DIS Dads - All About Disneyland

[papamouse1]

Originally Posted by IamTrike

So I posted this ? in the main disdads thread but thought it might get answered better here.


We are heading to Southern California for 7 days in December. Initially the plan was to spend 4 days at Disneyland and 3 days exploring San Diego and LA. We've been reading through a couple different travel books and are starting to question our logic. It looks like we have 3 options. Which would you pick and why? (all the options are within about $100 per person) Flights are already booked using FF miles so we can't extend the trip.

Option 1. Keep the original plan 3 days primarily in San Diego and 4 days at Disneyland. (We might add the ZOO in this plan)

Option 2. Buy a CitiPass. Spend 1/2 at Universal Hollywood, 1 day at the San Diego Zoo, 1 day at Sea World and 3 days at Disneyland. This would only give us a day and a half to go to the beach and explore San Diego and LA.

Option 3. 4 Days at Disneyland 1 or 2 days at Legoland/The legoland waterpark. This again would really limit the amount of time we have to explore San Diego and LA.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Okay, first let me say Congrats! You are going to have an amazing time no matter what you pick.

One thing you didn't mention was whether this was your 1st trip to DL. There are a couple of factors you have to consider before you decide how many Disney Days, etc.

• When in December will you be there? If you are going during the actual holiday break days, the crowds are going to make you need more days to see the park.

• Are your kids fairly young? Legoland was nice, but definitely just for the young est crowd IMO. Personally, I would pick Sea World over Legoland merely for their Christmas shows they have. We went to SW at Thanksgiving and absolutely LOVED the Christmas show. Felt like Candlelight Processional at WDW minus the candles and add big whales!

• Keep in mind this year will be a little more crazy with Carsland, etc... more to see and do

With that said, I am actually in a similar situation with you. We will be there Thanksgiving week. What I have done is purchased the CityPass that you mentioned (DL just raised their ticket prices a big chunk, but I just bought my CP's at old rate, saving me even more $$). Then, we plan on adding one day to our 3-day park hopper while we are there.

This works for us because we really wanted to see the Chrismtas show at SW and we haven't been to Universal in 15+ years... perfect fit for us. Whether SW, Universal are better fo ryou than Zoo/Lego only you can say... but I definitely would try to keep it at 4 Disney days ... that's just my opinion.

BTW... just to forewarn you, the water can get pretty chilly (or maybe I'm just a wimp) in December at the beach. Not sure this trip would be the one to go to the beach

[papamouse1]

Originally Posted by DEA

I wanted to echo some of these thoughts. I was a little skeptical about DL, myself ("It's so small... look at the teeny, tiny castle..."), but having just returned, I am a convert..

Welcome Aboard!

I really enjoyed your insight, and I agree ride for ride... with one addition (not a correction, but more of a "you might change your mind")... The Haunted Mansion during the holidays after its overlay is just so amazing it definitely puts over WDW version for me. Even though I HAVE to go holiday season to see it, it's just hard not to think about it when I am reminiscing about both rides

And I couldn't agree more about GC. We only wished we had jumped on the bandwagon and bought DVC points there. It's brutal for us to get a room there on our points

We really do love all things Disney.. WDW, DL, DCL. But I think DL will always be home

[papamouse1]

Cristopher, all I can say is Wow!! I thought I was a "Disney addict". You definitely take the top of the class

Thanks for the incredible journey into the joy of Disneyland. After 5 years of being on loan to WDW, we are headed back to DL In November to renew our relationship with an old friend. I am absolutely giddy to be coming back. So much has changed. We can't wait to see all the changes, TSMM, Carsland, World of Color, Ariel. Can't wait to eat in the new restaurant at Carthay Circle (and I won't have to book 180 days out!). Can't wait to stay for our very first time, in the newly renovated DLH... and spend a couple days in our fav, GCV!!

Thanks for bringing back to me so many great memories, your hard workd is greatly appreciated