idea of whether your kids will be interested in what they have to offer. As a kid my parents took me, and though i don't remember much, I remember having fun -admittedly this was many years ago. They have revamped their kids area over the last couple years I think.

Legoland: fyi this is an hour one way from Disneyland while Knotts is just down the road from DL (15 min).

QS: seriously don't fret about this. If you can't stop worrying about this plan on eating during off hours for piece of mind. DL is much more of a go-with-the-flow than WDW.

And just one last thing- again- Parkhoppers: Absolutely.

 

[rentayenta]

Hi all!

We are tentatively planning our first DLR trip for the last week of August 2016 & I' m doing some research. I've read through the excellent threads for WDW vets going to DLR - what an excellent resource!! I still have some questions if anyone could help out..?

1. We are debating the Paradise Pier vs. the Hojo across the ride. We are a family of 5 so the Hojo should be a no brainer, but I have read many reviews about traffic noise. Has anyone stayed there in a King kids' suite (King, bunks, pull-out sofa)? Are they all located in building 1 facing the hwy? I've also read some negative reviews on cleanliness...? I am trying to take the reviews on Yelp & TripAdvisor with a grain of salt, but would appreciate Dis input! Finally, has anyone used the Mousesavers code - 2015 arrivals are 20% of your stay. A 2016 deal like this could save us substantial $!

If staying on property is a financial option, I'd always go that route. The on property perks and proximity can't be beat. We stayed at the HoJo once, in the same section, and I don't recall any overt noise.

4. Park-hoppers are a must?

Some say yes, some say no, and I am in the sometimes camp. We use to hop every trip but with the addition of Carsland, I find DCA to be a full day park. The parks' proximity to each other is nothing like any at WDW. You really could literally hop if you wanted to.

5. Knottsberry farm seems like a very cool/close family place to visit at a reasonable price - is there enough for a 9 year old and 2 7 year olds to do for the day?

I'd choose Knott's over Universal. Knott's is very kid friendly and Mrs. Knott's fried chicken is almost as good as Disneyland's Plaza Inn fried chicken. Knott's funnel cakes are insanely delicious.

6. My DH is worried that the QS restaurants will be swamped given that there are less reservable dining options. Will we be fine as long as we eat a bit before traditional meal times?

QS are easy at Disneyland. Don't worry.

 

[B-Ride]

As a fellow Canadian and a first timer back in August I will give you our opinion on a couple of your questions:

1) Can't comment since we stayed at the Grand Californian. Fabulously convenient if you don't mind the steep prices.

2) Don't visit "the Dark Side" (as my kids call it). My only comment on renting a car is don't stay at a Disney Resort hotel as the parking rates are a crime.

3) We did Monday to Friday during the last week of August and the crowds were very manageable. I worried about it as a first timer but was very pleasantly surprised.

4) Not a must but definitely worth it. The parks are so close together that jumping between them can be very tempting.

5) No comment, my kids are too old for this.

6) We had no problems at the QS restaurants. Only did them for lunch and we usually when around 11:30. No real lineups at all.

6) (Your second one). We did 4 days at DLR and it was just about right.

7) We bought ours in advance from Disney but then we did the hotel as well.

 

[Madame]

Thanks so much for the replies everyone . I am very excited for this trip (even if it is years out!). I understand 2 years is hard to predict. My DH is a financial planner and needs a rough budget estimated before green-lighting anything .

I think we will skip Universal. We don't rent a car at WDW because it's not worth the hassle.

The beach is a very good idea. I'm wondering how far from DLR it is - reachable by cab without breaking the bank?

If anyone else has opinions on the Howard Johnson vs Paradise Pier I'd really welcome them.

We are an on-property family at WDW, but it is a bit of a pain to squeeze into one room with 2 beds and a pulldown bunk along with only one bathroom. Price plays a roll, but it's the 4 sleeping surfaces at HJ that interest me. I usually end up stuffed on a queen bed between two little boys because they will not stop talking if they sleep together & both want to sleep with Mom

 

[Aladora]

Thanks so much for the replies everyone . I am very excited for this trip (even if it is years out!). I understand 2 years is hard to predict. My DH is a financial planner and needs a rough budget estimated before green-lighting anything .

I think we will skip Universal. We don't rent a car at WDW because it's not worth the hassle.

The beach is a very good idea. I'm wondering how far from DLR it is - reachable by cab without breaking the bank?

If anyone else has opinions on the Howard Johnson vs Paradise Pier I'd really welcome them.

We are an on-property family at WDW, but it is a bit of a pain to squeeze into one room with 2 beds and a pulldown bunk along with only one bathroom. Price plays a roll, but it's the 4 sleeping surfaces at HJ that interest me. I usually end up stuffed on a queen bed between two little boys because they will not stop talking if they sleep together & both want to sleep with Mom

I'm the finance person in our family and usually end up making at least one spread sheet before each trip to compare different cost for things such as flights from various airports etc, so I know what it's like to plan, plan, plan!

You might want to look at the Desert Inn & Suites, they have suites for up to 10 people but the one I think might work well for you is either their B1 or C1 suites. Both of them are two room suites with 2 queen beds in each. The only difference is that the B1 suite has a full bathroom in each room and the C1 has a full bathroom in one room and just a sink and toilet in the other.

The other one to look at is the Park Vue Inn. They have a suite with 2 queens and a set of bunk beds and also one that has 3 queens. I'm not sure the bathroom set ups for the PVI suites.

Both the DI&S and PVI are right across from the entrance to DL so the walk is really fast. I think the longest it ever took us was 5 minutes from room to gate.

Both have a breakfast included in their room rates but the DI&S "breakfast" was pretty bad. The PVI one, however, was actually decent.

 

[Angrose]

There is an Alamo car rental place in DTD. It seems like their daily rates are around $35-$50. That might be a good option for a beach day. Huntington Beach is nice, not too far (20-30min) and would be way cheaper than another theme park.