Disneyland Anaheim- where to stay, tips please?

[mummyrocks1]

Dh and dcs 6 and 4 are going to do the California coast summer 2020. We will end up in LA was thinking of going to Disneyland.

I ve heard LA is a nightmare traffic wise and so we are better off staying within the Disney resort, otherwise we will spend all our time driving in traffic. Is this true?

Where would you recommend for us to stay which is nice but not too expensive please?

What things are a must and must not to do while we are there? We were thinking two days, will we need three? Kids are only small, was wondering about breaking it up into two days, Day chilling at hotel and then final day if we did three days. Is this possible?

I don't know where to start with researching it all either, I assume it's like Disney world Florida with a million options of passes and food passes etc. Where shall I start?

Plus, if we wanted to go to Laguna beach and Santa Monica for a couple of days afterwards, is this worth it? Where should we stay?

Theres a hilton doubletree about 10 minute walk down the strip to disney.

Disneyland is located in the city of Anaheim and practically all of the hotels there used shuttle buses to take their guests to Disneyland. There are plenty of nice hotels in this area; we have stayed at the Hyatt Regency previously.

I would consider three days rather than two as there are two separate parks. Both parks, whilst not quite as large as the FL parks, do involve lots of walking.

Laguna beach is located south of the city of Anaheim; if you were staying in Anaheim it would make more sense to explore this general area afterwards because it is closer than Santa Monica. (Santa Monica and Laguna Beach are in completely different directions to each other, you will see how far apart they are on a google map). Anaheim is also near the city of Buena Park where Knotts Berry Farm and their water park is situated.

For the most immersive Disneyland experience, stay on property. You will enjoy the Extra Magic Hour for every day of your stay at an on-site property.
However, unlike Disney World,there is no value option at the Disneyland Resort. The three Disney properties are in the deluxe to moderate categories for hotels. With only three resort hotels at Disneyland, these hotel rooms are harder to come by. During the busiest times, rates are higher simply because the availability isn't there.
Several of the hotels along Harbor Boulevard are a 5-minute walk to the entrance plaza of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park (with security lines it can take a bit longer to reach the theme park gates). They are even a shorter walk than two of Disneyland's resort hotels, Disney's Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel. Plenty of other Anaheim hotels are within a 5- to 10-minute walk of Disneyland. There are many more hotels that offer shuttle service to Disneyland.
Depending on the time of day and where you stay,it could take you as little 5 to 10 minutes to get from the Disneyland entrance plaza to your hotel room. That's a huge plus — not just at the start or end of the day — but in the middle as well. Walking across Harbor Boulevard for a shower, swim, snack or nap won't eat up your day.
Many hotels near Disneyland offer a free breakfast buffet every morning. We like to fuel up before we hit the park. When we stayed at Hyatt Place, promptly at 6:30 a.m., the hotel's breakfast buffet was ready for us. There were yummy items such asfruit, bread, cereal, scrambled eggs, french toast, sausage and a potato skillet offering. Also — coffee. With full bellies, we hopped down the road and reached the Disneyland gates ready to go.
If you are an early birdnot staying on-site, start the day in the park nothosting Extra Magic Hours.Even if you arrive ahead of parkopening, the park with Extra Magic Hours or Magic Morning will have more people in it, and you’ll encounter some lines and fewer immediate FASTPASS options. You're better off heading to the opposite park. You can usually enter the other park 30 minutes early, but you will have access to the entire park once the rope drops at official opening. Currently, the Extra Magic Hour schedule is Disneyland Park: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Disney California Adventure Park: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
It's much easier to park hop at Disneyland than it is at Disney World. It doesn't cost that much to add on park hoppers at Disneyland. You want to maximize yourtime in the parks. And Disneyland often staggers the park closing times. By getting park hoppers, you are able to hop to the park open later, catching World of Colour at Disney California Adventure or Fantasmic! at Disneyland on the nights that it is shown. Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure are close to each other. Disney California Adventure park normally closes before Disneyland so I recommend starting in Disney California Adventure and then hopping over to Disneyland.
With less travel time and ground to cover at Disneyland, you can spend three days in the parks and experience it all. As you’re a first time visitor, I’d recommend three days and if you purchase a three-day or longer ticket in advance, you get the added benefit of Disneyland Magic Morning. This perk gives you early admission to Disneyland Park during your length of stay on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. Tomorrowland and Fantasyland attractions are currently the areas of the park open during Disneyland Magic Morning.
Knowing when and where you're going to eat can be a timesaver. Visit the Disneyland website or the Disneyland Mobile app to see your options and reserve. Our three favourite spots are the Blue Bayou Restaurant in New Orleans Square, the Carthay Circle Restaurant on Buena Vista Street and the new Lamplight Lounge at Pixar Pier.Café Orleans has fun food, too (like their Monte Cristo, pommes frites and Mickey beignets).

If you stay on the site you will only get the magic hour if you have park tickets for three days or more.

There's a Holiday Inn in Anaheim which is a short (7ish min) drive to Disney. We stayed there for 10 days a few years ago and found it to be a pretty good location for exploring. Traffic is an issue wherever you are in the LA area so just factor it in as part of the day.

Maybe stay near Disney for as long as you want to be at Disney and move to a different area for the rest of the LA time?

Thanks, lots of great information.

So is there a free guide I can order for Disneyland or anything? When's best to book to get the best prices? Do they have a universal studios?

LA has a universal studios. Also the Warner Bros tour is really good too.

You can't book anything beyond December for Disney at the mo but if you are buying one day tickets it's good to buy as soon as they are available as there will be cheaper tickets.

Universal studios in Hollywood is about 60-90 minutes drive north of the city of Anaheim. Given your children’s ages I would leave this for a future visit.

The Warner brothers tour do not allow children under the age of 8.

I used to live in Los Angeles, don't be too put off by the idea of traffic, yes it's a longish drive to Anaheim but 90 mins covers it. LA has some charm, Anaheim doesn't....

I've been to Disneyland twice, once on a Thursday in May, and second a Saturday in December. The Saturday was totally unbearable - I saw two stressed fathers on the brink of fisticuffs, they let far too many people into the park and we just spent the whole day in crowds of people and barely went on any rides, we were without kids but I don't know how they would handle that. The Thursday was also much too crowded for my liking. I felt very jaded after both experiences, especially since at the end of the day they do a little performance about dreams coming true! Disney's California Adventure might be better, I don't know.

Universal studios has fairly gentle rides, although kids might find the focus on theatrics, rather than rides, quite tedious. Six Flags Magic Mountain is amazing if you like big rides, I expect your kids are too young! Knotts Berry Farm is gentler but might also a big grown up for them. None of these places were overcrowded when I visited.