DisneyLAND in CA

There are so many post about Disneyworld, but I am interested in taking DS to Disneyland in CA. DS is obsessed with Disney Cars and Cars2 and the CA park has have a whole "cars land"section.

DisneyLand Cars Land

Does anyone have any experience with Disneyland? I know it is a smaller park than FL, but I think that will be a plus for us.

Please share your experiences!

TIA!!!

ETA: I did a quick search on airfare for the dates we are interested in going and they are not that much more than going to FL. Cheapest I found was for October 2013 and we could get 3 tickets for less than $1000

Message edited 1/3/2013 6:14:54 PM.

Re: DisneyLAND in CA

I am looking into taking a trip there too. I have been in the planning stages for a few days.

I saw a Howard Johnson Hotel that has its own water park in Anaheim it looked cute. I feel that the prices for the Disney hotels are really high based on what I am seeing.

If you don't mind - I would love to know if anyone has done a character meal there. Are there any must do or stay away.

I looked at allears.net but there is not a ton of Disneyland items on the website.

Re: DisneyLAND in CA

Re: DisneyLAND in CA

We go for a few days while visiting MIL out west. We stay on property (usually the Pier Premium View for the lightshow)

It's super easy to get around - we love it. It seems like off property is easy as well (probably closer than most WDW hotels are to the parks)

We never do character meals, b/c my kids don't really care about them. But we haven't been since they opened Cars - I'm sure they would love Flo's V8 cafe.

Ariel's Grotto is at Ca Adventure and a good location. The breakfast at Surf's Up at Paradise Pier has characters.

you totally do not need a car, unless you want to eat off property or explore anaheim or LA.

I like that there are only 2 parks...we are not overwhelmed. Especially since we are not huge Disney fanatics. The only time it was unbearably busy was the first day of Passover one year. I'm not sure if it was the holiday or perhaps the spring breaks of the west were starting? February is a quieter time (although it's rainy season for CA)

DisneyLAND in CA

Thanks for the info Erica!

Re: DisneyLAND in CA

I have been to both and actually like Disneyland better. It is quainter and I don't know something about being where Disney started is nostalgic for me. We went during the summer so peak season and I didn't feel it was as packed as I feel in Disneyworld. We stayed at the Marriott and walked over to the park which was great! Fm if you have any questions!

DisneyLAND in CA

Disneyland is my home park But I haven't been since Carsland opened We aren't going until Aug.

I would just check when the shuttle runs - that can mess up your plans.

My favorite character meal is the breakfast buffet at Storytellers in the Grand Californian. The food is really good, and the characters are great. There is also Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel - that has more main characters. It was good. I don't really rmember the surf's up one, and the food at the Ariel one was not very good but you can meet the princesses! I think here is also a Minnie one in the park, but I have never done that one.

I highly recommend the Howard Johnson, and the kids pool area is great! That is where we stay if we don't use our DVC.

LMK if you have any more questions!

Re: DisneyLAND in CA

FYI there is a special on 3 day parkhoppers this spring.

We're putting together our trip for next month. We're staying at the Grand Californian Villas and most likely the Disneyland hotel.

Re: DisneyLAND in CA

Hi - So I have done a lot of research since last posting. We are going to Disneyland/San Diego. We booked the Howard Johnson Anaheim for the Disney portion of our trip. I used a code I found on mousesavers.com for a 15% discount on the room we selected. I liked that the hotel has a water "park" with it. I went to trip advisor and read reviews of Anaheim hotels. The one negative about the hotel is there is no restaurant in the hotel but apparently there is one next door to it that is recommended so we will likely have breakfast there, or just bring cereal as we will be at a time share beforehand.

I think you can get inexpensive tickets on American from JFK to LAX for about 280 per person r/t. Since we are in NJ we are going from Newark for 338 per person r/t. I looked at having transportation to and from the airport and it was about the same price for us so I figured closer is better.

I ordered a Disneyland guidebook to help me plan the trip. Also if you want to book restaurants you can call up 60 days before your trip to book them.

Re: DisneyLAND in CA

Posted by SLPlady1984

I have been to both and actually like Disneyland better. It is quainter and I don't know something about being where Disney started is nostalgic for me. We went during the summer so peak season and I didn't feel it was as packed as I feel in Disneyworld. We stayed at the Marriott and walked over to the park which was great! Fm if you have any questions!

DisneyLAND in CA

LSP - Mimi's Cafe is the restaurant next door, and yes it is SO GOOD!!! Esp. breakfast! We try to eat there once on our trip. Sign up for their e-mail list, they are always sending out coupons and discounts. I do also recommend eating breakfast at least once in Disneyland. The Jolly Holiday bakery is yummy.

We only fly Virgin America JFK to LAX. They usually have the best rate, and TV too :)

Summer is usually warm but not overbearing. They usually have a week or 2 of high 90s into 100s but otherwise it is hot but not as humid as here.

Re: DisneyLAND in CA

Posted by dani731

Posted by SLPlady1984

I have been to both and actually like Disneyland better. It is quainter and I don't know something about being where Disney started is nostalgic for me. We went during the summer so peak season and I didn't feel it was as packed as I feel in Disneyworld. We stayed at the Marriott and walked over to the park which was great! Fm if you have any questions!

Thanks for this info!!!

I have 3 Starwood hotels to chose from using my SPG points. One of them is within in walking distance to the park and the other two have shuttle buses that run every 30 minutes.

How was the weather in the summer? My plan is to go in October but If I could go in the summer that would be a great option too!!!

Re: DisneyLAND in CA

Now that our plans are more solid, I'll let you know what we're doing. It's just me and DH.

Friday night - Flying from JFK to San Diego. Styaing in San Diego Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Saturday - San Diego Zoo Sunday- probably a whale watching tour out of Newport beach. At night restaurants, walking around, etc. We're staying at a Courtyard in Old Town.

Monday - driving up to Anaheim. Not quite sure where we'll stop that day. We have dinner at Napa Rose that night though

We have 3 nights at the Grand Californian, 1 in a regular room, 2 in a studio villa.

Then on Valentine's Night we're planning to drive up to Manhattan Beach where we have relatives and we'll be seeing LA from there. They've told us we MUST go to Laguna so we're doing that either Monday or Thursday (V-day) night.

We were originally planning to just rent a car for the entire week but out SD hotel has an airport shuttle and I think the transport runs right from our hotel to the zoo, so we might not really need a car in SD. We might be able to get away with taking cabs, or just rent a car Sunday and Monday, and then get another car Thursday night-Saturday since we won't even need to touch the car at Disneyland and we have people to drive us to the airport on Sunday. It's not even the cost of a rental car I mind (I know a week is often cheaper than 2 days and 2 days) but the cost of parking. You pay EVERYWHERE you go in CA.

I'm pretty excited about this trip. I put it off so we'd be going now that Carsland is open! Can't wait to report back!