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View Full Version : Newbie in Disneyland Jan 20-Jan 30



cmitchel
01-06-2007, 10:32 AM
We are going to DL on Jan 20th-Jan 30 and have never been. We are coming in from Alberta, Ca. And am looking for tips on how to spend this week, we bought a 3day park hopper pass and a character breakfast and plan to spend a day at seaworld and legoland also. Is 3 days enough and which days should we go? We are looking at Jan 21 as Splash Mtn and others rides close down the 22nd so we want to experience them. We also thought Monday the 22 and Friday the 26th as our third day. We have rent a suv for the 10 days for $254.00 on hotwire.com (best price i found and searched for weeks). any tips would be great, also other places to see and places to dine and shop.

Thanks:)

lisap
01-06-2007, 10:53 AM
Are you going to stay in San Diego for a night and see Legoland and Seaworld back to back? It would mean less driving and traffic for you--just a thought. Have a good time--the parks should be less crowded by the end of January, thank goodness. :)

Bytebear
01-06-2007, 12:00 PM
Wear sunscreen at Seaworld. You are often in the sun for a 30 minute show.

raediance
01-06-2007, 12:02 PM
hopefully they should be less crowded. it's always fun to be organized (yay!) but sometimes, just going with the flow can be good too. maybe ask your kids to name 4 or 5 rides they REALLY want to go on (each) and try to fit all of them or most of them in. i'm sort of a dork and i comprised a list of all the rides (actually, two: 1 for DL and 1 for CA) and then I asked everyone to check off 3 rides (because we had seven kids with us, 35 rides seemed like a lot. so i made it 21) then we hit all of the ones they wanted. it helped. x)
(oh and Lisap: love the new switchfoot album!!!)
edit: oh yeah and legoland was very empty when we went during the summer, but I don't know how the crowds will be now. they should be really good! have fun! end edit

nvmom
01-06-2007, 01:49 PM
If you have that much time I'd up to a 4 day parkhopper. It won't cost much more. We really wouldn't want less than 4 days.. especially if it's your first trip. Just a thought.

nvmom

Donald Duck Fan68
01-06-2007, 04:01 PM
I second the motion to upgrade to a 4-day hopper (or more, depending on your budget).

Does your hopper include an early-entry? If so, take advantage of that on Monday, the 22nd, go right to Fantasy Land and ride the rides at that time (when they'll be the shortest of the day). Is your character breakfast already booked? My kids really liked Goofy's Kitchen as far as character interaction goes. It get's a little crazy at times, as Goofy leads the macarana, a pots 'n pans drum jam, and other mahem. My kids also enjoyed the interactive games at ESPN zone in Downtown Disney, and there's a lot of shops and restaraunts you might enjoy. If you plan to have a "shopping day", that would be a good place to spend it.

Looking at your calendar, I would plan to see Fantasmic on the 21st and then catch the fireworks on the 26th. I also recommend having each child pick the rides/attractions/shows they want to go on most and use that as a guide to your priorities over what to do in the park.

mommy-san
01-06-2007, 05:07 PM
Cmitchel, where are you from? We're from Grande Prairie and will arrive in the parks starting the 30th.
I hope you are using your rental car to get to LegoLand and Seaworld. We went to San Diego for 8 days last year after 3 days at DLR and were really glad we had our own car. I have also heard that with the busses to LegoLand etc. you could be stuck there all day- and if you want to leave, too bad.
If you are wondering about your length of visit- if this is your first ever visit to DLR, plan on your first day being some what of a write-off. Our first time ever we had 3day park hoppers. We had NO CLUE what we were in for and ended up running in circles the entire first day. Our next trip 3 months later we did 4 full days at DLR. When we go in a few weeks we are doing 5 days in park and 1 1/2 days lazing around. You can never have too many days at Disneyland!

maryxmas
01-06-2007, 05:31 PM
You might want to plan your trip so you have less driving. I can't tell, but it sounds like you are staying in Anaheim and then driving to Legoland and Seaworld on those planned days. Traffic in that part of California isn't exactly swift. We went from Disneyland to Universal Studios last week and we got stuck on the freeway cause of an accident. It took us 2 hours to get there and it was supposed to take us about 40 minutes. So you may want to do those two days together and stay at a nearyby hotel, then go to Anaheim and go to DL (or vice versa). And yes 3 days is PLENTY of time for DL and DCA.

