At the last minute, we have decided to go to Disneyland for two days after Christmas. Any advice? Four of us going, most have never been and have low expectations. Since it is post-Christmas, we need to do this without all the frills. I know Disney World always seems to have great deals, but not so much for Land. So, help me out - what do we HAVE to do? Most rides are out due to ages and heights of kids, but we are mainly looking for the spectacle. Should we go to California Adventures? TIA! Harper
I'm guessing you've got fairly little kids in tow. That being the case, you might consider two-day park-hopper tickets - they'll let you go back and forth between Disneyland and DCA - and DCA has several attractions that are intended for the smaller set: if A Bug's Life isn't still there, it will have been replaced by something even niftier. In addition, DCA has one of my all-time favorite Disney rides ever: Soaring Over California. (Imagine a motion simulator done up like a hang-glider, and if you've done much traveling in the state at all, you'll recognize a lot of the scenery.) I also generally like the food in DCA; the Boudin Bakery used to sell soup-in-a-bread-bowl and a humongous cream puff, and there's a Mexican restaurant with a fairly decent wine-based margarita and a few good beers. How big are the kids in question?
Bug's life was still there this last summer, it had small rides for the little set. We really like it, there was a little car/track ride that had no roller coaster hills. As you ride through the chewed watermelon it drips on you and smells just like watermelon! That was fun for us. Soaring Over California was fun, but I seem to remember the workers of DCA saying that at the end of season they were going to begin to rip down the entryway to DCA even faster and begin building a whole new venue there. Something about a Snow White theater and changing the venue to be a more art deco look.....I think that the Soaring ride was going to turn into something else in that.....but I may have just confabulated that part later. When my daughter was little she really loved the princess area in the regular Disneyland, and my son LOVES the pirate island. We also spent a good deal of time on the Jungle cruise when they were small. I don't know how small the children are in question...I have misinterpreted and made the too small now.
We went one year during either Christmas or July 4th. We left the park & couldn't get back in because it was at capacity! I think, if I remember right, they told us they would have been able to let us in if we had been staying on one of the properties on the Monorail system. They did give us a ticket to go to another park for the remainder of the day.
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/ Look through their site & see what times they open. I like being there as soon as they open when I go to amusement parks to take full advantage of the day. They offer these park hopper tickets where you can go to both Disneyland & CA Adventure. I almost went to Disneyland during this Thanksgiving vacation! I think I'll go for Christmas break though. I visited their site the other day & can't believe the price per day for 1 person for 1 park is up to $80! It used to be $70 not so long ago. Well, for myself who's a CA native & can go to Disneyland anytime, I would't normally suggest CA Adventure because I finally went once & they charge the same price & the park isn't nearly as good or big, but since you're visiting from out of town, you might as well, it's nice too...a lot less rides, but lots for kids to see too. For adults, it's more walking around & seeing things. I just think it's highway robbery that thery can charge the same fee as they do Disneyland. I agree that at CA Adventure for adults anyway, Soaring over CA, which is a simulation ride is the best along w/ the Tower of Terror. Those are really the only two good ones. They have a ferris wheel too, but no roller coasters at CA Adventure. I was trying to figure out what day I should go. Since I'm going during my 2 wk vacation, I have the last wk of Dec & 1st wk of Jan off. I wish I knew if most kids will have the last 2 wks off in Dec OR the last wk of Dec & 1st wk of Jan because I like to avoid th crowds as much as humanly possible. I'm thinking of going Fri., Dec 23rd myself because that's 2 days before Christmas so most people will be busy preparing for the Christmas festivities.
I agree about doing the park hopper tickets. My friends and I went for a bridal party and we purchased the two tickets and went to one park one day and the other park the next day. I enjoyed both parks. If I were you, I would go online and make a list of the rides that would be appropriate for the kids so that you know ahead of time what rides you plan to go on. I would imagine they would have that information online.
I've never been there, but check: http://www.mousesavers.com/disneyland.html and http://allears.net/dlr/dlresort.htm I would also suggest working with a travel agent-- here are the 3 we liked most: Tracey Heinrichs at Dreams Unlimited Travel Jodi Pew at Our Laughing Place Travel Lynn Mirante at Ears To You Travel All are Disney certified. both are great resources for all things Disney.
Yes, I know that at Disney World, Christmas and Easter weeks are the two most crowded weeks of the year. What that means is that you NEED to be there at rope drop (opening), to have a good idea of what you want to do, and to understand how Fastpasses work. As I understand it, there are different levels of "full to capacity." The one that kpa is discussing is when they'll let anyone staying on Disney property in to A park, though not necessarily the one they want to get into. Once it gets beyond even that, you simply cannot get in. (Not really sure you want to at that point; it's got to be shoulder to shoulder.) There's a phone app you can download that will tell you the lines on a variety of attractions. Oh, and you may want to take a look at www.touringplans.com to get an idea of how to approach the attractions.
Soooo my first post did not show up. Woops! I have been having "technical difficulties" so I shouldn't be surprised! The kids and 5 and 7, but a bit "young" for their ages - boy and girl. Adults going are not looking to do anything other than be an escort for kids. Thanks everyone for the great tips. I have a lot of research and work to do in the next week or so! Thanks for the travel agents, Alice. I'll look into them as well. Any other advice is certainly welcome!
Check touringplans.com for the projected crowd calendars. I'm a subscriber, but I'm not sure how much I can post without it being theft of services. Ms. I, I haven't checked. But I bet you a dollar that from the 21st through the dates listed they're expecting capacity crowds. Most kids around here go back to school January 2nd or 3rd. I would imagine the district you work in, or the one you live in, has a calendar posted online.
If you are doing the park hopper pass, the Alladin show at California Adventures is a MUST! It's hilarious! I know you said no frills but if you do decide to splurge on a lunch I recommend the Blue Bayou. The restaurant is in the Pirates of the Carribean ride. It's a lot of fun and the food is great.
Thanks Alice. Yes, our district calendar comes out way in advance (2012-13 yr's already out!) My Christmas 2011 vacation's from 12/23 - 1/9. Maybe I should go towards the very end.
