Where do I begin?????

[tcherjen]

We are thinking about going in March for 4 nights. We have never been to California before.
It will be myself, husband, one teen and one 9 year old.

Where to stay??? I have looked at hotels, but would rather have dis's opinions. I am picky on hotels, but know going to California is going to cost a lot.

Flying in- Guess it will have to be LAX- how do we get to Disneyland or our hotel of choosing?

Visiting the Parks- one per day or park hopper??? It will be a Friday-Monday we are there.
We will fly back to Orlando on Tuesday.

It all seems very confusing to me..... We are regulars to DW and my youngest bucket list is to visit all the parks in the world...

 

[gottalovepluto]

This is a link to HydroGuy's thread for WDW vets visiting DL. It will give you a great starting point! http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/

 

[tcherjen]

This is a link to HydroGuy's thread for WDW vets visiting DL. It will give you a great starting point! http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/

Thank you so much!!!!!!!

 

[SnowBelleAlice]

Why March? That's heavy Spring Break time, April would be nicer *Easter is 3/27, parts of May would be swell too, Summer time, July through mid August is lovely. Hang around here, you'll be a pro in no time

 

[tcherjen]

Why March? That's heavy Spring Break time, April would be nicer *Easter is 3/27, parts of May would be swell too, Summer time, July through mid August is lovely. Hang around here, you'll be a pro in no time

March is our spring break and we will be visiting family who live there too.

 

[coaches24]

"tcherjen, post: 53806824, member: 427774"]We are thinking about going in March for 4 nights. We have never been to California before.
It will be myself, husband, one teen and one 9 year old.

Early March would be ok but spring break time will start sometime in March and that means bigger than usual crowds.

Where to stay??? I have looked at hotels, but would rather have dis's opinions. I am picky on hotels, but know going to California is going to cost a lot.

You can splurge and stay onsite but if you don't want to spend that much for a hotel there are plenty of good neighbor hotels that are right across the street at affordable rates and are super close and convenient to the parks.

Flying in- Guess it will have to be LAX- how do we get to Disneyland or our hotel of choosing?

I know there are shuttles you can take but I am not experienced in this so not sure how that works.

Visiting the Parks- one per day or park hopper??? It will be a Friday-Monday we are there.
We will fly back to Orlando on Tuesday.

Park hoppers are so much better IMO.
You can hop over to the other park when one gets busy and it allows you so much more freedom in planning your days. Doing a ride in one park, a show in another, etc.

It all seems very confusing to me..... We are regulars to DW and my youngest bucket list is to visit all the parks in the world...

 

[minnie mum]

Hydroguys threads are heaven sent for us WDW vets. I've found them very helpful. Use the links to explore the Good Neighbour hotels. Disney resorts are definitely in the deluxe price range. But once you realize that the hotels across the street on Harbour can actually be closer to the park gates than the Disneyland Hotel, staying off site suddenly doesn't seem so bad.

Have a look at any flights that fly into SNA rather than LAX. It's much closer to DLR and is a nice, small airport. Shuttles are available to and from both.

PHs. Go for it. Since the 2 parks aren't connected to each others FPs, you can get FPs for both parks and hop around. It's only a couple hundred feet separating the parks!

Dining- I'm sure you are used to making ADRS for all your TS meals at WDW. Not nearly as necessary at DL. And you can't make them til 60 days out. On yeah, Dining Plans. Forget that at DL.

 

[Canuck16]

The DIS crew just did a 7 in 7 review/overview of the 3 onsite hotels and 4 offsite hotels that you may want to watch.

If you can get a flight into SNA you will save yourself lots of time as SNA is a smaller airport to get around and is only about a 20 minute drive to DLR.

 

[Woodskeeper]

Hi! I'm from Orlando too. I did my first trip to DL back in 2012 for a 4 night stay, and I would definitely recommend PHs. Important thing to remember with DL is that the parks are literally right across from each other. I spent a considerable amount of time my first trip just turning in a circle in the esplanade, amazed. It's a quicker walk between the two than from the parking lot in DHS to bag check.

I flew into SNA my first trip on United, but I'm flying into LAX for my trip this Sept. It all depends on prices. SNA is usually cheaper to fly into from MCO, and definitely an easy trip on the DL Express Bus (not free like Magical Express, but not too expensive). Taxi might be cheaper for a family of 4.

DL is difficult to plan for in advance because they wait til 60 days out to release schedules, but it's also easier to get ADRs, even walk ins!

Your family is going to have a blast!