Just booked 1st Disneyland trip!!!!

[captainkidd]

July 9-20, 2012
Disneyland Hotel
6 day park hopper

I booked it through AAA Disneyland Vacations. Now just trying to figure out how to make payments over the next year.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yaaaayyy!!! You chose the DL Hotel! That's my 1st choice for our (hopeful) post-cruise DL discovery trip for September 2012. You'll have to tell me what you think when you get back next summer. Oh! What room category did you book? I'm not sure what to do there. I was playing with the pricing last night, too. :lol:

Congrats! It's "new" old-school Disney for us noobs! The thought of something "new" to me that's Disney makes my heart skip a beat. How about you?!

 

[captainkidd]

I booked an upper floor resort/pool view, and requested the tower facing the parks.

I can't wait, though I'm a bit nervous. I know how to book WDW inside out. This is more of a challenge. Lots of homework to do before now and then.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I booked an upper floor resort/pool view, and requested the tower facing the parks.

I can't wait, though I'm a bit nervous. I know how to book WDW inside out. This is more of a challenge. Lots of homework to do before now and then.

Oh yeah. I feel ya. And there's not as much info as readily available on the internet the way there is with WDW. I think the biggest thing I look forward to is not needing to do the crazy-detailed planning that has to go into WDW. There's not as many variables, etc. Plus, dining is easier to figure out and you don't have to plan it a full 180 days in advance. That drives me nuts. I hate doing all that because: a.) I'm always thinking that it's highly likely that the family won't feel like doing what I *think* we will when the time comes, and b.) too much time to rethink & second-guess myself. LOL!

Have fun learning & planning. The room sounds totally fab! :wave:

 

[TP2000]

This is more of a challenge. Lots of homework to do before now and then.

Now that you are booked and can't really back out, it's time you and I had a little talk.

The regulars here on this forum will know where I'm going with this, so just bear with me gang. :lookaroun

You have a full 10 day SoCal vacation planned, with the iconic Disneyland Hotel as your glamorous base camp during the opening summer of Cars Land. I congratulate you on your excellent taste! But here's some advice that may take you by surprise.... You have simply GOT to plan several days where you get away from Disney and theme parks in general!

Southern California is one of the world's most famous places, and a treasure trove of American cultural gems. You are going to need to get away from theme parks for a bit and explore SoCal and all it has to offer. For instance, you have already mentioned the San Diego Zoo and Sea World, which are always fun.

But San Diego also has beautiful Balboa Park, near downtown, and site of the 1916 World's Fair. The rather unique looking fair pavilions are reused as a sprawling campus of 14 different museums, and several types of gardens. You can find any type of museum at Balboa Park, from a model railroad museum, to several art museums, to an Air & Space Museum, a car museum, a lovely Japanese Garden, and a tall carillon tower from the fair that performs carillon concerts every hour. http://www.balboapark.org/

And of course there's the world-famous San Diego Zoo. The zoo was started when a few wild animals displayed at the World's Fair were let loose in the canyons around the property when the fair ended. The city began constructing some enclosures for some of them in the 1920's, and it grew into a zoo that after World War II became the pride of San Diego. You can spend a good half-day there and not see everything. It also still has a Disney-esque Skyway ride that glides high above the zoo canyons and exhibits! http://sandiegozoo.org/

 

[BalooChicago]

And of course there's the world-famous San Diego Zoo.

Maybe it's because we have two really good zoos in Chicago, but SD Zoo didn't strike me as anything terribly special when I went. Wild Animal (Now Safari) Park on the other hand was awesome.

 

[TP2000]

Then there is the city of Los Angeles. The monster mega-city to the north of laid back Orange County.

I'll be honest and say up front that I'm not a big fan of Los Angeles, as I find I enjoy Orange County and San Diego County much better. But if you do get up to LA there are many things to do there, and I highly recommend visiting The Griffith Observatory. It's up in the Hollywood Hills, and they recently restored the 1930's building during a two year closure. Griffith Observatory featured prominently in Disney's The Rocketeer movie. A state-of-the-art underground space museum was just built under the lawn out front, and the new digital planetarium is reputed to be one of the finest in the world with very entertaining performances. The views from the observation decks are wonderful, especially in the evening when the lights of the great LA basin come to life. Best of all, entrance to the building and the museum exhibits is completely free, with an additional charge for planetarium shows. http://www.griffithobs.org/

The Getty Museum west of the Grifith Observatory in the Hollywood Hills is also an amazing place to visit, and completely free thanks to the goodwill of the Getty Trust and the Getty Oil Company. Riding up the hill on the monorail from the parking lot to the museum campus also adds a Disney twist to things at The Getty. http://www.getty.edu/visit/

 

[TP2000]

Maybe it's because we have two really good zoos in Chicago, but SD Zoo didn't strike me as anything terribly special when I went. Wild Animal (Now Safari) Park on the other hand was awesome.

