Taking daughter to Disney for first time

[YaYas_Mom]

I'm taking my daughter to Disney in January as a bday/xmas present. She'll be 5. We'll be there a Thursday-Saturday, with pm arrival on Wednesday and mid morning departure on Sunday. Doing the 5/3 park hopper pass so we can actually spend a couple hours on W and Sun if we want. Was originally planning on Concierge at Dland hotel, but other attendees say this is cost prohibitive. Now considering PP and no concierge, mom still thinks its a better idea to do AAA package or something else. With a 5 year old who (at this point anyway) still naps, I think a) it's better to be closer, b) this is her FIRST trip and I want it to be the most special and c) after pricing some other places, we're not spending that much more by doing city view no concierge at PP then we would do staying at the candy cane inn. Any thoughts? Also, how crowded will it be end of January, in the middle of the week?

 

[roymccoy]

End of January should be a great time to go, crowd wise. The minuses would be weather (sometimes we get a fair amount of rain in January) shortened hours due to the off-peak schedule and off-peak refurbishment. We always try to go to WDW in January and have found it to be a good time to travel. I bet DL will be the same. Hope you have a BLAST!!

Roy

 

[YaYas_Mom]

Any idea how far from the Anaheim convention center Disneyland is?

 

[Uncle Buck]

Then convention center is directly across the street from DCA. The walk around DCA to the Eplalande/Downtown Disney/and gates would be about 10-15 minutes. There is a walkway into the parking area directly across from the convention center where you can pickup the tram and ride it in.

 

[YaYas_Mom]

I'm attending a convention there Sat - Wed of the week I'm taking my dd to Dland. I finish Wed at 2pm, and no one else who's coming with us will be there yet, so I can check into the hotel and hit Disney with her Wed right after the show. Since I'll be at the convention center all week, would it be more worth it for me to buy an AP for her and I and go for an hour or so in the evenings all week? I might be dead tired from the show, so it might not make sense... or can we at least go into Downtown Disney or anything like that without entrance tickets - it's been years since I've been! (probably 8!)

Thanks!!!!!

 

[Sonya in Boise]

The only thing you need tickets for is to get into the parks. DownTown Disney and the hotels are open to the public.

If you think you might get back sometime during the year, upgrade to the AP's. Do this before your days are up on your park hopper and you will just pay the difference between the ticket price and the AP price.

I think your time is perfect. Low crowds are always my biggest plus, even if the weather/hours are not the greatest. I would take walk on rides in the rain any day. Remember if it does rain, many rides will still be open (any that are inside), just pack raincoats/poncho's.

I'm hoping to stay on site at least once this year. And if PP fits the budget, I say go for it.

You will have a wonderful time.

Sonya