Disneyland!!...I need your tips!

spoiledwife12

My hubby and I are taking our four kids (ages 4-12 when we go) to Disneyland for the first time in May 2012. My DH has never been and I've only been once, 20 yrs ago!! We're planning on a total of 7 days, 3-4 of them at DL, then a couple in San Diego.

We're traveling from Utah and, economically, we should probably drive but I don't think I could stand the noise level in the car for 12-16 hours!! I'd rather pay more to fly for two hours, though it means renting a car while we're there.

Specifically:

Hotels- are the hotels in the park worth the extra $? Any recommendations for outside the park? I looked at the website for the Portofino hotel and thought it looked promising, mainly for the bunk beds in the rooms!

Flights-any websites you recommend? Round trip flights are probably the cheapest so I'm thinking we'll have to travel back up to Anaheim instead of leaving from San Diego. Have you taken the risk of booking early to get the cheaper rate?

Disneyland itself: we're going off season so hopefully it won't be too packed. If you've taken kids there, what advice do you have re what to see or do first?

Most of the planning tips I've seen are from DL but I wanted hands-on experiences from you all! I would sure appreciate your advice!

felicity866

i am looking forward to the answers to this one as well.....we are travelling from Australia in march 2012 to ski in steamboat and do the vegas and disneyland thing while we are there!!!

Jaffy55806

I took my 5 year old there last year and we stayed at the Tropicana which was literally kiddy corner from the Parks entrance. We had a pool, a hot tub, and breakfast (however it wasnt that impressive). We did the 3 day park hopper pass and it was great. One day we did Disneyland and the next we did Adventure Park. The third day we did both and did what we felt we missed or wanted to do again. Definitely worth it to do that. Adventure Park is where the water show is but I highly recommend getting your tickets in advance when you are there. You will get all that information in your packet if you go through Disney's website which I did. I was able to pick what I wanted for the hotel and the park tickets. Airline for us was the only way to do it being that we live in Minnesota. But we also did the shuttle to the hotel and back and that helped with getting us to Disney. You can also pay for a shuttle to do the Southern California tour which includes San Diego Wild Animal Park, San Diego Zoo and Seaworld. I am sure you could buy that and then stay at a hotel near one of those that will shuttle you. You can pay for a shuttle but that might be pricey. My brother and sister in law did the southern california tour and rented a car and they recommended to me but I am alittle nervous driving in a city let alone a state I dont know well. Please let me know if I can help in anyway.

Contrarian

I recommend the tea cup ride.

daves160

Take a look at hotels on Harbor blvd. They are right across the street from Disney main entrance and a heck of a lot cheaper, especially through a travel site like Orbitz. it will also save you about $15.00 a day in parking fees too.

Definitely plan meals off site, and carry snacks and water with you - Saves huge amounts of money. The food in Disneyland is only very expensive and barely so-so anyway.

A 3-day park hopper pass is your best bet. Try to get a deal somewhere and save about 50 .00 per. California Adventure has a screaming light show that is well worth seeing.

San Diego has a lot of things to do like wild animal park, zoo, Sea world, etc.

Getting around is not too bad. Just remember I-5. It gets you to San Diego and Disneyland.

_Sonia_

Outside the park, I've had great experiences with the Candy Cane Inn. Have also stayed at the Anaheim Plaza recently--it's very no-frills but really affordable. Candy Cane costs more but is lovely. The pool is in a pretty garden, and breakfast is served by the pool every morning. Quick free shuttle to the park.

Tips for the park:

-Bring a day-pack with some water and snacks. Food is SUPER EXPENSIVE in the park. ALL food.

-Younger kids will tire out fast. It's a good idea to go early in the day, then take a break for lunch, a swim, maybe a nap, then go back in for the evening--fireworks, world of color, etc.

-Make good use of the Fast Pass system! This will get you into the rides a lot more efficiently.

-Also make use of the "Child Switch" pass if your little ones are too short or scared for some of the rides. Basically, you tell the ride attendant that you need a baby switch pass--then one parent gets to go on while the other waits with the child, and the second parent can go straight on the ride afterwards--just one long wait instead of two. When my daughter was 4, this saved a LOT of time!

-Try to make at least a rough plan for what you want to see ahead of time, using the map--better than racing around randomly all day! Oh, and if you're going to do a water ride, save it for late in the day--the river run in the California adventure park SOAKED US THROUGH.

-Your older kids should enjoy the Indiana Jones ride, the roller coasters, etc. Basically adventureland and tomorrowland. The little ones will love Fantasyland. Not sure if the Pirates of the Caribbean ride is still being renovated, but hopefully it should be open by then--it's awesome!

Good luck!

slnash

I am closer to Disney World, but I think this would be the same for both.