It's also likely a testament to how far most big-city zoos have come in over the last 25 years in regards to exhibit design and animal care.

The San Diego Zoo is fabulous, but with so many other excellent zoos now in America the reputation of the San Diego Zoo as "world famous" likely owes quite a bit to all those visits that Joan Embery made to The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson back in the 1970's and 80's! :lol:

 

[captainkidd]

TP - Honestly, I'm just worried enough about getting from the dreaded LA Airport to Disneyland.:lol:

We talked about doing San Diego, but I think we're gonna pass. Here's the thing - I'm a WDW-aholic. But I especially love the Magic Kingdom. We spend literally 4-5 days there every trip. Now, from what I've read (and heard), Disneyland is basically a smaller, but much better version of the MK. To me, that sounds like Paradise.

Another thing to consider is, we have 3 kids, including twin 5 year olds (at the time of travel.) I just don't know how interested they'll be in museums and the like.

What I plan to do is take my 11 year old step-son to Universal Studios. From what I read, the 5 year olds would be bored there. We're also going to go to Knotts Berry Farm, which looks great. My wife also wants to spend a day doing a Hollywood tour, and seeing Beverly Hills.

But honestly, I'm just so excited to finally step foot in Walt's original park, that's worth the trip for me. I will no doubt, find a bench and sit there and stare up at his window in awe. That will take a good day of our trip.:animwink:

 

[TP2000]

And finally, I have to let the captainkidd know that there are many options in Orange County that could provide great afternoon getaways from Disneyland and your six-day park hopper tickets.

Orange County has some of the most picturesque and walkable beach towns in SoCal, all just a 20 or 30 minute drive from the Disneyland Hotel.

Laguna Beach, for example, has a funky and upscale downtown area full of art galleries, boutiques, and fantastic restaurants. And the scenery along the cliffs and bluffs around Laguna is stunning. http://www.lagunabeachinfo.com/

The kids would probably love exploring Crystal Cove State Beach for an hour or two, with tons of tidepools to discover, a few miles north of Laguna Beach and just south of Corona Del Mar. http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/

There's also Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Huntington Beach, San Clemente, etc. for fun and interesting beach towns a short drive from Disneyland.

In the other direction is Palm Springs. A million things can be said about Palm Springs and its mid-century architecture, gourmet restaurans and dining, lavish resorts and golf courses (site of the part in the Soarin' film where the golfer tees off the ball right at the camera). But in July, which is the off-season for Palm Springs, a really fun thing to do is to take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up the mountain and experience about a 30 degree drop in temperatures from the desert floor to the mountain peak. The circular tram cars revolve as you go up the cable, and it's an amazing experience. At the mountaintop station you'll find a couple of restaurants, a cocktail lounge , and a State Park ranger station and miles of hiking trails through the alpine environment.

The Tramway station is a 90 minute drive from the Disneyland Hotel, if you don't go at rush hour. http://www.pstramway.com/

In short, you have simply got to consider several day trips or afternoon jaunts away from Disneyland. Get out and experience Southern California away from the theme parks and pre-packaged Disney scene dictated by Fastpass return times and priority seating reservations. I highly recommend you pick up a Fodor's or other good Southern California travel book from your local Barnes & Noble and do some research into the types of things that interest you or what you'd like to see. We've only scratched the surface here, there is a lot more in SoCal to entertain a visitor. :wave:

.

 

[TP2000]

TP - Honestly, I'm just worried enough about getting from the dreaded LA Airport to Disneyland.:lol:


But honestly, I'm just so excited to finally step foot in Walt's original park, that's worth the trip for me. I will no doubt, find a bench and sit there and stare up at his window in awe. That will take a good day of our trip.:animwink:

Understood!

But just humor me, and consider the Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour at Disneyland.

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/dis...ours/detail?name=WalkInWaltsFootstepsTourPage

People rave about it. They really load up the Disney fanatic with amazing information and factoids about the park, and how Walt brought it all to life. They even let you ride in Walt's personal observation car on the Disneyland Railroad, the Lilly Belle named after his wife Lillian, and do all sorts of other interesting things.

