Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey Hello everyone- I'm hoping to visit DL for the first time in late May and am considering staying at Paradise Pier and also booking the Minnie Meal Plan. Is Paradise Pier worth it, or should I save some $$$ and stay at a Good Neighbor hotel. Is the meal plan worth it? Also, should I fly into LAX, John Wayne or Ontario? Which is closer to the parks?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss From what I've read, the meal plans at DLR are not worth it; it doesn't work at all like WDW's, and is more of a prepayment/debit system. But I don't have any personal experience to back that up. John Wayne and Long Beach are the closest airports; 15-20 minutes away from the resort. LAX is not so close, but flights are plentiful. No experience at all with Ontario.
Originally Posted By rtjl72 i don't have any personal experience with dl meal plan either, but i have researched quite extensively. my ddil wanted to have the meal plan for our july 2008 vacation. her friends family all had it a dw last summer. well this is what i found out. at dw all restaurants in the parks are dw eateries and you would be able to apply your vouchers at any of them. at dl the vouchers would be limited to the dl eateries and these would be the ones in the park and hotels but none at dtd. this would eliminate a lot of choices. i like prepaying but i like spontaneous choices, too. you would be alfully limited. i would think about it if i were you. get the visa card disocount or an ap pass for 1 person in your group and enjoy the savings this way. good luck. keep us updated with your thoughts because we can always learn something new.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I loved WDW's dining plan, but wouldn't use Disneyland's. Basically, in a best case senario, you are paying $100.25 for a character breakfast, a character dinner and two breakfasts in the park. (The Minnie plan costs 185.25 per adult, but they give you $85 in "traveler's checks" type certificits.) Really though, because you can't get change back from the certificates you're not actually going to get $85 worth of food for you $85 in certificates unless you hit it exactly or go over and pay the overage with your own loose change. (And the second defets the purpose of pre-paying.) Anyway, back to the point. First, in my personal opinion character meals aren't worth the price. I've never eaten at one and have no plans to in the near future. Actors in big foam heads or dressed up as fictional characters just don't do it for me. Second, breakfast in the park doesn't do it for me. I'd rather have breakfast in my room and be ready to charge around the park from the get go, but again that's a personal prefrence thing. For my prefrences it's exactly the wrong plan, but that's just me. If you LOVE breakfasts in the park AND character meals it may be worth it to you, but you'd really have to like both of those things to make the plan worth it.
Originally Posted By Pixarpixie If you don't want to lose the "disney magic" feeling by leaving the property then I would recommend staying at one of the three disney hotels. Staying off property is cheaper, however it always snaps me back to reality when I see all the traffic, hotels, markets, taxi's, people, advertising etc... surrounding the park. I've stayed at the PPH and loved it. Be sure to take advantage of the vacation planning if you do. As far as the meal plan goes..it is not the same at DL as it is at DW. At DL you get food vouchers. Each voucher has a dollar amount on it. If I remember correctly vouchers are around $15, $12 and $5. You must us the full amount on the voucher when you use it. No credit is given as change, and unless you are prepaying for a character meal gratuity is not included. You can use them just about any where inside the disney property. A few of the kiosk's don't take them but many do. You can get a list of all participating restaurants from disney. The only restaurant that I know doesn't take them is Rain forest cafe. I like the vouchers for the simple fact that I'm prepaying for all of my meals. I didn't get the meal plan on our last trip and it seemed like all of our money went to food. Hope this helps!
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey Thank you all for the advice on the meal plan. The description on the Disneyland site is very vague, so I thought it was somewhat similar to WDW's plan. I'll scrap that and bring my own $$$ to eat. I'm really leaning towards spending the extra cash and staying at Paradise Pier. If I stay offsite, I'll have to worry about getting back and forth to DL, and I'd rather not do that. I'd like to wake up and run out into the parks instead . Thanks for the advice, and any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Like I said, I'm a DL newbie.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey Thank you all for the advice on the meal plan. The description on the Disneyland site is very vague, so I thought it was somewhat similar to WDW's plan. I'll scrap that and bring my own $$$ to eat. I'm really leaning towards spending the extra cash and staying at Paradise Pier. If I stay offsite, I'll have to worry about getting back and forth to DL, and I'd rather not do that. I'd like to wake up and run out into the parks instead . Thanks for the advice, and any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Like I said, I'm a DL newbie.
