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View Full Version : Leaving Sunday, Stupid questions



beaver state rich
05-04-2005, 02:48 PM
Howdy all I'm leaving Or on Sun to head south for DL. I have a couple of questions you all might know.

1. Does anyone know of a CLEAN hotel in the Woodland/Sacramento area. I would like to stay under $150 for 4 adults 1 child. Queen beds prefered. I understand there is a casino in the area, anyone know what it is like?

2. Are the fireworks shot off every night or just weekends? Same with the electric parade in DCA.

3. How long will it actually take to drive with traffic from Sacramento to L.A. on a Monday? (I don't trust Streets and Trips to figure out traffic)

4. To beat a dead horse any ideas about crowds Tue-Fri? It doesn't really make a difference because we will be there anyway, just curious.

5. We are going to Goofy's Kitchen on Wed. morning. We are staying at the HoJo, will the A.R.T. go to DL hotel? How far a walk is it from DL hotel to the shuttle drop off?

6. Where is the best place to have a professional family picture taken in the park?

7. My dad was at the park on opening day (actually the day before opening day his uncle was a brick mason and took him in on the preview day) is there any shirt, button etc. for such people?

Thanks for all of your help, I have learned alot of useful info the last few months. I already have saved $$$ and hassle from advice gained here. Any answers to these questions should just make the trip go smoother.

got2travel
05-04-2005, 03:08 PM
1. Sorry, can't help with this other than to say Thunder Valley is the casino in the area.

2. A quick look at the calendar on disneyland.com shows that the parade and fireworks in Disneyland will be running every night. But the electrical parade is only on the weekend.

3. Not sure about driving from Sac. It usually takes me 8 hours from just across the Bay Bride near SF. I think its a straighter shot from Sac than SF, so you should be looking at 7 hours.

4. Very hard to predict. Schools are not out yet, so I don't think they'll be too bad. But then again, with the 50th festivities kicking off, many people will want to be there.

5. No, you will not be able to take ART to the DL Hotel. The shuttle drop off for the HoJo run is pretty much right across the street from the HoJo. You'll then walk past the front entrances to DL and CA and through Downtown Disney. It's probably a 15-20 min walk.

6. My favorite is right in front of the castle. They can pose you so that you can all put your hands out and hold Tinkerbell.

7. Don't know, but it wouldn't hurt to ask at City Hall.

Wendi
05-04-2005, 03:09 PM
In Woodland the newest hotel is a Holiday Inn Express right along I-5. I haven't stayed there, but I'm sure it's nice, it's just a couple years old. The only other I'd consider is the Shadow Hotel, also on I-5. There are plenty of nicer hotels in Sacramento, the Hyatt in Downtown is probably your best bet there.

The Cache Creek Resort casino is up in Brooks along Hwy 16, probably a half-hour from Woodland. It's VERY nice, I just went for the first time last month to see Jay Leno. The resort totally reminded me of the Grand Californian. Great restaurants too...

Not really sure about the show schedules since I've only checked for my dates. I know that they are doing more since it's the 50th, but you should check the www.disneyland.com calendar for the schedule for your specific dates.

Probably around 7 hours... it really all depends on traffic, but I would say between 6-9 hours.

Weekday crowds are generally pretty nice, I don't do weekends in Disneyland... I like it less crowded.

ART doesn't go to DLH, it will take you to the front of the resort and then you will have to walk back to the hotel from there. If you are already in the parks you can hop on the Monorail from Tomorrowland to cut out a portion of that walk.

There are photographers all over the park in picturesque spots. When you walk through the gates at the big Mickey Head flower bed locale, and in front of the Castle are the favorites.

Don't know about any "I was there" merchandise...

Have a magical trip!!!

JBarb
05-04-2005, 03:30 PM
There is a Days Inn in Woodland that Orbitz shows $82 for that night for a room with 2 queens ($81 for one queen). There's also a Comfort Inn there that has a room with 2 queens for $87. Maybe you could get a rollaway for the child or get two rooms and go a little over your 150 target. I can;t vouch for the cleanliness though.

It should take about 7-8 hours to drive to LA on Monday depending on your speed and the time of day you arrive.

There are a couple of casinos in the area (one in Roseville about 20mi east of Sac) but the one that would be closest to I5 is Cache Creek. You exit Highway 16 in Woodland and go about 20 minutes to the casino. They also have a hotel that shows a 2 queen bed suite for $189 that night.

Have fun. We leave a week from Friday for DLR!

Osky
05-04-2005, 03:38 PM
I drove from Davis (just a few miles from Woodland) just last week. It took me just over 7 hours to get down there. I hit LA at the end of rush hour, so it wasn't too bad. On the way home, in the middle of the night, it took me 6.5 hours. I usually drive at 75 MPH in the 70 zones and 70 in the 65 zones.

tinksmom
05-04-2005, 04:20 PM
It takes 7 hours from Sacramento to LA with light traffic.

PirateSmile
05-04-2005, 04:23 PM
1. Does anyone know of a CLEAN hotel in the Woodland/Sacramento area. I would like to stay under $150 for 4 adults 1 child. Queen beds prefered. I understand there is a casino in the area, anyone know what it is like?

I stayed at a Best Western in Sacramento last summer. My uncle and his wife enjoyed it with his two little girls and one infant. My mom and I liked it okay too. The rooms are clean and the staff is nice. My little cousins liked the whirl pool. My mom, older cousin and I also stayed at a LaQuinta in Sacramento in 2001. It was alright, but a bit noisy. There are a couple of Best Westerns in Sac, so if you are interested in the one I mentioned you can PM me and I can find you the name :)

2. Are the fireworks shot off every night or just weekends? Same with the electric parade in DCA.

Last summer my mom and me made two trips. First trip was mid-July and the Electrical Parade went on every night. The second trip was the last week of August and I don't think that it went on every night. The fireworks went on every night both trips though, if I remember right.

