Dream planning a trip to Disneyland

[ottawamom]

I can't take not planning a trip somewhere any longer. I am now Dream planning a trip to Disneyland for next May. It will be a one and done kind of trip. How many days should I plan on to see and do "almost" everything. I'm thinking minimum 3 day park hopper or possibly a 4 day 1 park per day ticket.

What would you do?

 

[damo]

3 is nice but 4 is better! We LOVE Disneyland!!!! It's a long flight from Ontario!!!

 

[Aladora]

We always do 5 day park hoppers, in the past it was SO easy to go between the two parks and we would typically hop a couple of times per day. We also take a mid-day break every afternoon so we like to have plenty of days to do everything.

 

[marchingstar]

I’ve been thinking about disneyland a lot too lately!

One thing I know is really different is that because the parks are so close to one another, the hopper is really nice to have. They’re walking distance, so you can actually “hop”.

I feel like there’s good advice already about where to stay in the other current disneyland thread. It sounds like there are fewer benefits to being onsite. I’m not sure if we will save the $$ or decide it’s worth the experience anyways.

Interested to follow along and get some of my own ideas

 

[TammyLynn33]

Newport Beach and whale watching . Big kid and I saw lots of dolphins and actually got to see a Blue Whale probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life .. strongly recommend

 

[flav]

Hi, we are also Canadian, living not that far from you.

We went in August 2019 at the end of a two weeks California trip.

We returned the car at the Anaheim Convention Center and used ExecuCar services to go to LA airport at the end.

We stayed at the Best Western Plus Park Place and it was so close that we could go back to our room from either parks to get a sweater for chillier nights. Decent breakfast and good size room for a very reasonable amount. You could always book now at fully reimbursable rates.

We visited Downtown Disney on our arrival night.

We took three days with Park Hopper and MaxPass tickets. It was great. It might not be an option now though.

We only ate at Quick Service locations.

We were able to do everything we wanted but I think that we walked more than at WDW! If you want a bit more relaxed experience with some Table Dining, I would recommend a fourth day.

We will certainly be back one day and loved DL a lot more than expected.

Happy planning!

 

[ottawamom]

Wow! that's a lot of great advice. I have looked into the BW across the street and Candy Cane Inn looks interesting. It will just be DH and myself and not likely to do table service restaurants unless they're offsite.

Yes it's a long flight, especially as we have to change planes along the way (Toronto, Montreal or Calgary). We flew to San Diego a couple of years ago so it's closer than that.

I'm just hoping that things open up and are safe. I won't make any concrete plans until early next year (burned in 2020 not doing that again). It's fun to review hotel websites and all the other parts we need for the trip.

I'm thinking about renting a car at the end of our time at Disney land and driving to Las Vegas for a few days then flying home from there. I'm not really into gambling but I do want to see some Cirque du Soleil shows and just see the casinos etc.

 

[cari12]

We always do 5 day hoppers and go to both parks pretty much everyday. They are walking distance across the promenade from each other so very close.
Staying on-site is great in that the extra morning hour you get in the parks is amazing. You can get a bunch of “must-do’s” done with no crowds in that first hour or so. Also, you truly never leave the Disney “bubble” since you walk through downtown Disney to get to the parks. No shuttles and no traffic/real world to deal with. we love that aspect.
However, Disneyland has of late priced their onsite hotels too high for us. We did 3 trips where we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and loved it. Our latest trip (cancelled by covid) we were planning on staying off site for the first time as we couldn’t justify $700 CDN per night.

 

[Raimiette]

My sister and I went just prior to COVID going nuts (came back early March last year, I think they closed DL about a week after we got back). We stayed for an entire week with 5 day park hoppers. We did not get bored but did not need 5 days. We managed to do everything multiple times (except for Haunted Mansion as it was closed for refurbs at the time). We also managed to get Rise of the Resistance one day. I think 3 days with hopper is certainly doable and depending on crowds wouldn't even need all that much planning (we didn't plan except for Rise).

We did not stay "on site", we stayed at a Days Inn very close (about a 15 minute walk) to the parks which I would recommend if you wanted to save some cash (but we are hotel rooms only for sleeping sort of people - the Days Inn was clean but very bare bones).

I will tell you that there isn't really anything worth visiting within walking distance of the parks that's not Disneyland or Downtown Disney lol. We did not rent a car and I'm honestly annoyed we didn't. Towards the end of the trip we were both starting to get a bit bored. There is a large mall plaza that seems like it would be exciting (I believe it's called Garden Walk) but the vast majority of stores are closed there until the evening (and even then there were a lot of open storefronts and it was a ghost town - there was a nice store that had Hong Kong and Tokyo Disney Sea stuff at very reasonable prices though so that was a good find). Good eats and restaurants around but that's it in terms of walkable entertainment.

