Disneyland/California Travel advice

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

When booking an Uber are kids expected to have their car seats down there when driving from SNA to Disneyland? The booster seats are fairly large and that is the only driving we will be doing. The kids are 4.5 and 6 years old

California law is booster seat until age 8. I've taken my kids on Uber in CA without them as largish 6/7 year olds. I think it's unlikely a driver would refuse to take you, but it is illegal and possibly dangerous. I've also taken my own travel booster (we used the compact mifold ones which are really small, and work by pulling the belt down to the kid vs boosting the kid up).

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

When booking an Uber are kids expected to have their car seats down there when driving from SNA to Disneyland? The booster seats are fairly large and that is the only driving we will be doing. The kids are 4.5 and 6 years old

There are door to door shuttles available at the airport just past the taxi stand.

You could also splurge on a limo. Done this a few times in LA where it works out to be cheaper than 2 Ubers and or ridiculous surge pricing. Make the start of the trip the easiest possible and throw money at the problem.

[dino7c]

I love Disneyland and World but they are really pushing it with all the pay for shorter line access stuff. I miss the good old days where "fast passes" were included with every ticket.

[DownInFlames]

At the Stab Yourself in the Eye booth the excruciating wait is part of the experience.

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by dino7c

I love Disneyland and World but they are really pushing it with all the pay for shorter line access stuff. I miss the good old days where "fast passes" were included with every ticket.

They totally are but you have to pay it. The regular line keeps getting stopped because the people that paid extra (a lot extra) to get genie plus have to get let in first.
Worst part is genie plus kind of sucks because disney basically tells you what ride you’ll get to have a short wait on and when you have to be there. But it works, disney gets their money and customers get to think they are vip because they get a shorter wait on some rides..

That together with the constant ride breakdowns makes me not want to go. And i was a big disney fan before.

[Calgary14]

Just got back from 6 days at Disneyland

Rope drop seemed like a colossal waste of time. The rides that people run to seemed to already have a huge lineup. Longest line was 90 minutes. That doesn't include arriving early for rope drop. I would not recommend this.

Taking a stroller worked well for two toddlers as it was used to store snacks, drinks, lunches etc. Theft didnt seem to be an issue at all.

I was blown away at how clean the grounds are. I know they clean them overnight but the landscaping etc is also well done.

Food, drinks etc are 4-5x what they should cost which is annoying.

If I go again I would stay at a decent hotel nearby, rent a double stroller (2 kids) from a separate provider that delivers to the hotel and also have groceries delivered the day of arrival.

We did dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and although it was pricey the kids loved seeing and meeting the characters.

I would recommend flying into John Wayne Airport and avoiding LAX if possible.

Everything is on the Disney app so I would recommend getting familiar with it before and also making sure you have US data on your plan. We got the genie passes and they were ok but not as fast as I expected. Lightning lanes work well for busier rides

Edit - forgot to add the constant ride breakdowns were frustrating and they need to figure that out or risk losing paying customers

[jerichozo]

Pour one out for the OG Fast Pass system. An absolute legend.

[jerichozo]

This just shows that Disney's new park Fast Pass systems only hurt the average park attendee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjZpBq1XBE

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

We did dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and although it was pricey the kids loved seeing and meeting the characters.

How was the food? I'm always amazed at how flavourless the food is at DL.

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by Shazam

How was the food? I'm always amazed at how flavourless the food is at DL.

Surprisingly good. The selection was top notch, everything from steak, pasta, asian dishes to sandwiches. They had a good mix of foods kids love (cheese pizza, plain pasta etc) but also higher end stuff like ribs, steak, seafood etc.

For desserts my favorites were the peanut butter pizza and chocolate brownies. They had about 20 desserts to choose from but the favorite for almost all kids was the ice cream bar, pour your own ice cream then choose from a dozen different toppings

It was not cheap though - it came to about $65 USD per person

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

We did dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and although it was pricey the kids loved seeing and meeting the characters.

How is Gordon Ramsey these days?