Need Disneyland 101

[Evergreen State Sue]

We want to take a trip to Disneyland late summer - probably the first week in September. The goal is after others have gone back to school and before we start back on September 12. We can be gone about 5 work days, so with Labor Day and weekends we will have extra time if needed. Probably the goal is no longer than 7 days total.

 

Dh and I have been there a few times but the last time was probably about 17 years ago. Our kids, who will be 14 & almost 16 then, have never been.

 

I need tips from you veteran Disney people. Where is the best place to stay, the best days & times to go, and what food plans. When should I start booking? Any deals to wait for at that time? We don't need to go top of the line on accommodations, but we don't have to go on the cheap if convenience will save some time and make it still fun.

 

We think we will have enough points to get our flight paid for as we've been saving our miles. How much money should we plan on this. Do we need a car? Any place else to go to besides Disneyland? Knottsberry Farm or that California park a must?

 

Thank you for letting me glean from your experiences!

[Ellie]

We want to take a trip to Disneyland late summer - probably the first week in September. The goal is after others have gone back to school and before we start back on September 12. We can be gone about 5 work days, so with Labor Day and weekends we will have extra time if needed. Probably the goal is no longer than 7 days total.

 

Dh and I have been there a few times but the last time was probably about 17 years ago. Our kids, who will be 14 & almost 16 then, have never been.

 

:party:

 

I love Disneyland. :D

 

I need tips from you veteran Disney people. Where is the best place to stay, the best days & times to go, and what food plans. When should I start booking? Any deals to wait for at that time? We don't need to go top of the line on accommodations, but we don't have to go on the cheap if convenience will save some time and make it still fun.

Most recently, we have stayed at the Ramada Inn Maingate. Notice that "Maingate" is one word; there is another Ramada Inn down the road that is "Ramada Inn Main Gate." You want the former, as it is walking distance from...the main gate. You'll pass an IHOP on the way in and out--a decent, inexpensive place to eat.

 

As long as you're there for a couple of weekend days as well as weekdays, it's all good. Mr. Ellie and I like to open the park at least once; your passes might get you in for an early entrance one of the days you're there, and that's the time to go see Finding Nemo (or whatever other new ride there might be since I've been there, lol).

 

The first day we're there, we open the park and turn left at the end of Main Street, so we can do Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Carribean, and the Haunted House, maybe Splash Mountain and/or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, right off. The rest of the day we hang out. :-)

 

You'll probably have a Park Hopper pass that allows you to go to both Disneyland and California Adventure. We *love* the Aladin Show at CA. It's worth the price of admission. While we're at CA, Mr. Ellie rides the Tower of Terror while I wait. :ack2: Often we leave Disneyland in the middle of the day and go over to CA, because that tends to be less crowded, and spend a few hours there before heading back to Disneyland for the rest of the day.

 

We think we will have enough points to get our flight paid for as we've been saving our miles. How much money should we plan on this. Do we need a car? Any place else to go to besides Disneyland? Knottsberry Farm or that California park a must?

Don't know about points. If you want to go to Knott's Berry Farm--and if you're able to, why not?--then yes, you'll need a car. You could also go to Universal Studios; it isn't as close as Knott's, but it's still driveable.

[Cedarmom]

No, you don't need a car. When westayed at the Ramada Maingate we walked. It's a couple of blocks to the entrance. When we stayed at the Grand Californian it was even easier.

 

I don't think the meal plans are worth it. As far as budget http://www.wdinfo.com has a list of the restaurant menu's and prices. That will give you a good idea of $. We brought waterbottles in and snacks. You'll probably want to include California Adventure as well as Disne;yand because the Californa has more rollercoasters.

 

We went late September-it was a great time of year to go. On the weekend (Friday evening) it was super crowded. Many people have year round passes, and come Friday evening for parads/fireworks. Just to let you know what to expect. The rest of the time there were hardly any crowds.

