Suggestions for Disneyland

As I have become somewhat of a zealot lately on how to make a Disneyland trip the best, here are some suggestions and lessons that we have learned:

CONSULT THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO DISNEYLAND. Don’t buy it. Check it out from the library. Some rides that you think are fun aren’t, and some rides that you think the kids will like will make them cry. Pay special attention to the Fast Pass suggestions, as well as the park itinerary suggestions at the back of the book. By the way, you can use your kids’ Fast Passes.

WHEN TO GO: Go in the offseason (January, February, or between Thanksgiving and Christmas). Hotels are cheaper and lines are incredibly shorter. Also, middle weekdays are best (Tuesdays to Thursdays). Days near a holiday are too crowded. This includes UEA.

GET A HOTEL RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET (on Harbor Blvd). Why?
(1) you don’t have to pay for parking,
(2) you don’t have to wait for a shuttle,
(3) you can rest each afternoon there then return refreshed to the park for a fun, full evening,
(4) you can eat in your room (most come with a microwave and fridge), go to a local grocery store, or walk down to McDonalds and save a ton of money. We often made oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, and other microwaveable foods in our room.

WHAT TO BRING TO THE PARK EACH DAY:
* food/snacks (they do allow food)
* water bottles (you can refill them at the park)
* sunscreen
* sunglasses
* I recommend a hat (otherwise the sun saps my energy and gives me a headache)

IF YOUR DAUGHTERS WANT TO MEET THE PRINCESSES: We found the lines to see them much shorter in California Adventure at the Animation Building. It seems that most people are looking for them at Disneyland. And the princesses are incredibly great with the kids! Take tons of pictures! Your kids will look at them again and again and again.

IF YOU HAVE YOUNG CHILDREN WHO LIKE FANTASYLAND RIDES (Dumbo, Tea Cups, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, etc.): Go there first thing in the morning. The lines get long for the rest of the day. Pass by the characters who stand near the entrance and try to distract you. See them later in the day.

AWESOME, USEFUL WEB SITES:
* www.disneyland.com - Print out the calendar for each day you plan to be there. This might sound dumb, until you realize that some days the park opens one or even two hours early, may or may not have the fireworks, Fantasmic, etc. Also, it will tell you what rides are down.
* www.getawaytoday.com - Good package deals. Well worth looking into! It saved us a lot of money.
* www.mis2palm.com/DLInfo (case sensitive) - My brother Matt’s web site. Full of useful tips to save time and enjoy the rides. Pay special attention to the part about Fast Pass use.
* www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html - Great map of the park and neighboring hotels. We used this site as the diving board for figuring out what hotel we wanted.
* www.tripadvisor.com - Check out your hotel’s ratings before your reserve.

SIDE NOTES:
* Stay in one area of the park as much as possible. Too much walking is exhausting.
* You might consider booking a lunch or dinner at one of their restaurants. We had lunch at the Blue Bayou, and it was great. #1-714-781-DINE
* Fantastic time saver: Splash Mountain and California Screamin’ (the roller coaster in California Adventure) both allow a “single rider” option. For both rides, you can go up to an employee at the entrance of the ride and ask for a single rider pass. Take that pass and go into the exit. Walk all the way up to where people are getting off the ride. An employee will wait for a ride with an odd number of people on it and seat you almost immediately. You might not believe this, but even if the estimated wait time for either ride is two hours, you will literally get on the ride in about two minutes. In other words, this option could save you hours of line waiting. The only drawback is that you have to go on the ride alone.

Enjoy!

Timmerz