Would this be totally crazy?

[Misty89]

I am still in shock...and i dont know where to post this!
on my christmas list, as a funny i had put a trip to WDW. My DH's grandfather lives in CA, last night BIL offers for my christmas present to take us to DL! - only thing....over christmas or NYE time frame( this year ). OK so i have to work, and i cant get off,even a few days ... i know that ( i spose i could, if i tlaked to my boss) So the trip would be ALOT of traveling...GF lives in the mountians, and we would need to drive to DL, seaworld etc! I am not sure what to say!!!!!!!!!
SO fellow DIS'ers, how would you throw together a trip for your family in 2 weeks??? DH and I would need to cover our food, and attaction tickets, there are us and 2 DD's....DD 14 is excited if we can go ( we missed a trip to see grandpa in june and she was bummed) who NEVER gets excited over vacation anymore!!!!
How much $$ do would you guess we need? I am not sure of wher we would stay, or anything....i am guessing it would be a 4 or 5 day trip ( we would be flying from WI to LAX.
OK last question....how busy is DL at this time of year? or even NYE, and the few days after?

 

[jennifer293]

I think I would probably talk to your boss to see if the trip is even going to be possible and then worry about the rest after that. But I am a planner, so to throw a trip together in 2 weeks would about be impossible for me and if I was able to do it I would be totally gray headed in the end....LOL We are going to WDW in July 06 and I am already planning and buying for the trip..I AM A FREAK!!!!

Good Luck and I hope you get to go.... there would be no greater gift for X-mas than to get to see the MOUSE!!!!! I am JEALOUS!!!

 

[shades]

I am still in shock...and i dont know where to post this!
on my christmas list, as a funny i had put a trip to WDW. My DH's grandfather lives in CA, last night BIL offers for my christmas present to take us to DL! - only thing....over christmas or NYE time frame( this year ). OK so i have to work, and i cant get off,even a few days ... i know that ( i spose i could, if i tlaked to my boss) So the trip would be ALOT of traveling...GF lives in the mountians, and we would need to drive to DL, seaworld etc! I am not sure what to say!!!!!!!!!
SO fellow DIS'ers, how would you throw together a trip for your family in 2 weeks??? DH and I would need to cover our food, and attaction tickets, there are us and 2 DD's....DD 14 is excited if we can go ( we missed a trip to see grandpa in june and she was bummed) who NEVER gets excited over vacation anymore!!!!
How much $$ do would you guess we need? I am not sure of wher we would stay, or anything....i am guessing it would be a 4 or 5 day trip ( we would be flying from WI to LAX.

As far as the amount of money you will need, you should consider how many miles you will drive total and figure out with the price of gas in CA to get your cost for gas. Hotels (be sure to look on the specific hotel sites, as well as call them direct and ask for any discounts - AAA?, manager's discount, etc.). If you think you may want to dine at the Blue Bayou at Disneyland, start calling them now to try and get a reservation. This is our most expensive meal when we go to Disneyland and a must do on each trip. Lunch is just as good as dinner and you can save $5-10 per person for a lunch meal vs. dinner. Add in your costs of DL passes, and spending money for souveniers & snacks at the parks (we get chocolate croussiants at the bakery in CA Adventure;o).

Let us know if you decide to go. It really is easy to plan. I'd begin by shopping hotels first.


OK last question....how busy is DL at this time of year? or even NYE, and the few days after?

If you can afford it & get the time off work - go for it! DL is crowded during the holidays and especially crowded on Christmas Eve/Day. What works for us is to go to the Magic Kingdom Christmas morning and stay until late afternoon/early evening. Then we go back to the hotel for a break and later head out to CA Adventure. Just keep in mind that if you leave MK, even with a handstamp, you may not get back in because of crowds. There are 5 of us, so we like to stay at the Best Wester, Mini suites - directly across from the walkway to the park. The room comes with 2 queen beds & a sofa sleeper. Otherwise, I'd recommend staying in any of the hotels that are within walking distance so you won't have to pay for parking. The Best Western give you coupons to go next door for a complimentary continental breakfast. The breakfast is not great - but, it is included with the hotel costs, so we eat there.