nvmom
01-06-2007, 05:48 PM
We had NO CLUE what we were in for and ended up running in circles the entire first day I've heard this from a lot of people... the park can be very overwhelming. My dh thought I was going way overboard w/my research and planning for our first trip. Once we got thru the gate he we SO glad that I had a clue what we should do, where we should go first, what the kids (for their age) would enjoy... even what to pack in our backpack. I got tons of great info from this board and also from the "Unofficial Guide to Disneyland" book.

nvmom

Mickeygirlforever
01-06-2007, 07:56 PM
Fantasmic is a must! We've seen it a many times and still wait for seats. It's really worth it. It's out favorite thing to see in the park probably. Trust me, it's awesome and the kids will love it!

Stupid_American
01-07-2007, 05:58 AM
I might suggest the San Diego Wild Animal Park (http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wap/index.html) during your Lego Land/Seaworld swing.
Find a hotel around Carlsbad during this leg of the trip.

The "Southern California City Pass" would give you 3 day park hoppers, along with Seaworld, SD wild Animal Park, and Universal Studios.
You might check it out and see if you can exchange.

If you are into "thrill" rides, a trip to Knott's (http://www.knotts.com/) might be fun.
It's quite close to Disneyland.

For some of the Best Thai food outside of Thailand, you can head a couple miles south of Disneyland to Thai Nakorn.

Here's a "clickable" map of some eateries and stuff around the greater Disney area: Eats and Stuff (http://cheapeatsbangkok.com/sites/map_oc/)

disneyhound
01-07-2007, 08:00 AM
Definately upgrade your park hopper to a 4 or 5 day, the price incease is minimal for the quality of entertainment you will receive... :cool:

Stupid_American
01-08-2007, 06:24 AM
You'll have to give the best Thai a pass; Thai Nakorn was gutted by fire last night!

cmitchel
01-11-2007, 07:31 PM
Thanks for the help, i managed to upgrade to a 5day pass for $22 cdn a person x 4. The 4 and 5 day were the same price. So we are now going to spend more time at DL and skip Knotts Berry Farm as the kids are just too young and i'm not a thrill seeker.

IdahoMike
01-12-2007, 12:52 PM
Definitely familiarize yourself with how fastpass works, it will save you a ton of time in the long run. Everyone does things their own way, but we always get a FP for either Space, Splash, or Indy right off the bat, because the lines are insane for those rides pretty much from open to close. You can also get fastpasses for Roger Rabbit and Grizzly River Run simultaneously with another fastpass, as they are not linked on the fastpass network (we always get Soarin' and Grizzly fastpasses back to back when in DCA).

Things to not miss: Fireworks, Fantasmic!, Electrical Parade (if running), Aladdin show at the Hyperion, Turtle Talk with Crush.

Definitely utilize your early entry for one day. You can either knock out all of fantasyland (peter pan first!), or you can go ride space before the lines get insane.

However you choose to do it, take it at your own pace, and have a great time!

Koukla
01-12-2007, 04:55 PM
Here's another tip from a new annual passholder and someone who grew up in the area. After not having been to DL for a few years, I was shocked at how high the food prices had increased. I've been three times in the past month, but my last trip on Tuesday was by far the least expensive (thanks to my smart mom).

You can save an awful lot of money on food if you go to a nearby supermarket and get picnic-type food. I know of a Target on Harbor & Chapman, not far from the park, and they may have loaves of bread, peanut butter, etc. Someone at your hotel will know the local markets. There's a picnic area at DL, just outside the park, to the left of the entrance. There are a number of lockers for rent inside the picnic area, as well as just outside of it. I was amazed by how much we cut down on our expenses for the day by not eating inside the park. Plus, it gave us extra room in our budget to splurge on other items. We also took water bottles inside the park with us and would fill them up in the drinking fountains.

As for San Diego, personally I would skip the Lego park (there's not an awful lot there), in favor of the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park or the Wild Animal Park. They may still run *park hopper* type deals in San Diego for one day at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and/or Zoo, and Sea World.

Very smart of you to do your research ahead of time! Have a wonderful, safe and memorable visit to Southern California! Enjoy! :cool: