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Stitch1404
01-19-2006, 05:43 PM
So I am headed to Disneyland for the first time June 22nd-27th. I had originally booked the Grand Californian, but with three daughters (15,16, and 17) we switched to a one-bedroom suite at the Disneyland Hotel for about the same price. Well, no one is excited about staying at the DLH, they all think it isn't going to be "nice" like the Grand. I have looked at the pictures and done research and I think it looks beautiful! Also, the week after our Disney trip we are exploring some more of California, so I thought for the 5 nights we are in Disneyland we could just see Disneyland. However, my family has voted to just spend two days there, one for Disneyland, one for California Adventure. Then we will just use the DLH as our base while we tour L.A. I am just really bummed because everyone is saying we are not going to a nice hotel and they don't want to spend our time in Disney. We are first-timers, we need at least 5 days! Does anyone else want to come with me, I don't want to go with these people anymore! :rolleyes:

ILoveChurros
01-19-2006, 05:53 PM
I really don't think that you will need 5 days to see the DLR three should be good enough. Besides you can't come to California and miss an opportunity to see other parts, there is so much to see here and DLR is only a part of it. Taking a trip to LA or maybe the beach should be a nice balance to the Disney trip.

Stitch1404
01-19-2006, 05:58 PM
But we have an additional 7 days/6 nights in California after we leave Disneyland to see other areas. I am all for taking one day to see L.A., but taking 3?

bassett1976
01-19-2006, 06:26 PM
My wife and I enjoy the DLH more than the GCH. The GCH is nice but we thought the price didn't match what we got. Also, two days at DLR will be alright. I would try for three. You don't need one full day for DCA but you might want to use the park hopper feature to get over to DCA during the busy afternoons at DL. You can do a lot at DL if you get into the park at opening, in fact my wife and I have gotten close to doing all of the Fantasyland rides within about 2 hours of park opening if you plan it out a bit.

ToursbabeC3po
01-19-2006, 06:51 PM
LA is so ugly go somewhere nice like San Diego.

momuvseven
01-19-2006, 06:52 PM
Teens are tough to please so I wouldn't try too hard. Stay where you like but adjoining rooms would be more fun or even seperate floors LOL. Allow yourself some privacy. The great thing about Disneyland is you can let the kids have a lot of freedom. No need to spend all your time hanging out together. Have you heard about the Anaheim City Pass that lets you take in several attactions on one ticket? Set a budget in advance or the kids will run up HUGE tabs on food and drinks in the park and at the hotel. My kids get so much per day for spending money and then they have to pack in their own sandwhiches and water bottles.

If all else fails I would love to go with you.

momuvseven

hlbtimes2
01-19-2006, 06:54 PM
I would be happy to join you! I could easily spend 5 days at the park, never see anything else in CA, and be just fine. And 5 nights in the DL hotel and they complain? Time to trade them in on a new family!

DisneyDustin22
01-19-2006, 07:15 PM
If I were you, I would use the days you arent going to the parks to hit more southern attractions like Sea World and the Zoo. Utilize the fact that you are already half way there. Dont use your days to leave DL and go up to LA. then when youre in LA, go back to San Diego. You'll spend half the days in your car.

passthepixiedust
01-19-2006, 07:16 PM
I agree with hlbtimes2 ! We went for six days in August and had five day park hoppers. We couldn't stand not being there on one day, so we upgraded to APs ! Of course, I could happily go EVERY day....... They will be regretting the two day thing once they see how awesome it is !

ps. We would be THRILLED to stay at the DLH !

anniedg
01-19-2006, 07:21 PM
The suites at DLH are great and I think if you're in a suite you get concierge service. Not that huge a deal, but it includes breakfast and soft drinks and snacks in the lounge. That's where we stayed on the trip we splurged on and we LOVED it. Now it's Hojo's for us. (Don't get me wrong, I love Hojo's, but it's not DLH :) ) At any rate I think they'll love it when they get there. Try to make one of your first days a DL day, it's quite possible once they're there they'll want to spend more than two days at the resort. Or you can just tell 'em to perk up the attitude or you'll take some of us instead -- I could easily spend 5 days in the parks!

