All new to California & Disneyland....

We have been to Disney World in Florida 3 times and loved it.

We are considering California this year, never been.

ANY information would be great !

In Florida, you definitely want to stay on Disney property. Does it really matter here? Are the regular hotels Disney recommends ok?

We would want to do Disneyland, California Adventure, and what else?

Would love to go to ';The Grove'; and check out the new American Girl store - how far? I think it%26#39;s close to Hollywood, but not sure....

Maybe San Diego zoo.....would you stay at the same hotel all the time, or would you need to move around?

Sorry about all the questions, I am not familiar with the areas AT ALL.

All new to California %26amp; Disneyland....

';In Florida, you definitely want to stay on Disney property. Does it really matter here? Are the regular hotels Disney recommends ok?';

No, it is not necessary to stay on property for a Disneyland Resort visit. DLR%26#39;s main entrance is within walking distance of hotels right across the street, down the street, and a little further from the main entrance near the Convention Center. This area is called the Anaheim Resort. Many hotels use the ART shuttle service too. Garden Grove hotels are a little further down the street from DLR. Many of them are nice.

The Good Neighbor Hotels that Disney recommends are, indeed, okay. If you give us an idea of what you would like in a hotel we can make suggestions based on that.

';We would want to do Disneyland, California Adventure, and what else?';

1. Knott%26#39;s Berry Farm in neighboring Buena Park and the famous Mrs. Knott%26#39;s Chicken Dinner Restaurant outside the park.

2. Two dinner theater experiences in Buena Park, Medevil Times Dinner and Tournament and Pirates Dinner and Adventure (not the same as Disney%26#39;s Pirates).

3. Laguna Beach

';Would love to go to ';The Grove'; and check out the new American Girl store - how far? I think it%26#39;s close to Hollywood, but not sure....';

The Grove shopping center is in LA, right in between CBS Television City and the historic Farmers%26#39; Market. Best way to get there is by car. About one hour on the freeway. Parking is very expensive. The Grove is a beautiful outdoor mall and it is said that celebrities shop there. For lunch I recommend the Wood Ranch Grill and BBQ.

';Maybe San Diego zoo.....would you stay at the same hotel all the time, or would you need to move around?';

Definitely go to the San Diego Zoo! The zoo is just one part of historic Balboa Park with beautiful Spanish style buildings that house museums and a very pretty pond. Great place to take a stroll. San Diego also has a lot along San Diego Bay/downtown. Maritime Museums, the USS Midway battleship and Naval Memorial Park, Seaport Village (with cute shops and restaurants), Gaslamp District with restaurants. And if you cross the Coronado Bridge from downtown you will be in the village of Coronado and be able to visit the historic Hotel Del Coronado, which is beautiful and also has a big public beach. Ask on the San Diego Forum for further details. It is normally recommended to move to another hotel for a San Diego stay and stay there for at least 3 days.

If you let us know what your family is like and what you are interested in we can help a little better. Kids? How many and what ages?

To get familar which So. Cal, google the places I mentioned. Sometimes city websites, such as Laguna Beach, can give you an idea of what they are like.

All new to California %26amp; Disneyland....

Forgot to mention these suggestions of things to do:

The all new Anaheim Garden Walk.

Angels Baseball (if coming in baseball season) - Anaheim stadium is pretty close to DLR. Big, beautiful, and fun.

Thanks ! I will check it all out.

Our children are 16 %26amp; 11. In hotels, we prefer nicer places, but are rarely there. Our vacation theory is go-go-go, do %26amp; see as much as possible. Occasionally we%26#39;ll go to the hotel pool, but not often. Again, if we wanted to hang out at a pool, we could have just gone to a local hotel..... With that being said, as long as the hotel is clean %26amp; nice , then we%26#39;re happy. Would love the Hotel Del Coronado. We%26#39;ve been to the Atlantis on Paradise Island, and at Disney World prefer the Polynisian %26amp; Wilderness Lodge, but have also stayed at Port Orleans.

How many days would we need? 3-4 in Anaheim, and another 3 in San Diego? Where would you fly in %26amp; out of? Into Anaheim, out of San Diego?

Thanks again !

Checkers- some of the favorite non-DIsney hotels on this forum that are an easy walking distance to the park are the Candy Cane, Howard Johnsons, Camelot Inn and Suites, Best WEstern Park Place Inn, and Fairfield Inn and Suites. Start with those and see if they are in your budget and taste.

If you were coming during a very busy season (spring break, July 4th weekend, Christmas time) then a Disney property does have the advantage of a guarantee that you can get into the park if it starts to get to capacity. They give you an ID card that you can show at the gate to re-enter, even if the gates are temporarily closed.

Above hotels are good.

Because of your tastes, you may want to look into the Sheraton Park - with a park view.

