Noob to DL

[kuhltiffany]

We were in DL the last day it was open last year...

Anyway, we are from Ottawa, we fly direct on Air Canada out of Montreal. I use Air Miles to cover our park passes, sometimes car rental and hotel too depending on how many I have. I buy Gift Cards for dining a little at a time to save up, we can use the ones we buy in Canada at either of the parks.

DL is quite different than WDW, it's in the middle of town, so has lots of outside hotels and restaurants, so many options to stay and eat!

 

[wbl2745]

Regarding hotels near the Disneyland Resort, we usually stay at the Tropicana Inn and Suites if we're not staying at the DVC, which is right across the street from the entrance on Harbor Blvd. They also have a small market so you can purchase snacks. If you want more room we've stayed at the Embassy Suites on Harbor. Most rooms can sleep 6 (2 queen beds and a fold out couch) and they have a nice breakfast included. The only downside is that it isn't within walking distance (I tried it once). You should either plan on driving or taking the Anaheim Resort Transport (ART). Buy the ticket in the hotel, before you get on the bus.

We're members of DVC so more often we stay at the Villas at the Grand Californian. The studios are bigger than the standard hotel room, and the one, two, and three bedroom units are like home. The cash cost of these rooms is astronomical, but you can contact DVC rental companies and rent points for a lot less than the cash cost of the room.

Hope you have a good time!

 

[whoever]

Anything less than 4 days (3 nights) will make you feel rushed and stressed. We typically do 5 days minimum. For hotels, The Grand or Disneyland Hotel are the only way to go IMHO. Extra Magic Hour in the morning is a great perk and you stay inside the bubble and it's so much better than offsite.

 

[sherilaine]

Hi there - we are from Calgary and we have travelled to Disneyland 6 times since 2012 and I can share what has worked for us. Disney is one of the most subjective topics I have ever discussed with people so it's great to just read how things work for people and then see if anything sounds good honestly.
1) how many days would I need in park to say that I did most of it and be satisfied?

I've never left Disneyland "satisfied" that I am done. So that is a hard question to answer. Coming from Canada we always get 5 day Park Hoppers with max pass and we take full advantage, staying for at least a week and taking several days off in between park days to relax or visit the beaches.

2) suggestions on hotels nearby that don’t make you feel like you’re staying in a hotel?

Unless you want to stay onsite you are pretty much going to feel like you are in a hotel, even the cheapest of the three onsite hotels is pretty much just a hotel close by. Anaheim is a heavily populated residential area and the hotels are all sort of just around Disneyland but many, especially on Harbor are easily within walking distance. We have always stayed at the Hojo - it does have interior corridors so it doesn't feel as much like a motel and they have recently renovated - it's not a long walk at all and we really have enjoyed their "kids suites" as we love having extra space and two bathrooms. We also like that the garden pool since our kids are older, as it's separate from the water park area so it's less noisy as most of all the little kids are in the water park area.

3) how does one eat at Disney without the dining plan?!? Haha

Can't imagine using a dining plan there - but Disneyland is very much a make it up as you go type place - keeping in mind that the greater LA area has about 10 times the population of the Orlando area, so a lot of guests are locals. We just eat when the urge hits us and there's plenty of options - both inside and outside the parks if you are staying off site it's easy to grab something on the way back at night too. We try to do one character meal and there are also lots of dining options which can include preferred seating for entertainment, although it's likely going to be awhile before that's an issue.

Also I’m from Canada and it would be appreciated if anyone knew of ways to save money anyway I can

We always take advantage of the Canadian resident ticket offers as the savings pretty much covers the cost of currency conversion. We rent a car through Costco and always make sure we check the price as we get closer to our trip as the prices usually drop about 2 weeks out. Other than that, we've not really found too many ways to save in terms of the currency issues - we tend to just figure out how much it's going to cost all in and then we accept that and we don't nickel and dime about how much something is in Canadian currency vs the ticket price when shopping or eating - we did that once and found it really ruins the experience and it's best to just brace oneself for the credit card bill once you get home. I mean if you remind yourself every time that the $4.50 churro is almost $6 Canadian then it's not as much fun!

Thanks in advance and stay safe
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