donaldquackers
01-19-2006, 07:24 PM
My 2 teenage daughters and my husband combined to ruin my 2001 trip. They were unhappy and didn't want to do anything. I finally said, hey I paid a lot of money to be here, so I'm going to the park alone. I was miserable alone and soon went back to the hotel and hung out there. Now I know more about how to go single in the park and would love a chance to go and experience it my way. I have also learned vacations have to be more flexible. I used to say be there when it opens, run hard through the morning, skip the shows and stuff as the lines are shorter then,ect. Now that my kids are older and we've got a new generation of little ones, I know we have to give everyone some space. It's not the end of the world if they sleep in, or don't want to go with the plan. We now stop to watch parades and shows and just to sit. Everyone is happier this way and I found out all those years we missed so much by justing riding the rides. The next time we go we want to try a new method. Monday play hard, get up early and stay til closing and do as much as possible. Tuesday have nothing planned. Sleep in, do some laundry, tour the hotels or LA or whatever hits us. Wednesday we'll go back to the park rested to play hard all day. We're calling this a play hard, rest hard routine. My adult children are really excited about this

Stitch1404
01-19-2006, 07:41 PM
Originally posted by anniedg:
The suites at DLH are great and I think if you're in a suite you get concierge service.

Really? That would be exciting!

K & S
01-19-2006, 08:05 PM
LA is so ugly go somewhere nice like San Diego.

Listen to ToursbabeC3po, there isn't much to see in LA. Spend a day at the San Diego Zoo, it's one of the best in the country.

nvmom
01-19-2006, 08:47 PM
Pretty much I'd die a thousand times if I could stay at the DLH and do 5 days in the park!! Take me!! Take me!!

But, teens will be teens, I suppose you have to be flexible.

nvmom

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
01-19-2006, 09:01 PM
That is sad. How dare your family disappoint you like that. I saw leave them home and spend your ENTIRE vacation at Disneyland!

tink360
01-19-2006, 09:18 PM
When we are on vacation in southern california, generally all we do is disneyland. 5 days there isn't too much at all, there's no place I'd rather be!

Staying at the disneyland hotel would be a real treat for me, I stay off property.
I hope your family comes around, if they've never seen it before they don't know what they are missing!

emmah
01-19-2006, 09:41 PM
I stayed at the DLH in late November/December and it was BEAUTIFUL. It's really special - the swimming pools are so cute, the landscaping is lovely, my room (up high in the sierra tower) was plush with all these sweet features like mousehands holding the lights, and goofy in the wall paper, and tinkerbell pouring pixie dust around my room - and it had a great view over DTD. the staff there are really helpful and friendly - nothing was too much trouble it seemed to me. so, don't worry about not liking the DLH, you will love it. the DGC looks pretty flash on the outside but the rooms are pretty small and the service is not so great - for my money, DLH is much better value. and as for time - I spent 6 days at the park, taking a few afternoons off to go shopping at the nearby south coast plaza, and the time flew by and wasn't enough for me to do all the things I wanted to in the parks. it's a personal thing i guess - some people find 1 day enough, i always want more! my advice would be to head to the parks as soon as you arrive and see if the magic catches hold of your family - if it does, it is no drama at all to upgrade your tickets so you can keep playing longer, once you get there. the other thing to think about is the fact that you can visit the parks before and after spending time elsewhere; on early entry days you can go and play for an hour, have breakfast, head off and spend the day somewhere else, and then come back in the evening for dinner and the fireworks etc. If you have never been to LA before, there is fun to be had at universal studios, and checking out the stars in hollywood, and the santa monica pier etc, but that need not interfere with your disneyland time too much.

so, keep your chin up; try not to plan ahead too much and see what happens. plus, don't forget your constitutional right to ditch your family if they are being really annoying and head to the parks on your own - some of the best times can be had on your own, wandering around and seeing things in your own time in your own way. vacations can be stressful, and time out can be very important!:) :)

Opus1guy
01-19-2006, 09:54 PM
Hmmmm. A suite at the Disneyland Hotel. Perhaps you should offer them a windowless bunker at the "Dew Drop Inn" like many other less fortunate families have to stay at.

IMHO, they will end up loving the extra space the suite will give them. And should be thankful that you're staying "on-property" at all.

EchoThree76
01-19-2006, 11:29 PM
I would have to disagree with every one who said there is nothign to do in L.A. My wife and i went this past dec. I am a movie lover and there is SO much to see and do at Hollywood, (yes i know Hollywood is not L.A.) which is only 30 mins at the most away. The Chinese theater, El Capitan. Oh...and the Warner brothers tour. That was probably our favorite part of the whole trip. There is also universal Studios and Six Flags. All with in an hour away.

The Mouse Is Back
01-20-2006, 12:38 AM
OMG - you people who are dissing L.A. are so far off base.

