Still Struggling with Disneyland stop and Aulani...More info!

scottmel

<font color=darkorchid>Does my logic in my origina
Joined
Jul 28, 2002
If you feel like you have heard this question from me before, it is because you have!

I fully planned on leaving for Disneyland in July but due to flight costs I ended up flying in a day early, a Friday I think July 6. Flying into LAX. Flight lands at 7 pm West Coast Time (10 pm for my body clock from east coast)

Ok well now I am getting to Disnyland from LAX at 7 pm on a Friday night. Oh GOD. Had not planned on going to any parks in Disneyland on a Saturday due to the crowds, etc. Last year we did a VIP Guide as a gift to my husband and this helped but I felt rushed since I was paying by the hour etc. so even a VIP GUIDE can only do so much on a crowded Saturday and I would rather utilize this money for Aulani.

So now I am sitting in Disnyland area on a Saturday - I guess I could go to California Adventures...

so my REAL question is do I keep the current plan of Friday night arrival to LAX with EARLY morning Tuesday departure to Aulani or do I reverse this whole thing? Meaning fly direct from PIT to Honolulu and on the way home fly to LAX and do disneyland on back end?

Disadvantage of this - time difference. Rope Dropping at the parks with 3 hour time change going to be tough on a short stop. PLUS SIDE I could maybe fly home from SNA to PIT....avoiding LAX on way home

Yes, Disneyland is mandatory....for me. Aulani was not my call for the summer, my daughter chose it, I am looking forward to seeing and experiencing it, but I need Disneyland as part of the trip. My disappointment with current flight issue is spending 4 nights in Disneyland and I had only planned on a 2 day park ticket...guess I could do a 3 day ticket but I know those SAturday crowds will be insane.....
 
I know I am not in the majority on these boards about this but I MUCH prefer the stop on the way back.

We have done it both ways and some of the reasons I prefer to stop on the journey home are...

1) the jet lag for us (coming back to Toronto) is fierce and stopping in California for even one overnight on the way home helps soooo much. I have had times coming home from Hawaii where I am sick to my stomach from being so tired and it takes days to really clear the time change from my system so anything that helps this is a plus for me.

2) It is hard to find non stop flights at a reasonable cost from Toronto so we usually travel with a connection. I always want to leave as late in the day from Hawaii as we can so that we get that little bit of extra time (I'm nuts, I know) so we are usually leaving at 10 or 11pm Hawaii time and flying through the night to the mainland. There is no way I am going to be able to sleep on a plane that long anyway but a connection makes sure you dont get to sleep the full time which really sucks from a jet lag point of view.

3) I always have remorse when I leave Hawaii. I am totally addicted to the islands and I never want to leave. Stopping in a place like DL gives me something to look forward to and makes leaving Hawaii just a little bit easier. I know a lot of people say to do the Disneyland stop ahead of time because they want to have the action packed part of the vacation first and then relax and enjoy Hawaii after but I feel like I enjoy a theme park more if I am already in vacation mode.
 
Difficult question. I'd still go with the DL then Aulani plan. Advantage is that it will help you adjust to the time change more gradually, and hopefully you can sleep on the plane coming home.

As far as California Adventure goes, yes!!! Its a really fun park. Try to see Carsland around sundown to catch the neon lights turning on and music playing.
 
Difficult question. I'd still go with the DL then Aulani plan. Advantage is that it will help you adjust to the time change more gradually, and hopefully you can sleep on the plane coming home.

As far as California Adventure goes, yes!!! Its a really fun park. Try to see Carsland around sundown to catch the neon lights turning on and music playing.

Thanks Jeff! LOL I love carsland at night!!! I made my family sit on a bench there in July at night and just absorb it all. They thought I was nuts...but I am with you something about riding and visiting there at night is magical!
 


I know I am not in the majority on these boards about this but I MUCH prefer the stop on the way back.

We have done it both ways and some of the reasons I prefer to stop on the journey home are...

1) the jet lag for us (coming back to Toronto) is fierce and stopping in California for even one overnight on the way home helps soooo much. I have had times coming home from Hawaii where I am sick to my stomach from being so tired and it takes days to really clear the time change from my system so anything that helps this is a plus for me.

