I'm crazy - we just booked a last minute CA trip (from NJ) - 1 day in Disneyland - I know nothing

[ArtieRyder]

HI - freaking out a little bit. We're WDW "regulars" - made yearly trips for a week every year the last 7 years.

We just booked a last minute trip to Las Vegas and Los Angeles. We typically plan for things like this well in advance. This summer was a bit different, my dad was very sick and we lost him on July 4th. With all of that uncertainty we didn't want to book anything. Now that we're adjusting, the wife and I and the kids need to get away.

We were trying to do a beach house somewhere, but couldn't find ANYTHING.

This trip has always been a bucket list type thing, so we pulled the trigger.


Soooooooooooooo, we're going to be in LA for four days. We are staying at the Hilton Anaheim. Its my wife and I and our four kids, 11, 9, 7, 7. Boy, girl, boy, girl. We were able to book a 2 BR room at the hilton and seemed close to the parks / DD.

What do we do? We have a park hopper ticket for Tuesday August 3rd. Just checked dining and looks like everything is booked. We're thinking we will do the morning in Disneyland and try to check out California Adventure in the afternoon. I know 1 day is not enough to do everything.

What are wait times like? What are the must dos?

How is downtown disney? Anyone have any experience with the walk from Hilton Anaheim? We have 2 other full days in LA, so we were thinking we could explore for the day and head back to the hotel and walk to downtown disney at night for dinner, drinks, relaxing.


My heart rate is pretty elevated right now. Usually I plan for WDW trips 9 months in advance. Right now we are 1 week out from disneyland.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Hmmmm so you said you are four days in LA? Or did you mean four days in Anaheim? (Which by the way is in Orange County, not Los Angeles.)

I wonder if you could switch to two park days and do one park per day? I think it would be so much more fun and you would see and do so much more than trying to cram everything into a one-day park hopper. My friend recently visited DL for the first time ever and did a park hopper and regretted it. They started at DCA and didn’t make it to DL until 4pm. She said they felt they barely saw DL.

When I went earlier this month it was pretty crowded and the wait times varied. E-ticket rides were often 45 minutes to an hour (longer for RSR). Fantasyland was jam packed. Best advice is to go early, well before the park opens. The first two hours will be the best and least crowded of the entire day.

Look for restaurant reservations one to two days prior as people cancel to avoid no-show fees. I would argue they are not even necessary if you want to just eat quick service (which here at DL is really good, lots of excellent and varied options). You can sometimes get walk up at DTD restaurants and even some in the parks. Check the app and ask the CM hosts.

DTD is very small. It’s nothing like Disney Springs in Florida. A handful of restaurants and some shopping. We were just there today and it was crowded. It can get very crowded at night especially on weekends. It’s good if you want to shop and eat, but nothing spectacular.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Welcome to the land! You're in luck, because this is the park to absolutely do last minute/no planning.... that's how most of us do it, anyway compared to the madness that is WDW planning. Random thoughts before everyone chimes in here:

1) Can you clarify your daily itinerary? You said 4 days in LA, but you're staying in Anaheim (Orange County) the entire time as home base, yes? Can you also clarify what you are doing the LA days (like where are you going)... I find that a lot of east coasters underestimate the distance/time it takes to get to places, my apologies if you've already researched that.

2) I've walked from parks to Hilton Anaheim, it's a leisurely 20 minute walk. With your kids being older, going back to the hotel midday won't be an issue... just know that the walk back will be painful if you're in the parks from open to close. There is a resort shuttle, but consider

3) You can probably do DTD for one of the nights -- do consider other food/entertainment options if you've got the car and no ties to Disney on a particular day: Irvine Spectrum, Gardenwalk, Fashion Island in Newport, Anaheim Packing House, and more. If you go to DTD after LA, consider driving from LA to DTD before driving back to your hotel, saves you some time.

4) As for August 3 -- arrive early (see current threads/trip reports) and do as much as you can before 11am/noon. Make sure your phones are working to get BGs for ROTR and WS, since you're still on east coast time, getting up will be easier.

5) Check dining reservations randomly, things might pop up.

6) You booked your rental car already...right?

 

[Sirenitas]

We have never done just one day - usually do 4 days at DLR (8-10 at WDW) - but DD and I have gone for 2 days a couple of times.

We stay as close as possible (Desert Inn, HoJo, Tropicana, The Anaheim). We have never stayed at the Hilton so can't give advice on that, but the area is pretty safe. You will always see people going to/from the parks at all times of the day and night.

