My Best Tips for Disneyland

Before we left to go to Disneyland I did as much research as possible. Here are my best tips:

1. Bring water bottles into the park. We froze our each night at the hotel and then let the kids drink cold water throughout the day. We also brought in our own snacks. We actually had an entire suitcase full of snacks that we brought with us on the plane. Food is expensive. So we ate a big breakfast at the hotel. The Staybridge where we stayed had a free continental breakfast each morning. We then had snacks and then went back to the hotel to cook dinner in the kitchen in our room. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the hotel they also had a free dinner for guests.

2. If you have kids under the age of 5 bring a stroller. You can rent one there but it is expensive per day. We brought an umbrella stroller that had a basket under it and it was a life saver. There are a ton of places around Disneyland to park the stroller. We used it as a base to store our water bottles which I wouldn't have wanted to carry around. Our stroller had polka dots so it was easy to see, otherwise tie a bright scarf on to it. I have heard if you rent a stroller this is a must because it is hard to tell them apart.

3. Have an agenda. Maybe this is for me because I am a planner, but I feel that you need to have some kind of agenda ahead of time. We actually subscribed to Ride Max and planned out our days, which worked for the most part for us. It at least gave us a direction.

4. If you don't want to plan too much I would get there 45 minutes before the park opens then down Main Street and head left. The majority of people go right to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.

5. Hit the big rides first thing in the morning, or during the parades, or fireworks.

6. Know your limits. I realize that people do Disneyland in only 3 days, but if you have children under the age of 5 I don't know how you do it. I think pushing the little ones too far makes everyone miserable. The best thing for them is to go about 4 hours, take a break and then come back in the evening.

7. Disneyland is loud and the noise and stimulation would get to me after awhile. It is a good idea to have a balance between the high energy excitement rides and the low ones.

8. Have a designated meeting place if you get separated. If everyone has cell phones that can text then this may not be a necessity for you. Between Ken and I we had one cell phone. There was one time he went back to get a stroller and we weren't able to find each other again for nearly 1 hour. When you call each other in Disneyland you can not hear each other because it is so loud.

9. Tell your kids that you are not going to buy any souvenirs until the last day, but that they can look for ideas throughout the trip. Then at the end of your last day going in to the Emporium on Main Street it has everything from all the parks and buy your item. That way you don't have to carry it around.

10. The fireworks show is amazing and it is pretty neat to see Dumbo and Tinkerbell fly. The first night we sat to the right but the trees were in the way. In order to get a spot in front of the castle you need to get there at least 1 hour before the show starts. My husband said there are great seats on Main by the train station that were still available 10 minutes before the show.

11. Have a plan for waiting in lines. Kids under the age of 5 hate lines. We did everything from bringing dum dums (huge hit), to letting them look through the videos we had taken on our camera of previous activities, or playing I Spy. In reality the best trick was having one parent wait in line while the other took them to a less busy ride. The carousal was perfect for us. We would get dirty looks sometimes when we cut, but get real people do you really want my 2 year old screaming his head off next to you for 20 - 30 minutes.

12. Pin trading is really fun for older kids. You can buy pins ahead of time on ebay for a fraction of the cost of what they are in the park.

13. Have your kids make their own autograph books ahead of time. The characters always commented about the kids books and it was fun for the kids to share them.

14. The train is a great way to get from one side of the park to the other. It is relaxing and comes frequently and you get to see new parts you wouldn't normally see.

15. Measure your kid ahead of time and know the height requirements. I saw one kid bawling because he wasn't tall enough to ride and his parents had promised him he could go.

16. The best rides for toddlers were Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Casey Jr. Circus Train, The Railroad, Goofy's House in Toon Town (not a ride I know), and rides in A Bug's Land.

17. Have the professional photographers take pictures of your family with your own camera. We also made sure to have them take some family shots in front of the castle and they superimposed tinkerbell into my kid's hands. You can order a single picture for $15 and this might make a great Christmas shot. I wish we would have had even more pictures in front of the castle, because I really liked what they did. The photographers are really nice and they know what looks good.

18. Make sure your phones are in water proof bags.

19. Lines 13, 20 and 21 are the fastest moving lines at the Disneyland entrance. I thought this was nuts when I read this on someone else's website, but it is true. There are large tree right in front of these entrances and people don't realize that you can sneak in front of everybody and get in these lines.

20. Don't be a sheep. Everyone has a crowd mentality. When we went to see the Aladdin show everyone was going in one entrance. We saw another door and asked if we could go in the upper level. We used this door and were able to then walk back down to the front and got great seats in the third row.

