Disneyland is often a dream vacation for many kids and for parents alike. Make your trip fun and easy by following a few simple suggestions in this Guide.
Before you go on your vacation, check out the software called Ridemax. You simply plug in which rides you would like to go on and it prints out a schedule for you with the order and time you should go on the ride. It takes into account when lines are the smallest, so you really maximize your time. Ridemax does not take the spontaneity out of the trip, it just makes it more manageable.
Make sure you stay at a hotel that is across the street, or closer. Parking in the Disney parking lot is $59 per day (the same price as kids admission), so you don’t want to have to pay that much or be a slave to a shuttle. It is best to stay within walking distance. Once you make it to the parking lot, you can hop on a tram to the front gates. The parking lot is huge, so it’s a long walk in itself. Save your legs for walking around Disneyland itself.
Bring snacks and water bottles in a backpack with you to the park to avoid the astronomical prices of food. Things like granola bars, fruit leather, crackers, nuts, peanut butter sandwiches, and such work well. Don’t bring anything that can melt. If you fly to LA, you can pack a suitcase with just food or if you drive you can stop at a store outside of Anaheim or bring food from home.
Nearly everyone at Disneyland is wearing some type of character clothes. Buy one for each day locally before you come to California. Kmart is a great place to buy Mickey and Pooh t-shirts for girls or boys, at the bargain price of under $10 each. Most little girls wear their princess dresses all day around the park. Disney Princess dresses at the park run anywhere from $60-$100 each, so make sure you buy them one for each day before your vacation. You should expect to pay $20-$40 for a good quality dress. You will see many boys with their pirate clothes and pirate hats on. You can buy these in advance as well.
If you have little girls, the highlight of your vacation will be dinner with the Disney Princesses. The food is actually reasonable and the atmosphere is wonderful. Make sure your child wears her princess dress to the dinner. During the dinner, princesses like Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Snow White, and others will come to your table, talk individually with your child, and even sit with you for a while. As they leave they can take a picture with Ariel (she can’t walk around during the dinner because she has fins and not legs).
If you have little boys, make sure you visit Tarzan’s Treehouse and let them climb trees to their heart’s content. Little boys who are into pirates, will also like the ride Pirates of the Caribbean. Make sure they wear their pirate costume and pirate hat on the ride for extra excitement.
