Should we try to fit in Disney or something else?

[Perpetua]

My husband and 2 DD's (ages 2 and 5) will be coming back into the US from a Mexican Riviera cruise on NCL. We did a Disney Cruise last year and the girls are constantly talking about how excited they are to see Mickey and the Princesses (they are a bit confused).

We get off of the ship around 9:00am on Sunday, January 27th and we have a LAX airport hotel booked for that night. We leave out of LAX on Monday, January 28th at about 5:00pm. In hindsight, I now know I should have booked a flight into Long Beach and stayed near there...but this has been a very last-minute, rushed and not very well thought-out trip. I pricelined the LAX hotel but I would be willing to take a loss if there is a better plan out there.

So, should we try to do Disney or should we do something else? If we do Disney, I am thinking we would cancel our LAX hotel and try to stay near the park. We would then have a day and a half at Disney.

My girls are very laid back and would be pretty happy with anything, even swimming in the hotel pool. But, if we can fit some more fun in...it would be great!

Is there anything in the Marina del Ray area that would work for our family? Perhaps we could just leave the ship and go to the Long Beach Aquarium and then catch a shuttle or rent a car back to our LAX hotel?

Thanks for all of the help!

[Keith1010]

You have a few options. I'll list a couple of them based on your questions.

 

One option is to stay in Long Beach. There are many hotels. One we like is the Hyatt in Long Beach. You could take a taxi from the cruise ship terminal over there. From the hotel you can walk to various places including the Long Beach Aquarium. There are also lots of nice restaurants within walking distance from the hotel.

 

Another option is to rent a car and stay near Disneyland. You would have the afternoon and the next morning there. Give yourself plenty of time to get to LAX and remember to get to the passenger ticket counter at least 2 hours before check in as the lines for check in and getting through security are quite long.

 

Keith

[Cruisin' Chick]

Just remember that you'll be heading to LAX on a Monday. As Keith said, you'll need to get to LAX a couple of hours earlier than your flight. But you will need to add some travel time as you'll be going north on the usually packed 405 freeway. If you're coming from Anaheim (Disneyland), you'll have the 5 (and maybe the 10) to deal with too.

[Bruin Steve]

Here's what I would do...

 

Figure you can get off the ship and over to Disney fairly early...

And, since you're not flying out until the next day, you can stay as late as the kids can hold up at Disney...

 

So, I would get a rental car and head over to Disney as early as possible...

Spend the full day and night there...and, when exhausted, head for a hotel SOMEWHERE...But, not figure on going back for a second day at Disney...The ticket cost for a day is high...and with a 5:00 pm flight out of LAX, you'd be leaving Disney at about 1:00-2:00 pm and hoping for no traffic snarls...So, not alot of time in the park that second day...

 

So, after the first day at Disney, one option would be to head back to Long Beach, spend the night there and visit the Aquarium in the Morning before heading back over to LAX in the afternoon...

 

Another option would be to keep the LAX reservation, head back over there after Disney and do something more Mommy and Daddy oriented the day you fly out (Venice Beach? Of course, it's not exactly beach season...Rodeo Drive? Getty?) Naaah...your kids' ages, that Long Beach idea is not bad...You could even "Check in" or at least drop your luggage before heading over to Disney...

 

Yeah, another option would be (if you didn't want to rent a car) to get a shuttle from the ship to Disney...spend the day at Disney...and a shuttle to LAX the next day...

 

Good luck...

[mjbearit]

I think you've gotten some good advice on this! If you really want to take the girls to Disney, that would be a good time to do it. It is expensive though so be prepared! Not just the admission, but the food and drinks as well. If you rented a car as soon as you get off the boat and headed for Anaheim you should be able to get there pretty fast (everything revolves around traffic in LA area so realize that pretty fast can turn into forever!). At the ages of your kids they aren't going to last too long, so I would probably find a hotel fairly close to LAX and drive there that night. It is preferable (in my opinion) to head towards LAX at night when your flight isn't until the next day. Morning rush hour(s) can be a real problem! Once you are in a hotel near the airport, you can take a day-trip the next day and just have some family fun. Disney will tire the girls out and they very well may be a bit cranky the next morning (the voice of experience!) so just take it easy and enjoy a mellow day. By then you guys will have done so much, a leisurly day is called for!

Have a great time!

Mike

[Perpetua]

Wow! You are all such a helpful and positive group...thanks so much!

 

One more questions. If we do a crazy fast trip to DL by catching a shuttle to the resort and then catching a shuttle back to our LAX hotel that same night...would there be anyplace to store our luggage and two carseats? I am guessing..."No"...so our only option would be to rent a car or get a Disneyland area hotel, correct?

 

I am remembering that some families were going to do Disneyland after the Disney Cruise we went on a year ago and they were tired and dreading it...perhaps they were just Disney-ed out.

