Very Early Planning Stage

[New To Mom]

I'm in the very early stages of planning our first Disney trip. Our family of 3 have never been to any sort of Disney park. I chose Disneyland because it seems doable for our family and it's cost isn't outrageous.

I do have a concern and I'm hoping someone with experience can shed some insight. My son, who is 9, is timid and says he's scared to go on rides. Granted, he hasn't had much of an opportunity to go on rides so I'm hoping he's scared because he doesn't know how fun they can be. I know that some rides are considered "scary" and he probably won't want to do some of the roller coaster type rides. Are there enough other rides in each park to warrant a 3 day visit to the parks? I'm really hoping that once we get there, the Disney magic will hit him and he'll be a bit more adventurous. I also hope that the fact that we can ride with him will help. His prior experience is riding the kid rides at the carnival...lol.

Also, I'm hoping to book either an October trip for his birthday or a Feb trip. How is the pool situation? He lives for swimming at hotels so I was thinking one of the hotels with the water parks. I see the current temp is 62 which I'd consider warm for Feb coming from Iowa. But I'd be bummed if the hotel had a fun water park but either it wasn't open or something. If that was the case, I'd book somewhere else so he doesn't see what he's missing lol.

This might be a question for the other section, but I'm hoping to spend 3 days in the park and a day or two outside of the parks. I'd like to have him see the ocean for the first time and do some some activities. We may be driving so we'll have a car to visit other places. Does anyone have a favorite beach town they like to visit? I'm also thinking about picking one and staying in a hotel. I've done some research on Huntington Beach and it looks gorgeous. But I'd love to hear other opinions.

I appreciate the help. This will be our first family vacation for us so I'd like to make it as magical as possible. Who knows when we'll be able to do it again.

 

[NMDisneyMom]

How exciting to be planning your first trip to Disneyland! It will be an awesome trip no matter what. For many of the rides, you can watch YouTube videos of how the rides actually go. I did that with my daughter on a few of them, and she was willing to try them. The other thing I did, was to bring the light sticks and would call them her "brave" bracelets. She would get one or two before we rode a "scary" ride. She was always willing to try it once. Fortunately or unfortunately, she enjoyed all of them. It was me that had to be convinced to ride some of the rides again. Take it slow and easy.

3 days with breaks for swimming will be a great vacation. There is lots to see and do in both parks. October you will get the Halloween decorations and parties, but also some crowds. February will have some ride closures, but less crowds. I've not done Feb, but love going in October. Weather is usually warm enough to swim in the afternoons, and the decorations are great.

Have fun planning, and ask all the questions you need to.

 

[guynhawaii]

Aloha,
A few broad thoughts....
Ocean. The Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are much warmer than the Pacific Coast. California beaches are COLD!
Hotel. If at all possible, recommend one of the three DLR hotels so you can enjoy entering the parks (DL or DCA) an hour prior to park opening.
Rides. For an amusement park, DLR is about as kid friendly you can get. Recommend to start slowly with rides at Fantasyland and advance to the more thrilling rides (the three mountains, Indy, etc..) as he becomes more relaxed. There are numerous rides he will enjoy at DLR.
Strategy. Stay at a DLR hotel, enter the parks one hour early, and don't waste valuable time dinning until lunch.
Month. Between October and February, most definitely go in October. A lot of rides are down for maintenance in February. Since you son is in elementary school, if at all possible, I would take him out of school and visit DLR during one of the first two weeks of December. Enjoy the Christmas atmosphere.
Pool. DLH has the best pool activity of the three DLR hotels.
Good luck!

 

[figment_jii]

I usually go in late September and (lately) it's been warm enough to swim. I think February is much more iffy...weather is a hard thing to predict, but in general I wouldn't count on being able to swim in February.

In terms of the parks, October is the heart of HalloweenTime, which means Hallowen decorations, Haunted Mansion and Space have their Halloween overlays (normally), and there are Mickey's Halloween Parties on select nights (extra cost). HalloweenTime is very popular, so go expecting pretty good sized crowds on the weekends (and some weekdays depending on school breaks, etc.).

Along with the attractions, there are shows and character meet & greets. I think that it's possible to find enough things to do to fill three days without the thrill rides.

 

[VandVsmama]

Also, I'm hoping to book either an October trip for his birthday or a Feb trip. How is the pool situation? He lives for swimming at hotels so I was thinking one of the hotels with the water parks. I see the current temp is 62 which I'd consider warm for Feb coming from Iowa. But I'd be bummed if the hotel had a fun water park but either it wasn't open or something. If that was the case, I'd book somewhere else so he doesn't see what he's missing lol.

