Suggestions regarding disneyland tours

[kwonyong]

We are visiting disneyland for the first time in mid april. Hubby and I have 3 children aged 8, 10, 11. I was hoping for some advice regarding the tours disneyland offer from some of the seasoned disneyland travellers. We arrive on a monday around lunchtime, I imagine we'll be exhausted after a 13 hour flight. Should we start disneyland that afternoon or wait until the next day. Is it worth doing a welcome to disneyland tour, or better to just get straight on the rides?

Is it worth doing the discover the magic tour on the saturday, after we have had 5 days at DL?

Also we have 5 day hopper passes I think it would be worth upgrading to AP as we will be returning to disneyland after touring Las Vegas, Grand Canyon etc about 2 weeks later for a final 2 day visit. Is it easy to upgrade, does it take very long and can I upgrade without entering either park?

Thanks.

 

[kwonyong]

Anyone done the tours?

 

[bumbershoot]

Also we have 5 day hopper passes I think it would be worth upgrading to AP as we will be returning to disneyland after touring Las Vegas, Grand Canyon etc about 2 weeks later for a final 2 day visit. Is it easy to upgrade, does it take very long and can I upgrade without entering either park?

To upgrade it's easiest to just go to the "bank" in Disneyland, which is the AP center. Go in, give them your info, pay, everyone has pictures taken, and you're given your cards.

It will absolutely be worth it since you're already planning another visit. Just add your 5 day hoppers to the cost of a 2 day, and you've very likely gone up to or over (depending on the deal on the 5 days you got!) the deluxe AP at least.

It's possible that you could do the paying part of the upgrade at a ticket booth, but you're still going to have to go into DLR to have your picture taken, so you might as well do it on a day you're already in there. I found that first thing in the morning worked best (low line), but others have gone in whenever they passed by and saw a short line and that worked for them!


As for tours, I haven't yet been on one. Sorry!

 

[victorandbellasmom]

Anyone done the tours?

We did the discover the magic tour a couple of years ago. My kids were 5 and 8 and it was so much fun. It's changed slightly since we did it in 2006 but from what I've read of others experience, it's still very fun and quite memorable. It was my dd's 5th birthday trip and we did it our last full day at the parks and we had a great time. At the end of the tour, my kids wanted to sign up for it again for the following day.

I imagine you'll be tired after 13 hours of traveling so you may want to unpack and relax at your hotel. I'd explore downtown disney, maybe go fo a swim at your hotel, and book a character dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. You may just have a bunch of energy after finally arriving at disney that you may have the energy to enter the parks that day.

If you are thinking about upgrading, make sure your days don't fall during blockout days.

 

[kwonyong]

Thanks for the info. It helps when making decisions to have info from someone who has been.

Now I just wish I could get some housework done, and leave the disneyland planning alone.

 

[Sunobo]

We did the Discover the Magic tour in November and had a blast. If and when we go back to DL, we will do it again. The tour is geared toward younger kids and my 10 year old was a bit embarassed by some of the silly way the guides had us act but I didn't let that stop me. I figured I didn't know anybody there and I didn't care what other people thought about me so I enjoyed myself.

Since you will have already been at DL for 5 days, the tour probably won't really show you anything you haven't already seen. What you do get is a couple of hours of fun running around the park, a nice frozen treat, a neat pin, a couple of trinkets, an autograph if you collect them and some fun memories.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

We did the Discover the Magic tour in November and had a blast. If and when we go back to DL, we will do it again. The tour is geared toward younger kids and my 10 year old was a bit embarassed by some of the silly way the guides had us act but I didn't let that stop me. I figured I didn't know anybody there and I didn't care what other people thought about me so I enjoyed myself.

It's so funny that you mentioned not knowing anybody and not caring. Dh and I were such big goof balls during the tour. As we were hopping over the the bridge between Big Thunder & Fantasyland, we suddenly hear our names being called. A family friend from home was at DL too. We had to stop and explain what we were doing. We had a fabulous time. It was a great excuse to act super silly at DL.

 

[mariezp]

I bet you will be pretty tired after 13 hours of travel! Even still, if you can muster a bit of strength I would try to get in a few hours at the park. I imagine your youngsters will be eager to burn off some pent up energy! I would not plan to do a lot. Just take it slow and easy and get a preview of what's to come on the following full day. If you get tired you can always call it a day.

Never done the welcome tour so can't comment on it. But we have done the Discover Magic. My daughter had a lot of fun. Booking it on Saturday is an excellent plan to avoid standing in crowded lines for a portion of the day. You might also consider making PS arrangements for your dining on weekends too.

 

[AStamm]

We are visiting disneyland for the first time in mid april. Hubby and I have 3 children aged 8, 10, 11. I was hoping for some advice regarding the tours disneyland offer from some of the seasoned disneyland travellers. We arrive on a monday around lunchtime, I imagine we'll be exhausted after a 13 hour flight. Should we start disneyland that afternoon or wait until the next day. Is it worth doing a welcome to disneyland tour, or better to just get straight on the rides?

I'd say you'd be much better off to wait until the next day to get started. We visited DL for the first time in June 2006 and spent about 8 hours traveling to get there. Between being really tired from the flights and the time change, Downtown Disney, Goofy's Kitchen for dinner, and a quick dip in the pool were a great way to ease into our vacation. We stayed up as late as we could that first day (probably about 10 pm Pacific time, 1 am our time), knowing that we'd be up really early the next morning. I think I woke up around 4 am--with DH and DS waking up around 5:30 or so. We had reservations for breakfast at our hotel--Paradise Pier--at the Lilo & Stitch breakfast at 8 a.m. By 8:45 we were on our way over to DL for its 9:00 opening.

While I haven't done any of the DL tours (planning the Walk in Walt's for this June), if you've been to WDW before, you won't find DL difficult to manage. It's so much more compact--just keep an eye on your map since all attractions aren't found in the same "land" as they are at WDW.