 

Any kid friendly suggestions for us if we just decided to shuttle back to our LAX hotel and grab a taxi to the Marina del Ray or Venice Beach area...it may be crazy as we will have a carseat and a booster? My husband and I go on two adult-only trips a year...this vacation is all about the little ones (plus I don't have to cook or clean for over a week...so it is a bit about me, too!).

[mjbearit]

Well, the lockers at DL aren't quite that big! ;)

I would say you are probably better off renting a car, I might th8ink of something later, but at the moment, with luggage, carseat, booster, stroller(?), and all the various things you have with kids I just don't know what you would do with it all!

On a different note though, check around at your work, etc and see if you have any way to get prepaid DL tickets cheap. Military is about the best price, but credit unions, labor unions, different things like that often have discount tickets available. Also, you will have to go through a security check at DL now before you hit the front gates, so make sure the two year old isn't packin'! :D They're not like TSA, they really don't care if you have nail clippers, but think about what is in the bag before you bring it in and make sure you didn't put that steak knife in there you smuggled from the ship or anything! I've never had them tell us what they are looking for, and we have never been stopped, so it is obviously just to keep everyone safe.

Have a blast!

Mike

[win1]

Hi there,

I need to explain that I have an annual passport to Disneyland so I'm like your daughters and I do wear a tiara for my costume.

I think you and your family will enjoy a day at Disneyland. I've looked at the calender of your visit and the park is open from 9am until 11pm I think. I would recommend a one park pass (Disneyland only)as there is so much to do in one day.

You may want to check out a guided tour of the park. (This is something I have never done but if it is your first visit it may benefit you greatly.) Call them they are very accomodating about information.

You can check out getting dinner reservations in advance they take them 60 days in advance. My favorite for pasta or chicken is the Plaza Inn which I think has the best viewing of the evening fireworks (at around 9:30pm if the weather conditions permit) I enjoy the fireworks very much.

My thoughts if this is your first visit with the children, I say go for it. Yes they will get tired, they may sleep (no it's not unusual to see children sleeping in Disneyland).

I'm sure you and your family will enjoy a visit to the Disneyland Resort.

Enjoy,

Winnie

[Cuizer2]

My husband and 2 DD's (ages 2 and 5) will be coming back into the US from a Mexican Riviera cruise on NCL. We did a Disney Cruise last year and the girls are constantly talking about how excited they are to see Mickey and the Princesses (they are a bit confused).

We get off of the ship around 9:00am on Sunday, January 27th and we have a LAX airport hotel booked for that night. We leave out of LAX on Monday, January 28th at about 5:00pm. In hindsight, I now know I should have booked a flight into Long Beach and stayed near there...but this has been a very last-minute, rushed and not very well thought-out trip. I pricelined the LAX hotel but I would be willing to take a loss if there is a better plan out there.

So, should we try to do Disney or should we do something else? If we do Disney, I am thinking we would cancel our LAX hotel and try to stay near the park. We would then have a day and a half at Disney.

My girls are very laid back and would be pretty happy with anything, even swimming in the hotel pool. But, if we can fit some more fun in...it would be great!

Is there anything in the Marina del Ray area that would work for our family? Perhaps we could just leave the ship and go to the Long Beach Aquarium and then catch a shuttle or rent a car back to our LAX hotel?

Thanks for all of the help!

Lots of good advise here. I've been giving this some thought and your hotel is not in a good spot if you are trying to do kids related things in Los Angeles. Now if your kids are into art, the Getty Center is nearby, but I would not recommend it for a two and five year old (unless you are only staying two to five minutes).

 

If you are willing to take a loss on the hotel, then I would recommend following Bruin Steve's advise. Rent a car. Get a hotel near Disneyland. Go to Disneyland on Sunday. Go back to the hotel for a dinner and nap, then return to Disneyland for the evening (don't forget to get your hand stamped when you exit Disneyland). This will give you several hours at the park with kids who have a chance of still being awake.

 

Next morning check out and head to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. There are three advantages to doing this. One, it will get you out of Orange county while everyone else is trying to get in. Two, the aquarium can be visited in a few hours. Three, you will now be inbound for LAX at a time when everyone else is outbound. Leave the aquarium no later than 1:30pm (if you get there at 10 or 11 you will still see most of it). This gives you one hour for the drive back to the airport (it might take you only 30 minutes, but if you plan for 30 minutes it will take you one hour) and 30 minutes to turn in your car. So now it is 3:00pm. I haven't had the long delays that everyone else is warning you about. I usually plan to get in line around 90 minutes prior to the flight. So at this point you have 30 minutes of fudge factor and you will still be in line at the airport 90 minutes ahead of your flight. Monday afternoon is not a heavy time for departing flights (Sunday afternoon and Friday afternoon would be much worse). So you should be okay.