Let the planning commence!

[mason1]

Just booked a fly drive to LAX during February half term. Can’t believe how much cheaper it was than going to Orlando.

It’s our 1st time on the West Coast and the focus is Disneyland.

Any recommendations on where to get tickets from? Do they operate an MDE like Florida?

Any tips, as we’re on a tight budget as we’re back in Orlando in August.

Thanks

[metalguru]

Originally Posted by mason1

Just booked a fly drive to LAX during February half term. Can’t believe how much cheaper it was than going to Orlando.

It’s our 1st time on the West Coast and the focus is Disneyland.

Any recommendations on where to get tickets from? Do they operate an MDE like Florida?

Any tips, as we’re on a tight budget as we’re back in Orlando in August.

Thanks

See more...

You might be a little bit overwhelmed with Disneyland if you've been to Disney World

[red cuillen]

We managed 5 days-ish at Disneyland last Easter, I'd suggest you look at other things to do as well, plenty of trip reports to help you! Our trip reports has 2 parts for disney, including the Walk in Walts tour, which is a must if you are only going to go to the original (and best) park once!
All the usual online ticket sellers cover California as well as Florida, though we went direct via the USA Disneyland site and did a Good Neighbour Hotel plus ticket package.
Some rides might be down for maintenance over winter - yes it can be winter in LA in Feb, (depending whether the wind is off the cool sea, or from the east and the hot desert).

[sky13]

Went last November.

Got my tickets from LMT Club on the recommendation of another forum - they're a ticket reseller which requires a membership (can get this free) and were by far the cheapest tickets I could find at that time - something like $50/ticket cheaper than the official Disneyland site for a 5 day ticket. It's worth looking around all the resellers and haunting some Disneyland forums to find out what the current best deal might be on tickets.

No MDE, but there is an official Disneyland app. You can load your ticket onto the app and get them to scan the ticket barcode when entering the parks (instead of having to bring around the paper ticket). If you get Maxpass, you can use the app to get FPs, and also to get the codes for photopass and to view photos. I think you can also sort out dining and do mobile order through the app (didn't test this out though).

I highly recommend Maxpass although the price has gone up a bit (I think it's now $15/day but I might be wrong). It makes it so easy to get FPs and means you can get an FP once every 1.5 hours instead of 2 hours (sometimes shorter depending on your next FP time) - to the point that towards the end of the day I sometimes had more FPs than I knew what to do with. And the included photopass is a bonus. You don't need to get it for every day as well, so you could just get it for a couple of days and then decide if you want to continue getting it.

Watch out for Star Wars land crowds too - not sure what the crowd management and plan of attack is going to be for Star Wars land so might be worth checking in closer to the date about how crowds are like.

Disneyland trip planning is in general far more relaxed than WDW - it helps that it's just one walkable resort which makes park hopping easy. You don't need to book FP+ in advance, and dining reservations only open at 60 days out (I think) so don't need to be booking them 180 days out. I found Disneyland in general to be far more spontaneous than WDW. Also characters will randomly roam around places like Fantasyland, sometimes without handlers, and I saw Peter Pan and friends grab kids and sit around playing games with them - something I've never seen at WDW! It's a very similar but also very different experience and I rather enjoyed it. Though Disneyland also felt more crowded than WDW (I think because the walkways are narrower so less accommodating of crowds)...

[mason1]

Thanks for all the feedback. We’re only going for a week, but husband has now said he wants to do sightseeing and not just parks. I’ve not got accommodation booked yet, but thinking of doing 3 days sightseeing and 3 days in the parks.

I’ve downloaded the app, so will have a look at it. The kids love playing Disneyland Adventures on the Xbox, so no doubt know the one park like the back of their hand!

I’ll have a look at Disneyland specific forums to help with planning.

We’ve done WDW lots, so know what we’re doing. This is like going back to basics!

[red cuillen]

Originally Posted by sky13

Also characters will randomly roam around places like Fantasyland, sometimes without handlers, and I saw Peter Pan and friends grab kids and sit around playing games with them - something I've never seen at WDW! It's a very similar but also very different experience and I rather enjoyed it. Though Disneyland also felt more crowded than WDW (I think because the walkways are narrower so less accommodating of crowds)...

See more...

Our eldest (25yo) got 'picked up' by Jack Sparrow near to PotC and chatted with her all the way to Tom Sawyer Island. She was so hyper she forgot to ask for a selfie. Flynn Ryder was easy to chat with too.

[lossieglen]

Be prepared to spend a lot of time stuck on traffic if you plan on travelling around LA.

[mason1]

Originally Posted by lossieglen

Be prepared to spend a lot of time stuck on traffic if you plan on travelling around LA.

See more...

As we’re there for only a week, i’m thinking of doing the sightseeing stuff first, and then heading to the parks for the last 3-4 days. What i’ve Read so far indicates it’s quieter mid week than at the weekend in the parks.

Not particularly looking forward to the driving, but think it’s the best way to get around.

[Mrs Red C]

Thought I'd chip in with Satnav. We had it for our Easter 2018 trip and was invaluable for getting around L.A.

[mason1]

We usually use Navmi on the phone - hopefully it works as well in LA as Orlando. It’s the volume of traffic i’m Not looking forward to.