Just in case you are going to Disney any time soon... here are a few of my little tips that I typed out after I got home. I may just be coming back to this post the next time around because I tend to forget. ;)
To say that I prepared heavily for our trip is a MAJOR understatement. I read about a billion blogs, the entire Disney Website (although this is a little fruitless), I downloaded three different apps to my phone, and studied the park maps like it was a history test. I also tried very hard to reduce cost as much as I could. Even on a budget our trip was thousands of dollars, which is hundreds of swimming suits and dance costumes that I sewed to get us there. I wanted to make sure we got the most out of it.
I was ready!
So what did I learn from all this? I'll share.
1. RESEARCH: If you are easily disappointed or have a less than ecstatic about going to Disneyland husband (;)) I recommend doing a little research before you go. We knew we would be there at a busy time so I made it my mission to make the best of it. For the most part, it really helped to know what was going on and how to really enjoy Disneyland despite the crowds. I didn't want to spend thousands to get there and then just wing it (even though I'm pretty laid back and sometimes like winging it)
2. Ridemax: This is kind of like a webbased software program that you can pay $15 for a 60 day subscription. You tell it what rides you want to ride, and a few other tidbits like when you want to arrive and eat etc. Then, it tells you when to ride each ride in order to have the shortest wait times.
I made plans for our two big days and planned on following them to a T but we didn't. Mostly because a line would be faster, or we wanted to do something that the software wouldn't allow (such as riding a ride twice with a rider swap pass). However, they have a lot of tips and tricks along with the software that we did follow and it saved us so much time. It was super busy and we never waited longer than 30 minutes really. We got to ride our favorites multiple times and I became a fast pass master. If you aren't a Disney pro and you are going at a busy time I recommend it highly.
3. Fast Passes. I couldn't believe my ears when we came home and found out that a co-worker had just been to Disneyland and didn't know what fast passes were. These things are wonderful!!!! They are mostly on the big ticket rides and you still have to wait a little but not much. I won't go into all the rules and details but learn about them before going. It can be a little confusing, but so worth it!
4. Don't bother eating at the park if you can help it. I know there might be people who would kill me for saying it but I've never eaten anything at Disneyland that I thought was worth the money. I was starving and sitting next to a BBQ place while Shane and Roman rode Indiana Jones. The smell was SO GOOD. I mean, by the smell, it was the best BBQ on the planet. So I bought one skewer of some kind of chicken. It was HORRIBLE. I was starving and I didn't even want to finish it. I'm not picky at all either.
All the blogs I read said "get a churro, it will be the best churro you've ever had" WRONG! It was the same as any other churro I've ever had. I mean.... how different can they be? But for $4 it's about a third of the size of a costco churro... so. Other people recommended the gumbo in a bread bowl but I don't do shrimp.
I planned a sack lunch for every day we were at the park except the day we ate with the princesses. Honestly, we didn't even need that most days. Everyone was so busy and excited that none of us got to the point where we just HAD to eat (except for the above mentioned BBQ disappointment). We had lots of snacks and we ate back at our hotel whenever we went. I know it would have been a different story if it was hot though so just know that it was a crisp mid 60 degrees the whole time we were there.
I did buy a small soft sided cooler that fit nicely in the stroller. It held 6-7 lunchables and our drinks and was perfect. Disney lets you bring in prepared food so it can really save you some money. If you have a stroller it's not an inconvenience at all, but if you don't.... they have lockers but at $8-$15 a day... you may loose a good chunk of the money that you ended up saving by bringing your own food so.... I say, if you have older kids, take a break from the park at it's busiest point (early afternoon) and go somewhere outside the park. It's still costly but not as bad.
We were trying to avoid too much walking with the little ones little legs so leaving just to eat wasn't in the cards for us. Eat, rest and swim... sure. But just to run across the street to McDonnalds... nope.
