1st DL trip ?'s

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

I am very excited to say that I am trying to plan a trip to Disneyland for next year (2007). We just went as a family for the 1st time this year (2006) to WDW and loved it! But along with planning are alot of questions.......hope you can help - you helped alot when planning for WDW.

Just some info: My family: husband & I (in our 30's) and 1 child (daughter 7yrs old then). My parents in their 50's & 60's. And possible a cousin in his 40s to meet us there. We are not BIG roller coaster people - but loved the Tower of Terror & Test Track at WDW. My parents do the littler rides - Dad may need a motorized scooter if alot of walking (like at Epcot). Cousin will do almost anything.

We would need 3 rooms at a hotel - two of which we would like adjoining. Nothing fancy - continential breakfast would be nice - but not necessary. Do any hotels have indoor pools for Dec weather (don't think so, but thought I would ask).

Flying from Illinois: easiest to worst airports (Bloomington, Peoria, Midway, O'Hare)

We are wanting to do Disneyland
Sea World
Universal Studio's
San Diego Zoo
Lego Land
are the "for sure" places we want to hit.

How many days for each?
Where to start? (easiest airport to fly into & get to what park 1st)
What route to take - easiest ?( what park 1st, 2nd, etc)
Where to stay? (suggestions on hotels by each park)
How far away is each park from another?
Rental car companies - to hold 5-6 people (1 is a child 7yrs old - booster seat?)
Any other places that are a must to hit? (Knotts Berry Farm's or Wild Animal
Park, Wax Museum, etc)
Best time to go to see Christmas Decorations, parades, etc. But not the big crowds. (WDW says 1st 2 weeks in Dec - same at DL?)
Any packages to go with - Southern California pkg?
Questinate on cost? (per person or each ticket, hotel, etc)

Am I missing anything?

Sorry for all of the questions - just getting started, but before I really start there is just some things I need to know.

Thanks so much!

 

[HydroGuy]

Many of your questions are answered in this lengthy post: "A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

 

[staley7580]

You sure have a lot of parks you want to hit! We went for the first time in October, and loved the Halloween Dec. We wanted to go to Legoland, DL, and seaworld. First off, legoland was a bit of a disapointment for us. I think anyone withou a 4-6 yo boy would not have much fun. The only thing cool about it was the mini USA part, and the water park. We never made it to Seaworld just because we were so tired from everything else we had done. We personally stayed at the La Quinta Inn and suites, which I actually really liked. We had a king kids suite, it had a fridge, and micro wave. not to shabby. Everyone was really nice, the breakfast sucked, but thats not what we went to Dl for, you know? I liked the pool the most, I think. Its an indoor-outdoor pool. Its covered, but the sides are open, like a parking garage. It was also nice and toasty warm, Ive heard that some of the hotels in the area dont have heated pools. I also liked that it wasnt right next to the park, so we didnt have all the congestion, people around, cars, and noise and stuff. It was super close, but 1 street back. The room itself was nice and quite to.

We went thruogh budget for our rental car, they have minivans. We get a costco discount, it ended up saving us about $150.

 

[mystic_path]

Yup take a look at the link above, and also look into Southern California City Passes.

Or you can try getawaytoday.com for some really good ticket prices on each place. You shouldnt need any more then a day for most places, but Disneyland you will need several to see it all. The city pass pretty much includes 3 day pass to disneyland and a pass for each of the other attractions mentioned, for around $200 per person, which is a HUGE saving considering it would be almost doubled if not more if you pay seperatly.

 

[Albort]

Flying from Illinois: easiest to worst airports (Bloomington, Peoria, Midway, O'Hare) I would try this site, http://www.travelzoo.com

We are wanting to do Disneyland
Sea World
Universal Studio's
San Diego Zoo
Lego Land
are the "for sure" places we want to hit.

