WDW lover heading to Cali, feeling EXCITED - but clueless..

[Travis B]

My beloved dis'ers, through some astounding twist of fate my dear boyfriend has suggested we visit DLR this spring! I have spent countless hours researching WDW and feel completely comfortable in that arena, but despite my major excitement about this trip I'm feeling absolutely clueless, and quite under the gun to start bookings flights, hotels, etc. I know that all the info I need is available -somewhere- on the boards and on the podcast, but I'm feeling overwhelmed by the volume of the search. If anyone would be so kind as to sprinkle a little pixie dust, I have some questions...

-We would be attending a convention in LA on the 7th and 8th, and heading over to DLR the evening afternoon of the eighth, if not earlier as I will undoubtedly be BURSTING for Disney. I would like to end our trip in my happy place, so looking at Monday the 9th through that Thursday at the parks, leaving on Friday. Will I be OK crowd and weather wise? The only thing I could find to watch out for was grad nights, which will start that Friday we are leaving. We could do the week before the convention as well, but like I said, ideally the trip would culminate with Disney.

-Is four days enough time? I could add a day or two, but thought it might be wise to get out of dodge before the weekend/grad night craziness. I would potentially add an extra day on to the tickets, so maybe we could head over Sunday (arrival) evening as well.

-I've read bits and pieces about fireworks/night time shows not being presented certain nights. I believe Fantasmic is closed through our visit, but should everything else be available?

-Anything else I need to know before I start booking? I will definitely research heavily, but want to at least get our hotel and things settled so I know we have a place, ASAP.

Thank you so much in advance for your help - I'm absolutely stoked to visit Cali, and especially to see where it all began at DLR.

Edit: Yes, the trip is in May. I must have been so excited to post I forgot that little detail.

 

[SMD]

Is your trip in May? Sunday May 8th is the Tinker Bell half marathon and Mother's Day. Both race weekends and Mother's Day typically draw crowds. Check hotel availability for that night, you might be better off staying in LA and arriving early Monday morning.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Read through this post: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets. It has lots of helpful info and will help you get a feel for what to expect at DLR vs. WDW.

 

[Canuck16]

For a first trip I would recommend getting the maximum 5 day PH tickets.

Enjoy the Legacy FP that DLR still has and know that the FP system in each park are not connected.

Try and get a RSR FP for after dark as it a totally different experience than during the day. Make sure you are in CarsLand at dusk when they turn on all the neon lights........we never get board of that experience!

Have a great trip!

 

[Laz]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised. DLR is much easier to navigate even on the most crowded days. If you start your day at DL Rope Drop, you will get quite a bit accomplished compared to MK. Remember that DCA is just a short walk. DCA is more spread out, but you can still do most rides in time to repeat your favorites. It's fun for first timers to DLR to notice the differences in similar rides at WDW (Space MTN, Splash Mtn, Haunted Mansion, Thunder, etc). Do not miss WOC!

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

Take advantage of the walkability of DLR by staying close by. You may be locked into a certain hotel or area due to the convention, but if possible you should seriously consider booking a room right across the street from DLR, on Harbor Blvd. Keep in mind that many hotels will call themselves "across the street," but they are on a side not near an entrance so you end up walking quite a bit more than you would have expected. The closest hotels are on Harbor Blvd. to the east of the parks. Here is a good map: http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp. Other good resources can be found in HydroGuy's DLR Guide for WDW Vets linked above. On this map, the green section on the right near the red pedestrian entrance are the closest hotels, and when I say close, I mean less than a 10 minute walk, in some cases 5 minutes or less even. If the convention happens to be at the Anaheim Convention Center, that is located on Convention Way on this map. My husband and I went to a convention and DLR in the same trip this year and stayed right across the street from DLR (Desert Inn & Suites) and found that the walk to the convention center wasn't too bad (about 15 minutes).

The reason I haven't mentioned the on-site hotels...there are three of them and they are high end, very expensive. On-site doesn't have exactly the same meaning at DLR that it does at WDW (also well described in HydroGuy's guide). Keep in mind the on-site hotels may not necessarily be closer - those hotels across the street on Harbor are actually a shorter walk in some cases. For me, at WDW it feels like the hotels are more part of the experience, it is more immersive and resort-like. At DLR, it's all about the parks! Because of that, I rarely spring for the on-site hotels. And to answer a question that frequently comes up...the Good Neighbor Hotel designation means very little and will not get you any additional perks.

 

[Travis B]

Is your trip in May? Sunday May 8th is the Tinker Bell half marathon and Mother's Day. Both race weekends and Mother's Day typically draw crowds. Check hotel availability for that night, you might be better off staying in LA and arriving early Monday morning.

I wasn't even thinking about Mothers' Day! I was able to find hotel availability - but many places were listed as '1 room left', etc. I'll bet that's why..

Read through this post: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets. It has lots of helpful info and will help you get a feel for what to expect at DLR vs. WDW.

I've been knee-deep in it. So helpful and interesting.

For a first trip I would recommend getting the maximum 5 day PH tickets.

Enjoy the Legacy FP that DLR still has and know that the FP system in each park are not connected.

Try and get a RSR FP for after dark as it a totally different experience than during the day. Make sure you are in CarsLand at dusk when they turn on all the neon lights........we never get board of that experience!

Have a great trip!

It's crazy - I've never used the legacy FP system at WDW so, while I kind of get the concept, I have no idea what to do! I'll definitely try to get RSR and Cartland at night. I've seen some video and it looks so cool.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised. DLR is much easier to navigate even on the most crowded days. If you start your day at DL Rope Drop, you will get quite a bit accomplished compared to MK. Remember that DCA is just a short walk. DCA is more spread out, but you can still do most rides in time to repeat your favorites. It's fun for first timers to DLR to notice the differences in similar rides at WDW (Space MTN, Splash Mtn, Haunted Mansion, Thunder, etc). Do not miss WOC!

I'm a big show and parade person, so I will definitely be hitting WOC, Paint the Night, and ... the fireworks show with projections on Main St that I can't recall the name of - unless that's Paint the Night. And maybe the parade is called something else... And yes, it's so cool you can almost literally 'hop' from one to the other - no transportation needed!

Take advantage of the walkability of DLR by staying close by. You may be locked into a certain hotel or area due to the convention, but if possible you should seriously consider booking a room right across the street from DLR, on Harbor Blvd. Keep in mind that many hotels will call themselves "across the street," but they are on a side not near an entrance so you end up walking quite a bit more than you would have expected. The closest hotels are on Harbor Blvd. to the east of the parks. Here is a good map: http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp. Other good resources can be found in HydroGuy's DLR Guide for WDW Vets linked above. On this map, the green section on the right near the red pedestrian entrance are the closest hotels, and when I say close, I mean less than a 10 minute walk, in some cases 5 minutes or less even. If the convention happens to be at the Anaheim Convention Center, that is located on Convention Way on this map. My husband and I went to a convention and DLR in the same trip this year and stayed right across the street from DLR (Desert Inn & Suites) and found that the walk to the convention center wasn't too bad (about 15 minutes).

The reason I haven't mentioned the on-site hotels...there are three of them and they are high end, very expensive. On-site doesn't have exactly the same meaning at DLR that it does at WDW (also well described in HydroGuy's guide). Keep in mind the on-site hotels may not necessarily be closer - those hotels across the street on Harbor are actually a shorter walk in some cases. For me, at WDW it feels like the hotels are more part of the experience, it is more immersive and resort-like. At DLR, it's all about the parks! Because of that, I rarely spring for the on-site hotels. And to answer a question that frequently comes up...the Good Neighbor Hotel designation means very little and will not get you any additional perks.

That bit on hotel location is very good to know. I knew that many hotels were close, and those were the ones I was looking at, but I can imagine being quite irritated booking a hotel for it's location 'across the street' and then not being able to easily walk to the park. WDW is definitely about immersion - I agree with you about that. I was looking at satellite photos of DLR and it's so interesting to see it completely surrounded on all sides by development. And yes, the on-site hotels are a bit more than I would like to (or can afford to, honestly) spend. So until I'm a lottery winner, or at least a little better off financially, I will be offsite.

Thanks to everyone for your replies - they are definitely helping me start to wrap my head around this! If anyone else has any other advice, I'm all ears and would love to hear it. Thanks again everyone!

 

[livingwiththeLandon]

Following

 

[SoCalTrojanSkip]

I wasn't even thinking about Mothers' Day! I was able to find hotel availability - but many places were listed as '1 room left', etc. I'll bet that's why..



I've been knee-deep in it. So helpful and interesting.



It's crazy - I've never used the legacy FP system at WDW so, while I kind of get the concept, I have no idea what to do! I'll definitely try to get RSR and Cartland at night. I've seen some video and it looks so cool.



I'm a big show and parade person, so I will definitely be hitting WOC, Paint the Night, and ... the fireworks show with projections on Main St that I can't recall the name of - unless that's Paint the Night. And maybe the parade is called something else... And yes, it's so cool you can almost literally 'hop' from one to the other - no transportation needed!



That bit on hotel location is very good to know. I knew that many hotels were close, and those were the ones I was looking at, but I can imagine being quite irritated booking a hotel for it's location 'across the street' and then not being able to easily walk to the park. WDW is definitely about immersion - I agree with you about that. I was looking at satellite photos of DLR and it's so interesting to see it completely surrounded on all sides by development. And yes, the on-site hotels are a bit more than I would like to (or can afford to, honestly) spend. So until I'm a lottery winner, or at least a little better off financially, I will be offsite.

Thanks to everyone for your replies - they are definitely helping me start to wrap my head around this! If anyone else has any other advice, I'm all ears and would love to hear it. Thanks again everyone!