Most important advice I can give is to get there early. The first 2-3 hours are crucial for a one day visit. Hopping is so easy, just a couple of minutes walk across the esplanade.

At DL focus on what you don't see at WDW and the ones that are significantly different. Matterhorn, Mr Toad, Alice, Indiana Jones, Pinocchio, Snow White, Storybook Canals, Toontown. POTC is a must!

Personally I love DCA, I think it's a beautiful park (really hope the change from Bug's Land to Avengers does not change that). We have not been since Avengers Campus opened - we'll be there a couple of days after you . But we have done GoTG and love it. Carsland will blow you away - it looks just like the movie. I don't really care for the Cars movies but love this land. Incredicoaster is fun.

For food, don't worry too much about doing a TS. Actually with just one day I would not spend so much time at a sit down meal. They have really good counter services. The only TS I would make the exception for would be Blue Bayou, good food but it is having a meal while you see the POTC boats go by that makes it really special.

At DL we like Bengal BBQ, Rancho del Zocalo, Pizza Planet, Jolly Holiday (love the pastries for breakfast), French Market. For a classic DL meal I would do The Plaza Inn which has the famous DL fried chicken.
At DCA I am a sucker for the mac and cheese cones in Carsland. Smokejumpers is a good one for a burger and shakes and they now have Monte Cristos! Cocina Cucamonga is also very good. We have Pym's on our must do for next time.

For snacks - In DLR Tropical Hideaway has different Dole Whips, Mint Julep Bar has Mickey shaped beignets. Raspberry macarons at Jolly Holiday. Pizza Planet has a cute alien macaron. Cinnamon crisps at Rancho del Zocalo.
At DCA you can make your own ice cream bar at Clarabelle's. There is a Ghirardelli in the park 'nuff said! Jack Jack Num Num cookies.

There are churros, corn dogs, popcorn, turkey legs, chimichangas, smoothies etc all over the parks.

At DtD we love Ralph Brennan's. They have a TS and a CS. The CS has better beignets than Mint Julep Bar (but not Mickey shaped). La Brea Bakery is good for breakfast. Earl of Sandwich is always a solid choice for a fast (or to-go) option.

I still remember the first time we went to DLR after having gone to WDW for years - it was overwhelming until we got there. Then it was just so easy! Try not to stress too much, you don't have to plan every minute of your day like at WDW.

 

[ColoradoLime]

First, I’m sorry to hear about your dad. Disney will definitely give you a great distraction from that for awhile.

I agree with the above about skipping sit down meals. That will take up valuable park time and it’s stressful trying to find the reservations you want.

When you do Quick Seevoce you can take that food and eat in line for a ride. Efficient use of time!

 

[mdmost]

I don't know if posting other sites is verboden on here but Disneyland Daily is a great site and Casey has tons of information on how to tackle DLR right now, especially for first timers. One day at both parks is tough but it all comes down to checking out what rides you want to do in both parks. It's a lot smaller so running all around isn't terrible and it doesn't get hot till the afternoon.

Definitely get there before park opening. Definitely start at either Space Mountain (paired riding versus single seat) or Indiana Jones as those fill up the fastest. I'd then suggest riding all the rides that are different from MK like Matterhorn, Mr. Toad (RIP), the classic dark rides in Fantasyland, Casey Jr, Storybook Canal Boats, Indiana Jones, Pirates (longer at DLR), and Haunted Mansion for the Hatbox Ghost. Walk through the Castle so you can see the Sleeping Beauty displays. That's a packed morning to noon but you're mostly hitting rides people wait till the afternoon to check out. Park hopping begins at 1pm at DLR. You might get a Touring Plans subscription and run the rides you'd like to do through their plan maker to see how realistic your plan might be. As far as food, can't go wrong with Mickey Beignets at Mint Julep Bar and getting every churro they have in the parks. Jolly Holiday has Matterhorn Macaroons that are tasty.

Everything at California Adventure, minus the Little Mermaid, will be new to you. Radiator Racers is a must ride. The Guardians ride is fun. Incredicoaster is very enjoyable. You're probably too pressed for time to do the Webslingers ride.

It was a lot easier to do a ton of stuff at both parks when Maxpass was up and running. With some planning, you should be able to hit most of the highlights. They are beautiful parks and you'll be amazed at how intimate Disneyland feels. Probably in the minority on this website but we prefer a Disneyland trip to WDW for that and a few other reasons.

