Brides Helping Brides ™ - Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

marymoon Posted: Apr 22, 2005 12:12 AM

Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

How much was the trip?

HOw many days do you think you need to see all of DL and DCA parks?

Is it worth going to Universal orlando, how long does that take?

ANY info would be appreciated. I've never been to the west coast. We can't afford a week at WDW, but we were wondering if we might be able to afford a long weekend at DL for our anniversary. THANKS

LauderLady Posted: Apr 22, 2005 02:02 AM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

DH and I went to Disney Land almost 4 years ago....I don't remember too much, but I'll try to help as much as I can.

We stayed in Anaheim for 3 days (1 day we went to Catalina island). Our hotel was within walking distance to DL which was awesome......it possibly was called the Stovalls Inn (it was no 4 star hotel, but it was a clean room and a great location). (DH would remember, but he is sleeping) The California adventure Park had JUST opened, so not everything was complete...but it was worth going. We didn't go to universal. DL is MUCH smaller then WDW, but I hadn't been to DW in so long (about 14 years), I forgot how much fun everything was. 2 days was definitely enough.

We stayed in CA for 1 week (we hit LA, Santa Monica and a few other places as well), rented a car plus airfare, hotel and 3 day passes to DL.....I Think it cost us $2,000.

Sorry I am SO shaky on the details. It was quite awhile ago! I hope I helped a bit.

wc0143 Posted: Apr 22, 2005 06:11 AM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

Went for three days during HM ... DL is a HUGE disappointment compared to WDW.

It's really not cheaper especially for what you are getting.

marymoon Posted: Apr 22, 2005 08:03 AM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

I know DL is much smaller, but to me I've alwasy wanted to go. THAT was Walt's dream. And Walt actually set foot there, and this year is the 50th anniversary..and everytime I hear the dedication being read or I read it it makes me cry. I just figured it might be cheaper b/c it would only be a 3 days trip...

wc0143 Posted: Apr 22, 2005 08:29 AM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

Posted by marymoon

I know DL is much smaller, but to me I've alwasy wanted to go. THAT was Walt's dream. And Walt actually set foot there, and this year is the 50th anniversary..and everytime I hear the dedication being read or I read it it makes me cry. I just figured it might be cheaper b/c it would only be a 3 days trip...

That's why we went ... but we walked around the entire time, saying 'This is it? THIS was Walt's dream?'.

marymoon Posted: Apr 22, 2005 08:46 AM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

Posted by wc0143

Posted by marymoon

I know DL is much smaller, but to me I've alwasy wanted to go. THAT was Walt's dream. And Walt actually set foot there, and this year is the 50th anniversary..and everytime I hear the dedication being read or I read it it makes me cry. I just figured it might be cheaper b/c it would only be a 3 days trip...

That's why we went ... but we walked around the entire time, saying 'This is it? THIS was Walt's dream?'.

wc0143 Posted: Apr 22, 2005 09:05 AM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

Seriously, every time we were like we said, 'Walt walked here ...'

An annoying thing, it was FILLED with teenagers with nothing to do ... they must get resident passes and just do that afterschool or when they are out ...

One of the oddest things, NO WAIT at the Pooh ride . I don;t think I've ever been at WDW where the posted time wasn't at least 35 mins and I've seen it up to 90 minutes.

We did have dinner one night at Club 33 which was very cool and had an excellent view of Fantasmic.

don424 Posted: Apr 22, 2005 09:11 AM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

jenn -- TRUST me when i say this

save your money for Florida, the west coast park is a waste -- we were just there. Downtown Disney is a joke compared to Florida. The park itself hasn't been updated since it opened. Alot of the older rides were breaking down. We got stuck on Pinocchio.

If you want to go there for the sake of seeing where it all began, that's one thing, but don't compare it to Florida, it doesn't come close.

reallybehind! Posted: Apr 22, 2005 09:27 AM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

hmm... i don't know. dh and i went last summer and i thought it was great. sure it's no comparison to disney world, but it's still worth it to go. the traditional rides, like pirates of the caribbean and stuff are slightly different so that's pretty cool. and the indiana jones ride is the coolest thing i've ever been on. it took us two days to tour disneyland and california adventure. if you want a slightly slower pace 3 days is plenty. we stayed at a best western down the road, i think it was sportstown. nothing special, but i loved how they had a waffle maker at their continental breakfast.

july06bride Posted: Apr 22, 2005 12:25 PM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

i went about 5 years ago with friends, we were in anaheim and we only went to disney for one day and thats all we needed...it is not as large as orlando

we went to catalina- really nice

we drove to LA and did the hollywood stuff

there is a lot of other stuff to do over there

good luck have fun!