 

[rie'smom]

Some of our favorite trips were last minute. Go for it. I agree with previous poster-stay close or onsite if possible.

 

[myAAbatteries&aTD]

Hi. We're going for a week Dec. 29-Jan 5th w/ the main event being the Rose Bowl (that we now don't have tickets for - whole other topic!) and I'm really starting to panic about not being prepared.... It would probably be easier to get hotel rooms earlier (around Christmas) than later b/c of the Rose Bowl... I'm soooo excited - hope you get to go. I called and asked my dh's boss if he could have off (told him it was dh's Christmas, bday, anniversary present for the next year and the whole family was going, not to tell dh, etc...) and he was really nice and let him off (he's a coach so it's right after they go back to school and policy is they can NOT take off then)... Anyways, have fun!!!

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Wow, that sounds both exciting and stressful. To try to plan a holiday trip 2 weeks is really going to take some hustle on your part. Once you've spoken with your boss and gotten the time off, your next step should be to look into airfare. It's not going to be cheap at this late date. Try using SideStep.com to find the cheapest available flights from your closest airport to LAX.

For affordable tickets, read MouseSavers.com - DL Tickets . You may find that the Southern California CityPass, which includes a 3-day DL hopper, works out the best for you.

Good luck planning and let us know how it's going! We're going to DL for the first time in July 2006 and I'd love to hear how things work out for you.

 

[lisajl]

I say, whenever an unusual opportunity arises, you should grab it and run with it!
If we didn't we would not have gone to Hawaii or WDW.
Good luck, hope you can get the time off. I don't envy you the drive, though.
We have a 15 hour drive in front of us this weekend but the payoff is WDW!!!

Hope you get to go and hope you have an amazing time!

 

[lovewdwdvc]

Ask to use some of next year's vacation.

What do you need? tickets , money, sunscreen and a few clothes. I know there is more but not much. There are lists on these boards to help you with what to bring.


Go. Have fun. Life is short and relatives like yours dont come along that often.

 

[Misty89]

OK HI!

thanks for all the replys!
Looks like we are up to 90% going on the trip!
BIL 's GF called tonight to find out best time to go....( somewhere between 1-1-06 and 1-9-06) We are going to work on this together, i also asked my sis, who is like my mom, about taking the kids out of school for a few days....she says, yeah do it LOL( sisters LOL )
So,....if you have any more tips. anything let me know, i am going to be talking to DH about buying Tix etc, and i will look at those A/F sites - thanks mad4themouse

Tina

 

[HaleyB]

I would sign up for www.ridemax.com they give fantastic touring advice for Disneyland. I would also go to the Disneyland Boards here (way down the list of boards).
Get park hoppers even though they are expensive if at all possible- DL and DCA are a short walk from each other (I think I could throw a baseball that far) and DCA is never that crowded so if DL gets crowded you just cruise across to DCA.

Careful with the City Pass, they are only a deal if you can use most of it and it includes San Diego stuff. If you can use it try Costco for best prices (online, I think).

 

[got2travel]

I throw together trips to DL in 2 weeks time all the time. But then again, I have an annual pass and I can drive it in 7 hours, so putting together a weekend trip isn't so difficult. Don't need tickets or air.

All multi day tickets are park hoppers, so you don't need to worry about that.

Same type of strategy that you would use for WDW also applies to DL. Be there at opening, mad dash to (insert favorite fastpass ride here), get a fastpass, then go knock out Fantasyland. When your fastpass time comes up, grab another one before using your first one. We usually grab Space Mountain FPs, do Peter Pan and any other Fanstasyland ride, get an Indiana Jones FP, go back to Space, then just play it by ear from there. Take an afternoon break, then head back for the evening. Things have been a little more crowded lately, but usually only Christmas Day and New Years Eve end up reaching capacity. And even then only for a few hours.

If you need a hotel, some of my choices (all right across the street) include: Carousel Inn, BW Park Place Inn, Park Inn, Tropican Inn, Desert Inn, and Howard Johnson.

Please visit us on the DL board. There's tons of information available.