First ever Disneyland/Family Vacation trip!

[Belle-issima]

Welcome to my pre-trip report. My vacation is planned for August 2018 and this will be my very first trip to Disneyland!!!!!! It will also be an extended family vacation. This family vacation has been in the making for many years but various life issues have put it on hold until now.

My brother is a DVC member and frequents WDW 2-3 per year. His last trip was in January and he needs a bit of a scenery change so this trip we will be going to Disneyland. At first I was a little disappointed that we were not going to WDW because the last time I was there was 28 years ago!!! I've never been to Epcot and Animal Kingdom didn't even exist back then so it would have been nice to see but hey IT'S STILL DISNEY!!!

We will have a few fun things to celebrate since it's my first Disneyland visit (#firstvisitpin) and it will also be my mom's 60th birthday (#birthdaypin) while we are there so I'm sure it will still be a great trip!!!!!

Are you ready for this......it will be the first time I'll try a dole whip, mickey ears ice cream, churros, Mickey ears pretzels (I may need to do vblogs for these moments).


That's all for now. Stay tuned......

 

[Belle-issima]

Here are the cast of characters:

Me: My name is Sabrina and I'm 36.
Disney Brother (DB): Lino is 39
Disney Mom (DM): Fabiola is 59
Disney Niece (DN): Addy is 9
Disney Nephew 1 (DN1): Nico is 7
Disney Nephew 2 (DN2): Jax is 4

Unfortunately my dad will not be able to come with us for this trip. He was diagnosed with 2 different types of cancer and just finished radiation for 1 and the other is still affecting him so he cannot travel. We have his full blessing to go without him.

As previously mentioned, this will be my first ever trip to Disneyland! All other family members have been. My parents actually went to Disneyland on their honeymoon 42 years ago.

As my mom's actual birthday will fall on a day we are at disney, we will be having dinner with a celebration cake. I'm patiently waiting 3 months to be able to make the Disney dining reservation. On the bright side, that will give me enough time to narrow the restaurants down.

 

[Belle-issima]

Plane tickets have been officially booked! I'm on a red-eye to LAX with a 9,7 and 4 year old. This should be interesting. My brother told me not to worry since the kids are well seasoned travelers they get in their seats, switch their devices to air plane mode and watch a movie or sleep (I think he's forgetting that we have to wake them up in their mid-sleep, put them in the car, drive to the airport and make them get in line to cross customs). I'm not a parent yet but that sounds like a recipe for disaster lol

 

[Belle-issima]

Here is our itinerary:

August 19 - Arriving in L.A. picking up our rental car, short L.A. city tour and lunch and then driving to Disneyland
August 20 - Day 1 @ Disneyland full day itinerary TBC - Disney dining dinner with celebration cake for my mom's bday
August 21 - Legoland
August 22 - Day 2 @ Disneyland: California Adventure full day itinerary TBC
August 23 - Sea World
August 24 - Day 3 @ Disneyland full day itinerary TBC
August 25 - Travel back home

I purchased the Costco 2018 Southern California CityPASS for $400 CAD which comes with the following:

Admission to the following attractions:

• 3-day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper ticket valid for admission to both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park
• 1-day admission to SeaWorld® Adventure Park San Diego
• 1-day admission to LEGOLAND® California

It also comes with one magic morning admission.

Our car rental is also through Costco.

 

[VandVsmama]

Following along! You're going to have such a great time! Be sure to check out the Disneyland section of the boards...there's a lot of helpful info over there! I have a couple of suggestions for you to consider...

1. For your Disneyland days, make sure that you are staying somewhere within walking distance so you can take best advantage of the first part of the day when crowds are lowest.
2. Since you'll have a 3-day DL ticket, you will get Magic Morning entry on either a Tues, Thurs, or a Sat. That'll get you into DL 1 hour before regular park opening. Right now, your plans involve DL on Mon, Wed, & Fri.
3. Consider switching around your DL park days so that you're at DL on Tuesday so you can use your MM entry on that day. It's easier to get up early when it's earlier in your trip. Since you're doing 5 days in a row of theme parks, if you wait to do MM on Thursday, you might be too worn out to be up for a 7 am MM entry.
4. I'd recommend to do LEGOLAND on Monday, then Day 1 Disneyland on Tues, Day 2 of Disneyland on Wed, then keep Sea World on Thurs & last DL day on Friday.
5. Expect crowds on Friday at DL to build starting about 4:30-5:00 pm. People get off of work and flock to DL for the evening.
6. Take a look at the Disneyland AP block out dates. When the summer So Cal AP block outs end (which usually occurs around the dates you're traveling to Anaheim), the parks can get a LOT busier in the evenings.
7. Also take a look at the refurb schedule once we get into the start of summer. Usually around 8/23 or so, Space Mountain goes down for the Ghost Galaxy Halloween overlay, I think. And Haunted Mansion can also go offline around that time frame to put up the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. Usually the first couple of days after the Halloween overlay goes up on Haunted Mansion, the lines for HM will be SUPER SUPER LONG, especially in the evenings. If that occurs when you're there, go on HM early in the day (i.e., before 10-10:30 am) or get a FP for it.