21. Toy Story Mania and Peter Pan are fun rides but they don't have a fast pass so do them first (except on Magic Mornings)

22. Use the fast pass system. You don't have to go between the designated time. The passes don't expire. You can also get another fast pass as soon as the first designated time on your first pass has passed. You can also get multiple fast passes for the same ride on the same day. Just make sure that if you have a runner go and get the fast passes that they take everyone's tickets because you have to scan each ticket individually. Having a runner go while the rest wait in line is a good way to spend your time.

23. Just splurge and do the Ariel's Grotto or character breakfast instead of the Princess Fantasy Faire. The lines for the faire are crazy long. If you want to save the money than have one parent wait while the other parent does Toon Town or It's a Small World. The wait is 30 - 40 minutes from the end of the first roped off line.

24. If your child wants to see Rapunzel (the new "it" princess) have a parent wait in line as soon as it opens. I asked and they said it is crazy every day as soon as it opens and the minimum wait time is 45 minutes.

25. I thought it was fun to have a list of the food items I really wanted ahead of time. On my list was a dole whip from Tiki Juice Bar (we hit this 3 separate times), cream cheese pretzel (amazing and I wish I would have bought another), mickey mouse shaped chocolate dipped ice cream, corn dog from the truck near Main Street, Monte Cristo Sandwich (heart attack and a half), chocolate peanut butter sandwiches (2 times - and I still fantasize about these).

26. The parade either starts on Main Street or by It's a Small World. Ask which direction it is starting on and plan accordingly. If it starts by It's a Small World you will be able to slip into Fantasyland after the parade passes while most people are still watching the parade. It is also fun to immediately follow behind the parade after it passes. The kids think they are part of the parade and you get to beat all of the crowds that are still watching. If you have seen the parade hit all the major rides you want to during the parade.

I had on my list but never got around to it: smoked turkey leg, beignets from the jazz kitchen in Downtown Disney, Rice Krispie Treats, Mozzarella Cheese Strips at The Stage Door Cafe, and Seafood Herb Crepes and Pommes Frites at Cafe Orleans. Maybe next time!

Day 5 and 6 Disneyland

On Friday morning we got to the park early again and headed to Toon Town. 

The kids had a lot of fun exploring the Disney characters houses and town.

 At one point the kids went to the City Hall and were pounding on the door and trying to open it. They turned around to come back to us and the door suddenly opened and out walked Pluto.

 One of our favorite places was Goofy's House. It had a fenced yard with a small park that was perfect for our active 2 year old. A lot of places around Disneyland are frustrating for 2 year olds and in many ways confining. He loved being able to run and play.

In Mickey's House you get to walk through all of the passage ways, then you end up in a video room that is running old Mickey Mouse movies. It surprised the kids afterwards when they turned the corner and found the real Mickey Mouse waiting for them.

 Little Miss desperately wanted to see Jasmine and we had been chasing her around Disneyland but had always missed her. We stopped by the Princess Faire on our way out of Toon Town to check it out. The lines were huge to see the princesses and Jasmine wasn't there.

 At this point we traveled to California Adventureland. We went to one of my most favorite places on the entire trip. We first went and saw Turtle Talk with Crush. It is absolutely amazing even if you don't have children. We have all kinds of theory as to how they make it work, but it is so much fun.

 We then went downstairs to the Sorcerer's Workshop. I think this is a place that is often overlooked, but they have a place called Belle's Library. The kids sat at these interactive books and answer questions. The book then magically shows a picture of their face and transforms into the Disney character they are most like. We did it for each of the kids and this was their results. 

 Midge is Lady, from Lady and the Tramp.

 Little Miss is Tinkerbell.

 Leo is Cogsworth.

Huck is Timon.

 Finn checking out Belle's Rose.

 Our talented little artist was then able to go to Animation Academy. I loved this place. You go into this amazing room full of seats with drawing paper and pencils. A professional Disney artist sits up on this amazing stage, with a giant screen and a document camera. The artist then walks you through how to draw famous Disney characters. It was so much fun and very relaxing.

 We then traveled over to the Muppet 3D movie. We all loved it and had a great time. 

 Afterwards we hooked up with my dad and Steve, my dad, and Ken went to the Tower of Terror. I took the kids back to the hotel for a rest. Midge wasn't feeling too good so we let her stay with my parents along with Huck. I think all of the excitement got to be too much for her. 

She definitely has her mother's stomach issues. 

Ken and I ended up taking Little Miss and Leo back to the park. 

 Snuggling with my little ones. It was nice to have 

a little downtime in Disneyland with them.