[DawnM]

You might look at a SoCal citypass if you wish to do things other than Disney while there:

 

http://www.citypass.com/southern-california?mv_source=partnerfusion&cmpid=google_SoCal%20pass&gclid=CKDPhvCJs6YCFSVe7AodcV1_mA

 

We moved to NC from SoCal and I miss it pretty much every single day!

 

I would recommend getting a car as Southern California is a city that is not easy to get around in without a car. In fact, a car would probably be the same cost as taking a shuttle for the entire family to and from the airport!

 

Here are some other ideas of what to do:

 

Beach (Huntington, Venice, La Jolla)

Legoland

San Diego Zoo

Balboa Park (San Diego)

Wild Animal Park (San Diego)

Simon Weisenthal Musuem

Queen Mary

Disney

Knotts

Universal

Sea World (San Diego)

La Brea Tar Pits

 

There are tons more, but here are a few.

[WagsWife]

We want to take a trip to Disneyland late summer - probably the first week in September. The goal is after others have gone back to school and before we start back on September 12. We can be gone about 5 work days, so with Labor Day and weekends we will have extra time if needed. Probably the goal is no longer than 7 days total.

 

Dh and I have been there a few times but the last time was probably about 17 years ago. Our kids, who will be 14 & almost 16 then, have never been.

 

I need tips from you veteran Disney people. Where is the best place to stay, the best days & times to go, and what food plans. When should I start booking? Any deals to wait for at that time? We don't need to go top of the line on accommodations, but we don't have to go on the cheap if convenience will save some time and make it still fun.

 

We think we will have enough points to get our flight paid for as we've been saving our miles. How much money should we plan on this. Do we need a car? Any place else to go to besides Disneyland? Knottsberry Farm or that California park a must?

 

Thank you for letting me glean from your experiences!

 

Are you wanting to stay at a Disney Hotel? We have stayed at both the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier. I think my favorite was DH...but they are doing some remodeling, so you may not have such a "magical" experience. We just stayed at Paradise Pier...and we really enjoyed it. It is not as "Disney" as the Disneyland Hotel...but it is still really cute and the staff was wonderful!

 

We used the meal plans when we went the last time (years ago)...and it was very nice to know that money for food was not an issue. That being said, most of the portions at Disney are huge! We just went with 2 adults, a 14, 12 and 10 year old we would order three entrees, and the five of us would share. There was PLENTY of food! So depending on your family...you could be wasting food/money if you go with the meal plans. Also, I am pretty sure you can not use the meal vouchers in Downtown Disney.

 

If you are planning on staying 5-7 days...you will need something else to do. With kids your age, that is plenty of time to do both Disneyland and California Adventure...they may get sick of being there, although I could spend an entire day just in Downtown Disney. Some other things to do in the area is "Medieval Times" and "Pirates Dinner Adventure." You would need transportation to get to both of these.

 

I would start researching sites like Laughingplace.com and Mousesavers. They will give you some really good information.

[JFSinIL]

You might want to check on-line with the area school districts - when I grew up in S. Ca. we didn't go back until about the 15th....

[beachpotato]

I love The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland by Sehlinger. The touring guides really do work.

[Veritaserum]

I love The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland by Sehlinger. The touring guides really do work.

 

:iagree: I grew up going to Disneyland once a year and this book taught me several worthwhile things. :) We like to stay within walking distance, so we like the Best Western Park Place Inn (I think it has the shortest walk of any non-Disney hotel). Early September is probably still going to be crowded. The slowest time is early December. We went last month (3 days at Disney) and had <5 min. waits for a lot of the attractions. The longest wait was 30 min. That does NOT happen on busy days. :) March can be a good time to go.

 

We took a week off school to go in December and did school the week after Christmas to stay on track. That is one of the benefits of homeschooling! You get to pick school holidays. :)

[KrissiK]

We were just there. In fact, we were there on the day that Disneyland closed their gates at 10:00am because they were full-up. Yes, that was a nightmare of epic proportions. We waited in line for "A Small World" (and several other rides) for >1 hr. The next day was great because it rained until noon. Crowds were seriously diminished. Had a very good time that day.

