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We are WDW veterans and are planning our first trip ever to DL in early 2011. We will probably only go to DL and not anywhere else while there. What advise can you give me on:
1. What is the best airport to fly into?
2. How many days should we allow for each park? This will probably be our one and only DL trip for a while.
3. What are the must do rides and attractions?
Thanks in advance for your advise.
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The closest airport is John Wayne/SNA. There is also Long Beach, and Lax, The closest one may not be the best as far as air fares though.
Since it will be your first visit, I would spend as much time as you can at each park. That way you won't feel rushed to see it all in a short period of time. Even though it is MUCH smaller than WDW, there is a lot to see.
There are quite a few attractions at DL that they have at WDW. See them as they are slightly different than the ones at WDW. Disneyland has attractions that they don't have at WDW.... Those would be my must do's. Matterhorn Bobsleds, Finding Nemo Subs, The Original Tiki Room, Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride., Storybook Land Canals. At DCA, there is Monster's Inc. Bugs land,
I am sure someone else can fill in what I might have left out. Have fun planning.
1. What is the best airport to fly into? John Wayne/Santa Ana/Orange County is the closest airport. SWA flies there.
2. How many days should we allow for each park? This will probably be our one and only DL trip for a while. We go once a year and still do 4 days each trip. You should plan on at least 2 days for DL and 1 for DCA, which is what we do. We use our 4th day as a "what do we want to do again" 1/2 day, since we leave after lunch that day.
3. What are the must do rides and attractions? I suggest that you read up on what rides are in each park. We have certain one we HAVE to do and ones that we'll do if we have extra time and ones that we will always skip entirely. But those are different for each person. If you get an idea of what you want to try, I know we'll be more than happy to give advice from there.
Keep in mind that while you may still want a "gameplan" on touring the parks, you do not need to do the planning and arranging you have to do with WDW. There are only a couple of restaurants, PS (their version of ADRs) don't start until 60 out and they rarely book up that far out, and they don't have a dining plan (ignore what you read about their "dining plan" as it is not a good value in any way shape or form!). As long as you have a framework for what you want to do, you'll be in good shape. Park hopping is as easy as exiting one park and walking "across the street" to the other. (Also, the monorail is an attraction, not a means of transportation. Yes, you can take it from Tomorrowland to DTD, but that only makes sense if you're already in Tomorrowland or by the Rainforest Cafe in DTD.)
Have fun planning! We're here for more questions if you need us!
For you first trip I agree 4 days is great, with 2 at Disneyland, 1 at California Adventure and we use the 4th day for hitting the best of both parks and then end with Down Town Disney. We prefer John Wayne/SNA airport since it is the closest and not nearly as hectic as LAX. I suggest hitting the rides that are unique to Disneyland Resort (Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, etc. ) first, then take in the rest! Have fun planning!
HELLO! I went to DL for the first time last last WDW veteran.. I just want to let you know it is differnt there.
1. What is the best airport to fly into?
flying into LAX isn't bad its flying out is a pain.. lines are crazy..
2. How many days should we allow for each park? This will probably be our one and only DL trip for a while.
I would do 3 days for the parks 1 day in each and then a extra day to park hop just in case there was something you missed and do a half day for downtown Disney I like Florida DTD so much more.
3. What are the must do rides and attractions?
I would look at the list of rides that DL has that wdw doesn't… I know someone posted here before.
Good Luck at planning.. I have some books send me a pm I can send them to you if you like.
Hi! We are Disneyland Vets and have only done WDW once. As many have said in this thread, it's easy to park-hop and you should use that to your advantage when making use of the FastPass system used in both parks. The two systems are separate and do not "talk" to each other. This means that you can get passes from both parks at the same time. In order to get fast passes, your park hoppers have to be scanned into at least one park that day. We usually start our day by scanning into one park, getting FPes for what we really want to get on that day (usually Space Mountain or Indiana Jones) and then sending a runner (usually me) to the other park to get passes for TOT (Hollywood Tower of Terror). That gets you a guaranteed ride on the most desired attractions. Depending on the timing of your trip, you will be able to get passes for World of Color, which is scheduled to open on 6/11. That will be a must see for you. If you have little ones, the FastPass kiosk in Toon Town runs independently of the others at DL, so you can get passes there even during the restricted period immediately after having gotten others at DL. Sorry for being so long-winded. LOL!