You might really like Disneyland Hotel, too. You do have to pay a little extra (resort fee, for example) and some reviews are not so hot, but take a look at pictures with the reviews and you see how many nice Disney touches there are. If you don%26#39;t wish to be immersed in Disney, though, you have other good choices.

Four days in Anaheim and three in San Diego sounds good. If you want to go to LA, beaches, or elsewhere you may want to stay at least a couple of more days in Anaheim, as your base.

For hotel recommendations in San Diego, ask again in the San Diego Forum. You may like Embassy Suites On the San Diego Bay or Loews Coronado. Travel zoo has posted a special for Loews that is good until April this year.

When visiting Disneyland Resort, which we do a lot, we prefer a hotel to a motel. Unfortunately, the closest lodging to the parks are motels. And also unfortunately, you are going to pay just as much, if not more, for a motel than a hotel because of proximity. But this is CA, nobody walks! ;) All of the hotels have shuttles, either free, or on the ART lines, which is $3/day per person, but 10 and under are free. (As of Jan 1)

We really like the Anaheim Hilton for its proximity, the great staff and rooms and the Starbucks in the lobby. We are also great fans of the Hyatt Regency OC. You can get 3* hotels from Priceline for a fraction of the price. Our room was $65 per night at the Anaheim Hilton for two nights over New Year%26#39;s Eve! Our BIL paid over $100 a night for a Best Western. We%26#39;ve never had a bad 3* hotel in the ';Disneyland Area'; using Priceline. A bit of a gamble, yeah, but as long as it keeps paying off, and we get a nice place to stay, I%26#39;m okay with that. ;) Biddingfortravel.com has more information about using Priceline.

Also, get a copy of Sehlinger%26#39;s Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2008. While a bit bleak, his chapter on going with children is indispensable! We get to the park at opening, hit all the good attractions before the park fills up, have lunch, then head back to the hotel for a swim/nap. We head back to the park for the late afternoon, evening, all fresh and ready to go, while we pass people bound and determined to march their kids the entire day, with the tantrums to prove it. And we%26#39;re talking about the parents, here. ;)

Also very helpful is the Disneyland Resort edition of the Passporter, a guide book and planner. I use the Disney World and Disneyland editions religiously! So much fun to use to plan and record our adventures!

Above all, have a great time!!

I think the above post may be a little misleading for a first time visitor. People are indeed walking to and from hotels close to DLR. There is a lot of foot traffic in the area.

According to Darkbeer, out local expert, Howard Johnson%26#39;s - across the street from Disneyland - is more like a hotel than a motel. It is also right next to a very good family restaurant, Mimi%26#39;s.

The hotel I suggested, Sheraton Park, is within walking distance, although a little further walk than the places close to the main entrance. Many like the option of walking to DLR and taking the shuttle back (since the entire day includes a lot of walking).

The Fairfield also feels very much like a hotel, even though it technically has outdoor corridors. That%26#39;s because it%26#39;s a high rise and you enter and exit the elevators through internal lobbies on each floor before heading through a door which takes you to an outside ';hallway%26#39; to your door.

Once the park was redesigned with the configuration it is now, I will never stay in a hotel where I have to take a shuttle again. I remember standing and waiting for a shuttle one night after closing, and watching folks walk back to their hotels before I had even gotten on board! By the time you reach the shuttle parking lot, you are only a stone%26#39;s throw away from many of the motels/hotels listed above. And while I would prefer a hotel in any other circumstance, at Dland most of the time what I really need is just proximity and a clean bed.

hi

the california disney isnt a patch on florida so id recommend you spend most of the time in san diego - its lovely and there is loads for kids to do

ifr your kids like scary roller coasters consider a quick side trip to 6 flags in santa clarita

take the trolley tour early in your san diego stay - great fun and it gets yo orientated

make sure hubby treats yo uto lunch on the terrace level of georges atthe cove - great food - reasonable prices - wonderful views

Checkers,

Just a note to address the above post. As you probably know, technically there is no ';Florida Disney'; and ';California Disney';. There is Walt Disney World in Florida and the one and only original Disneyland in California, which a few years ago added Disney%26#39;s California Adventure and expanded into Disneyland Resort with two parks.

Some folks like WDW better, some like DLR better. They are not the same. Even the Magic Kingdom of WDW is not the same as DL, although pretty similar. Disneyland has original and classic rides, including the one and only Matterhorn, and some of the same rides that are in WDW MK are considered better in DL. DL and is more compact, easier to get around. It also has the history and one can actually feel the spirit of Walt. To some, this doesn%26#39;t matter. So sometimes Disneyland does get compared to WDW negatively. But, this is where it all started and you really have to be here to feel that and experience it! Local fans of DLR (including those of us who live an hour, even two hours away) visit often and you will likely feel like one of us, rather than a tourist as you may feel at WDW in Florida.

You can definitely do DLR and San Diego and other things in So. Cal. There is no reason to skip DLR or even consider that it may not be on par with WDW.