Disneyland in November

[tenyardrambo]

Anyone have any tips or the experience to give advice?

This week I will be seeing if we can get any packages/quotes for a holiday to Disneyland(California).

Here is some info:

Two of us want to go
Budget is 4K, excluding food extra expenses.
We love rides and not really into site seeing.
We want to stay outside the park.
Want to do the Magic Kingdom and California adventures for 5 days.
Universal studios
Water parks..if they are still open.
Rather not rent a car, but willing if needed.


Questions:

1.Is two weeks enough or too much?
2. What travel agency has a good reputation?
3. What other amusement parks are in the vicinity of Anaheim?
4. Is the pacific ocean tolerable in November? or too cold?


For those who have been here I would like to hear your experiences, good and bad. What to avoid and pass on.

[Bertuzzied]

$4k for 2 people for Disneyland? and 2 weeks??

Best advice. Just go to Orlando.

[3 Justin 3]

Universal Studios is almost better than Disney (less rides, but much better) if you're a mature couple. Disney is nice and all, but Universal has way better rides.

[Nage Waza]

I have been to both Orlando and Anaheim recently, here are some details:

• Orlando is way bigger, with several different Disney themed parks. There are water parks to amusement parks to everything else, but is spread out big time. You need a week or so just to touch the basics, with a car.
• Anaheim is basically just Disneyland and Universal (there is something else still being built by Disney, I forget the name and I don't know when it opens - actually it is partially open but not complete). If you have time, drive to San Diego or some other attractions that are not Disney related.
• If you do go to Disneyland, for sure stay at the Candy Cane Inn. They are cheap, clean, great and have a shuttle running back and forth all the time. And they are just a minute or two away. Don't tell anyone about this secret. We were able to leave for nap time and be back again no problem, it is that close, maybe a four minute drive.
• November is good for Anaheim since the weather is mild but the park is less busy. I don't know what Orlando is like in November, but expect the chance of bad weather.
• Either way, if you are a parent with kids, a parent can jump a line to try a ride if the kids are too little for it.
• The great arcades that used to exist in Disneyland are gone, I forget if they are still in Orlando.
• Expect to pay about $100 per person per day, not including major meals and accommodations.
• If you are staying for multiple days, get a multi day pass. My family does not need more than two days for Disneyland, and we could probably get by with just one day. The multi day pass is available for several parks, so that can be good as well.

[krazycanuck]

Avoid American Thanksgiving! Other than that it's a good slower time of year and Disneyland is usually done up for Christmas after the 1st week of November.

Unless you want to sightsee a little bit (Hollywood, Venice Beach, Attend a show taping...3 day sidetrip to Vegas) 2 weeks is a long time. If you're only wanting to go to theme parks I would say 9 days as a first-time California visitor is plenty (Saturdayt-next Sunday).

I would really suggest renting a car in LA. We've always gone through priceline and never paid more than $15 a day for a compact to LAX, especially if you want to do anything outside of the Anaheim area. There are tourist shuttles that go to most of the major attractions, but for the price you pay per person, you could easily have paid for 2 car rental days. You also have to work on their schedule, so even if you want to go to Universal for the day, and then go have dinner at a restaurant on Citywalk, sorry...your shuttle leaves 10 minutes after the park closes. It's also nice to go buy groceries and just general freedom of getting around. bring a GPS and L.A is pretty easy to get around, especially if you have 2 people in the car so you can use carpool lanes.

What travel agency has a good reputation? We've always just booked flights through expedia, and have had some luck with hotels around Disneyland through priceline. Most hotels around Disneyland are within walking distance. But if you find a deal on a hotel farther away buy your Disneyland passes through AMA they include free parking (last time we booked)

3. What other amusement parks are in the vicinity of Anaheim? Knott's Berry Farm is the closest. It's not very big but has some good coasters and is usually pretty cheap. We found discounts online for tickets and they were $26.99 a person, or around there. Midweek, we spent about 4 hours there and had multiple rides on anything we wanted to ride. Might want to do this coupled up with something else. It's also open all week

Six Flags Magic Mountain is EPIC if you're into roller coasters. They have some awesome rides. This is very much an extreme park, if you're not into going fast and getting flipped around all day, skip this. Next to Disneyland, this would be my *must see*, but I am a coaster nerd. Prices are usually reasonably if you book online (around $34.99pp), but it's only open weekends (go Sunday for much smaller crowds). This is also about an hour drive with no traffic from Anaheim, so you'll need a car. Offseason we've gone two times and the longest line was about 30 minutes for a coaster, most are less than 5 minute waits.

The San Diego Zoo is massive! I'd suggest taking the drive to see it. It's very hilly, so bring good shoes and will easily take the whole day to see.

Legoland and Sea World are also around San Diego, Legoland is geared towards families and doesn't have much for adults. I've never visited Sea World, so I can't comment on it.

