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My Disneyland tips (and cute kid pictures):
#1: PLAN & RESEARCH. Disneyland can be a hot, crowded and futile experience or a pleasant one. There’s a place for spontaneity in vacations, but Disneyland is not that place. Disneyland rewards the planner.
- The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland is awesome. It is worth the money to buy the current guide.
- Ridemax software is even more awesome than the Unofficial Guide. I wondered if it made sense to purchase Ridemax after I’d already bought the Unofficial Guide. Yes! You do have to play with the program and learn its quirks, but if you are willing to do that it will transform your trip. I would not consider going to Disneyland again without using Ridemax. Thanks Sharon & MaryAnn for this awesome suggestion!
It is true. Disneyland is not for 3 year olds. It isn’t torture for them either [well, attending It's tough to be a bug unprepared might qualify]. But if you don’t have older children, wait. I think six is probably the minimum age that makes sense if you don’t have older children or aren’t a huge Disney fan yourself.
Kate on King Arthur's Carousel
If you can afford it, it is wonderful to stay in a suite rather than a standard hotel room. We saved money on food and were more comfortable with a kitchen and it was wonderful to have a bedroom for the kids to nap or sleep in while we stayed in another room.
Leaving the park in the middle of the day for lunch and naps is the great idea that everyone says it is. If you have children younger than 10, it is probably a must. But budget lots of time! Unless you are staying within short walking distance of Disneyland it will take a long time to leave and return. (And the problem with getting a suite is that in general the hotels with nice family suites are further from the park entrance). It doesn’t matter whether you’re riding the ART shuttles or the shuttle to the parking garage. It will take a while. And your children might take a while to settle in their beds for a nap. To avoid disappointment, alot plenty of time! 1-4:30 or even 5:00 p.m. is realistic.
Having tried both the ART shuttles and parking at the park, if the price is about the same– it was for us– I recommend taking the ART shuttle. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but you will have to wait and have a few hassles either way. I thought that both the ART and the Disney parking were pretty impressive given how many people there were.
The fact that long afternoon breaks are such a good idea also makes getting a multiday pass a very good idea. We were lucky to have 5 day passes and I was really glad. The difference in cost between a 3 day pass and a 5 day pass is not large. The big expense comes in paying for that many more days of lodging and food.
- Last Shuttle Ride; Amelia waves goodbye to Disneyland
Unfortunately, visiting Disneyland is really expensive. But, I think we covered the park so thoroughly with our multi-day pass we won’t need to return for 5 years.
Do take bottled water. My friend Amanda recommended this. The water in Anaheim isn’t the best. Even if you are okay with that, keep in mind that picky children may balk. Also, you don’t want to spend your precious time at the park searching for fountains. Buying water at the park is crazy–each bottle costs $$. Staying hydrated is a must though, because it will probably be hot and you will be walking a lot. You could buy bottled water at a local grocery store, but remember California has a bottle deposit, so you might want to bring your water from home.
Look for two more posts about Disneyland coming up: one devoted to Ridemax software exclusively (I grew to love that program!) and one more focused on our Disneyland favorites and experiences (include more cute kid pics, of course).
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4 Responses to “Disneyland Tips”
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You went and came back already, and I didn’t realize it! And I didn’t even ask you about it–feeing like a dork right now. But honestly, I didn’t realize that you had been and returned. I had no spring break myself, and consequently, neither did my family, so it just didn’t register. Now I want all the details!! And more cute pics!
I loved your pictures and tips. We took our 2 older girls when they were 5 and 7 but haven’t been back with our younger kids yet. We went the first week of December and there were no crowds–it was awesome. We never even needed to get a fast pass. Now we need to go again but since we have an 18 month old we’ve got another year or two to wait. I sure wish Disneyland was less expensive!
Ha ha! Loved the comment about the bug show! Lily ended up huddled on the floor with her eyes shut and her fingers in her ears after the first three minutes! Glad everything else worked out and you had a great time! We figure we don’t want to do Disney more often then once every five to ten years! Fun, but not sometime I want to do every year!
Robin, you and I are on the same page about Disneyland and frequency of attendance. Fortunately, Kate attended _It’s Tough to be a Bug_ after we had prepped her to expect scary things and shut her eyes if she needed to. She was holding it together really well, when I asked her if she would like to leave. She said yes, so she and I did leave. It turned out there was only about one minute of the show left after that.