I did the Footsteps tour once several years ago and loved it, before they added the digital audio and the headsets with recordings from Walt talking about his park, which people say really brings the tour to life. You need to reserve in advance, as it's popular and fills up during busy times of year.

 

[KingdomofDreams]

Understood!

But just humor me, and consider the Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour at Disneyland.

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/dis...ours/detail?name=WalkInWaltsFootstepsTourPage

People rave about it. They really load up the Disney fanatic with amazing information and factoids about the park, and how Walt brought it all to life. They even let you ride in Walt's personal observation car on the Disneyland Railroad, the Lilly Belle named after his wife Lillian, and do all sorts of other interesting things.

I did the Footsteps tour once several years ago and loved it, before they added the digital audio and the headsets with recordings from Walt talking about his park, which people say really brings the tour to life. You need to reserve in advance, as it's popular and fills up during busy times of year.

Ooooooh! I'm usually not into the whole "tour" thing, but that one really sounds great!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

TP2000, I gotta ask.....Do you work for California Tourism??? You describe everything so eloquently. I swear I wanna ditch the family, sell my soul, and hitch-hike out to Cali just to get a glimpse of the splendor. LOL!

In Sept. 2012 we'll be coming off our 6-night DCL cruise w/2 days in San Francisco. **my heart skips a beat just thinking about it** We're planning on doing DL for at least 2-3 days. I'll have to save all the San Diego awesome-ness for the next go-around but that Walk in Walt's Footsteps sounds like it'll be the thing we won't be missing.

You're forever an absolute treasure trove of amazing info on what California has to offer. I can't wait to come back and tell you all about our impressions. I can't thank you enough for all the time & effort you put into educating the masses here. I really do appreciate it!

:wave:

 

[Mickey_777]

Yep. When we head out to L.A. we're gonna do 3 days at DLR, 1 and Universal Hollywood, and 5 doing other SoCal stuff. Probably a day in San Diego. Balboa park looks real cool. We also want to check out Santa Monica and the Hollywood/Sunset Strip area. Downtown L.A. too...

BTW, do you recommend any really good Mexican food or taco spots? My wife and are really looking forward to some amazing tacos we hear so much about.

 

[Rufus T Firefly]

TP2000, I gotta ask.....Do you work for California Tourism??? You describe everything so eloquently. I swear I wanna ditch the family, sell my soul, and hitch-hike out to Cali just to get a glimpse of the splendor. LOL!

In Sept. 2012 we'll be coming off our 6-night DCL cruise w/2 days in San Francisco. **my heart skips a beat just thinking about it** We're planning on doing DL for at least 2-3 days. I'll have to save all the San Diego awesome-ness for the next go-around but that Walk in Walt's Footsteps sounds like it'll be the thing we won't be missing.

You're forever an absolute treasure trove of amazing info on what California has to offer. I can't wait to come back and tell you all about our impressions. I can't thank you enough for all the time & effort you put into educating the masses here. I really do appreciate it!

:wave:

I've often suspected that TP stands for Travel Professional. :animwink:

 

[TP2000]

TP2000, I gotta ask.....Do you work for California Tourism???

No, I don't work for California Tourism. And no, TP doesn't stand for Travel Profesional either. I actually work in a staid financial field, and I picked that TP2000 handle about 15 years ago on the old alt.disney.disneyland usenet forums and now it's almost hard for me to remember the old inside joke that stands for.

But when I get really old and retire, I often think I should get a job as a greeter at a California Tourism Center and wear a red polyester jacket and chase after people with maps and brochures. :lol:

Thanks for the kind words gang. I've lived in many states in most regions of this great country over the past few decades, and I'm just very happy to call Southern California home. Every region of the USA has wonderful things to offer with its local culture and environment, but SoCal is truly blessed in so many various categories. And on top of that, right smack dab in the middle of Southern California, you'll find Disneyland USA!

 

[xsupaxmanxsfnex]

I just got back from my first ever Disneyland trip on the 12th. We have always gone to Disney World and we were all very pleased with Disneyland. The landscaping around the whole park is so beautiful and even though a lot of the attractions might seem to be the same as WDW attractions such as Pirates and Haunted Mansion they are very different inside and out and it is very interesting to consider the differences. I had a great time and I am sure you will too!

 

[Mukta]

What I plan to do is take my 11 year old step-son to Universal Studios. From what I read, the 5 year olds would be bored there. We're also going to go to Knotts Berry Farm, which looks great. My wife also wants to spend a day doing a Hollywood tour, and seeing Beverly Hills.

