more Disneyland questions! (plus San Diego) -update#9

[♥ms.pacman♥]

okay so we booked our flights. we are going to DL in early May. was wondering if i could get any input on this itinerary.

Sunday - arrive in SNA 9am..take shuttle or taxi to hotel (right now we are planning to stay at the HoJo)
Sunday, Mon, Tues - Disneyland. My parents plan to also fly in and meet us there and go to DL with us
Wed - relax by the pool /let kids play in HoJo pool area, then get rental car and drive down to San Diego
Thurs, Fri - go to San Diego Zoo/Safari Park ( one day at each?)
Saturday - morning drive back to SNA, fly home

Does this sound reasonable? My big worry is about arriving Sunday morning, then having to go DL before checking into the hotel (checkin is 4:00pm). But hopefully the hotel will let us store our luggage there and we can just go DL. we will be renting a double stroller so if kids are tired after the flight hopefully it won't be too huge a deal.

For DL, we had originally booked a Disney-themed room with a resort view at Fairfield Inn (Marriott). But then today I saw a deal on MouseSavers for the HoJo. That splash pad/kiddie pool area looks AMAZING..i know my kids would love something like that. And with the 15% off it was even cheaper than the Fairfield Inn. So we booked a room there. For those who stayed at the HoJo -how was it? Would it be warm enough to enjoy the splash pad area in early May? Is it horrible to not have fireworks view from the hotel? (this is one thing our Fairfield Inn reservation would have over the HoJo)

Also SD Zoo and Safari Park - still waffling on this, don't know if two full days of zoo would be too much, esp after DL. We'll have a rented stroller, but still...i heard it's lots of walking and I don't want to be super exhausted! but Maybe we'll do one day of SD Zoo and then another day just of something low-key like chilling at a beach or something...if anybody has any suggestions would love to hear!

[Tenasparkl]

For DL, we had originally booked a Disney-themed room with a resort view at Fairfield Inn (Marriott). But then today I saw a deal on MouseSavers for the HoJo. That splash pad/kiddie pool area looks AMAZING..i know my kids would love something like that. And with the 15% off it was even cheaper than the Fairfield Inn. So we booked a room there. For those who stayed at the HoJo -how was it? Would it be warm enough to enjoy the splash pad area in early May? Is it horrible to not have fireworks view from the hotel? (this is one thing our Fairfield Inn reservation would have over the HoJo)

I bet it'll be warm enough for the splash pad. It was really warm this weekend and that would've been the perfect thing to cool off.
I haven't stayed there, but we're planning on it when I do the DL 10K in August. Let us know what you think of it.

[mom2binsd]

I wouldn't do the zoo and safari park, if pick one and then spend the other day in La Jolla, go to the beach or wander around.

Be careful when you drive from Anaheim ti San Diego, any time after 2 you're in rush hour.....

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[SnuggleBuggles]

I wouldn't do the zoo and safari park, if pick one and then spend the other day in La Jolla, go to the beach or wander around.
2

especially after 3 days at DL. Just a thought...Sunday= play at pool and do Downtown Disney instead of trying to hit the park. I know I am in the minority...I just would probably rather have only 2 days at DL but that might just be me.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks everyone. good points...hmm, wondering if i might go back to original plans of just doing 2 days @ DL instead (Mon & Tues), esp since Sunday being a weekend would likely be crowded. my dad kept saying too that he thought 2, 3 days max at DL was more than enough, even for him. my mom has arthritis in one knee and cannot walk a ton so i'm sure she won't be able to last too many days either. and 2 day tix are definitely cheaper. i know 2 days isn't much, but this definitely won't be our one-and-only DL trip... if kiddos really like it we will likely be back either next year or the following. we are trying to do this trip on a cheapskate budget as DH quit his job last year and won't start new job until the summer, so i can't stomach dipping into our savings right now to pay for stuff. we are actually mostly going to see my parents (they live in CA) and experience DL with them, since it was their idea and they offered to pay for the kids DL tix.

so is downtown disney open to anyone - don't need a ticket? (sad that i don't know this, i've been like a dozen times, but that was as a kid/teen/college student). what about the fireworks..can they be seen from there? no issues here keeping kids awake. i'd really like to see fireworks on Sun night.

