Aermaia
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2015
Hi everyone!
A couple weeks ago, feeling in need of a break after a stressful few months of work, and with lowered inhibitions due to a brunch which included a few bloody marys, I decided to turn what was supposed to be a staycation the week of July 4th into a SoCal/Disneyland vacation. My mother will be tagging along with me, as she took the week off as well. Neither of us has been to Disneyland, though I have been to LA and much of Southern California and lived in Palm Springs briefly, but have not been back to California in 7 years. This will be my mother's first time to California. I have a few questions about our current plan and I would love your feedback.
We fly into LGB on Monday July 3rd and leave Sunday July 9th. We will have a rental car and we have enough time to do something in the afternoon on arrival day, but not enough time to do anything departure day. We are staying and Castle Inn and Suites.
Currently my plan is to sight see in LA on Monday (La Brea Tar Pits as I've never been, driving around to show my mom some other staples before driving out to check into our hotel). On July 4th I was considering staying out of the parks and instead doing a brief daytrip to Palm Springs to see friends and show my mother around). So, our Disneyland days would be Wednesday the 5th-Saturday the 8th.
Since we are from New England, I am planning on taking advantage of the time change and getting there at 7:00 am to wait for rope drops (should we go earlier?). Also, when touring parks, my mother and I do like rides and would like to experience most of them, but we are not the type to have to ride things multiple times. We don't spend time on character meets, do like to browse shops, and plan on opting for quick service over table service this trip. We booked a WoC dining package one night and a MSEP on-the-go package another, so that we can utilize the reserved space for both. With all that said, here are my questions:
I'm trying to figure out if we should spend an additional day exploring outside the parks. So, do we need 4 days of Disneyland and California Adventure as first timers, and if so do we need park hoppers? It seems like the park hoppers would be convenient since the parks are so close, but has some other combination of days in the parks/park hoppers worked best for your two person party?
What do crowd level 6-7 days look like at Disneyland? We usually go to Disneyworld in the fall and hit parks on lower than average crowd days, so I'm trying to gauge how much of a shock I'll be in.
How long is the walk to the park from Castle Inn and Suites? Is there some secret I should know about a for the fastest way to get from hotel to park?
This next question is silly, but as someone who only knows Disneyworld, is the amount of daily walking similar at Disneyland? At Disneyworld we average anywhere from 8-15 miles walked a day.
I think that is all my questions for now. This turned out to be a lot longer of a post than expected, but I thank everyone for reading and offering any guidance you have!
A couple weeks ago, feeling in need of a break after a stressful few months of work, and with lowered inhibitions due to a brunch which included a few bloody marys, I decided to turn what was supposed to be a staycation the week of July 4th into a SoCal/Disneyland vacation. My mother will be tagging along with me, as she took the week off as well. Neither of us has been to Disneyland, though I have been to LA and much of Southern California and lived in Palm Springs briefly, but have not been back to California in 7 years. This will be my mother's first time to California. I have a few questions about our current plan and I would love your feedback.
We fly into LGB on Monday July 3rd and leave Sunday July 9th. We will have a rental car and we have enough time to do something in the afternoon on arrival day, but not enough time to do anything departure day. We are staying and Castle Inn and Suites.
Currently my plan is to sight see in LA on Monday (La Brea Tar Pits as I've never been, driving around to show my mom some other staples before driving out to check into our hotel). On July 4th I was considering staying out of the parks and instead doing a brief daytrip to Palm Springs to see friends and show my mother around). So, our Disneyland days would be Wednesday the 5th-Saturday the 8th.
Since we are from New England, I am planning on taking advantage of the time change and getting there at 7:00 am to wait for rope drops (should we go earlier?). Also, when touring parks, my mother and I do like rides and would like to experience most of them, but we are not the type to have to ride things multiple times. We don't spend time on character meets, do like to browse shops, and plan on opting for quick service over table service this trip. We booked a WoC dining package one night and a MSEP on-the-go package another, so that we can utilize the reserved space for both. With all that said, here are my questions:
I'm trying to figure out if we should spend an additional day exploring outside the parks. So, do we need 4 days of Disneyland and California Adventure as first timers, and if so do we need park hoppers? It seems like the park hoppers would be convenient since the parks are so close, but has some other combination of days in the parks/park hoppers worked best for your two person party?
What do crowd level 6-7 days look like at Disneyland? We usually go to Disneyworld in the fall and hit parks on lower than average crowd days, so I'm trying to gauge how much of a shock I'll be in.
How long is the walk to the park from Castle Inn and Suites? Is there some secret I should know about a for the fastest way to get from hotel to park?
This next question is silly, but as someone who only knows Disneyworld, is the amount of daily walking similar at Disneyland? At Disneyworld we average anywhere from 8-15 miles walked a day.
I think that is all my questions for now. This turned out to be a lot longer of a post than expected, but I thank everyone for reading and offering any guidance you have!