Never been to DL and only have a few hours questions...

[ponyboy]

I know you're traveling with a team but do you really have to be there 3 1/2 hours before the flight? That seems...excessive.

7:00 is what time they want everyone there. We are indeed flying international, we play a week in New Zealand and then a week in Australia. People are coming in from all over the country and they just want to meet up and keep everybody together and make sure that they leave plenty of time in case of any delays. This is a yearly trip they coordinate that they've been doing for 30 something years and that's the time they've decided upon.

I just do what I'm told

They also want to have time to check everyone's equipment and everything to make sure that there aren't going to be any issues at customs since we have a game not long after we arrive in New Zealand and any delays could screw things up.

 

[ponyboy]

Ok, one more question. Does anyone know if I can add park hoppers to our tickets through the Disneyland app or would I have to stand in line at a ticket booth? It's only $100 extra dollars but I don't want to buy them and not use it in case the parks are too crowded or we aren't able to get fastpasses in time for us to use. I also don't want to have to waste time standing in line to upgrade the tickets either.

Thanks again for all of the help yall are providing!

 

[cinnaminny]

So I just drop in and hand over my luggage and they'll store it? They don't ask or care if I'm staying at the hotel or not?

I'd honestly rather have Disney have it than some storage place, I feel like it would be safer then some random storage place. The only thing I'm really concerned about is my son's gloves and I'd rather not carry them with us around the park in a backpack or anything. We're flying to Australia and New Zealand for him to play baseball and everything else is replaceable other than his gloves and losing them would be a disaster. When we fly they're always with us in carry ons never checked baggage.

You could store the glove in a locker. That might be the safest easiest.

 

[cinnaminny]

I would for sure get the park hopper with MP.

 

[HydroGuy]

Ok, one more question. Does anyone know if I can add park hoppers to our tickets through the Disneyland app or would I have to stand in line at a ticket booth? It's only $100 extra dollars but I don't want to buy them and not use it in case the parks are too crowded or we aren't able to get fastpasses in time for us to use. I also don't want to have to waste time standing in line to upgrade the tickets either.

Thanks again for all of the help yall are providing!

I was hoping someone else would answer because I do not know for sure. But I doubt you can buy a PH (or add days FWIW) through the DL app.

The last few years I have had an AP (mine is not active now) so I would not have been able to see this if it were there.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Ok, one more question. Does anyone know if I can add park hoppers to our tickets through the Disneyland app or would I have to stand in line at a ticket booth? It's only $100 extra dollars but I don't want to buy them and not use it in case the parks are too crowded or we aren't able to get fastpasses in time for us to use. I also don't want to have to waste time standing in line to upgrade the tickets either.

Thanks again for all of the help yall are providing!

I would just go ahead and get the park hoppers now. There is an advantage to having hoppers when the parks are crowded -- you can always hop to the other, less crowded park when the park you are in gets too packed. Also, even if there aren't any FPs available or if they are scarce for the rides you want, with MP you'll be able to look for cancellations (they do pop up -- grab them as soon as you see them because they'll be gone in an instant!). And you and your son are fine to use Single Rider lines, too -- no need for FPs to use SR. There are rides in both parks with SR lines (do a search on the DLR website for the list or someone here can post for you). Sometimes the SR line can be faster than using a FP.

 

[DnA2010]

Not sure how much luggage you have but they do have big lockers ar Disneyland- I’m sure someone knows the sizes on here

 

[ponyboy]

Not sure how much luggage you have but they do have big lockers ar Disneyland- I’m sure someone knows the sizes on here

We'll be out of the country for two weeks, so that much stuff plus a full load out of baseball equipment, uniforms, etc. So about as much as they'll let us on the plane with! Lol

 

[rachaeld]

Is your domestic flight with one of Qantas’s alliance partners (one world)? If so you may be able to check your luggage right through to NZ. USA may be different, but when we fly to LAX from NZ we check our luggage in Christchurch, transfer to the international flight in Auckland and our luggage is checked through without us up having to collect it.

 

[twodogs]

I think American will let you check it all the way through from DFW. If you are on SW, however, you will have to claim it and recheck with Qantas.

