DL visit for one day

[janine]

We went to WDW recently, and are visiting LA and then San Diego in July, so planning a quick DL visit to satisfy their withdrawal from our visit in the fall! We are also planning on SD Zoo, Sea World as the main part of the vacay, so can only handle so many parks in one vacation!

We are planning on staying overnight at DL, and one day at the park - seems to be fewer hotel options than DW, any one better than the other for location? Also I heard there are no fast passes?

My kids are 3 and 6 and most likely will be a Sunday when we go, Thanks

[SnuggleBuggles]

We have done just 1 day trips to DL. Most hotels are in walking distance so just pick one that looks good and fits your budget. The ones off site are more motor lodge style. That's usually not my thing but we had a perfectly fine stay at the Candy Cane Inn. I'd stay on site but for the amount of time we actually needed the hotel (we just needed somewhere to sleep!), it wasn't worth the money.

One year we went to both parks on the same day and that was really nice. We had done everything we wanted to do in DL by 5pm so it was nice to go over to CA for that stuff. We only did that though because we actually won the park hoppers in the park that day. I couldn't bring myself to pay for park hoppers. Second time we went, we only did DL as a result. We were there for their celebration in 2007 and it was their something Dreams' promotion- they had lots of giveaways. I bet with the 60th anniversary this year there are more giveaways. In that case, I highly recommend trying to replicate our success- get to the park ASAP in the AM and head to the back. You might run into someone giving stuff away in the lesser traveled parts of the park. :) And if only part of your group gets a prize, you can go to guest services and get some for the rest of the group usually. :)

There are fast passes but they are the old kind- actually go to the ride, insert ticket and get a pass. Nothing booked ahead.

[pinay]

The hotels on Harbor Blvd would be the closest to the main gate- Park Vue is nothing fancy, but it is a good location and usually a reasonable price. Candy Cane Inn is also reliably good. We stayed at the Hotel Indigo last time we went in April and it was an easy walk to the park:
http://www.ihg.com/hotelindigo/hotels/us/en/anaheim/laxex/hoteldetail

If you are planning on doing CA, I would strongly suggest getting the fast pass for Radiator Springs Racers as soon as you get in the park- they usually run out before noon!

[Tenasparkl]

If you stay at one of the Disney hotels you can get into one of the parks an hour before rope drop with your room key. There's a schedule of which park on which day (I think DL is Sat, Tues and Thurs and CA is Sun, Mon, Wed & Fri). The last time we stayed overnight at the Grand Californian we got so much done at CA in the first hour before the park officially opened. By 8 AM we saw Anna & Elsa (plus DD went back to see them again because she forgot to get an autograph the first time), met Olaf, rode Radiator Springs Racers twice plus another ride before the crowds came flooding in at rope drop.

I've stayed at a few other area hotels for run disney races and they were all fine - Howard Johnson's (has a fun splash area) and Red Lion (a bit of a walk, but fine).

The fast pass system is different than in Florida, but works well for certain rides. My kids are the same ages and love both parks.

[lalasmama]

We went to WDW recently, and are visiting LA and then San Diego in July, so planning a quick DL visit to satisfy their withdrawal from our visit in the fall! We are also planning on SD Zoo, Sea World as the main part of the vacay, so can only handle so many parks in one vacation!

We are planning on staying overnight at DL, and one day at the park - seems to be fewer hotel options than DW, any one better than the other for location? Also I heard there are no fast passes?

My kids are 3 and 6 and most likely will be a Sunday when we go, Thanks

The biggest hotel difference between DL and WDW is the on-site vs off-site hotels. Using the Main Entrance gates as the end point, there are several off-site hotels that are actually *closer* than the on-site hotels! Our favorite off-site is Park Vue. It's $150-220/night, depending on the desired room (we usually do a 1 bedroom suite for around $190). Going through the typical reasons to stay on site: (1) Location--but off-site hotels are just as close; (2) "Disney Bubble"--you have to cross a street to get to Paradise Pier Hotel as well, so it's hard to imagine that bubble isn't broken then; (3) Early morning hours--the price difference is $100+, I'm not willing to spend $100+ to get a few extra rides done in the morning; (4) Level of service--I'm only at my hotel to shower and sleep, so I don't need any "amazing" service beyond a clean bed and bathroom!

Fast passes are like the old ones at WDW... Not all the rides have fast passes, and you can't reserve them ahead of your stay. You will get your fast pass, and then come back to the ride at the time printed on the fast pass. They won't let you come back late to use your fast pas.