But honestly, I'm just so excited to finally step foot in Walt's original park, that's worth the trip for me. I will no doubt, find a bench and sit there and stare up at his window in awe. That will take a good day of our trip.:animwink:

I'm not a fan of Knott's because I don't care for roller coasters. I do enjoy Universal a lot though. If it was closer to home, I would go there as often as I go to DL.
I am so glad you are spending so much time at DL. There are so many fantastic little details.
Please see the movie in the Opera House made for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland.
Watch some old Mickey cartoons in the Cinema Hall on Main Street.
Watch the nightly light show in Pixie Hollow.
Watch the Billy Hill show in the Golden Horseshoe while eating ice cream
Walk through the castle and see the story of Sleeping Beauty.
Attend a dance party at the Tomorrowland Terrace (which has some great cover bands) or Carnation Plaza (which has swings)

 

[captainkidd]

I am so glad you are spending so much time at DL. There are so many fantastic little details.
Please see the movie in the Opera House made for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland.
Watch some old Mickey cartoons in the Cinema Hall on Main Street.
Watch the nightly light show in Pixie Hollow.
Watch the Billy Hill show in the Golden Horseshoe while eating ice cream
Walk through the castle and see the story of Sleeping Beauty.
Attend a dance party at the Tomorrowland Terrace (which has some great cover bands) or Carnation Plaza (which has swings)

I absolutely will do all of those things. In fact, call me crazy, but I think we're going to upgrade our 6 day park hoppers to AP's while we're there, and spend another day or 2 at Disneyland, assuming we can do this the same way you can at WDW. I've done so much research into Disneyland Park over the past 2 years, and fallen in love just from what I've read.

 

[sponono88]

I'm not a fan of Knott's because I don't care for roller coasters. I do enjoy Universal a lot though. If it was closer to home, I would go there as often as I go to DL.
I am so glad you are spending so much time at DL. There are so many fantastic little details.
Please see the movie in the Opera House made for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland.
Watch some old Mickey cartoons in the Cinema Hall on Main Street.
Watch the nightly light show in Pixie Hollow.
Watch the Billy Hill show in the Golden Horseshoe while eating ice cream
Walk through the castle and see the story of Sleeping Beauty.
Attend a dance party at the Tomorrowland Terrace (which has some great cover bands) or Carnation Plaza (which has swings)

Knotts is a lovely park. I know it sometimes gets a bad rap from Disney fans but it has a rich history and is pretty significant as far as theme parks go. I think it's worth a visit just to experience Ghost Town alone. It's the park's biggest and most popular land, what's left of the original park can still be found in there. From their website:

"The heart and soul of Knott's, Ghost Town is an 1880's California Boom Town with cowboys, gunfights, stage-coaches, a steam train, the world's first log flume ride and panning for real gold. Authentic in (almost) every detail, Ghost Town is a REAL town with a REAL Sheriff and REAL buildings transported from mining towns throughout the West! Once upon a time... it really was a California Ghost Town, circa 1880

Now it's come alive again, filled with crafts folk, a gang of rip-snortin', pistol-packin' hombres and offering a passel of rousing, Western style adventures. Knott's Ghost Town is a picturesque, living tribute to the Old West. Its many historic buildings and artifacts help transport you back over 100 years when the West was a wild and woolly place indeed."

Classic rides, awesome shops, lots to see and do -- I think it's miles better than DL's Frontierland. Also don't miss the Mystery Lodge attraction (oh and their famous chicken dinners!) The Independence Hall recreation is also worth a look, free admission even though its located across the street from the park -- it's an exact replica of the real building.

Lots of great things to do at Knotts, even if you're not a coaster fan. I don't do big roller coasters but I still have a great time whenever I go. It's said Walter Knotts and his park had a big influence on Walt Disney and his creation of Disneyland. I've learned to really appreciate the park, and although the the landscape has changed a bit over the years - what with all the new thrill rides- I think it still retains some of its original charm. I love reading about the history of the place and sadly it seems many Disney fans tend to forget about this park (i'm sure many don't even know it exists!)

Here's an interesting interview with WDI Legend Rolly Crump where he mentions Walt's visits to Knotts Berry Farm-

"I mean, Knott’s had built an incredible park over the years. Walt Disney used to go to Knott’s Berry Farm and he got a lot of his ideas for Disneyland from Knott’s."

http://www.yesterland.com/bearytales.html

And if you want to learn more about the park, Knotts Preserved is an amazing read

http://www.yesterland.com/knottspreserved.html