Where Do I Start?

[3_disprincesses]

I am interested in visiting DisneyLand hopefully in a year or so. But I have NO idea where to start my planning. Some questions I have: What airport do you fly into? How do you get from the airport to DL/Hotels? Our air tickets will cost so much I will have to save on our accomodations so what hotel do I choose? Where do I eat? What about Character Meals? AAUUGGHH! It may be easier just to go back to WDW!

 

[ballarinamom]

FWIW, we soooooo prefer DL to WDW. Hope you feel the same! Most folks here, including my family, fly into SNA (John Wayne Orange County) or LGB (Long Beach). They are both around 20-25 minutes away from DL. LAX can be more than an hour depending on traffic.
As for transportation to your hotel, you can take a shuttle, many use Super Shuttle as they have coupons. If you use either of the two closest airports, a cab over can run between $35-$40. Town cars about $50 and a limo $65.
For economically nice hotels, HOJO is a favorite. If you have an Entertainment Book Card, you can get rates as low as $59. They have a great Pirate themed pool and corridor opening doors instead of a motel outside opening door. No continental breakfast. We are ususally out of our rooms before that is offered anyway
Other cheaper hotels include Desert Inn, Park Vue and others that I am sure some DISers will recommend
We order snacks and drinks from Von's online and have them delivered to our room. That saves some money
The food options at DL are not as good as WDW. But you definately will not go hungry! We prefer the character meals as some have a real value. Some offer AAA discounts. Or you can buy discount vouchers online. Plus we can see the characters without standing inline. Plus we really enjoy the food at several of them- Ariel's Grotto for lunch and dinner is the best!!

As I said before, we prefer DL. It's actually a little more expensive for us to go to DL than WDW. But we love it on the West Coast! Hope you do too!

Have fun planning. There are some really clever folks on this boards! They will help you tremendously!!

 

[kelmac284]

First of all the closest and most convenient airport is John Wayne or Orange County. Although if you are coming from the East it is usually cheaper to fly into LAX. You can use the Disneyland Express to get to DL from either of those airports and it is relatively inexpensive. There are also cabs and shutttles. It all depends on what your timing needs are. I personally prefer the cabs because although they are a bit more expensive I can walk out and not have to wait and get straight to my hotel. With the shuttles you sometimes have to wait up to an hour and then have to go to several other hotels to drop off other guests. So it is up to you what you prefer.

There are 3 Disney hotels which can be quite expensive. There is a website called Getaway today that has deals on ALL of the local hotels as well as the Disney properties. You can get deals on the hotels with tickets and I think it is a great site and have used it several times. We usually stay at one of the smaller hotels on Harbor which is the street directly across from the park. That way you can walk to the parks and it is very cheap and convenient.

There are several that are nice but not real fancy. As I said if you go on Getaway today's website you can see them all.

If you want to stay a little farther away there are nicer hotels like embassy suites with breakfast and such and you can use the local shuttle called the ART for 3/a day.

There are lots of restaurants in the parks as well as downtown Disney and there are restaurants outside the parks as well.

For character meals there are a few in each park as well as at the hotels. You can call Disney Dinning to set those up.

It is a lot simpler to set up a trip at DL than at DW. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any more questions.

 

[Isabel]

Ini addition to the great information on these boards, I found the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland very helpful, as well as some of the other guidebooks on California. You can probably find a 2008 or 2009 edition at your library to get started, and then purchase the 2010 book when it comes out.

 

[3_disprincesses]

Thanks to all of you for your help! I'm sure I'll be back later with more questions!

 

[S. S. Columbia]

In addition to the great information on these boards, I found the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland very helpful, as well as some of the other guidebooks on California. You can probably find a 2008 or 2009 edition at your library to get started, and then purchase the 2010 book when it comes out.

FYI, the Unofficial Guide to DL 2010 is available now:
http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Gu...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255104495&sr=1-1

For $12 the Unofficial Guide to DL is an o.k. starting point, although you will get better planning ideas from the DIS.

The following threads are l-o-n-g, but very worthwhile:

A DLR Guide for WDW Vets by HydroGuy
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

HydroGuy Tips Compilation
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483

HTH

 

[DizMe]

If you're looking to save money on accommodations, then an off-site hotel makes the most sense. Many on these boards love them and have favorites. I *personally* stay off-site when it's my only option for going . I LOVE staying at the resort and don't mind paying more for it, but there is a limit to how much more, which leads me to why I am posting:

Sometimes there are special AP rates or other deals that make staying onsite a lot more affordable. This year, for instance, there was a Fall Getaway deal as well as some AP rates that made staying at PPH cheaper than some of the offsite places. For a fairly nominal amount, you could upgrade one of your hoppers to an AP (you only need one for the discount) if there are special AP rates (that's what I did). It doesn't matter if you don't use it again; if it saves you money or allows you to stay onsite when you otherwise couldn't, it's worth it! The past several years have had good rates in the fall. Last year was an exception, with good rates almost the whole year.

I would suggest making a reservation off-site when you've narrowed down those options. Then I would keep my eyes open for deals at the resort hotels as it gets closer to your dates (the deals at the resort hotels usually don't appear until a few months beforehand). You can easily switch from one to the other, but I've found it's easier to change from off-site to on than the other way around. DLR will charge you 1 night's room cost as a deposit and it will be taken off your cc immediately. Most of the offsites just get your cc number but don't charge you until your stay.

Some things to consider when choosing an off-site: do you want to be within easy walking distance? Is the ART shuttle (which costs money) ok for getting to the resort? Do you plan to have a car or get a shuttle from the airport? Do you want a kids' suite? Do you want a kitchen or free breakfast included? Those answers will help others guide you to the best hotel.

Also, if you belong to a rewards program of some sort, there is probably a way to take advantage of it! I belong to MyPoints, for instance, and managed to get enough points to take the family to dinner at Rainforest Cafe and pay for a night at a Marriott property. We're staying one night at Fairfield Inn (off-site, across the street) for free and moving over to GCH for our last 2 nights.

 

[Hound 109]

Lots of good advice given above & i want to second the following:

FYI, the Unofficial Guide to DL 2010 is available now:
http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Gu...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255104495&sr=1-1

For $12 the Unofficial Guide to DL is an o.k. starting point, although you will get better planning ideas from the DIS.

The following threads are l-o-n-g, but very worthwhile:

A DLR Guide for WDW Vets by HydroGuy
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

HydroGuy Tips Compilation
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483HTH

SS Columbia is correct. Print a couple of DLR maps & spend half a day reading thru HG's tip threads (starting with the DLR guide for WDW vets).

You'll learn enough to be "dangerous" & you'll be back posting lots of specific questions in an attempt to have a magical time at Walt's Park.