2) It is hard to find non stop flights at a reasonable cost from Toronto so we usually travel with a connection. I always want to leave as late in the day from Hawaii as we can so that we get that little bit of extra time (I'm nuts, I know) so we are usually leaving at 10 or 11pm Hawaii time and flying through the night to the mainland. There is no way I am going to be able to sleep on a plane that long anyway but a connection makes sure you dont get to sleep the full time which really sucks from a jet lag point of view.

3) I always have remorse when I leave Hawaii. I am totally addicted to the islands and I never want to leave. Stopping in a place like DL gives me something to look forward to and makes leaving Hawaii just a little bit easier. I know a lot of people say to do the Disneyland stop ahead of time because they want to have the action packed part of the vacation first and then relax and enjoy Hawaii after but I feel like I enjoy a theme park more if I am already in vacation mode.

THanks for this insight...I know that sick stomach from no rest feeling. I am lucky if I get 5 hours a night of sleep on a good night at home. But if I go say 3 or under I feel AWFUl and I cannot sleep on a plane. Even if I had the beds on the plane I don't think I could do it. My daughter agrees as well...

I have a bad hip and knee and excessive sitting KILLS. My direct from LAX to PIT I was in agony last July towards the end.

Would this be insane?

Fly to SNA from PIT with 1 hour stop over in Vegas to stretch etc.
STay 2 nights in Disneyland
Return trip - stop off somewhere AGAIN....I wish I understood how to find a flight that was ONE TICKET that allowed you to sleep somewhere> people call it layover etc but would this be one ticket that you left honolul on, flew to I don't know Vegas let's say, then left again the following morning for one price one airfare ticket? That would be ideal for me....or I could flip flop this and do the extended layover on way down and DL on way home...
 
THanks for this insight...I know that sick stomach from no rest feeling. I am lucky if I get 5 hours a night of sleep on a good night at home. But if I go say 3 or under I feel AWFUl and I cannot sleep on a plane. Even if I had the beds on the plane I don't think I could do it. My daughter agrees as well...

I have a bad hip and knee and excessive sitting KILLS. My direct from LAX to PIT I was in agony last July towards the end.

Would this be insane?

Fly to SNA from PIT with 1 hour stop over in Vegas to stretch etc.
STay 2 nights in Disneyland
Return trip - stop off somewhere AGAIN..
..I wish I understood how to find a flight that was ONE TICKET that allowed you to sleep somewhere> people call it layover etc but would this be one ticket that you left honolul on, flew to I don't know Vegas let's say, then left again the following morning for one price one airfare ticket? That would be ideal for me....or I could flip flop this and do the extended layover on way down and DL on way home...

I almost suggested this to you, the idea of maybe trying to stay overnight somewhere on your way back.

I use the ITA Matrix to look at flights but you cant book on that, it is basically a tool that helps you price flights.
 
We did DLR on the way home from Hawaii in July 2016 and it worked great for us. When I priced the tickets, booking flights by leg was not any more expensive than booking as a round trip (no place goes direct to Hawaii from where we live). We flew to Oahu for Aulani (by way of LAX where we had a 2 hour stop to walk around and eat a meal), then went to Maui, then came back to LAX for DLR and left from SNA to go home. The stop at DLR really helped with the time change on the way home- we did not feel it at all. Also, hurricane season in Hawaii is from June to November. A tropical storm coming and they were predicting it could be bad (wound up just being a lot of rain), so we wound up leaving Maui a day early to avoid the storm which gave us additional days at DLR. I would have been so sad to leave Hawaii early, but it was okay because we were at DLR!

We have been to DLR in July the last 4 years and have not found the weekends that bad...but it looks like your weekend would be 4th of July week. We would prefer to stay away from that weekend and come on the end of the trip I think. Plus, we are always wiped out when we leave DLR because we go to the parks open to close every day- I wouldn't want to be tired in Hawaii.
 


Thanks KTLM. I hear your well thought argument and my husband was rooting for that as well. But the flight times were the pits on the certain days we had to leave. Another concern I had was the long flight to HI - I have a bad hip and fear it giving me trouble for the 10days in Hawaii if I try a 11 hour flight there...that is my biggest worry.....
 
Crows are always insane in July in DL. I'd not avoid the parks just because of it. While I have not tried the new MaxPass yet, others have had very good success with it, even on crowded days.
 

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