 

My recommendations:

- We stayed at the Best Western Anaheim Inn, right across the street. Nice place, not terribly expensive.

- We're on a budget, so we brought bagels & other breakfast stuff and ate breakfast in our room. Disneyland lets you bring food in, so we got a locker and brought in our lunch. The food there is very expensive. We left the park for a couple hours in late afternoon, went out for dinner and then came back. I'm not sure if DL is open till midnight all the time or just during the holidays.

- We got a 2-Day Park Hopper. I thought about getting the tickets that only let you in one park each day, they're cheaper but I'm really really glad I didn't. California Adventure is still under construction, so we only spent about 1/2 a day there and then went back to DL on day 2 to hit all the things we missed by standing in line on day 1.

 

I think that's all I can really say. We had a wonderful time the second day we were there.

[Excelsior! Academy]

Definitely get RideMax. It is a scheduled plan to get on the rides you like and it is very affordable. I know, I know, a schedule at Disneyland seems awful, but trust me. We did it for some of the days we were there and didn't for some of the days. We were wishing we had it for the unscheduled days. You can always NOT follow it. On the days we had it, we didn't wait for more than 5-15 minutes on ANY ride and this was during Christmas.

 

http://www.ridemax.com/features.php

Edited January 11, 2011 by Excelsior! Academy

[Ellie]

No, you don't need a car. When westayed at the Ramada Maingate we walked. It's a couple of blocks to the entrance. When we stayed at the Grand Californian it was even easier.

But she was thinking of going to Knott's Berry Farm, too, in which case a car would make it much easier.

[Jamee]

How fun! With the ages of your kids, I'd do the hopper passes, and two days should be more than enough to do everything. We've found the food to be better at DCA too and definitely not as crowded--but I also believe they're under a lot of construction??? It's been a few years since we've been there. I want to say the park stops their summer hours the last week of August so that would be something to look into.

 

Knotts is pretty run down, at least from what I remember as a kid. Lots of thrill rides though, so that may be their thing. Unless your kids/you are REALLY into Legoland, they may find it a bit immature and not a whole lot to do, so it may not be worth the expense. The San Diego Zoo is the best and the Tar Pits is nice. There's the Petersen Car Museum down the road from that too--walking distance--if you have any car fanatics. You will need a car to get around if you don't plan on staying at Disney the entire time.

 

As for places to stay, we really enjoyed the Fairfield Inn across the street from the entrance. There's a McDs back there--very busy one--and a Mimi's that is good. Everything along Harbor though is pretty walkable should you want to leave the park for meals.

 

Have a great time! We didn't make it to Disneyland when we were in the states last time. So bummed.

[Evergreen State Sue]

The last time we took the kids for fun in California we went to Legoland - they were 4 and almost 6! We're overdue for some California fun!

 

The first time I went to Disneyland, I was 23 and it was the week after Labor Day. I remember seeing everything and going on every ride I wanted to in one full day because it wasn't that crowded. That's why I thought it would be a good time.

 

How was the weather in early December?

 

Keep your tips coming! Thanks!

[Veritaserum]

The last time we took the kids for fun in California we went to Legoland - they were 4 and almost 6! We're overdue for some California fun!

 

The first time I went to Disneyland, I was 23 and it was the week after Labor Day. I remember seeing everything and going on every ride I wanted to in one full day because it wasn't that crowded. That's why I thought it would be a good time.

 

How was the weather in early December?

 

Keep your tips coming! Thanks!

 

The weather was cool in early December (60s during the day, 50s at night). Much warmer than where we came from though! ;) In general I think it is good to avoid holidays and weekends. It is possible that the first week in September (not Monday) might be a fine time to go. I don't know. :) My family always went late fall - early spring to avoid heavy crowds.