This might be a question for the other section, but I'm hoping to spend 3 days in the park and a day or two outside of the parks. I'd like to have him see the ocean for the first time and do some some activities. We may be driving so we'll have a car to visit other places. Does anyone have a favorite beach town they like to visit? I'm also thinking about picking one and staying in a hotel. I've done some research on Huntington Beach and it looks gorgeous. But I'd love to hear other opinions.

I appreciate the help. This will be our first family vacation for us so I'd like to make it as magical as possible. Who knows when we'll be able to do it again.

My recommendations for timid children who startle easily:

1. use Youtube to your advantage and show your child some ride-through videos of the rides. He'll get a good idea of what the ride is like and it can help stave off a panicky moment or 2 where your child basically shuts down and says, "NO MORE!"
2. When you start your day on Day 1 at Disneyland, maybe avoid Snow White's Scary Adventures. Maybe also skip Pinocchio or Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but make those decisions based on how your son reacts to the videos.
3. If you go in October and they've converted Space Mountain to Space Mtn Ghost Galaxy, skip that entirely.
4. Haunted Mansion: What worked for my kids is we told them that HM is not full of scary ghosts. It's more of a fun & silly kind of spooky. Plus, during October, HM will have the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay on it and that is really not scary at all. We told our kids about the hitchhiking ghosts at the end and told them to try and pick the ghost's nose. That was a huge hit.

There's definitely enough "non-scary" rides to have a wonderful 3 days. Don't forget to go to Animation Academy in DCA where he can learn how to draw a character and take a free souvenir home with you.

Weather for swimming:
October wins over February! October is my favorite time of year to go to So Cal. The beaches will be fun. Water will definitely be colder than the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico, but it's ok. Weather is often in the 70's. Sometimes can spike into the 80's or even an occasional 90 around Anaheim. But most of October is lovely balmy 70's temps.

Hotel:
If you're on a budget trip, don't stay in GCH, DLH, or PPH. Howard Johnson's has a small water park. There's also a new Courtyard by Marriott next door to Hojo's that has a water park area. Both are walking distance to DL.

Beaches:
DLR Prep School's website has a good review of some beaches that are fairly close to DL.
http://dlrprepschool.com/disneyland-rr-nearby-beach-destinations/

 

[New To Mom]

Thanks for the quick responses! It looks like October wins for swimming lol. I saw it was also mentioned to expect some crowds in October. My first thought is that we would probably be in the parks during the week and the weekends would be for traveling to CA and back to IA. So if we go during the week, is there a chance the crowd level would be ok? It was also mentioned going in the beginning of December. I assume the parks would be decorated for Christmas, which is my fav holiday. Do we have a better chance having lower crowds in Dec vs mid-October? If the crowd levels are significantly lower, I could live with out the swimming. I guess depending on what my son thinks lol. My ideal way to tell him we are officially going is to have him open a birthday present with related items. We've talked about us going and I've asked him questions while I secretly plan. So I can somewhat get his opinion while not making it seem like something is in the works. His birthday is October 11th and would likely have his party the weekend before. I have this grand idea to surprise him with the trip saying we're leaving tomorrow!!! Then we would be at the parks for his actual birthday. There is also the thought that we would be activating our tickets before he turned 10 so we could save some money on ticket prices lol. However, if the crowds are much lower in Dec or Feb, I suppose I could give that up if it meant our park experience was better. I also need to check with work. One of my main tasks is creating the new budget for my department. We typically finish up the first round of budget work in early Oct so I'm not 100% sure a birthday trip would work with me being gone for at least a week.

As far as the ocean goes, I can't see us actually swimming it. My son has already said he woudn't lol. So I suppose the time of year wouldn't matter as long as we were able to do some beach related activities. I've also thought of going whale watching or something.

 

[Susie63]

We have been a few times in February and always swim.

 

[Geemo]

You're driving from Iowa? If that is the case, I'd pick a time when the weather is best for a ROAD TRIP.

We're in Oregon and my grandkids always use the pool regardless of the time of the year. Our trips have been in Jan, Feb, March, Oct and Dec.
The pools have always been open during the winter months. Since it's a main point for your son, check with the hotel to see if the pool will be open.