How many days for each? Sea World - 1 day, Disneyland 2-3 days, Universal Studio's 1-2 days, Lego Land 1 day, San Diego Zoo 1 day...
Where to start? (easiest airport to fly into & get to what park 1st) Easier airports and such... quite diffficult to pinpoint. Although LAX is the busiest, ticket fares tend to be cheaper... but John Wayne Airport would be good.
What route to take - easiest ?( what park 1st, 2nd, etc) hmm, maybe North to South? South to North?
Where to stay? (suggestions on hotels by each park) No comment, i live here, so i wouldnt have a single clue
How far away is each park from another? From LA--> SD is about a 2 hour drive @ 70-80mph
Rental car companies - to hold 5-6 people (1 is a child 7yrs old - booster seat?) priceline.com, snipe your price
Any other places that are a must to hit? (Knotts Berry Farm's or Wild Animal
Park, Wax Museum, etc)Knotts = Teen Playground, Six Flags = Adult Playground...
Best time to go to see Christmas Decorations, parades, etc. But not the big crowds. (WDW says 1st 2 weeks in Dec - same at DL?) hahaha, big crowds = more shows, less crowd = cancelled showsAny packages to go with - Southern California pkg? no clue...
Questinate on cost? (per person or each ticket, hotel, etc) probably $1,000+ per person, just a guess... your gonna easily spend $1000+ at Disneyland alone...
Am I missing anything? hmm... my cookies?

 

[kuusimo]

If you are going to do the Southern California City Pass it includes:
3 day park hopper to Disneyland
1 day Universal Studios
1 day Sea World
1 day San Diego Zoo or Wildlife Park

The best deal for these is through Costco. It is $175 for adults. This may be going up in Jan though. You may also want to check out Costco's travel site. They have packages that may fit your bill as well.

As far as hotels- check out tripadvisor.com. You do not need to stay on property. There are a lot of hotels that are closer than the on property ones.

We generally drive, so our family of 4 is a little over $1000 with hotel/3 day park hopper/food/gas. We stay off site and our boys have a great time.

 

[daannzzz]

Here is a link to and overhead view of the area with some of the hotels / motels listed on it.
Our favorites are

Howard Johnson Plaza
Best Western Park Place Inn
Candy Cane Inn
Anabella Inn

http://www.beachcalifornia.com/dlmp.html

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

Thanks to all who replied, I have gone to alot of sites trying to get all my ducks in a row.
I am still clueless on where each city is in Calif. - I did find out that if I do the Southern Calif. City Pass, that I have to do DL 1st. WHat next??? What park is next to hit everything in a row & how far are each from the other.
Again - thanks!

 

[Albort]

Thanks to all who replied, I have gone to alot of sites trying to get all my ducks in a row.
I am still clueless on where each city is in Calif. - I did find out that if I do the Southern Calif. City Pass, that I have to do DL 1st. WHat next??? What park is next to hit everything in a row & how far are each from the other.
Again - thanks!

Universal Studios -(40miles)->Disneyland -(5 miles)-> Knotts Berry Farm -(100 miles)-> Lego Land -(100 miles) -> San Diego Zoo -(40 miles)-> Sea World

this is from North to South... miles are estimates...

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks to all who replied, I have gone to alot of sites trying to get all my ducks in a row.
I am still clueless on where each city is in Calif. - I did find out that if I do the Southern Calif. City Pass, that I have to do DL 1st. WHat next??? What park is next to hit everything in a row & how far are each from the other.
Again - thanks!

Well, again I will recommend my "A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599 which answers these questions.

And I have never used CityPass, but I have never heard you have to use your DLR days first. My understanding is that you have a 14-day window to use your DLR days.

 

[kuusimo]

And I have never used CityPass, but I have never heard you have to use your DLR days first. My understanding is that you have a 14-day window to use your DLR days.

When we did our Citypass, we did Disneyland second. They give you a book of tickets for the places and the only ones that are not actually "tickets" are for Disneyland. You need to exchange them for Disneyland tickets. You have a 14 day window to use everything in the Citypass book. Of course at two of the locations, they did not even check to see when the book was stamped in the first place, but it was still used in the 2 week window.