December 2015 Disneyland trip planning

Login to post comments
4 posts / 0 new
Watchful Guardian's picture
Offline
Joined: 08/15/2014
Posts: 10
December 2015 Disneyland trip planning

My mom, brother, and I are planning a possible Disneyland trip during the Holidays. Would anyone be willing to share any tips on general planning?

How many days should we go to get the full Disneyland experience?

When is the best time to order our tickets/passes?

On top of the general ticket prices, how much money should we save for the trip?

Are Disney hotels worth staying?

If you have any other tips to share and if you need me to be more specific about my questions, please do.

Thanks. Smile

alicemouse's picture
Offline
Joined: 10/22/2013
Posts: 2832

Great choice!! Disneyland ROCKS!! yay

We went for the first time in March and we had three full park days. It was enough to see everything, but we were fortunate to hit very low crowds. We also took the afternoon of our third day to do the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour. I could have easily done a 4th or maybe even a 5th day. DH was satisfied with 3, but he would have stayed longer if given the opportunity. We we did one day at California Adventure plus two Magic Mornings (like EMH) and two days at Disneyland.

I'd get tickets as soon as you know how many days you need. There SHOULDN'T be another price increase between now and then, but you never know! Also, I often skip park hopper at WDW, but I would absolutely always get it at Disneyland because it's so easy to hop. There's only one bag check for the whole concourse area and the park entrances are maybe 30 yards apart.

Dining seems a hair more expensive than WDW, but it depends on where you eat. If you use Disney gift cards to save up, be aware that you can't use them at DTD restaurants (except for ESPN). We could use them in both parks at every location that we tried.

We're DVC, so we did stay at Grand Californian just because it didn't cost me any more out of pocket than I already pay for the membership. BUT, if we were not DVC owners, I would choose a good neighbor hotel. Anything across the street from Disneyland is a super easy walk no matter where on the block the hotel is located. The only bad thing about good neighbor is that you don't get as many magic hours/magic morning opportunities, but there's a HUGE cost savings. If I was going to stay onsite and pay cash, I would probably choose Disneyland Hotel. It's the mid-priced hotel and it has a lot more character than Paradise Pier along with an awesome pool area and a super neat monorail water slide. (Disclaimer: I loved Grand Californian, but there's pretty much nowhere that it worth $400+ per night to me.)

There's a link to our trip report in my signature. Any more questions, just ask. We absolutely loved DL and can't wait to do it again. I hope you have an awesome trip!

__________________

Be good at something. It makes you valuable. Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome. --Randy Pausch

Find me on Facebook

Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.

Watchful Guardian's picture
Offline
Joined: 08/15/2014
Posts: 10

Thanks for the tips, alicemouse.

Figments Girl's picture
Offline
Joined: 03/22/2014
Posts: 65

I was just there the beginning of last month. We stayed at the Ramada Maingate which is across Harbor Blvd. It was a nice motel and the walk wasn't too bad even at the end of a "Disney" day. We were there 6 days but only went to the parks 4 days. I could have spent another day or 2 in the parks. The crowds weren't too bad and we used the single rider line where we could so the waits weren't too bad. I bought our tickets through the company that MouseSavers recommends - I got concerned about the voucher but had absolutely no problem trading it in for the tickets.
I agree with alicemouse about buying tickets as soon as you figure out how many days.
There are a lot of hotels on Harbor Blvd that are as close to the parks as the Disneyland Hotel.

__________________