One of my grandkids favorite thing to do at the end of a long day in the parks is to order a pizza from Marris and snack as they swim. I usually keep warm in the hot tub. About 2 hours before we'll call it a day I call Marris and see the lead time for pizza delivery. On a Friday night it can be 1.5 hours.
This way I can call to order the pizza while we're still in the park. It's usually delivered shortly after we get back to the hotel. Works great!!!
I wouldn't want to get back to the hotel and have to wait another 1.5 hour for delivery. Plus for less than $20 I can feed 3 or 4 grandkids.

Geemo

 

[Niltiac]

Thanks for the quick responses! It looks like October wins for swimming lol. I saw it was also mentioned to expect some crowds in October. My first thought is that we would probably be in the parks during the week and the weekends would be for traveling to CA and back to IA. So if we go during the week, is there a chance the crowd level would be ok?

Both of my bigger trips have been in early October, in 2014 and 2016. I thought crowds were good during the week. I haven't been in February to compare, but I thought October was really nice. When I did my research before the first trip I gathered that there were two "slow seasons" (relative term) in Spring and Fall, but that in Spring there tend to be a lot of ride closures in preparation for Summer, whereas in Fall they keep most of the rides up and running. That was our experience - I can only remember one ride being under refurbishment for either trip. We also went down for a quick weekend trip in December so I saw the Christmas decorations, but I was surprised to find I missed the Halloween decorations and atmosphere. It just seemed to fit the park better than Christmas did, and I love Christmas. But I think I'm in the minority on that one, since I've seen a lot of praise for Disneyland at Christmas time. I think you can probably get similar crowds mid-week in early December or early October. Does your son like trick-or-treating? You might want to consider a Halloween party if you go in October. The tickets let you in in the late afternoon (around 3 or 4pm), so you could sleep in, let your son swim, have a late lunch and then enjoy the party, which has even more decorations and festive atmosphere and shorter ride lines.

 

[Khokhonutt]

In regards to your son's potential ride concerns, take this from someone who has never been a fan of thrill rides. For some reason wild rides and roller coasters never clicked with me. Some of it is an issue with heights, some of it I think has to do with not being in control of the situation. Either way, Disney parks have always been my favorite because the vast majority of the rides have little to no physical thrill to them. It's more about the theming at Disney parks. Rides like the Jungle Cruise, Toy Story Mania, Haunted Mansion are great for the theming and entertainment and have no real roller coaster feel to them. Even rides like Pirates of the Caribbean that offer a couple of minor drops, I loved for the overall atmosphere. That said, even the thrill rides at Disney parks are so well done, they can be enjoyed. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, for example, is one of my favorite roller coasters, I think because you never get the feel that you're way up in the air, instead there's always "mountain" around you that you're riding through.

I'd keep the following in mind for him. I always enjoyed my trips when I wasn't pressured into riding something I didn't want to ride. Disney is great about letting riders stand in line with their family, then walk through without riding. That gives your boy a decision point where he can step off, while getting to enjoy some of the entertaining ride queues. I'd encourage him to give it a try at least once, but know he's not being pressured to go. I eventually got to where I really liked some of the rides I was originally was a afraid of. He'll likely make the decision to give a few a try. I'd also agree with having him watch youtube videos of the rides. It really does help in most cases. Just stay away from the ones where people are laughing at the people losing their minds on Mickey's Funwheel swinging cages. That probably won't help things.

 

[cruisehopeful]

He lives for swimming at hotels so I was thinking one of the hotels with the water parks.

Great Wolf Lodge has an indoor water park, so it won't matter what time of year you visit or what the weather is like. It's a couple miles away from the parks.

October is very busy, but it is a great time to visit. It can still be very hot outside and there are halloween things all over the parks. 3 days would work out okay if he doesn't want to ride a lot of the rides. There is still plenty to do without riding rides.

December isn't really less crowded than October. I went both times this past season and thought it was busy both times. Ironically, it was overly hot in October and overly cold in early December for me. I talked to a couple from Canada who also thought it too cold during my December visit. They were as bundled up as I was.

February is extremely busy during President's Day week. Lots of rides are down for refurbishment. The beaches are great for looking at, but it is way too cold to go in the water.

If you are wanting to enjoy the beach, October is your best choice. I do enjoy the beach during the winter, but it's not a time to go into the water.

 

[New To Mom]

Looks like October wins lol. I hope we can swing it financially and with work schedules. October would be awesome being that his birthday is in October.