Good luck and enjoy your vacation! Get a picture with Oswald at DCA if you see him.

 

[the donut]

So sorry to hear about your dad.

Personally, I would focus more on DCA since it has more unique rides compared to WDW.

If your kids are up for it, the single rider line is your friend. Especially for RSR. We did a 5 day trip back in June with park hoppers and didn't make it on RSR. The lines were very long the whole time (>60 minutes) even when we got to the park early. Part of the problem was that the park did not reliably open at the same time every day that we had reservations at DCA, and somehow we missed opening each time. The last day of our trip we got there 45 minutes before opening, and the park was already open with virtually everyone there at RSR. Although that was the shortest line we'd seen for RSR, we couldn't resist riding all the other rides that had no wait. It was either do walk-ons for Toy Story, Incredicoaster, Soarin, and Guardians or spend that whole golden time in the RSR line.

The tips for getting into the boarding groups from this board were super helpful. With our 5 day stay, we went 10/10 on getting ROTR and Web Slingers boarding groups. If you do DCA first and decide to try for WS and get an early boarding group, be sure and knock off a few other rides before you report for your boarding queue.

Finally, we love to sit down and have a meal in the middle of the day. I know people think it's a waste of time, but we need it to refresh our legs a little. We usually go to DTD for our sit down meal since the service tends to be faster than at the restaurants in the park. The Craftsman Grill at the GCH was also a great option on this last trip, though they do tend towards the slower side.

I hope you have a great time! Maybe just consider this a low key scouting trip and with an eye for a future trip someday. Might be less stressful?

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I do single day trips all the time, but I live about 90 minutes away by car, so we go at least once a year.

Number 1 thing to do is prioritize. You said you're starting at Disneyland. Get there before rope drop. If you can, at least an hour before so you can maximize your time. Since you said you go to WDW regularly, skip the rides that are the same/repeats. I'd go on Indy and Matterhorn early on. The lines get long the later you wait. Snow White is nice. They just upgraded it and it is so amazing now. Alice in Wonderland is a good dark ride, too. If you play your cards right and plan well, you can probably go on the majority of attractions that are not repeats from WDW by 12 or 1...but it's tricky. Then eat some lunch before the 2PM migration to DCA.

DCA in the afternoon will be complicated. Try to get virtual queue for the Webslingers at 12. If you miss it, there's still plenty to do. The waits at DCA will all be long by the time park hopping happens with the exception of Little Mermaid, Monster's Inc., and some of the smaller rides. I don't think it really matters where you go at what time, but do RSR right before closing so you don't waste the whole day in line for it. RSR itself is like Test Track at Epcot but with better scenery though, so if you miss it you'll probably live. Also, Carsland at sundown is a magical experience. I highly recommend Guardians of the Galaxy, Incredicoaster, and Grizzly River.

You don't really need ADRs at DLR. There are plenty of restaurants that don't take reservations that are plenty good. If you like a light lunch or are looking for a snack, Bengal BBQ has some great skewers. Plaza Inn does good fried chicken. Rancho del Zocalo has great Mexican food. And Hungry Bear is one of my favorite for the ambiance. It's fun to look out over the river while eating lunch.

For dinner at DCA, I'd recommend Flo's Diner just because it's fun to have the view of RSR while eating. Award Wieners is surprisingly good, too, but I'm not sure if their full menu is back and their limited menu isn't as good.

What are your plans in L.A.? Will you have a car? L.A. is big and there's always a ton of traffic, so if you need any help with any other parts of your trip, I'm happy to provide input. If you're staying in Anaheim the whole time, be aware that getting to L.A. will take a while most times of the day.

 

[Kingtide]

My condolences on your loss. Hopefully a getaway will bring some comfort & cheer.

I’m a recent NJ transplant to Southern California and whenever we go to D’Land/DCA it feels uncomfortable - like we forgot something- because there’s not that build up of planning, reservations and daily agendas. The parks out west are more intimate and lend themselves better to day trips.

As other folks have mentioned, the most striking differences from FL are in DCA. Cars land is pretty fantastic. My family always makes it a point to linger there at the end of the night as the park empties out to enjoy all the neon. We usually get ice cream right before the park closes and enjoy it by the cozy cone.

if you can, I’d recommend upgrading to a 2 day park ticket. My family has been to the parks a couple of times since we moved and we still aren’t able to hit everything in one day.