FeliciaDA Posted: Apr 22, 2005 12:27 PM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

Posted by wc0143

Posted by marymoon

I know DL is much smaller, but to me I've alwasy wanted to go. THAT was Walt's dream. And Walt actually set foot there, and this year is the 50th anniversary..and everytime I hear the dedication being read or I read it it makes me cry. I just figured it might be cheaper b/c it would only be a 3 days trip...

That's why we went ... but we walked around the entire time, saying 'This is it? THIS was Walt's dream?'.

I have to agree.. I've been to Disneyland and California Adventure and I have to say that once you've been to WDW, Disneyland just doesn't compare

Its a bit charming and old fashioned , etc.. but really nothing to write home about

And the castle is such a HUGE disappointment once you've seen Cinderalla's castle in Magic Kingdom!

Unless you have lots of other things you want to do/see in the Anaheim area, I wouldn't purposely go to Cali just for Disneyland

JMO

Jax430 Posted: Apr 22, 2005 12:35 PM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

I've been to Disneyland twice. Once with my parents when I was 11, and once two years ago with Brad. I cant really give you a cost for the trip, b/c we were staying with a friend in LA. Although DL is much smaller than WDW, I haven't been to WDW since I was 14, and we had a great time. We only did DL, not any of the other theme parks, b/c that wasn't really the purpose of our trip. We did the whole park in 13 hours. it was a long day, but we had a ton of fun! WDW is better, but DL is still great fun for a disney lover.

mnttnbchbride Posted: Apr 22, 2005 12:46 PM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

I live about 45 minutes from DL in Anaheim so I go about once a year. It is MUCH smaller than WDW, but it does still have it's own charm. IMO you can do both DL and CA in one day. It's a long day- but doable in about 8 hours total. You'll see everything worth seeing and not feel that you missed anything. CA is definitely fun, but it doesn't take long at all to get through that part of the park.

I agree with the other posters- if you are coming to California just to go to DL, then you may want to either reconsider, or try adding more things to your trip. There isn't that much in Anaheim (you could go to an Angels game if you like Baseball). Universal Studios and Universal CityWalk are fun- but that would be about 2 hours from Anaheim. (It's the traffic, not the distance, that takes so long). The weather is getting nicer, you could also spend some time at the beach. Or, you'd be about 1 1/2 hours from San Diego- you could go there.... Sea World is in San Diego. And Legoland is right outside of SD in Carlsbad.

JustJodi Posted: Apr 22, 2005 02:31 PM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

Heres the thing though..
Most people would be disapointed cause it is true that DL is nothing like going to orlando HOWEVER..
Like marymoon and myself ( and I'm sure many others) if you are a HUGE disney fanatic then this is someplace you would want to visit just to say you did.
I know that sounds crazy but its the truth.
I have been to DW over 30 times and DL only once but I am so happy that I had the opportunity to compare and see where it first all started.
AND as bad as all the other disney parks are sopposed to be, its like a dream one day to visit them just so I can say I saw them all..
It doesnt matter so much that it wont compare to her becuase ITS STILL DISNEY.

That being said, Marymoon I am not sure how much it costs cause I actually stayed in LA and drove to Anaheim for the day. I know Jetblue has some good fares to California but a long weekend in California is probably going to come to the same as a few days in Orlando.

We were able to see the park in an entire day and it was pretty neat to see the differences in the rides that nobody else would of ever picked up on.
AND YOU GET TO SEE THE ORIGINAL MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE, which is worth the trip right there!
Didnt go to California Adventure.
Universal was pretty bad.

I would spend a day at DL and a day at DCA and then a day to rest and do something else.

Hope it works out for you.
You should come chat on the Disney boards Im on too..www.intercot.com..
They have TONS of into on there

marymoon Posted: Apr 22, 2005 07:12 PM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

I'm on intercot! I'm Dopeysgal. But I haven't posted in a LONG time...probably over a year..since I found LIW...ROFL

I think I'll save the DL trip for a week trip to LA at some point in the future. Or if we were going to honeymoon in hawaii (unlikely) we would stop over in LA for a few days first. Right now I'm looking into Busch Gardens....MUCH cheaper..no Disney magic..but I can't afford disney magic right now

marymoon Posted: Apr 22, 2005 07:14 PM

Re: Those of you who have been to Disney Land (anaheim)

I wanted to add, I am so into that. just knowing I'd been there and being on the original rides and the original main street electrical parade..and what it's like to ride splash mountain when you're not sitting side by side...the differences in haunted mansion, etc. I really want to go to DL when I can see the HM dressed up like Nightmare Before Christmas. That's probbaly really cheesy but I still want to see it