as that's when most people drop them if they either don't go or held the reservation just in case. Additionally, go to wherever you want to eat early and ask to get put on a list. Walk-ins can happen, at least they can at Disneyland. With that said, seeing as how Disneyland caters to locals as WDW caters to out of town travelers, I imagine the likelihood of people letter go of their dining reservations the day prior is much less.

Sit at the bar etc?

Is the food and wine on par with high end restaurants at a garden variety luxury resort?

guide just like Vermin05’s WDW one above. Mine will need to be updated whenever they decide to roll out Genie+ and LL, but I’ve been there enough since it re-opened that I could provide a very comprehensive guide for the post-COVID experience, including hotels.

I have a niece at UCLA and a niece at USD. I would probably make it a week and stay half the time in Newport and half at a Disneyland resort hotel.

But I will go to Disneyworld as soon as my younger boy meets all height minimums. I will probably take a more Brunswickian approach and stay half the time in Naples or in John’s Island.

As vermin05 mentioned, if you don't want to do a full week at Disney, you can get more bang for your buck with 3-4 days at Disneyland. It's only an hour extra flight and you would have extra days available to do other things in Orange County or LA.


There is no beating the convenience of the Grand Californian. It has a private entrance to California Adventure and private security to Downtown Disney and Disneyland. Napa Rose Restaurant and its lounge would meet your standard for both. The hotel also has Hearthstone Lounge which is the walk-in lobby bar you were seeking.

Disneyland is 1.5-2 days to cover. California Adventure is 1 day. That leaves time to hang out at the hotel pool or explore other SoCal sites.

Much less planning is required at Disneyland. Really just park reservations and dining. For someplace like Napa Rose or Cathay Circle, you'll want to try to book at the 60 day mark to be safe, but availability is no where near as limited as WDW.

I’ve got no desire to ever go back to WDW, but the Grand Californian or Disneyland Hotel (I’m a sucker for Trader Sam’s) gets a visit every year or so.

are more “magical” for the kids with the singing/ light up headboards and the far better pool waterslides. That said, aside from our annual trip where we stay in a hotel, we always “take a break” for lunch at the GC in their lobby. No reservations required. Food is far better and it’s just lively to sit and rest on a comfortable couch, listening to the pianist play Disney music on their grand piano and enjoy a cocktail in the air conditioning. It’s very beautiful.

than mine. For us, it doesn’t make sense until our little guy is tall enough for virtually all of the rides to do the WDW trip. He’s almost 8, but barely 46” and that is with him wearing Air Maxes with orthotics inside. He passed for under 3 until he was 5.5 though, so there’s that.

Most of the restaurants I posted in my guide either have bars or attached lounges where you can walk in if there’s room.

I am particularly a fan of the lounge adjacent to the Yachtsman.

Not just wanting to go without kids but also that 60 days out and you can’t get dinner reservations.

I really think one major problem I will have will be being around the types of people who have taken at least 10 trips there in the past 3 years and have had it all planned out for 12 months.

It is all, like I posted above, a little strange. And daunting. I don’t have the inclination to invest 50 hours researching the insider tips and options.

The Disney Dining reservations fill up at 60 days because of Facebook groups and bots locking up reservations that are then used as "trade". It's annoying.

You can combat it one of two ways:

A. Use OpenTable for many reservations at either Disney Springs or the hotels. Disney holds back a significant number via OpenTable.

B. Don't sweat early planning and just wait until 48-72 hours before your targeted date. Disney charges a $10/person late cancellation fee if you cancel after the 24 hour mark, so you will see tons of availability open up 2-3 days beforehand.

On a Thursday at 7pm week before last. Disney springs however, was packed. It was quite good.

The issue with dinner reservations is that you can only make dinner reservations a maximum of 60 days in advance. For people not staying on site, it's 60 days in advance of when you want to eat. For people staying on site, it's 60 days in advance of your first day at your hotel, which means onsite guests can book before non-onsite guests, e.g., if you're staying 7 nights you can begin booking restaurants up to 67 days in advance. That extra time allotment is enough for on site guests to get all the best times at the best restaurants.

I have Bend, which is also full of stem cell spas and Californians now.

I think 1-3 days at a time is the best way to do Disney, or Orlando more generally, but obviously that's not necessarily practical for everyone.

Hotel and dining reservations are not linked. You can make a reservation at one of the disney resorts, make your dining reservations, and then cancel the resort. Your dining reservations are separate and will not be canceled. I've done this before when staying off site.

I assume the Four Seasons has a decent bar.

system. Correct me if I am wrong WDW people, but it’s not an official Disney hotel. Also, going to the bar at any Disney hotel doesn’t require reservations.

While not an official Disney hotel, you can book Disney travel packages with it and book dining through the Disney app.

They also take Disney dining discounts.

I recommend booking Capa via OpenTable, though, for all the reasons previously cited.

It is also insanely priced now due to the 50th….we are talking $1,500 per night for their lowest tier room

the room most of the time, $1,500/ ni for a standard room is asinine. My thought is booking the resort with the best pools/ amenities that provide the easiest access to the parks. For a couples trip, Four Seasons makes far more sense…. But even then, $1,500 ni for a standard room in Orlando? Why? Go to Hawaii if you want a couples trip.