Going to Disneyworld for the First Time

I would drive if you can... TSA is being totally ridiculous with their enhanced pat downs FOR KIDS. One girl was 3 because she cried about her bear being taken and one was 20 months old. Anyways, I've never been to disneyland (you said California right?) but I wanted to put my 2 cents in because I'm overly protective about kids in general. 1. Keep your kids SUPER close at disneyland 2. Check your peephole in your room and make sure it's legit (sounds wierd but it has happened). Have fun :D I wanna go when my daughters older.

From San Jose.. just drive to Disneyland.... the time and hassles as well as cost of flying for a whole family is not worth it,, and not much less time... use that money for your trip. Lots of nice hotels across the street on Harbor, with a nice selection of restaurants nearby. Then you can just walk across to the park, rather than pay for parking. Or as someone mentioned, some hotels offer shuttle service, just make sure it's a free one, as some hotels charge for shuttle service. The week between Christmas and New Year's is typically one of their busiest.. they have been known to close the park at capacity by about 10:30 in the morning... alot of groups are in the area for the Rose Parade, and bands come to the park to march on Main Street.. so that adds a lot of bodies to the park. So come early, and make sure to get hand stamped if you need to leave mid-day or switch parks, so that you can get back in. Be sure and hit both parks if you can. Use fast-passes, and parent swap options... Don't miss Soarin' Over California, and Tower of Terror.

I would fly if you can afford it. I have driven every time with my family and it is a long drive. I am not sure about holiday traffic but if you drive....we always leave Saturday morning around 5am and arrive about 11:30 ish. We stop at Harris Ranch for breakfast and to stretch our legs. On the way back we leave around 9 or so on a Tuesday and there is always tons of traffic getting out of there. We figure it is easier to deal with traffic on the way home instead of on the way there. We also stop at Harris Ranch for lunch on the way home.

We always stay at the Paradise Pier which is across the street from the the Grand Disney Hotel and you can enter into California Land from there. If you stay at any of the Disney hotels you never have to see your car for the entire trip. Which is good because you will be traveling back and forth the whole time for naps, etc. AAA and Costco have the best package rates.

If you drive you have your car to go to and from Disneyland and your hotel. It will allow you to go to the store and get cheap snacks. Flying and having to juggle car seats is difficult.

We've taken our kids to Disneyland many times at many ages and have always driven as it's not a bad drive (should take you 5 hours max) The trick is to drive when you think your kids will do good deal of sleeping. As far as lodging goes, we have always used Priceline and gotten incredible deals (Disneyland lodging is way overpriced). You can enter your destination, your own price (we always lowball it and go up from there) and get hotels close to the park that offer free transportation to and from the park.

A flight during Christmas break might be pretty expensive if you haven't booked yet so driving might be a better option. Stay at Disney if you can and use their bus system, it is much easier than trying to park your car at the park. Use Fast Pass for the popular rides. Everything at Disney is great - have a wonderful time!