You're driving from Iowa? If that is the case, I'd pick a time when the weather is best for a ROAD TRIP.

Geemo

We have a couple different options on driving. We could drive west through Colorado which could be iffy depending on what time of year. Or we could go south and then west. I did this years ago to Las Vegas. I was in a wedding in March and there was no way I was getting stuck in a snow storm so I went south first.

In regards to your son's potential ride concerns, take this from someone who has never been a fan of thrill rides. For some reason wild rides and roller coasters never clicked with me. Some of it is an issue with heights, some of it I think has to do with not being in control of the situation. Either way, Disney parks have always been my favorite because the vast majority of the rides have little to no physical thrill to them. It's more about the theming at Disney parks. Rides like the Jungle Cruise, Toy Story Mania, Haunted Mansion are great for the theming and entertainment and have no real roller coaster feel to them. Even rides like Pirates of the Caribbean that offer a couple of minor drops, I loved for the overall atmosphere. That said, even the thrill rides at Disney parks are so well done, they can be enjoyed. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, for example, is one of my favorite roller coasters, I think because you never get the feel that you're way up in the air, instead there's always "mountain" around you that you're riding through.

I'd keep the following in mind for him. I always enjoyed my trips when I wasn't pressured into riding something I didn't want to ride. Disney is great about letting riders stand in line with their family, then walk through without riding. That gives your boy a decision point where he can step off, while getting to enjoy some of the entertaining ride queues. I'd encourage him to give it a try at least once, but know he's not being pressured to go. I eventually got to where I really liked some of the rides I was originally was a afraid of. He'll likely make the decision to give a few a try. I'd also agree with having him watch youtube videos of the rides. It really does help in most cases. Just stay away from the ones where people are laughing at the people losing their minds on Mickey's Funwheel swinging cages. That probably won't help things.

Thank you! I didn't know how hard it would be to get out of line once we were waiting. I'm not going to force him, bribery maybe lol. But overall, what he chooses to ride will be his decision. I know he would love some of the rides but he can be too scared to try new things. I'm def going to have watch some videos.

Great Wolf Lodge was also mentioned. That is a great idea! We could even stop at one on the way home from CA. I know of 2 locations that would be either on the way home or not that far off our trip. He watches a lot of youtube and has seen videos of peoples trips to Great Wolf and has mentioned how he'd love to go there.

 

[Khokhonutt]

Thank you! I didn't know how hard it would be to get out of line once we were waiting. I'm not going to force him, bribery maybe lol. But overall, what he chooses to ride will be his decision. I know he would love some of the rides but he can be too scared to try new things. I'm def going to have watch some videos.

In my experience, they have no issue with you walking through and not riding a ride. The only thing you'll want to prepare him for is where to wait for you. Some queues allow you to stay right where you walk through and wait. Others you have to continue walking to the area where riders get off the ride. Others still you can go to an area and watch your family ride, then meet up with them.

For what it's worth, one thing we've always done as a family is the, "we'll meet where we last remember seeing each other rule." Surprisingly this helped us find our daughter when she was a young teen, on a band trip. We were leaving the Magic Kingdom in WDW during a parade and had a bunch of kids with us. It was kind of a run across when they let you deal and when we cleared the worst of the crowd we didn't have our daughter. It was dark and a real mess of people, but I headed back to the Emporium where I last saw her and she met me there shortly after I arrived. Even as a teen, the look of relief on her face was priceless. It's good to have a plan, especially when the parks are mobbed.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

For what it's worth, one thing we've always done as a family is the, "we'll meet where we last remember seeing each other rule."

Love this! Not all teens have a phone with them and that five minutes of separation can feel like 20 when it's dark and chaotic around you. When I chaperoned a group of 6th graders on a band trip, one of them kept getting separated from the group and we'd have to backtrack and look for her. I have a mother-daughter trip coming up with my youngest in a few months and I'll use this trick with her.

 

[Tattylou]

I've only been in April so I can't weigh in on the Feb or Oct aspect. As for rides, my 8 year old son can be ride timid, but there are plenty at Disney he loves - Buzz light year, Toyota story mania, it's a small world, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Soarin, Pirates of the Carribean...and many more. He loved Radiator Springs Racers too, which is pretty fast. (That is my favorite of all rides at WDW and DL!!! I love it!!!). There's plenty to do between the non-scary rides and all the shows. My other younger son, who is 6, loves all the mountains and the thrill rides he's tall enough to ride. They both have a great time there whether adventurous or timid.