 

[TammyLynn33]

Let me share the whole rental car experience ha ha . I thought arriving in LA at 9 am in a Sunday I’d be ok driving ..
1. Every car at the rental car place and I believe it was budget ? Whoever uses fastbreak? All had multiple debts because driving is that nuts
It was nuts at 9 on a Sunday .. so many lanes so many fast crazy drivers with a copilot screaming look at this look at that..
We made it to Anaheim alive, kept the car for a few days to go to Newport shopping eating etc.. dropped car off in Anaheim and then we ended up taking a LA/Hollywood tour and we simply stayed in LA and ubered to airport shuttle hotel .. the flew home next morning ..
I will never drive in La again .. the end ha ha

 

[ottawamom]

I can understand that. Do you remember the name of the airport shuttle. Other option is we may just fly from LAX to Las Vegas.

 

[LittleFlounder]

(Sorry if this seems long winded...I love going to DL and SoCal) After many yearly trips to WDW I decided to make a trip to CA and Disneyland during their 60th anniversary celebration(2015, I went in 2016)...and now I haven’t been back to WDW, yet I have 4 trips to DL under my belt!

To me, 3 days is good if you can park hop...but you might want 4 or 5, it depends. If you like going on your favourite rides multiple times, taking the time to look at the little details and taking in the atmosphere, going in to all the shops and taking your time... then you might want 4 days. 5 to me seems like too much, but I’ve been there before. You know yourself best...and if this is a one and done trip, maybe you’d want a longer visit to see every detail and do everything.

Another thing to keep in mind is how close Anaheim is to beaches! Before my first trip I did some researching and chose to go to Huntington Beach for a day in the middle of my trip to break up my 5 DL days and I LOVED it! ❤ I absolutely fell in love with that beach! My next trip I took 2 beach days with 4 Disneyland days...and my next 2 trips I stayed at the beach and only went to Disneyland for 1 day! (Don't get me wrong, I love it)

As someone else mentioned, Ontario to California is a long flight. If you fly into John Wayne, the drive to Anaheim is shorter and quicker, and the airport is smaller and less chaotic. For me the only drawback is flights from Ontario to John Wayne are always connecting flights, which makes your travel time very long...7, 8, 9 hours. I like flying into LAX because I can get a direct flight and it’s often cheaper(at least out of Toronto it is). Depending on what time of day you arrive/depart, the drive to Anaheim and LAX can be quick- 30 to 40 minutes, unless you catch rush hours, then traffic can be crazy. I don’t drive, so I take Uber from place to place. It’s quick and I don’t find it too costly..just so convenient if you budget for it.

 

[cari12]

I can understand that. Do you remember the name of the airport shuttle. Other option is we may just fly from LAX to Las Vegas.

We’ve always rented a car and drive ourselves to/from the airport. DH did the driving and had no issues. We also stop at a store to get snacks/drinks for the room and fruit/yogurt/muffins for breakfast before we head to the parks. Then we only have to pay Disney restaurant prices for 2 meals per day.

 

[kuhltiffany]

We've gone twice in the past few years and are going again March Break 2022. We were actually there for the last day it closed last March!

There are direct flights from Montreal on Air Canada. We drive to Montreal the night before and get an early flight the next morning, it gets you there by noon so you miss the LA traffic getting to your hotel. Being on a different time clock means getting up for parks open is easy. It's more relaxed there than WDW, more locals as it's tucked into town. The Disney bubble of WDW isn't there either, as you leave the park and can hit any local restaurants (Red Robin, Olive Garden we miss so always go when we're there), stores, etc.

The 2 parks are right across from each other, hopping is like a 2 minute walk, so we pop back and forth a lot, especially to hit the water shows at California Adventure at night.

It's a totally different experience but neat. Hollywood tours are fun too, walking on the stars, etc.

 

[ottawamom]

Great things to keep in mind. I keep forgetting about just driving to Montreal the day before to avoid the super early morning. I am definitely thinking about a car service/uber/taxi to get around in Anaheim. We likely won't stray too far from Disney while there. LAX definitely has better flight options compared to Orange County. So many things to consider. It's a good thing I have lots of time on my hands, these days, to think and plan.

I like the idea of heading to the beach for a couple of days also. If I were to plan fly into LA, go to Disney, fly home, DH might question the distance for such a short trip. Partly the reason I was thinking about adding Vegas onto the end of the trip. That looks like it is off the table now so the beach might be a viable option.

 

[hdrolfe]

See, I'd add a cruise if it was me going a few that leave from LA and area... but that isn't for everyone.

 

[marchingstar]

See, I'd add a cruise if it was me going a few that leave from LA and area... but that isn't for everyone.

my thought right now is to do a week in disneyland and a week in hawaii.

no idea if we actually will, but it’s fun to imagine!

 

[hdrolfe]

my thought right now is to do a week in disneyland and a week in hawaii.

no idea if we actually will, but it’s fun to imagine!

Oh that would be nice too!

 

[ottawamom]

See, I'd add a cruise if it was me going a few that leave from LA and area... but that isn't for everyone.

I'm saving cruising for my 70's . Gotta go all the places that need me to be actively walking while I can.

 

[pigletto]

Well thanks Ottawamom , now I want to go to Disneyland too.