We can never get enough of DL and DCA, so I'm not going to recommend a time-span. As AP holders, we make 5 or 6 trips into the parks annually, with a big finale the week between Christmas and New Year's for a full week.
There are several good restaurants worthy of priority seatings:
Plaza Inn (Character Dining)
Ariel's Grotto (Princess Character Dining)
Storyteller's Cafe (Character Dining)
PCH Grill (Lilo & Stitch Character Dining)
Hook's Pointe (adult dining)
Goofy's Kitchen (Character Dining)
You can read up on all of these on the Disney Site. As mentioned, they all take reservations up to 60 days in advance. There are also good places in Downtown Disney that take priority seatings. I gotta go, but may come back for another post. Happy planning!
As a former WDW vet (now DLR pro ) I must say that the must see rides are any that are exclusive to DLR, Indiana Jones is definitely one u must ride! That being said, you will find that Space Mountain at DLR is is much better that WDW. You will find DLR to be quite different than WDW mainly because it has a certain intimacy that cannot be found at WDW. Both parks are great for their own unique qualities. Hope you have a great trip!
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What fun decisions you have to make! My family is lucky enough to visit both WDW and DL each year (usually). We always try to stay at WDW for 7 - 10 days and still don't cover everything, but we know we'll be back! For DL we usually stay 5 days. This allows us to hang out at the pools, enjoy Downtown Disney and make sure we can ride all the rides several times! While DL is smaller there's still a lot to see and do.
The rides have already been mentioned by different posters, but no one that I noticed has mentioned the entertainment. There's a new show starting June 11 called World of Color that you won't want to miss. Also there's a nightly firework show during the summer featuring tinkerbell and dumbo flying through the air. And of course Fantasmic! will be back! There are also wonderful activities in Downtown Disney. So make sure you try and attend these events as well!
And both LAX and SNA (Orange County) are great airports to fly into. We've never had trouble at either one. The transportation to get to the resorts is also easy for both airports. The flight schedule is always what determines which airport we'll be flying into, especially if we can find a nonstop at a good price.
Good luck and let us know if you need more input. But since you'll be flying and this may be your only visit in quite awhile I would suggest at least 5 nights so you won't feel rushed and can truly enjoy your vacation!
1. What is the best airport to fly into?
The airport that gives you the best deal on your flights. I usually fly into Los Angeles International because Spirit has good prices on flights between Detroit and LAX. Shop around.
2. How many days should we allow for each park? This will probably be our one and only DL trip for a while.
At least two for Disneyland, and at least one full day for Disney's California Adventure. If you can, I'd have at least one full day to fill in the gaps and check out Downtown Disney. I usually recommend four days for a Disneyland vacation.
3. What are the must do rides and attractions?
This depends on your interests really. I'm not much into coasters and thrill rides, but if I were, there's the Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, California Screamin', and Tower of Terror. My personal favorites are Tiki Room, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, Indiana Jones, Toy Story Mania, Bug's Land, Muppet*Vision, and Soarin'. My recommendations are also all noted in PassPorter's Disneyland Resort guidebook.
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I have always wanted to go to DisneyLand. I am a frequent flyer to WDW and love it! I just want to see more Disney! This is a great resource should I get a chance to go there!
Thanks!
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1. What is the best airport to fly into?
I prefer John Wayne as it is less hectic but my best advice is to check fares for both John Wayne and LAX.
2. How many days should we allow for each park? This will probably be our one and only DL trip for a while.
Minimum 4 days-2 full at DL, 1 full at DCA and last day split between the two for favorite attractions
3. What are the must do rides and attractions?
My must-dos always include Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, the Disney Railroad, Monorail, the Matterhorn Bobsleds, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad, Indiana Jones, and the Mad Tea Party.
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) I must say that the must see rides are any that are exclusive to DLR, Indiana Jones is definitely one u must ride! That being said, you will find that Space Mountain at DLR is is much better that WDW. You will find DLR to be quite different than WDW mainly because it has a certain intimacy that cannot be found at WDW. Both parks are great for their own unique qualities. Hope you have a great trip!
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