 

[twodogs]

Have not used it, but this service picks up your bags curbside and re-delivers them to another terminal curbside when/where you choose:
https://laxluggagestorage.com/

 

[Geemo]

So I just drop in and hand over my luggage and they'll store it? They don't ask or care if I'm staying at the hotel or not?

I'd honestly rather have Disney have it than some storage place, I feel like it would be safer then some random storage place. The only thing I'm really concerned about is my son's gloves and I'd rather not carry them with us around the park in a backpack or anything. We're flying to Australia and New Zealand for him to play baseball and everything else is replaceable other than his gloves and losing them would be a disaster. When we fly they're always with us in carry ons never checked baggage.

You'd better call and see if this is a possibility.
I know you can't get in the Grand Californian front gate without a reservation.
I thought it was the same for the Disneyland Hotel too.

That leaves Paradise Pier for storing your luggage.

Maybe someone else will chime in on this.

G

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Non-wheeled carry on luggage (including the gloves) will be able to go through bag check/security. Then they can be stored in the largest lockers outside the parks in the picnic area by the M&F tram drop off zone. Check the DLR website for the dimensions on the largest lockers. If the carry on bags are small, they could fit in the large lockers inside the parks. But even the largest lockers in the picnic area could not fit international size suitcases.

 

[The Pho]

You'd better call and see if this is a possibility.
I know you can't get in the Grand Californian front gate without a reservation.
I thought it was the same for the Disneyland Hotel too.

That leaves Paradise Pier for storing your luggage.

Maybe someone else will chime in on this.

G

I just stayed at the Disneyland Hotel a couple days ago, there was an automated gate that let us in. Then upon checkout, Bell Services gladly took our bags and his only question was for my last name. But calling ahead to confirm is a good idea. There are also tons of hotels within walking distance that could possibly work also, whether that would save time would depend on how far the LAX luggage storage place was.

 

[ponyboy]

Is your domestic flight with one of Qantas’s alliance partners (one world)? If so you may be able to check your luggage right through to NZ. USA may be different, but when we fly to LAX from NZ we check our luggage in Christchurch, transfer to the international flight in Auckland and our luggage is checked through without us up having to collect it.

No, we fly in the LAX on Southwest so the luggage won't be transferred, we'll have to pick it up.

 

[ponyboy]

Have not used it, but this service picks up your bags curbside and re-delivers them to another terminal curbside when/where you choose:
https://laxluggagestorage.com/

That's who I had looked at for storing luggage. I've heard that sometimes it can take a little while for the luggage to be picked up/delivered though so if I did go this route I'd just go by their office to drop off/pick up.

 

[ponyboy]

Alright, I just quashed the whole luggage storage thing.

I talked to Disney and they said that I couldn't check my luggage if I'm not a guest. We're not that long on time so I didn't want to get there and then have to worry about having to do something else to store it if I wouldn't be able to get them to take it when we get there.

LAX luggage storage would be about $60
Uber from LAX to DL is about $50 each way
So $160 or so before I even buy tickets to the park

So I just used Amex points to rent an SUV. So now all I'm out is gas and $20 for parking and I'll just leave the luggage in the vehicle. Didn't really want to drive but I'll suck it up for $120 or so.

 

[rachaeld]

Just something to think about, but when we rented a car at lax we were waiting in a queue for well over an hour to get our car... don’t know if this is the norm or not.

 

[twodogs]

Do they not have kiosks at the LAX car rental counters to self-serve? Or was the one hour line for self serve? AHH!

 

[ponyboy]

Ok, well we just got back from our trip late last night and I wanted to thank everyone for their help for our short stay at Disneyland.

We didn't get to do a whole lot because we weren't there for that long but we had a good time. We were able to get off the plane and get the rental car relatively quickly and to the park by 10:00 or so, so it wasn't super busy yet. I got the park hoppers with maxpass and it worked out great. $390 for the two tickets was kind of steep but whatever.

We were both already kind of tired so we didn't run around trying to do everything but we rode some stuff and had a good time and were able to leave and take the car back and make it to the airport for our next flight in plenty of time and hang out with some other kids on the team before we got stuck in another plane for 15 hours. Then the rest of our trip worked out great other than a couple of days of straight rain in NZ.

He and I both had a great trip, though we're sick of being in a plane for a while. Lol

Thanks again!