choirboy501
Yankee Racers - Founder
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2008
I'm finally doing it - I'm going to Disneyland.
Going to either of the Disney parks had been a dream since watching Wonderful World of Disney on NBC on Sunday nights as a kid. I remember snippets of the parks during the title sequence for the show. Also, I remember the special broadcast in 1975 for the opening of Space Mountain. Obligations, commitments, life has gotten in the way, and although I have made it to WDW twice in my lifetime (currently planning a Spring 2017 trip), I never made it out to DLR. In fact, I've not spent more than 5 days total in California in my life.
But now is the time.
PREPARATION
I first made the decision to go Fall of 2014. I know some about DLR, mostly from listening to various podcasts, but knew I needed to know more. I started checking out The DIS forums/blogs/info more frequently. I bought the Unofficial Guide. I signed up for Touring Plans and downloaded the Lines app. Now, when to go?
A DATE
When I've visited WDW, I have gone in the spring - March/April. I figured that would also be a good time to visit DLR. So, I started checking out crowd calendars. Initially I backed up the date a bit, to late January 2015, between New Year's and the February holidays, when crowds would be low. But the scheduling didn't work, and I couldn't get the free time. So I started aiming for the same time frame in 2016.
But then I made a commitment to attend a conference in Kansas City the last 3 days in September. I started thinking...hey, save some bucks by combining both trips! I live on Oahu, so making a stop at LAX enroute made sense. OK! But how many days?
I'm military, and Disney offers the Salute the Troops discount tickets for DLR, a 3 day park hopper ticket. Hmmm, 3 days might not be enough time to see everything. Then again, it leaves the desire to return and visit again. 3 days it is.
I started monkeying around on KAYAK to get the cheapest flight combination that would also allow me three full days at DLR without having to add extra days (and extra hotel nights) on the way to the conference. The conference starts on Monday, Sept 28, and I did not want to arrive the day of. Working backwards, use Sunday to travel from LAX to MCI (Kansas City, not to be confused with MCO, Orlando).
So, three full days would be Thursday through Saturday. Touring Plans says crowds in the parks with be 3/10 on Thur/Friday, and 4/10 on Saturday. Good.
So September 24-26, 2015 it is.
Going to either of the Disney parks had been a dream since watching Wonderful World of Disney on NBC on Sunday nights as a kid. I remember snippets of the parks during the title sequence for the show. Also, I remember the special broadcast in 1975 for the opening of Space Mountain. Obligations, commitments, life has gotten in the way, and although I have made it to WDW twice in my lifetime (currently planning a Spring 2017 trip), I never made it out to DLR. In fact, I've not spent more than 5 days total in California in my life.
But now is the time.
PREPARATION
I first made the decision to go Fall of 2014. I know some about DLR, mostly from listening to various podcasts, but knew I needed to know more. I started checking out The DIS forums/blogs/info more frequently. I bought the Unofficial Guide. I signed up for Touring Plans and downloaded the Lines app. Now, when to go?
A DATE
When I've visited WDW, I have gone in the spring - March/April. I figured that would also be a good time to visit DLR. So, I started checking out crowd calendars. Initially I backed up the date a bit, to late January 2015, between New Year's and the February holidays, when crowds would be low. But the scheduling didn't work, and I couldn't get the free time. So I started aiming for the same time frame in 2016.
But then I made a commitment to attend a conference in Kansas City the last 3 days in September. I started thinking...hey, save some bucks by combining both trips! I live on Oahu, so making a stop at LAX enroute made sense. OK! But how many days?
I'm military, and Disney offers the Salute the Troops discount tickets for DLR, a 3 day park hopper ticket. Hmmm, 3 days might not be enough time to see everything. Then again, it leaves the desire to return and visit again. 3 days it is.
I started monkeying around on KAYAK to get the cheapest flight combination that would also allow me three full days at DLR without having to add extra days (and extra hotel nights) on the way to the conference. The conference starts on Monday, Sept 28, and I did not want to arrive the day of. Working backwards, use Sunday to travel from LAX to MCI (Kansas City, not to be confused with MCO, Orlando).
So, three full days would be Thursday through Saturday. Touring Plans says crowds in the parks with be 3/10 on Thur/Friday, and 4/10 on Saturday. Good.
So September 24-26, 2015 it is.