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JBarb
03-02-2005, 01:03 PM
My daughter is having her 8th birthday in May this year and we are planning on taking her and he 8 yr old cousin to Disneyland for her birthday. Our total group will be 6 people (my wife and I, my daughter and her cousin, and my son and his friend-both 12). We are currently planning on flying down Fri AM 5/13, staying in the Homewood Suites and using 3 day parkhoppers to go back and forth for the weekend. We are leaving mid day Mon 5/16. Nothng is booked yet.

I would really appreciate any comments on my choice of hotels (we need one lg suite for the 6 of us with a separate bedroom) as well as any help in making this a special weekend for my daughter's birthday. She is all ready incredibly excited. Also, any advice on early arrivals, what rides to hit when, and fastpasses.

I've been reading some of the posts and will research more but I REALLY appreciate any help.

Thanks a lot
Jeff

disneyperson
03-02-2005, 01:11 PM
You're already booked, but if you weren't, I would suggest staying closer at one of the hotels on Harbor. It's nice to be able to pop back and forth as needed without waiting for shuttles. That said, from what I've seen, most of the shuttle sevices run very nicely. I hope your daughter has a magical birthday. Remember to stop by City Hall for special birthday sticker and phone call.

bradk
03-02-2005, 01:30 PM
hotel rates in may are going up fast, so you should commit to something (at least in the way of reservations) fairly soon.

homewood suites has decent reviews:

http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlrhomewoodsuitesbyhilton

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32420-d217220-Reviews-Homewood_Suites_Anaheim_Main_Gate_Area-Garden_Grove_California.html

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/11449635/garden_grove_ca/homewood_suites_by_hilton_anaheim_main_gate_area.h tml?cslink=search_name_noncust&ulink=search__searchslot1_520__0_profile_9_1

it's definitely not within walking distance of the park, but i'm assuming you knew that already. so not sure what kind of advice you're looking for. i think you'll be absolutely fine if you decide to stay there.


there definitely are hotels well within walking distance that offer suites (essentially being across from disneyland, pretty much all the hotels are able to cater to families) and it's always nice to be able to just walk back in 5 minutes or so in the middle of the day if you need a nap, but with 3 days on a weekend, that's probably not a great option anyway unless you plan on sacrificing some valuable time in the parks.


pick up a copy of the unofficial guide to disneyland and review its review of rides and suggestions in terms of what order you should go on, how the ride loading works, how they open the park, etc.


once you decide on what rides you want to make sure you get onto, you might want to consider a 3 month subscription to ridemax (http://www.ridemax.com) which will assist you in creating an itinerary to get on as many rides as you can with minimal wait time. i suggest this primarily because you're going to be there on the weekend and it's also a dangerously close to busy time for the park as well, even during the week.


cstephens has a pretty extensive list of birthday opportunities at the park, so i'll just refer you to her site (assuming she doesn't mind): http://www.colddeadfish.net/dlr/dlrbirthdays.html


study the calendars on disneyland.com and pay attention to the schedule for the parades, the shows (aladdin not to be missed, snow white could be missed), fantasmic, fireworks all that and decide what's important to you (ignore the toontown madness as it requires a special pass given to you only when you book through disney or aaa).


also, consider what's available at DTD. build-a-bear, club libby lu and the lego store are fairly popular.