3. How long will it actually take to drive with traffic from Sacramento to L.A. on a Monday? (I don't trust Streets and Trips to figure out traffic)

My mom, uncle, etc. traveled with Sunday traffic. It took about 6 to 7 hours I believe.

4. To beat a dead horse any ideas about crowds Tue-Fri? It doesn't really make a difference because we will be there anyway, just curious.

Not sure, sorry :confused:

5. We are going to Goofy's Kitchen on Wed. morning. We are staying at the HoJo, will the A.R.T. go to DL hotel? How far a walk is it from DL hotel to the shuttle drop off?

I'm not sure about this one either, but I don't think that it will.

6. Where is the best place to have a professional family picture taken in the park?

In front of the castle would be my personal favorite. The photographers will stop and ask you if you would like your picture taken in a certain spot.

7. My dad was at the park on opening day (actually the day before opening day his uncle was a brick mason and took him in on the preview day) is there any shirt, button etc. for such people?

I don't know, you can always go to City Hall and ask :D

cirquelover
05-04-2005, 04:29 PM
In Woodland the newest hotel is a Holiday Inn Express right along I-5. I haven't stayed there, but I'm sure it's nice, it's just a couple years old.

Have a magical trip!!!

We stayed at that Holiday Inn Express last year on our drive back up and it was great. The staff was friendly, room was in good shape, tv channel for the kid, breakfast in the morning with fresh little cinnamon rolls! Yep, I liked it a lot!!

stinkerbell
05-04-2005, 08:01 PM
Just wanna chime in on the walk from HoJo. You can take the ART shuttle to the Disneyland area drop-off, then you have to walk across the esplanade and Downtown Disney to get to the Disneyland hotel/Goofy's Kitchen. Or you can save your feet and spend the same amount on a cab to take you straight there. We've stayed at the HoJo and have taken a cab to Disneyland Hotel (mini-van) for less than $10 for five of us.

We've got several of our family pics in front of the castle....I always swore I wouldn't buy those, but I've purchased all that I've gone to look at in the photo shop. :D

Earkid
05-04-2005, 09:41 PM
We've got several of our family pics in front of the castle....I always swore I wouldn't buy those, but I've purchased all that I've gone to look at in the photo shop. :DI was wondering how the DL photographers get the pics to turn out so great. I have yet to see a bad one where we have our eyes closed or some goofy smiles. We are like you Stinkerbell. We always have them take our pics just cuz we like to go see them and then they turn out so good we end up spending a fortune buying them. You'd think we'd learn to "just say NO". LOL

However, we do get a lot of joy looking at them back at home. There aren't any that I regret buying.

Osky
05-04-2005, 09:44 PM
I was wondering how the DL photographers get the pics to turn out so great. I have yet to see a bad one where we have our eyes closed or some goofy smiles.

This was the case for us until our recent trip. They took a hurried shot of us in DCA that was just plain awful.

bradk
05-04-2005, 09:58 PM
on the other hand, i was particularly disappointed with some of the photos via WDW's photopass i saw recently. most were good though.

my guess on the no-blink effect is that (as a very unpromising amateur) they're probably taking photos in burst mode and just giving you the best of them. one of my life lessons when it comes to photographing [animals] is that if you take 100 shots and 2 come out really good, you're way ahead.

smjoseph
05-04-2005, 10:21 PM
Hey Beaver State, I'll be going down at the same time as you. We're leaving Sunday Evening. I'll layover in Bakersfield to arrive on Monday. I got young kids that tire of long drives. I live near Modesto and make this particular trip frequently. From Modesto it is a very fast traveling 6 hour drive. Sacramento is a bit over an hour away so that makes your quickest possible travel time about 7 hours. Now, about traffic...Most of my recent travels have hit one sort of traffic snag or another. I'm thinking that a more realistic number is 8-81/2 hours. If you throw in a lunch break you're close to 9 hours. I'm pulling a 5'er so my travel time is closer to 10 hours.

Good Luck, Drive Safe.

Steve

beaver state rich
05-04-2005, 11:48 PM
Thanks to all for the info, I will look into the BW and the Holiday Inn. I work in LE and you wouldn't believe how many low class hotels are meth labs. They can replace the carpet and just slap up some paint and 72 hours after it is cooked it can be rented out again!! I will also check out a couple of the casinos listed to see if they have any rooms available. If I'm lucky I will still have my shirt and gas $$ when I leave. ;) I am relieved to find out that it is under 10 hours from Sac to LA. Total distance is not that far, but one never knows about the traffic. I might leave a little later in the morning to avoid rush hour.

Once again thanks to all for the advice. This is a great resource, Disney should really support sites like this.

crazi4dlr
05-05-2005, 01:18 PM
Just wanted to pipe in about the drive from Sac to DL. We left on a Monday last summer at 6:30 a.m. We hit commute traffic on I5 in Stockton but not really bad and there was an accident. We got into Anaheim at 2:30 in the afternoon and we had stopped for breakfast outside of Tracy and again just before the Grapevine. Traffic through L.A. is much worse than the valley and we went through LA just after 1 p.m. or so. Still not a bad trip and it took 8 hours start to finish. Oh yeah we live just east of Sac in the foothills so our time included coming down Hwy 50 to hit I5.