As far as off season and being crowded - If you are going while school is still in session, your 12 year old will almost have the run of the park. When my family went, it was 2 adults and a 5-year-old. School was in, and we thought we would have it made. Well, most of the people in the park were newlyweds and families with toddlers; therefore, we had to wait forever for kiddie rides. The bigger rides were moving right along. If DL had "fast pass" like DW does, I HIGHLY recommend it. Map out which rides offer fast pass (especially kiddie rides), then get your tickets for those while you do other things.

That's all I have. Hope you guys have a great time! We plan to go back when our baby is 10.

3GKnight

You shouldn't need to rent a car. Any airport nearby will have shuttles. The last thing you want is to get pissed off at southern California traffic before you get to the park.

While the hotels in the park are nice and close, there are a lot of good hotels across the street and well within walking distance.

Be selective about where you buy food in the park. Some places have astronomical prices, while others aren't as bad. Generally speaking, Downtown Disney has some good food without the high price. Be ready to pay if you do the themed restaurants.

Use the Fastpasses. They're awesome.

Have fun!

KatieJane83

Fastpasses ROCK, use them!

Check out mousesavers.com and sign up for their monthly email newsletter. They have very good info, and also have great deals and discounts in their email newsletters. Right now there's a good deal on parkhopper tix for Disneyland.

Also check out www.wdwinfo.com (yes, they have a section on Disneyland!) for good info. I'm also a big fan of their message boards, www.disboards.com. Any specific questions you have can generally be answered/found there.

For airfare I like to use some of the comparison sites that compile fares from all over. Try:
www.bing.com/travel
www.tripadvisor.com
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

And, most importantly, HAVE FUN!!! I've never been to Disneyland but I've been to WDW a bunch of times and I know you'll have a blast!

Gemini_1980

Went in June of this year and it was great! If you have a car be prepared to pay for parking if you are staying close to the park ALL HOTELS close to the park pretty much charge now so make sure the price of the room includes parking so you will not be surprised at the front desk. Also if you are riding shuttels check on prices there as well because some of the hotels go with the city shuttle and there may be a fee if it is not through the hotel directly.

I have stayed at (2) places when we went (we go ever summer) Anaheim Desert Inns and Suites which was fabulous for an affordable Disney vacation and it is RIGHT ACROSS the street from the park. Had a fridge and microwave. Parlor Suite room which had a separate bedroom with (3) beds total. Was clean and offered breakfast in the morning. This place was smack right across the street from the park so this was a great choice for us because I wanted to be close to the park.

We also stayed at the Ramada Maingate which was also right across the street from Disneyland.Had a fridge and microwave. Both great CLEAN places to stay and for a budget. Ramada offered breakfast as well and even had boiled eggs which is great!!! Ramada has also remodeled recently so there is a great pool with slides for the kids. This place was booked this year which is why we did not stay here:sad:

I would suggest going to the local Target down the street and stocking your rooms with snacks etc. Both places I mentioned had microwaves and fridges which helped in the morn and coming back to the room to get jackets for night time shows etc. Since we had been to the parks before we got to the park later in the day the last time we went around 10 am or so. We drove to Target and I stocked up on Bottles of WATER,Chobani yogurt, bananas, grapes,cherries, beef jerkey, nuts,wheat bagels,milk,orange juice, popcorn, and other items I had brought from home like coffee, 100 calorie snacks,cereal, etc,sandwhich baggies.. When we went to the park so did the snacks. I would freeze the bottles water and bring it into the park and then re-fill at the water fountains. When we stood in line for rides we snacked on the fruit and nuts:bigsmile: we ate breakfast in our room, packed up our backpacks with snacks and then headed out.

Must see's while at Disneyland. WORLD OF COLOR wonderful show. The first time it came out we had to get to California adventure park early and then stand in line for fast passes. This year they have a picnic lunch you can purchase on-line via Disneyland website and it comes with tickets. I purchased the picnic lunches because we were going to have to eat dinner anyway and the tickets were already set with the price. We sat there by the water and ate our dinner and it was great:bigsmile: it was healthy choice too I got a vegetarian platter and it was fab.

Also please eat at the Blue Bayou. This is the restaurant that is located inside of the Pirates of the Carribean and it is a must do while there. It is a bit pricey (menu listed on the Disneyland website)make reservation with the dining line before going so you can secure a table(very crowded for walk ins)

Visit Downtown Disney!!!! We ate most of our meals down that way and I found healthier choices there then inside the parks. Brannan's was our fav place to eat for some reason:flowerforyou: and the Rainforest cafe is pretty awesome as well

USE fast passes for the rides like Spacemountain, Indiana Jones, and Splashmountain. Most of those rides have long lines and if you get the fastpasses you can still ride other rides and then come back to enjoy!!!!

I lost 1 lb on that vacation and I was so proud:bigsmile: I ate and still enjoyed myself. With all the walking you are going to be doing it will hopefully offset the food inside the parks:flowerforyou:

Have fun!!!

spoiledwife12

Wow, great info so far!! Thanks!

Keep it coming'! :happy: