Week to long at disneyland

[severtlaw]

Thanks for looking at this post. I am a DVC member since 1998 and have been to Disney World numerous times. This spring break the family decided to go to Disneyland as we have never been there. I just made a 7 night 8 day reservation staying at the Grand Californian? My kids are 11 and 13. The theory was to just buy an annual pass and come and go as we please. After spending 3 hours reading posts on this forum I am getting the impression that will be way too long at disneyland. Is it hard to rent a car or more appropriate to travel to other places. Any recommendations? Thanks

 

[Malcon10t]

We spend 10-14 days each Christmas at DIsneyland. (This year, Dec 22-Jan 3.) We take it slow and easy. It gives us plenty of time to relax and just enjoy the park.

 

[aprincess@mail.com]

We stay a week at a time in October and we LOVE it! I have 3 small children and we just come and go as we want with no time restraints. You could walk to the Anaheim Shops and Restaurants at the Garden Walk, which also has a Bowling alley. You could rent a car and see the other sights. I think you will enjoy your week at the Disneyland Resort.

 

[skiingfast]

I'd suggest getting a Socal Citypass. It will include a day at Universal, Seaworld, 3 days at DLR which you can add more days to, and a choice of either the SD zoo or Safari park. http://www.citypass.com/southern-california

This may work for you, though it may depend on what you have done in Orlando. Seaworld is very similiar except for a couple rides. Universal is very different and has no IOA so not close to the number of rides.

People also goto Knott's Berry Farm, Hollywood and Venice Beach/Santa Monica Peir. Many smallers sights to see and things to do also.

You can rent a car in DTD from Alamo, nearby you can find Dollar and Avis desks with shuttles to their lots. Walking further more rental options.

DLR is pretty central though with traffic sometimes very nice to stay elsewhere, for Universal and San Diego.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We usually book 6 day trips. When we had APs we did 3 6-day trips in a year, plus a 3-day trip. Definitely NOT too long.

 

[Hoku]

I agree that one week at Disneyland Resort is great. It lets you take the trip easy and gives you time for relaxation on your vacation in addition to running-around-fun. The pool at GCH has a great pirate ship for the kids to play on.

I recommend playing it by ear. You may like the luxury of a relaxed trip. If, after the first 3-days, you think you'll want to do other things to, you can make additional plans. But it is a bit of a drive to go to other parks (Knott's Berry Farm isn't a bad drive), which will take time out of your day and put you in traffic.

Since you've been to WDW so many times, you can imagine what it would be like to do 7+ days at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney. Except, at DLR, you don't need to drive to any of them.

 

[Kauinohea]

Not too long for me! We were originally planning a 8 night trip 12/25-1/2, but I just added another day, so now we don't check out until 1/3. we have 8 day passes and will be doing Univeral and one other activity in between.

 

[It'sKim]

We always go for 8-10 days at a time. It is long, but it's also nice because you don't feel rushed at all. We usually try and spend at least 1 day somewhere else like the zoo, SeaWorld, or Legoland. But otherwise we just enjoy taking our time in the parks.

 

[DizMe]

It is for my family, but if you're not familiar with the area it may be a good amount of time. I personally would get tired of it with a whole week to kill.

 

[Niebz]

I don't think that's too long at all! Yes WDW takes up more real estate but there is so much to do packed into the Disneyland resort that you should have no problems entertaining yourselves for those 8 days. The 2 individual parks have more attractions per park than at WDW and there are lots of fun entertainment options in the evenings that I couldn't see you getting bored if you stayed the whole trip on property. Our next trip will have 13 full days on property and I still won't want to go home at the end lol. I just love the closely situated attractions and more relaxing pace of the Disneyland resort.

 

[mrswh]

No way is it too long! Heck, I could go to the pool at GCH all day for a week! There is so much to do at the parks, and it is so nice to do it on a relaxed schedule. There is always DTD and the pool, of course, and if you want to drive, you could hit the beach, Universal, etc. I don't know when your spring break is but if baseball season has started, you could catch a game at Angel Stadium - not too far away and a very nice ballpark. Or Petco Park, for that matter, if you want to drive down to SD and check out the gorgeous beaches there too. Have fun!

 

[goldies 5]

I agree with most. We go every year for 7 nights and go at a slower pace. It is more fun and relaxing this way for us.