Universal doesn't have a ton to do, only a few rides but I think is worth the trip. The backlot tram is the star of the show, and a must do regardless of the wait. There is a new Transformers ride opening up this spring which has a lot of buzz behind it. Think about coupling up this with going to a Lakers/Kings/Clippers game on a weeknight, or if you want to see the Hollywood walk of fame/Chinese Theatre/Wax Museum. Staples Centre and Hollywood are very close.

4. Is the pacific ocean tolerable in November? or too cold? Too cold, the weather in LA during that time of year isn't cold, but you're not going to see many days warmer than 22 or 23C. The only people you'll likely see in the water are surfers with wetsuits.

If you have any more questions, ask or send me a PM, I usually go to LA every 18 months so I have a pretty good lay of the land.

[getbak]

I'd look at going immediately after US Thanksgiving.

They have their holiday decorations and special stuff running in time for the large crowds over the Thanksgiving weekend, but once it's over, the crowds disappear. If you go in early November, you risk having things closed in preparation for the holiday season.

The first two weeks of December are traditionally their slowest time of the year. Things get a little busier on the weekend, so plan on doing the rides and things during the week and you won't really have to worry about long lines.


If you've never been to Disneyland, and want to see everything in both parks, you'll want at least a 3 Day Park Hopper ticket. A 5 day is only about $40 more, so it might be worth it and you won't have to rush through anything.


Universal is a working tv and movie studio and you can take the tram around the backlot, but it's primarily a theme park now.

If you want a better Studio Tour, go to Warner Bros. It's in Burbank (close to NBC, and you can take their tour too), and you ride around on what are basically large golf carts, and you get to actually walk around the backlot and sound stages.


About 5 miles from Disneyland is Knott's Berry Farm, another theme park (it also has a water park, but I don't know if it's open at that time of year). It has a lot of good rides and is totally dead during the week.


You can get buses from Anaheim to Universal and Knott's but they run on their own schedules, so you have more flexibility with a rental car (there's a National/Alamo location just outside Disneyland if you only want a car for part of the time you're there).


Two weeks will be more than enough time to see everything in Southern California. 5 days at Disneyland/California Adventure, 1 day at Knott's, 1 day at Magic Mountain, 1 day at Universal, 1 day at Warner Bros, 1 day at the coast/beach, 1 day in Hollywood (Chinese Theater/Walk of Fame), and that would leave 3 or 4 days for San Diego (Sea World, Zoo) too.

The Burbank/Hollywood/Universal area things are quite a long drive from Anaheim (especially during rush hour), so I'd consider grouping those days together and staying somewhere closer.


If you're coaster freaks, my order of preference would be: Magic Mountain, Knott's, Disneyland/DCA, and Universal.


The best place to get your park tickets is either AMA or online directly from the parks.

[saskflames69]

I went to California Adventure while Super Bowl XLII was being played. The park was deserted. We rode the roller coaster they had there about 4 times in a row before one of us started to get sick. Needless to say, after I got back to the hotel room and turned on the TV, I was not a happy camper for the remainder of the trip.

So, yeah. Go to Disneyland, Universal, stay at Desert Inn and Suites, yatta yatta yatta

[Ice]

Disneyland can be crowded on the Thanksgiving long weekend, but after Thanksgiving and the first week of December if you go on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, it shouldn't be too crowded.

If you really like rides, lots of rides, big thrill rides and scary fast rollercoasters, you MUST go to Six Flags Magic Mountain up in Valencia. That's the park people go to for rides. It doens't have that fantasy feel that Disneyland does and there's not as much to see there. Its a place to go for rides. You're looking at about an hour to hour and a half drive from Anaheim, depending on traffic, but if you like rides, I promise it is worth the drive.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by getbak

The best place to get your park tickets is either AMA or online directly from the parks.

One small thing we learned through experience. It's pretty easy to adjust your tickets in the park (Disney) but not if you get them from AMA. They'll do it, but you have to pay the commission AMA got.

Unless you can save meaningfully, buy the tickets online direct from the park.

[jar_e]

Dependent on how much time/money you plan spending on in Disneyland parks, highly consider picking up an Annual Passport for one of the parties. Its steep for a premium ($499) or possibly a deluxe annual if there's no black out...but if you get the premium, you get:

-20% off food
-Free Parking in the Micky and Friends Parking Structure
-20% off Merchandise
-Discounts at hotels

So if you crunch the numbers, it may be worth it. My wife and I have done it (we did two trips this year) and it paid for itself in the first trip.

[krazycanuck]

Just thought of a couple more things. If you're looking to go to Sea World, Universal and Disneyland, look into the Southern California Citypass. It gives you admission to all of those, including a 3-day disneyland Park-Hopper, but you can upgrade that to a 5-day for about $40 each at any Disneyland ticket booth.