[SnuggleBuggles]

DTD is just a shopping and eating area (with great a Disney store and cool Lego store). Open to all. I don't know about fireworks- sorry!

[lalasmama]

I'd definitely plan on 3 days for Disneyland--remember, there's all of Cali Adventure, too, and they just remodeled about 18 months ago (2 years in July or August). Bugsland (at DCA) is GREAT for 3 and 4yos, and you can spend hours there! Carsland also has Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, which is pretty fun for smaller kids. And then if your DD knows Ariel, she has a whole ride, too... And the whole Redwoods Challenge area--great for getting pent up energy out!

HoJo will let you store your luggage, I believe, without much of an issue. I know that's fairly standard for most of the hotels in the area. I've heard that some of the rooms have been remodeled, and others haven't, and that the ones that aren't updated are pretty dated. I'm not sure about seeing fireworks from there, but I think it's completely possible. I know we were able to see them from Katella and Harbor without a problem. Granted, that's the other way, but it makes me think you should be able to see them at the HoJo without a problem.... It could definitely be splash-pad weather.

As far as your mom's arthritis, would she consider a scooter? It could make this trip a LOT more comfortable!

[lkoala]

My recommendation would be to do downtown Disney/play at the pool on sunday. Go to the park Mon/tues/wed and take Thursday off and go to the beach and go to the zoo on Friday.

We just got back from Disney and were in the park tues/wed/thurs and went to the beach Friday. It was exhausting doing three days at Disney back to back and I have one 6 year old. If I had two little ones like you, I'd maybe consider one day Disney, one day in the pool, then one day DCA.... Plus its going to be hot in May...

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Ok thanks everyone for the feedback! I've posted here and on disboards. The more I thought about it, the more I got worried that with only 2 or 2.5 days at DIsney things would be too rushed, and we wouldn't get to enjoy DL/DCA and the awesome HoJo pool/splash area. Especially since my parents will be there too (only @ DIsney) and we want to spend as much time as possible with them, have time to enjoy nice dinners with them, etc.And that is a good point about rush hour traffic..i feel like leaving in the morning is probably best bet but Wed morning would feel kind of early Plus, it seems like one extra day @ Disney is almost the same price, given the deals that are out there (only extra cost would be one more night at hotel). Given the kiddos are just 3 and 4 and this is our first trip I want things to be relaxed and not worry about schedule, etc and have time each day to head back to hotel for naps, relaxing, playing in the pool, etc. SO i think we are going to get 4 day park hoppers and go Sunday eve, Mon, Tues and Wed, and then Thurs morning drive out to SD, relax and see USS Midway or something, then Friday do the SD Zoo, then Saturday drive back. From comments here and on disboards, It does seem like 2 full days of the SD Zoo would be too much, esp after Disney. We may even keep our rental car reservation on Wednesday given parking is free at the HoJo (w00t!), so we don't have to deal with that Thurs morning.

and that is a good point about a scooter for my mom..i will ask about that!

[AshUVA]

We just did DL two weeks ago and stayed at the HoJo. They will store luggage for you but don't count on the room being ready early, especially if you have a kids' suite. They don't have many of them. I think we got in ours about 3:45. Unfortunately, the weather was crappy that weekend (cool and very rainy) so we didn't enjoy the splash pad but it looked awesome and I'm sure it will be warm enough in May. It's going to get to 80 this weekend already! We were going to do 2.5 days in the parks but cut it back due to the rain. We ended up doing the Mickey and Friends breakfast at Paradise Pier on Saturday morning and I think it was the highlight of the weekend (even better then lunch at Ariel's Grotto with the princesses). If you want to take a break from the parks for a day, I'd suggest a character dining experience. We then spent a few hours in DT Disney and did Build-A-Bear, etc. You can see the fireworks from the HoJo property, just not the kids' suite rooms. Since we cut back our itinerary we did our one day at CA so we could do the character lunch there. We spent a FULL day there with a 9 month old and 3 year old. We had no problem finding things to do/see! We were so tired, I'm not sure we couldn't have done another full day back-to-back the next day. If your parents live in Southern California, there are great resident discounts for DL tickets.