Originally Posted By Mr X **I'm really leaning towards spending the extra cash and staying at Paradise Pier. If I stay offsite, I'll have to worry about getting back and forth to DL, and I'd rather not do that. I'd like to wake up and run out into the parks instead .** Nikki, I'll email you with more details, but regarding the hotels keep in mind that many of them (offsite, I mean) are within easy walking distance of the parks. So, it'd be quite a bit easier to get to the gates than even most of the deluxe hotels at WDW (aside from maybe the Grand Floridian and the Beach Club). Last time I stayed at the Hyatt, a first class hotel very nearby with a quick and free bus service (not to mention a shuttle bus to LAX if you fly through there...I believe that was free to but I'm not positive). Got a great deal on priceline, might be something to look into. As far as price goes, obviously the Disney hotels will be more. I assume that budget is something of an issue (me too) or else you'd just be staying at the Grand Californian right? Keep in mind, and I know how important this is for you...but at Disneyland the "stay inside the magic" thing is NOT as significant since the outside world does tend to intrude whenever you hit any of the "corners" of the resort (PP included). The only real exception imo is the Grand Californian...that's worth the spurge if you can swing it (never stayed there, but it's obvious). PP is on the edge of Downtown Disney iirc, and is pretty much "outside world" same as the other neighboring hotels as far as it goes. All of them, I think, would seem more like WDW's hotel plaza blvd...BUT, I haven't stayed at the Paradise Pier (had a wonderful Japanese lunch there once, or was it the other Disneyland hotel...can't recall). I'm sure others can chime in about how "Disney" it is and whether the service is worth the extra bucks. Anyway...geez...maybe I DON'T need to send you an email lol. Well, I will anyway with the Florida details, as it seems like we might cross paths after all if you wanted to join me for a popcorn or something. Airports...LAX is a real pain honestly. You'll have to take an annoying shuttle bus and it's a pretty long ride in any case. HOWEVER, price wise you might not have much choice. I've found that the other airports tend to be more expensive and with less regular flights from the East Coast (plus you may need to connect and all that). I would recommend that you add SUPERDRY to your list of helpful LPers, as he knows a LOT about airlines, their prices and routes, and how to get the best deal. I learned much more than I'll ever need to know from that guy.
Originally Posted By Mr X Here's a website I found that seems to offer a balanced view of what you might find if you stay at the P.P. hotel... The rooftop pool looks neat.
Originally Posted By Mr X Where is my brain today! A link might help. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/yvsneg" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/yvsneg</a> Here's the wiki on the place...I KNEW it was different when I ate there (that was our "official Japanese meal" when we had our sendoff from Disneyland to go work at TDL back in 98)...it was then the "Disneyland Pacific" hotel. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D isney</a>'s_Paradise_Pier_Hotel
Originally Posted By Mr X For a rather unique experience, why not request a room on the 13th floor? Get you all set up to go ride ToT.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Hi Nikki, Not much to add over what has already been said, but DL is quite different than WDW. I personally prefer the quality offerings of DL, but be aware the accommodations and restaurants there are fewer choices. Paradise Pier feels like a cross between a Holiday Inn and an All Stars to me. The Grand is the only hotel with the mega theming of a WDW resort. So if a character wake up call and some character touches are important to you, then PP is ok, but Hojo's is about the same distance from the parks. There are some nice little perks like early entry for staying on site though. As for the dining plan, not good at DL. Bring money and make your choices. Unique do not miss dining include the Blue Bayou and the Napa Rose at the Grand Californian. Also, I agree
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Also, I agree with Dave and X. I think you'll be a bit shocked the first time you approach DLR. It's nothing at all like WDW. The outside world is literally at Disney's doorstep. The oft-talked about Park Place Inn and Park View Inn hotels are actually closer to the park gates than either the DLH or PPH. Some rooms at HoJo's have a view of the Matterhorn. Here's an aerial map that clearly illustrates what I'm talking about: <a href="http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html" target="_blank">http://www.geocities.com/ashps yche/DisneylandLinkMap.html</a> Once on-property, everything is squeezed together. On one hand it's great... you can walk to anywhere at DLR. On the other hand, when it's crowded, well, it's crowded! Hopefully I'm not making the place sound horrible; it most definitely is not. It *is* where the Magic was born, and it lives on, to an even greater degree than the MK in WDW (although I'm certain you'll think something is wrong with the Castle ).
Originally Posted By beamerdog Thanks for starting this thread, NIKKI. I've got another question. I've been accruing points on my disney visa and will be transferring them over to the other card that they have. Can I use this card in the park to purchase food like a credit card?
Originally Posted By dzy76 beamerdog you can use it just like a credit card. I used mine all over the parks last year.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I was thinking last night, after looking up details about the DL meal plan, that one better way to "pre-pay" for your meals is to do a little menu research at allearsnet.com and decide what your budget is, and then convert that amount of money into Disney Dollars. Pros: Then you have your own "vouchers" that you can actually get change from and you can visually see how much you're spending and how much you have left. Con: You have to have some way of not losing the Disney Dollars! I've never done it that way, I was just thinking it may work for some people.
Originally Posted By beamerdog It's funny how the enormity of WDW doesn't bother me at all, but planning a trip to DL is scary, lol.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo That is funny beamerdog. For me, part of what annoys me about WDW is the size and the uber planning requirements. For DL, it's so much more of a go with the flow place, and everything is so easily accessible. Having a majority of WDW's key attractions within 2 sq miles is a big plus to me.