Now that said... part of me wishes we had just bought a dining plan and had one less thing to worry about. Food was a great deal of stress for me on our trip and it would have been nice to just pay the whopper of a bill and not worry about where, what and when we would eat. It's a much more expensive convenience though.
5. I think any one under 6 should get a stroller. Marisa is my little marathon runner. She can run and run... But by the middle of day two she was TIRED! It didn't help that she caught a little cold, but any time Ezra left the stroller, she got in. If I had a re-do... I would have rented a stroller for her on the day we were at California Adventure. The rides are much further apart in that park, it seemed like we did a lot of walking that day. 14 hours later she was totally wiped and I ended up having to carry her a lot. That said... I wouldn't recommend a double wide stroller if you have enough pushing help. The single stroller is hard enough to navigate through the crowd. If in doubt...take or rent a stroller. If nothing else, it makes for excellent jacket/food/souvenir storage.
6. Princess dinner.... I don't know what to say. I was disappointed in it really, but Marisa loved it so... what do you do? I thought there should have been more princesses. Sleeping Beauty? Snow White? Where were they? Rapunzel isn't exactly classic but she's the latest princess and she wasn't there either.. There was plenty of time during our meal to meet them so I felt a little ripped off. The food was good enough I guess.
7. Prepare your kids for the scary rides. I had my kids watch You-tube videos of The Tower of Terror, The Haunted House and Splash Mountain and the Matterhorn. Marisa does SO much better if she just knows what to expect. I reminded her that everything looks real but you know it isn't so it's not scary, it's cool. Marisa tried everything. There were a few she didn't want to do again though like Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and The Bugs Life movie. The boys LOVE scary rides so I wasn't worried about them as much.
8. If you think you can manage meals in a hotel room with a mini fridge and a microwave, think again. I tried really hard but in the end, the microwave was too small, the fridge and freezer were too small and there was NO room for food prep. Breakfast and sack lunches sure, but dinner will be an out to eat thing next time around I think. OR... A room with a kitchen but I doubt there is one like that right across the street from the entrance like our Hotel was and the cost might be enough to just get breakfast at denny's every morning anyway. Our hotel had continental breakfast but it was very minimal... Tampico and plain cheerios....no thanks. Hey, it was a cheap but clean and close place to stay. I'm not complaining. We stayed in the Del Sol by the way. I liked that it was small and tucked away, the property was clean but small, the rooms were clean, fairly roomy, and there was bunk beds so no one had to share a bed (nice for getting the most rest possible), and we had covered parking for the 4 days that our car just sat there unused.
9. I bought our Disney tickets at Get Away Today. They seemed to have the best deal. If you aren't going during peak times I know costco sometimes has tickets as well as other places like Hill Air Force Base and AAA.
10. If you are planning on driving around California... GPS baby! OK, now days everyone has a smart phone and we did, but we didn't when I got the GPS at Christmas time. I'm still glad we had the separate GPS. It was so nice to have someone besides me to navigate. LA is just crazy! Even better, if you miss a turn, it just figures out a new route instantly. I love it! Seriously... this little 6 inch device probably saved us from a thousand arguments even if it did take us on a toll road after I told it we didn't want to. We probably will not use it until our next major road trip... In Utah there is one freeway, a grid system and giant mountains to keep you oriented... you really have to TRY to get lost in Utah, but I'm SO glad we had it.... worth every penny!
11. Cameras: I took my big DSLR camera and never took a single picture with it. It was too big to lug around Disney. After the first day I just left it at the hotel. The stroller held it nicely, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving it while we rode our rides, and it just so big, it became such a nuisance. Honestly, I think my phone camera could just about cut it. I did take my point and shoot too since it does better in low light and fit nicely in my purse. As much as I would love some outstanding pictures at Disneyland it seemed like either I became the photographer or participated, and I would much rather participate. Next time I will just leave it home. There is Disney photo pass, but it's expensive. REALLY expensive.
Anyway, I may add to the list as I remember little bits but those are the major things I wanted to remember.
