First DLR trip booked!

[mritty]

I finally got my friends to settle on a date, and our first-ever trip to Disneyland has been booked. April 2nd - 6th, 2008. We're staying at the Candy Cane Inn, which claims to be one block away from the parks. I went to Disneyland.com to see if I could find schedules of shows and such, but there's no info available yet for our dates. They do have the park hours available and the fact that Small World will be down for refurb, but no information on events or shows. Does anyone know when they update the calendar?

Also, as I was booking, there were options for adding ground transportation and other local attractions. I didn't select any of them, because I didn't yet have enough information. When I go back to the site and retrieve my reservation, there doesn't seem to be any options to modify it. Does anyone know if I'll be able to add the shuttle service and/or attraction packages if I call DL Guest Relations rather than just go by the website, or can they only be added at the time of booking?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

[MandaBella]

Congrats on booking your first DLR vacation! I can't really answer any of your questions, sorry....but maybe some of the people who are more familiar with DLR and booking will chime in!

I'm in the process of booking our next visit to DLR. So far, I'm leaning towards getting the CityPass that's good for 3 days park hopping for Disneyland Resort, 1 day Universal , 1 day SeaWorld, and 1 day San Diego Zoo from Costco for $217/adult. What sort of tickets did you get? Last time we went we got 5 day park hoppers and only did DLR, so I'm not entirely sure how much we paid since it was an Expedia package.

I've been hearing a lot of people recommend the Candy Cane Inn. May I ask why you chose that hotel?

Here's a great map of the area:
Bret's Disneyland Lodging LinkMap

[mritty]

DLR is running a special 5-for-3 right now, so we have five day park hoppers, though I doubt we'll go to just the two Disney parks all five days. I think we'll most likely do a day at Universal, but I'm not sure what else. I have no interest in Sea World or the Zoo because I really don't care for animals at all...

I chose Candy Cane Inn because, like you, I'd heard good reviews, and because it's walking distance to the two parks. I'm *hoping* we can arrange shuttle transportation to/from the airport (hence my original question), because I really hate driving, especially in unfamiliar territory. I don't know yet how we'll get to/from Universal if we decide to go there.

I got so excited that they finally decided on dates (I've been pestering them for about 6 months now...) that I actually completely forgot to look for deals from Expedia or AAA before I booked. Oops. Oh well, it's all good.

[MandaBella]

Back in July 2004 Super Shuttle was part of our Expedia package to get to/from the airport (Orange County) to our motel, the Park Vue Inn. That worked out well for us. I believe we had a similiar deal with our park hoppers that you got with our Expedia package. Surprisingly, we did spend the entire 5 days at the DLR ...but we went during Independence Day weekend/week.

There are other shuttle companies, but I cannot recall them at the moment...sorry! I wish All Ears had a more comprehensive information on planning a DLR, but I do know they are working on it!

This time, we're looking at renting a car as we want to do more than DLR.

[mattj4226]

We were planning on a trip to DLR this summer, but it looks like, with gas prices and the distance, we will probably not make it.

[Keasmom]

You could try PM-ing ru42, he/she lives very near there and is a DL expert. Woth a shot.

[Thumper10]

congrats...sounds like tons of fun and im glad you were finally able to make it official!

[BethD]

Mritty we will just miss you. We will be arriving on the 6th.

[Love That Duck]

You will like Candy Cane Inn, it is a lovely boutique hotel. It is walking distance to/from DL but they also offer shuttle service.

There are various modes of transportation available in So. Cal. Candy Cane Inn may very well offer shuttles to Universal, Knotts Berry Farm, etc. You can Google Orange County, California for O.C. public transportation options. Los Angeles County public transportation service is "Capital Metro" aka "Cap Metro". You can take the bus or the train from Anaheim to L.A. Union Station. From there you can catch the subway to Universal. (I lived in Los Angeles 47 years before moving to Texas in 2000 and fly out to visit my family, friends, and Disneyland frequently.)

The new Anaheim Garden Walk is just off Harbor between Candy Cane Inn and the Main Gate. The grand opening is in May but most of the restaurants, shops, etc. are open. Angel Stadium is just a few miles from DL if you like baseball, the O.C. beaches are definitely reachable by bus, taxi, etc.

We'll just miss you as well. We'll be there for a day trip April 12.

Have a magical time!

[mritty]

Thanks for the great info. Only 16 days away!!!

[Love That Duck]

Hey, mritty! I gave you the wrong name of the metro service for Los Angeles---Cap Metro is Austin, TX's transporation system! Sorry!

It's the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority aka MTA, website is: "mta dot net" (not sure if we are allowed to post links to outside sites here).

Not sure which airport you are flying into but Super Shuttle services Ontario, O.C./John Wayne, and LAX so you can definitely take Super Shuttle to/from Candy Cane Inn. If I fly into O.C. airport and friends or family don't pick up me, I usually take a taxi to whatever Disneyland hotel I stay at. It's only about 9-10 miles from airport to DL.

Just 15 days to go, right?

Have a great trip!

[mritty]

Yup, 15 and counting. After doing a bit of searching and talking with my co-travellers, I think we're each going to be taking the Disneyland Resort Express from LAX. There's a $3 coupon available off MouseEars we'll each print out. We're all arriving at different times (one of us on a different day), so we're thinking it's probably one of our best bets.

[Tikikrissy]

I live here in LA and I sorta feel the way a lot of us feel about WDW "what other attractions?" Universal is okay, but it's not that amazing. Other than that, you can do the tourist stuff in LA, like the Chinese Theatre, etc. For most of that you'd really need a rental car (LA is not the friendliest place for public transportation) - also - it's FAR from Disneyland! Unless you are really dying to go to Universal, I'd just stay down in Anaheim.