 

[ArtieRyder]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. There some questions I will try to answer.

I know Anaheim isn't technically in LA. The kids don't, though, so I am telling them we're going to LA. We'll keep that between us.

We can't really extend to multiple days. We're only in the LA area for 3.5 days and we want to see Hollywood, and the beach. We're basically going on a samples tour of the area.

We set up our reservation so that we can go to Disneyland at opening and then park hop to CA. I thought the initial walk in should be to the castle, which I think the kids will get a kick out of.

Yes we have booked our rental car, that was the first thing we did. We are picking up in LV and driving to LA and dropping it in LAX before our flight.

As for our itinerary in LA, one day in Disney, one day in Hollywood (maybe do a cheesy tour bus or something, maybe the observatory), one day/night in santa monica (the kids will like walking around, the pier, and putting their feet in the pacific). Looks like the hotel has a pretty good pool. Typically try to take it a little easy on vacations. For example, the day we go to santa monica, we'll probably spend the morning / early afternoon relaxing at our pool and head to SM around 2.

As for traffic, I've had some experience in LA and know it can be crazy. I've been using google maps to gauge travel times and have been assuming 2x the drive time given traffic.

A lot of people are suggesting we get their early, which we will make it a point to do. We really only have two early morning days on the whole trip so I shouldn't get too much complaining

We don't really need to do Rise of Resistance or Millenium Falcon, we've done both in WDW. Spider man would be cool, but we're not going to stake our day on it. We have a reservation for DL in the morning, so not even sure if we can get a boarding group since we can't go to CA till 2pm.

Loud and clear on CARS land. That sounds great. I always look forward to pixar pier. RSR might be tough, though, given we are hopping to CA


Relieved by the dining comments. We always do quick service in the WDW parks, wasn't sure if the options were different. If they have good QS (Bengal BBQ sound up my alley) then we'll be good with that and save the time (and reservation stress) for touring.

Question - do they have mickey pretzels? We feast on those at WDW

Looking forward to a corn dog, heard a lot about them

 

[PirateBrigade]

As for our itinerary in LA, one day in Disney, one day in Hollywood (maybe do a cheesy tour bus or something, maybe the observatory), one day/night in santa monica (the kids will like walking around, the pier, and putting their feet in the pacific). Looks like the hotel has a pretty good pool. Typically try to take it a little easy on vacations. For example, the day we go to santa monica, we'll probably spend the morning / early afternoon relaxing at our pool and head to SM around 2.

In lieu of cheesy bus tour, consider a tour of a real/working studio -- The Warner Bros. Studio Tour
Dark on Tuesdays/Wednesdays, though, not sure if that fits with your schedule (count on 2-3 hours).

 

[PRomano]

Could you consider skipping Hollywood and adding a day at DL? We have done DL a few times and never Hollywood. We actually had a trip similar to yours after my father in law passed. We needed a vacation. I think we ended up with 4 days at DL. If you push it you can do a lot of DL/DCA in two days.

 

[pharmama]

Spider man would be cool, but we're not going to stake our day on it. We have a reservation for DL in the morning, so not even sure if we can get a boarding group since we can't go to CA till 2pm.

Just to clarify- you can Parkhop starting at 1pm. And if you have Parkhopper tickets you ARE eligible to try for a Webslingers boarding group at the noon boarding group drop as long as you have already scanned into your starting park for the day (doesn't sound like that will be a problem). I would definitely at least try for a WS BG at noon. I believe the noon drops have been lasting a bit longer now so you're likely to get one. Personally, I think Webslingers is fun and definitely unique to DCA.

 

[Pluto468]

I'm sorry to hear about your dad.

You will have a great time at Disneyland! My first trip to Disneyland (ages ago, before DCA existed) was the best. I knew nothing about the park and just strolled around and did whatever struck our fancy. There's alot to be said for not planning too much.

I'd maybe pick what rides are MUST DOs for your kids and try to work those in. There are some rides that are different at DL compared to WDW, so it might be fun for you to see those.

For food I love Jolly Holiday for breakfast. They have great breakfast sandwiches and the seating area has great views for people watching-plus ducks that waddle around near the tables.
Plaza Inn is great for lunch or dinner. There are SO many restaurants to choose from. Blue Bayou would be a nice treat too.
They usually have Mickey pretzels but I haven't been since the reopen so I'm not sure if they have them right now.

I agree with others about getting there early.

Have fun!