Also, learn to use the Disneyland Fastpass system right away. You basically scan your ticket at some of the bigger rides and it will give you a one hour window to come back later in the day with minimal wait. You can get another pass in 2 hours, or after your 1 hour window first opens up, which ever comes sooner.

Eg. You get a fastpass at 10:30am For Space Mountain with a return time of 11:55-12:55am. you can get another fastpass at 11:55am. If you get a fastpass at 10:30am For Space Mountain with a return time of 1:15pm-2:15pm you can get another fastpass at 12:30pm. These limits only apply to one park. So, you can get your fastpass at space mountain in Disneyland at 10:30 with a 1150-1250 window, and then immediately go to California adventure and get a fastpass at Tower of Terror even at 10:35.

Stock up on these in the early hours, as what they don't tell you is really only the first number on that one hour window matters. If you have a fastpass good for 1:20-2:20, you can use it at 1:20, but you can also use it at 9:30pm that night no one will give you issues.

[getbak]

To echo what others have said, if you have $4000 and 2 weeks, I'd give Orlando serious consideration.

There are quite a few more rides in the Central Florida area than in Southern California. Busch Gardens in Tampa has a lot of unique coasters. There is nothing like Universal's Islands of Adventure in California, which is my favourite non-Disney park, by far.

At that time of year, the weather in either California or Florida will be pretty much the same. It would just take longer to fly to Florida.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

One small thing we learned through experience. It's pretty easy to adjust your tickets in the park (Disney) but not if you get them from AMA. They'll do it, but you have to pay the commission AMA got.

Unless you can save meaningfully, buy the tickets online direct from the park.

On our trip last November we had AMA tickets and had no issue adding two days to them when we got to the park. I think they charged us $15 per ticket for two extra days.

[Northendzone]

from a disney perspective - orlando is much better than california.

we were in san diego last summer and it was nice - we thought the zoo was ok (it is large and hilly so as mentioned bring comfortable shoes). i enjoyed sea world. as for swimming in the ocean - we were there in august and I thought the water temp was similar to swimming at whitefish - i guess i was somewhat surprised at how cold the water was. best part of being at the beach was a navy jet doing a low level flyby......

[darklord700]

Going for two weeks is a good idea. Air fair is the same, park tickets won't cost you that much more and you can take some off days to rest up. The extra costs are lodging and food but you have to eat in Calgary anyway so....

[Northendzone]

i was also going to note that in orlando, i beleive there are grocery stores that allow you to order stuff online and they will deliver it (i'd assume that this is also offered in cali as well) - i'd recommend looking into this - because when we went to Orlando we stayed in a Disney resort so between the resort and the parks it felt like we were eating the same food all of the time.

The upside about staying in the disney resort was the transportation to the parks was quite good with buses every 10 - 15 minutes. And you can arrange to have your purchases delivered to your resort and you can use your room key like a credit card at the stores - maybe this is not a good thing.

[Bill Bumface]

If you take water parks out of the equation, I'd put Disneyland (California) over Disney World (Orlando). With the impending opening of Cars land this summer (most expensive ride ever built) I would imagine Disneyland will have a bigger edge. Orlando is too spread out, and all of the major rides are pretty much equivalent, Everest Expedition probably being the only one un-matched, but Rockin Rollercoaster sucks compared to the California adventure coaster.

[Ace]

I really like the holiday inn/staybridge suites on manchester drive. It's part of the shuttle service and is a little bit further from the park. The included breakfast is much better there, and the rooms are nice. The only downside is you will not walk to the park...I found in the past that staying closer I almost prefer to take the shuttle...your feet really start to hurt after day 3, and the walk to the park becomes annoying. The staybridge suites side is almost always just $5-10 more per night, than the adjoining holiday inn, but you get a kitchen/ette for your stay. Nice for loading up on bottled water, cheap quick snacks/meals, etc.

If you'd prefer to wak to the park, you can register at "mousesavers.com", they have awesome rates at the howard johnson which to me is the best hotel for walking to the park, and close to good food options. Nice sit down breakfasts, or mcdonalds, etc.

If you can wait to book until the NHL schedule comes out, it's always awesome to fit a game or two in down there...

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Was in LA/Anaheim not too long ago.

There are lots of cheaper hotels near disneyland. Stayed at a Doubletree?? for less than $100/night. It was a 5 minute walk from Disneyland.

Find another hotel closer to Universal. It is way too far of a drive to make it more than once.

I also took Amtrak from LA to SD, if you want to check out the zoo and seaworld and possibly the aircraft carrier. That was a great $35 spent. Train goes the whole way next to the ocean and has free wifi. Made renting cars cheaper because it was more expensive to drop off in a different city.

[Bill Bumface]

I stayed in the nearly brand new Sheraton Garden grove with free shuttle for $63/night (priceline) and last time we just paid and were right across the street from the entrance for $90ish.