You were almost there....
Paint The Night is the Parade
Disneyland Forever is the Fireworks show.

Our joke about the Disneyland Forever Fireworks show is that outside of the first 2 minutes, the show has almost nothing to do with Disneyland and the fireworks portion almost takes a back seat to the projection. Still, it's a fun show and the Paint The Night Parade is one of my favorite parades since the original MSEP.

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

We are WDW vets that just had our first visit to DL this past July and are returning this coming May.

We spent 2.5 days in DL and 2 days in DCA and felt like that was a perfect amount of time. We experienced everything we wanted (and more). Dining packages were helpful to save time waiting in line for shows! I fully plan to book a dining package for Paint the Night if they are still offering that in May.

Hotels... we're always onsite at WDW, but we stayed across the street at the Park Vue Inn. Yummy free breakfast, clean room, nicely landscaped pool, friendly staff, and less than a 5 minute walk to the esplanade. We would stay here again but found a better deal on the hotel next door, Best Western Park Place Inn, so we've booked that this time... hopefully we will like it as well. Since we were offsite, we coordinated our park days opposite of the magic mornings/early entry days. Our ticket came with one Magic Morning which we used at Disneyland on a Thursday morning and didn't find it to be all that useful (we went straight to Peter Pan along with everyone else and spent most of the magic hour there, lol).

& like you said it is very different around DL... we would often leave DL (on Harbor Blvd) and have homeless people begging right outside the walls.. it's very surreal.. just something to be prepared for.. We never felt unsafe or anything, mind you, but it's definitely not the bubble you get at WDW.

All in all -- we actually slightly prefer DL to WDW and I bet you will love it too!

 

[Travis B]

You were almost there....
Paint The Night is the Parade
Disneyland Forever is the Fireworks show.

Our joke about the Disneyland Forever Fireworks show is that outside of the first 2 minutes, the show has almost nothing to do with Disneyland and the fireworks portion almost takes a back seat to the projection. Still, it's a fun show and the Paint The Night Parade is one of my favorite parades since the original MSEP.

Yes - I've seen video of the projections and.. drool... so groovy. Paint The Night looks absolutely amazing as well. There will definitely be no more video watching, however, as I would like to forget as much as possible and then be surprised. If only I could see the DLR Fantasmic as well, but at least I've seen the WDW version (even though the dragon's not nearly as cool..).

 

[Travis B]

We are WDW vets that just had our first visit to DL this past July and are returning this coming May.

We spent 2.5 days in DL and 2 days in DCA and felt like that was a perfect amount of time. We experienced everything we wanted (and more). Dining packages were helpful to save time waiting in line for shows! I fully plan to book a dining package for Paint the Night if they are still offering that in May.

Hotels... we're always onsite at WDW, but we stayed across the street at the Park Vue Inn. Yummy free breakfast, clean room, nicely landscaped pool, friendly staff, and less than a 5 minute walk to the esplanade. We would stay here again but found a better deal on the hotel next door, Best Western Park Place Inn, so we've booked that this time... hopefully we will like it as well. Since we were offsite, we coordinated our park days opposite of the magic mornings/early entry days. Our ticket came with one Magic Morning which we used at Disneyland on a Thursday morning and didn't find it to be all that useful (we went straight to Peter Pan along with everyone else and spent most of the magic hour there, lol).

& like you said it is very different around DL... we would often leave DL (on Harbor Blvd) and have homeless people begging right outside the walls.. it's very surreal.. just something to be prepared for.. We never felt unsafe or anything, mind you, but it's definitely not the bubble you get at WDW.

All in all -- we actually slightly prefer DL to WDW and I bet you will love it too!

So it sounds like five days is a good amount of time. I don't know when I'll be back - so I really want to get a good taste of DLR.

Thanks for the heads up on Park Vue Inn - it's not popping up on my search, I wonder if it's booked up already? Using the link provided above I've got a nice map to go by and will definitely pick one of the 'across the street' options that is actually across the street. I will probably also take your tip about doing the park opposite the magic mornings - kind of like we do non-EMH parks at WDW.

I will definitely look into dining packages for the shows - I'm the kind of person who gets FP+ for Wishes, etc, at WDW - so anything that holds a spot for me is golden!

Thanks for your insight, I'm sure I will love it there.

 

[SoCalTrojanSkip]

Yes - I've seen video of the projections and.. drool... so groovy. Paint The Night looks absolutely amazing as well. There will definitely be no more video watching, however, as I would like to forget as much as possible and then be surprised. If only I could see the DLR Fantasmic as well, but at least I've seen the WDW version (even though the dragon's not nearly as cool..).

The Columbia as Captain Hooks still gives me chills when I watch it, and I worked there for four years.
Hope you enjoy your trip even without Fantasmic...!

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

Here is a link to the Park Vue Inn.

http://www.parkvueinn.com/

Not sure where you were searching, but it's technically not a "Good Neighbor" hotel, so it doesn't show up on the official Disneyland website.