 

[jacs1234]

We stay for about 10 days each time, this time will be 13 days and it is NOT too long for us. We will spend a day at Legoland but will probably be back to Disneyland for the fireworks at night

 

[ConnieB]

Thanks for looking at this post. I am a DVC member since 1998 and have been to Disney World numerous times. This spring break the family decided to go to Disneyland as we have never been there. I just made a 7 night 8 day reservation staying at the Grand Californian? My kids are 11 and 13. The theory was to just buy an annual pass and come and go as we please. After spending 3 hours reading posts on this forum I am getting the impression that will be way too long at disneyland. Is it hard to rent a car or more appropriate to travel to other places. Any recommendations? Thanks

I'm typing this from our hotel near Disneyland....we've been here for 9 days already and we're not bored yet, lol. The kids (age 15) go for about 8 hours a day....I have a bad ankle and can't do it but I would if I could.

There is not nearly as much to do as WDW, of course being only 2 parks vs 4, but there is still plenty to do and see to keep you busy for a week.

Unlike WDW the "real world" is right there literally across the street from Disneyland so going off property is pretty common and of course all the car rental places are strategically located. I believe there is at least one rental place in DTD as well. There are loads of things you can do with a car.....beaches, museum, dare I say other amusement parks, restaurants, everything that a big city would have anywhere in the country.

 

[mydisneymoney]

We just went for 7 days two weeks ago and already looking at going back. We loved every minute. If you go the annual pass route you can come and go as want and need without worrying about not using your days up. Have tons of fun.

 

[snesguy]

Thanks for looking at this post. I am a DVC member since 1998 and have been to Disney World numerous times. This spring break the family decided to go to Disneyland as we have never been there. I just made a 7 night 8 day reservation staying at the Grand Californian? My kids are 11 and 13. The theory was to just buy an annual pass and come and go as we please. After spending 3 hours reading posts on this forum I am getting the impression that will be way too long at disneyland. Is it hard to rent a car or more appropriate to travel to other places. Any recommendations? Thanks

I always rent a car at the airport. It's not hard. I usually book a car early on hotwire to lock in a rate I'm happy with.

If you can stand a little inconvenience in exchange for some perks, instead of getting APs right away I would look into getting a few day park hopper and turning your room reservation into a vacation package. This way you would get the extra perks of the vacation package. You would have to make sure that the price of your park hoppers is less than the price of the AP you want to purchase or this won't work. So, you might get 6 day park hoppers for $231 (or whatever it is) and this will let you make a package out of your vacation. It's OK to get park tickets for fewer days than your stay. Then once you arrive, anytime before your park hoppers expire (even your first day) you can upgrade them to APs by paying the difference in price. So if you got a deluxe AP for $379 (or whatever it is) you would pay the difference between $231 (park hopper) and $379 (deluxe AP) which would mean you'd have paid the same price for the AP as you would have if you bought it first. It takes a little processing time to upgrade to APs, but then you get the extra benefits of a vacation package (like preferred admission to shows, Toontown Morning Madness, other stuff). I've done this before. It works for me.

 

[rentayenta]

I'm going to go against the grain here......while it's not too long, the DLR area is much smaller than WDW. I just found out there is an Alamo rental car in DTD. I would plan on a beach day or two. We find 5 days to be perfect at the DLR; 8-10 at WDW.

The GCV are beautiful and the weather should be great. You'll have more than enough time to do/see all that makes Disneyland so magical.

 

[lwilkison]

Thanks for looking at this post. I am a DVC member since 1998 and have been to Disney World numerous times. This spring break the family decided to go to Disneyland as we have never been there. I just made a 7 night 8 day reservation staying at the Grand Californian? My kids are 11 and 13. The theory was to just buy an annual pass and come and go as we please. After spending 3 hours reading posts on this forum I am getting the impression that will be way too long at disneyland. Is it hard to rent a car or more appropriate to travel to other places. Any recommendations? Thanks

We spent 6 days in a row at DLR last Christmas...we loved it...with a toddler!

We love DLR and we always find more things to discover...we take our time.

We aren't rushed so we have less "melt-downs"...makes for a happier time

 

[HydroGuy]

I would compare it to WDW so you can get an idea based on something you know. A 3 day trip at DLR is sort of like a 6 day trip at WDW - enough time to have fun but not enough time to feel like you did everything you really wanted. A 5 day trip to DLR is like a 10 day trip to WDW - IMO enough to feel like you could take your time and do just about anything. A 7 day trip to DLR is like a 14 day trip to WDW - anough time to become totally saturated.

Seven days at DLR is way too much for us. Four to five is max. But we have been before numerous time. Seven might work for you.

 

[Vexorg]

I have always found that three days seems to be just about right for DLR to get my fill on my favorite rides and shows, but that tends to be on a solo trip or with an adult group. I recently got an AP, which makes it a lot easier to go without being rushed at all, alhough I do still have to fly down to get there, so it's not loke I can just pop in for an evening or two without at least a moderate amount of planning.