Help! DL Newbie Here!

[RRZJ]

Hi All,

We have been to Disney World a million times (we live on the east coast) and are planning our first trip to Disney Land this summer (late August). While I help plan all our friends Disney World trips, I am at a complete loss about where to start for Disneyland. The only thing I know is that we are staying at the Grand Californian in a DVC villa for 4 nights (we’re DVC members). What else do I need to know - how many days at which parks, where to make dining reservations, etc. Please hit me with all your best newbie tips.

There are 4 of us - DH, DS (15), DS (12) and me. Our teens are 100% Disney fanatics so will want to go on every ride, even if you think they are too old - e.g., Winnie the Pooh at Disney World is still ridden every trip. We enjoy all the restaurants - lots of sit downs, too. Thanks for your advice!

 

[JavaDuck]

I would recommend getting a 4 or 5 day park hopper ticket. The parks are an easy short walk away from each other. Since you are staying at the Grand Californian you will love the entrance into California Adventure in the Grand Californian.

Dining reservations can be made 60 days in advance. You can't make reservations for length of stay like WDW, so you will have to make reservations each day. They open at 6am. I would recommend Blue Bayou (decent food, but great atmosphere) and Carthay Circle for a nice dinner. Napa Rose in the Grand Cal is also great.

Other recommendations:
a corn dog from Corn Dog Castle in DCA
the raspberry macaron from Jolly Holiday Bakery in DL
the gigantic candy bar from Pym's Test Kitchen in DCA (Avenger's campus)
Tortilla Joes in downtown Disney
Trader Sam's near the Disneyland Hotel


Have a great trip.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I recommend doing 3 days and taking the time on your arrival and check out day to check out things like the hotel pool, downtown Disney and just relaxing. I would do 2 days starting and Disneyland and one day starting at California Adventure.

 

[crazydad123]

Look up which rides have Single Rider, since it differs from WDW. Definitely visit the "same" rides and compare. The whole complex--Disneyland, California Adventure, and Downtown Disney are closer together than Universal Florida attractions. I would recommend 3-5 day Park hoppers, depending on your budget. Enjoy the Grand Californian. Request rooms on the park side in advance--4th or 5th floor. The view of CA is fabulous. Take your time and enjoy everything--check out the nooks and crannies. Personally, I'm there in 3 weeks and looking forward to it. My first trip was in 1956!

 

[ColoradoLime]

Our teens are 100% Disney fanatics so will want to go on every ride, even if you think they are too old - e.g., Winnie the Pooh at Disney World is still ridden every trip. We enjoy all the restaurants - lots of sit downs, too. Thanks for your advice!

Ok first off, you are never too old for Pooh so I totally get your teens!!

If you're a major planner like I am you might be a bit let down by how little there is to plan at DL as compared to WDW. lol But that's a big plus for DL because it is a more intimate park and a more relaxed experience.

My first step is to began an excel spreadsheet to map out my dates, breakdown all budget categories, flight cost comparisons, etc. This is a required step - or maybe that's just me because I'm OCD. lol

From a timing perspective, your first note should be that park reservations can be made at 120 days out. I like to check out crowd projection calendars to see what day might be the best in each park.

As mentioned above reservations can be made 60 days out so my next step is to start reviewing food menus and determining where we want to eat. Personally I'm not thrilled with the table service offerings in DL, but many people are so you definitely want to know ahead of time where you want your reservations. Once that's out of the way I will head over to timeanddate.com and calculate when my exact 60 days are for each date. Reservations can be made on the DL website on each restaurant's page. I've read on these forms that while the plan for Disney is to open reservations at 3am PST, sometimes they don't actually get released until later so keep checking throughout the day. Or sign up for dining alerts on a 3rd party site.

My family also likes to ride most rides so we try to come up with a plan of attack for each day. We've done a free form approach on our previous trips, but this year we might try a touring plan to see how that goes to get the most of our days.

Helpful online park maps:
Disneyland Resort
Disney California Adventure

The ultimate question this year of course is Genie+ - will you or won't you? Check out the pinned thread on the main page of this form for all the details.


Your two best friends for this trip will be the DL website and this forum!