Off to Disneyland for at least the Sixth Time Tomorrow!

in #vacation6 years ago (edited)

I never went to Disneyland when I was a kid. I did not feel like I was missing out on anything and my parents were not huge Disney fans. They also did not have a lot of money to take to places like that. We went on vacations once in a while, but it was always to a beach or maybe the mountains. I never went to Disney until I met my wife and we had kids. We first went when the kids turned three, even though I was not thrilled about the idea. My wife on the other hand, had been to Disney with her family many times.

What I had heard about Disneyland was that it is super crowded, super busy, and can be a nightmare. I was actually dreading the crowds before we went for the first time. However, when I actually got there it was amazing. Yes, it was super crowded, but it was still amazing and I had a blast. We have since gone there with our kids at least once a year.

Something that I noticed when we went to Disneyland was my wife had it all planned out and knew exactly what to do. If you show up to Disneyland without any clue what you are doing, it can be a nightmare. You can wait in line for hours, go on very few rides, and be miserable. Here are some things I learned that made things much more enjoyable.

  1. You have to learn how to use fast passes. They have two lines at Disneyland, sometimes three. One regular line, one for fast pass, and sometimes a single rider line. You could wait up to three hours in the regular line. I have never waited more than an hour in any line, and that seemed like an eternity. Fast passes are now on your phone and you can get one to one ride at a time. It can cut a line wait down from 2 hours to 20 minutes. Once you use the fast pass you can get another one. You may have to wait hours for the popular rides to use the fast pass, but on others, you can use them right away.

  2. You need to check the Disneyland AP for ride wait times. They are very good about having accurate wait times on the AP and at the lines. Pick and choose the rides that have short wait times.

  3. Pack plenty of food and drinks. We always get a double stroller for our kids, even though they are 7! It is our pack mule and we can carry everything we need on it. We can take drinks, food, activities, and let them rest in it. Kids get worn out easy because of all the waling and heat. There is plenty of stroller parking everywhere.

  4. If you need a pick me up, they serve no alcohol in Disneyland Park, but they do in California Adventures. There are actually two parks right next to each other. We get a park hopper which allows to go to both parks. They have beer, margaritas and more in California adventures if you are having a rough day.

  5. There are so many activities to do besides the rides. If there are long lines, you do not have to be miserable in them. There are Starbucks all over, shopping, walking through the castle, exploring all the nooks and crannys, a kids activity center and outdoor park (California side), there is downtown Disney which is not in the parks and free with tons of shopping, the monorail, horse rides, antique firetruck rides, a movie on Disney, a museum, parades, characters all over who will autograph books, plays, a full size train that Walt used to drive, and much more. Oh, and every night there is a fireworks show that puts most fourth of July shows to shame if it is not too windy.

The other really cool think about Disney is how clean and well-done everything is. Walt was a stickler for perfection and there are trash cans and people cleaning nonstop. My daughter had yuckies one time (she threw up all over the concrete) when waiting to see a character. The Disney staff was there in seconds with mops to clean it up like it never happened.

They also have a lot of surpirses in Disney. There is not set schedule for when all the characters come out and sometimes you can find them hiding in a remote area all by themselves.

IMG_20180722_180421_726.jpg

Sort:  

To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.

Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.

I have gone to Disneyland only once, back in the 90's. Most of my trips have been to Disneyworld. Regardless, they are wonderful places to visit, not only for the kids

Hi,

Good to see you make fun time with your family.

You got a 5.47% upvote from @upme thanks to @investfourmore! Send at least 3 SBD or 3 STEEM to get upvote for next round. Delegate STEEM POWER and start earning 100% daily payouts ( no commission ).

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70638.80
ETH 3565.34
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.73