There's SO MUCH to see up here...good grief, I've lived here (not L.A. proper, but within the city limits) my entire life and I just recently for the first time took a walking tour of downtown L.A. Just the historic buildings like the Central Library and the Bradbury Building (where "Bladerunner" was filmed, and portions of other films/tv shows), and the Biltmore Hotel - blew me away!

And like EchoThree, I LOVE the old theaters in the Hollywood area, not to mention the restored '20s and '30s buildings, including apartment buildings right off Hollywood Blvd.

The MTA has dozens of trips that incorporate light rail, subway, and bus lines. Depending on what your tastes are, there's something great for everyone.

But I know it's "popular" to hate Los Angeles (just like people in other parts of the country think it's cool to hate California).



-Allegra-

PrincessLeia
01-20-2006, 06:18 AM
Teenagers ~ sheesh! Why don't you offer to upgrade to the GCH if they pay the difference? A little financial reality check can go a looooong way!

We were in DL over Christmas and I was determined to do 5 days in the parks. I made Ridemax plans, made hotel reservations, basically made it easy for everyone else to just show up and have fun. Before the trip, I advised the group (7 adults) of my RM plan and told them that of couse, we're all adults and there is no expectation that we all be together all the time so they could do "the plan" or do their own thing. It worked out great and I also used that same line of thinking to escape from the group when people started to get cranky ("I'm going to go off an do some other stuff...").

I also suggested that if anyone wanted to do another non-DL adventure one of the days to please plan it!! Well, you can guess that nobody planned anything and frankly, everyone had fun at DLR the whole time. W/ DTD, DCA and DLP all right there, there is tons to do. DTD is great w/ shopping, restaurants, movie theatre...

One great day trip to consider if the family wants to get away from DLR for the day is Catalina Island! :)

Remember to Have fun no matter how cranky the rst of the family unit gets! ;)

brerbear77
01-20-2006, 08:16 AM
Just an FYI and my $.02 I don't think you can spend one whole day at CA. It is fine for a few hours but when you are done there I would head back over to DL. Make sure to have hopper passes so you can do that, at least that has been my experience. I tried to stay there the whole day and was bored out of my mind, even after watching every show, parade, etc. Good luck!

Malcon10t
01-20-2006, 09:35 AM
So I am headed to Disneyland for the first time June 22nd-27th. I had originally booked the Grand Californian, but with three daughters (15,16, and 17) we switched to a one-bedroom suite at the Disneyland Hotel for about the same price. Well, no one is excited about staying at the DLH, they all think it isn't going to be "nice" like the Grand. I have looked at the pictures and done research and I think it looks beautiful! Also, the week after our Disney trip we are exploring some more of California, so I thought for the 5 nights we are in Disneyland we could just see Disneyland. However, my family has voted to just spend two days there, one for Disneyland, one for California Adventure. Then we will just use the DLH as our base while we tour L.A. I am just really bummed because everyone is saying we are not going to a nice hotel and they don't want to spend our time in Disney. We are first-timers, we need at least 5 days! Does anyone else want to come with me, I don't want to go with these people anymore! :rolleyes:No matter what you do, its not going to be right. They have not seen the Grand, so of course to them it will be better than the DLH, even if it isn't. Personally, I prefer DLH over the Grand. They are teens. Take them to the Del Sol inn for the first night. Then they can appreciate the DLH after that.

Next, we just spent 11 days at Disneyland. We finally said we think 11 days is too many <g>. We now have figured 8 days is about right for the trips. Yes, we are APers. We finally found a "too long" trip! (There from Dec 23-Jan2.)

bassett1976
01-20-2006, 09:48 AM
Next, we just spent 11 days at Disneyland. We finally said we think 11 days is too many <g>. We now have figured 8 days is about right for the trips. Yes, we are APers. We finally found a "too long" trip! (There from Dec 23-Jan2.)

Its interesting, my wife and I just spent last weekend (MLK weekend) down at DLR. I think we both realized that by the end of the weekend we felt we had done everything that we wanted to do, gone on the rides we rarely get to do with the long lines and got to eat at our favorite places. I guess part of it is that we go every week or two so our next time at DLR is just around the corner.

mikemgmve
01-20-2006, 09:55 AM
If you were going to see parts of LA, I would consider booking a hotel closer to the areas you're going to be in, then driving all the way back to anahiem, and change your reservation at the DLH to only be a couple days at the DLH.

Or if you'll only be there, say 3 nights, instead of 5, you can now afford 3 nights at the GC hotel?