 

[Belle-issima]

Following along! You're going to have such a great time! Be sure to check out the Disneyland section of the boards...there's a lot of helpful info over there! I have a couple of suggestions for you to consider...

1. For your Disneyland days, make sure that you are staying somewhere within walking distance so you can take best advantage of the first part of the day when crowds are lowest.
2. Since you'll have a 3-day DL ticket, you will get Magic Morning entry on either a Tues, Thurs, or a Sat. That'll get you into DL 1 hour before regular park opening. Right now, your plans involve DL on Mon, Wed, & Fri.
3. Consider switching around your DL park days so that you're at DL on Tuesday so you can use your MM entry on that day. It's easier to get up early when it's earlier in your trip. Since you're doing 5 days in a row of theme parks, if you wait to do MM on Thursday, you might be too worn out to be up for a 7 am MM entry.
4. I'd recommend to do LEGOLAND on Monday, then Day 1 Disneyland on Tues, Day 2 of Disneyland on Wed, then keep Sea World on Thurs & last DL day on Friday.
5. Expect crowds on Friday at DL to build starting about 4:30-5:00 pm. People get off of work and flock to DL for the evening.
6. Take a look at the Disneyland AP block out dates. When the summer So Cal AP block outs end (which usually occurs around the dates you're traveling to Anaheim), the parks can get a LOT busier in the evenings.
7. Also take a look at the refurb schedule once we get into the start of summer. Usually around 8/23 or so, Space Mountain goes down for the Ghost Galaxy Halloween overlay, I think. And Haunted Mansion can also go offline around that time frame to put up the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. Usually the first couple of days after the Halloween overlay goes up on Haunted Mansion, the lines for HM will be SUPER SUPER LONG, especially in the evenings. If that occurs when you're there, go on HM early in the day (i.e., before 10-10:30 am) or get a FP for it.

Wow, those are wonderful suggestions. Thank you so much for this info!

 

[Belle-issima]

I just purchased all my supplies to make some DIY Minnie ears!!!!!! (or at least attempt to ). My mom has requested Chip and Dale, my niece has requested Pluto and I cannot decide if I want Belle ears or Tinkerbell ears so I bought supplies for both.

The boys are getting DIY Mickey ear hats: one will be Kylo Ren and Jax (who is 4) changes his mind on characters all the time so once he has decided, I will work on those.

 

[Belle-issima]

We currently have reservations at 4 hotels. 4 HOTELS!!!!!!! Did I mention that I am a neurotic planner? Not knowing which hotel I will be at is making me crazyyyyyyy. Sadly, I am not staying at Disney as my brother is out of DVC points for the year already. We are however, reserved at hotels within 1 mile of Disney. I'm in the metric system but I'm guessing this is good? . LOL.

 

[VandVsmama]

Which 4 hotels?

 

[otten]

We currently have reservations at 4 hotels. 4 HOTELS!!!!!!! Did I mention that I am a neurotic planner? Not knowing which hotel I will be at is making me crazyyyyyyy. Sadly, I am not staying at Disney as my brother is out of DVC points for the year already. We are however, reserved at hotels within 1 mile of Disney. I'm in the metric system but I'm guessing this is good? . LOL.

LOL I did that for our DL trip last spring. In the end we cancelled all of them because we got an offer code from Disney for 40% off at the Disneyland Hotel.

 

[Belle-issima]

Which 4 hotels?

Candy Cane Inn
Embassy Suites Anaheim North
Embassy Suites Anaheim South
Homewood Suites

All owned/operated by Hilton as we are reward members

 

[VandVsmama]

Stay at the Candy Cane Inn. It has a free shuttle that's just dedicated to that hotel. It includes free continental breakfast, which can save you money since there's 6 of you. And it's known for having excellent customer service.

I wasn't aware that Candy Cane Inn is owned by Hilton. I thought it was locally owned & operated.

Embassy Suites Anaheim North is too far away. You'll need to drive every day or pay for Uber/Lyft or take the ART shuttle (which for 6 people will cost more per day than parking in the Disneyland lot).

Embassy Suites Anaheim South is 0.8 miles away from the Toy Story lot. It's rather far to walk all the way to the Disneyland main gate, so you'll need some other method of transportation.

 

[VandVsmama]

Re: Homewood Suites, if you're talking about the one that's at 12005 Harbor Blvd in Garden Grove, that one is kind of far to walk in my opinion. Either drive, use Lyft/Uber, or take the ART shuttle to the parks each day.

 

[Belle-issima]

Stay at the Candy Cane Inn. It has a free shuttle that's just dedicated to that hotel. It includes free continental breakfast, which can save you money since there's 6 of you. And it's known for having excellent customer service.

I wasn't aware that Candy Cane Inn is owned by Hilton. I thought it was locally owned & operated.

Embassy Suites Anaheim North is too far away. You'll need to drive every day or pay for Uber/Lyft or take the ART shuttle (which for 6 people will cost more per day than parking in the Disneyland lot).

Embassy Suites Anaheim South is 0.8 miles away from the Toy Story lot. It's rather far to walk all the way to the Disneyland main gate, so you'll need some other method of transportation.

You are correct. It's the last 3 that are Hilton owned.
Candy Cane Inn is now out as the maximum occupancy is 5 people.
We have a rental car so we're going to just drive to the parks.