 We did some of their favorite rides and then headed over to the Haunted Mansion. My father had talked about how this was one of his most favorite rides as a small kid. I wasn't sure if it would be too scary for them, but Ken and I had already gone so I knew what to expect. I prepared Little Miss for what she would see and she thought it was kind of fun. They loved the last part when a ghost was riding in the car with them on the way out. 

 We then stayed and watched the fireworks show and Fantasmic. We loved both of them. The crowds definitely got crazier on Friday evening. People started reserving places to sit 2 hours before the show. I didn't want to bother with it so we found a place to the right of the castle before the show. We could definitely see the show, but I decided I wanted to have Midge see the show the next night and I wanted to sit directly in front of the castle to see Dumbo and Tinkerbell fly. 

Fantasmic was amazing. We sat just to the right of the controllers so we could see the switchboard as they operated the show right in front of Mark Twain's house. We ended up going to the 2nd show after the fireworks and the walk from the fireworks into Adventureland is insane with the crowds. You are literally squeezed in and I was thankful we had the stroller because I would have worried about losing Evie. At one point we couldn't move at all you couldn't go forward or backward. 

 Our last day at Disneyland we were all worn out. The kids wanted desperately to sleep in and hang around the hotel swimming pool. My parents ended up going to Disneyland and said the crowds weren't that bad probably because everyone had stayed out late the night before. We ended up arriving at Disneyland late in the afternoon just in time to get a good spot for the parade. All week we told the kids we weren't going to buy them a souvenir until the last day. Each of them got a gift from us and a gift from my parents. I had heard the Emporium on Main Street has everything in the park. While everyone was waiting for the parade I got to take each kid in and make a choice for what they wanted. 

Huck got a toy gun blaster which makes very loud noises from Mimi and Papa (which strangely affects the reception of the TV when he uses it)

Leo got a Lego set from Mimi and Papa and a Mickey T-shirt from mom and dad

Little Miss got a Jasmine doll from Mimi and Papa and an Ariel doll from Mom and Dad

Midge got jewelry from Mimi and Papa and a hat from Mom and Dad

 The parade was really fun and the kids loved it. 

 Little Miss showed Ariel on the float her new doll and the lady reacted and waved to her. 

Little Miss was in heaven.

 After the parade Little Miss desperately wanted to see Jasmine. I decided to try and go back to the Princess Faire. I walked up to the end of the line where an attendant was and told him that we had been there all week and had tried every day to find Jasmine and how this was our last night and our little 4 year old really wanted to see her and asked if he could please make it happen. He smiled and said she was just coming off stage and he would snag her. Little Miss was overjoyed and the woman was really nice to sign the kid's books. 

 Of course just as we were leaving Little Miss saw Mulan walking by and then told us she really wanted to see Mulan - sorry kid maybe next time. We caught up with the boys who had gone all the way over to do one more round of Toy Story Mania. We needed to kill a little bit of time so we tried on some hats in the Mad Hatter Store. A lot of fun and the place to find a hat in Disneyland.

 The kids then insisted on riding the only ride we hadn't yet ridden the Alice in Wonderland Ride.

We then went back to Toon Town to let the kids run around and burn off some steam.

For the fireworks on the last night we got a spot in front of the castle and we had a great view, but we had to wait a long time for the show to begin. Huck didn't like sitting in one place so Ken left to take him back to the hotel. Once he got away from the crowds Huck perked right up and they were able to go see Great Moment with Mr. Lincoln. Ken said that when they came out of the show he noticed that there were some empty benches up by the train station and they had a great view down Main Street of the fireworks show. That would seem to be the place to sit if you don't want to wait. I do have to say though it was amazing to be that close and see Tinkerbell and Dumbo fly. There were a ton of benches right behind us that were roped off and if you paid in advance you could sit there. That would be the way to do it because you could show up late and sit to watch the show whereas we had to stand.

I ended up going to Fantasmic two nights in a row because Midge was sick the first night and wanted to see it and Little Miss and Leo insisted on seeing it again. My parents ended up wanting to go back to the Hotel and I was glad they did because I know the crowds would have gotten to my mom. I should have insisted that Little Miss go back with them because the show didn't start until 10:30 and she was beat by then. She literally feel asleep in my arms waiting for the show to start, but once it did she perked up and watched the entire 25 minute show. 

On the way out that last night was one of my all time favorite memories. It is so amazing to be in the park at night. It is all lit up and looks completely different. As I left with my three oldest we walked along slowly holding hands saying goodbye to the different areas of the park and sharing our favorite memories of the past week. The weather was perfect and we were so happily exhausted. It was really fun and I was so glad I got to have that last little moment with my children before we left. 

Thanks Disneyland for the great memories.