Erin’s Notes about going to Disneyland.  January 2009.  (www.theskinnyscoop.com)

Hi ladies.  Yes, you guys know I like to research stuff.  And so many of you keep asking for my notes, so here’s a quick summary.

I read a book (below) and from that, I made a little spreadsheet of rides that you might find helpful (I can’t attach it to the blog, but if you want to see it, just email me at erin@theskinnyscoop.com).  Also compiled some other notes below.  We were spending quite a bit of money so wanted to have our ducks in a row!  And I like to do pre-planning, so not as much work/stress once you get there!  Esp good to know which rides might be too scary for little ones.  I have to say we had the most amazing time.  We never expected it to be so much fun!  To give you a reference point, DS was 6 at the time and DD was 4 at the time.

BOOK TO READ BEFORE YOU GO. The book you need to read is called the unofficial guide to Disneyland.  It’s super.  http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Guide-Disneyland-2008-Guides/dp/047008961X . They have a 1 and 2 day touring plan with kids, etc., with ideas for what order you should do stuff in, esp if it’s crowded.

SEEING PRINCESSES AND CHARACTERS. Also, if you want to see the princesses all at once, you can call ahead to make ressies for Ariel’s Grotto (breakfast, lunch and dinner I think) and then you can see them all in an hour while you eat, and get all of their autographs which is so much easier and better than trying to see them in the park because huge crowds from around them.   But you have to call early I think.  They also have some character breakfasts, etc…  all listed in the book.  My kids liked the breakfast with the characters (no princesses), the one at Grand Californian.

FASTPASSES. The book will explain how the fastpasses work.  you just walk up to the ride and get one, which will be good for cutting in line during a certain time period later in the day (i.e. if you went straight away at 10 am and got fastpasses for splash mountain, they would probably be for an 11-12:00 time frame.  You don’t actually have to show up during the hour – you can come later and cut in line, just not earlier, and you can’t get another fast pass until either you a) use the fastpass or b) your “window” is over for that ride, so in this case after 12:00 you could pick up another fastpass.  You can only hold one fastpass at a time.

GETTING THERE EARLY. The book will also tell you that you MUST get there so that you are lined up and ready to go at the gate THIRTY minutes before the gates open.  This way you can go in and one of you could run ahead and grab some fastpasses for something you really want to do that you know will have a long line later.  And then meet you in line for something else, and then you can go do the fastpass ride later.  So it’s well worth it.

WHAT TO DO. If you only do one day, then you should probably just do one park, which should be Disneyland (not Disney’s California adventure, but such a bummer because then you miss soaring over California, but you could save that for another time).  And I think in that book it might even have a one day touring plan to help you hit the highlights.  What you do sort of depends a) how tall your kids are (36” seems to be a magic number for many of the rides) b) if your kids are game for certain rides.

My most favs were:

Pirates of the Caribbean – SO COOL, both kids liked but DD was a little scared the first time, it’s totally unbelievable how they did it

Splash mountain (but it will be chilly and you do get wet, maybe do at end of day, or bring a trashbag to put over yourself) – we all loved (but DD got a little scared looking at it before we went on, so I bribed her with a quarter)

Haunted mansion – we all loved it

These 3 above are pretty near each other

Thunder mountain express rollercoaster – fun and was DD’s favorite (she liked it better than the Matterhorn), more towards the middle of the park

Then there’s finding nemo, which is on the other side of the park and you’d have to do very first thing and then you’re not near the cool rides mentioned above.  Finding Nemo is cool, but not worth the horrendous waits (it is VERY slow loading, so the line takes forever vs. the other ones above move more people through).

We tended to steer away from the “fair” type rides, like what you might find in Toontown, mostly because they all load VERY slowly and because they have rides almost exactly like them at a lot of places we go (for example, our zoo, our local faire, etc.).  Dumbo is the most favorite of those rides, and we rode it one night right after a parade, so there was no line.  It’s the kind that you sit in a Dumbo and go around in a circle and you can either go up or down.  The kids loved it, but definitely nothing special.  The kids also reallllly loved the jungle boat ride.  It is not a fastpass ride, is right next to pirates of the Caribbean.  It is also very slow loading, and you take a real boat ride around a swamp where they have all of these animals around the side.  There are lions and zebras giraffes piranhas, etc.  And they are ALL FAKE.  The thing that was so fascinating is that the kids thought for sure they were real and it never occurred to them that they were fake.  Not even the piranhas.  They LOVED IT.  Hilarious.

In California Adventure, we loved:

Soaring over California – amazing

The huge rollercoaster (California screaming?) – DS (age 6) loved (DD age 4 not tall enough)

Tower of terror (will and pat loved, DD and I waited out front and got autographs)

Monsters Inc, very cool, esp if you have seen the movie

The parades (esp the Pixar parade) were very cool too.

So much fun!

Here are some helpful notes from my friend Kristen, who is extremely organized.

You’ll be an expert yourself in a matter of days. Have a fantastic time!  This is all advice I got from a variety of people, and things we found while we were there:

-California Adventure closes an hour or two before Disneyland depending on the day.
-Upon entering Disneyland go to the City Hall on left of main square and get  the kids a 1st timer button – throughout the park the characters and staff  will give them extra attention.
-Use Rideshare for rides both adults want to go on but one/both of the kids can’t. they will give you a ride share pass for the 2nd rider go straight to the front of the line once the 1st person has stood in the regular line and come back to trade ‘kid-watching’ duties. It is really a huge benefit  and can be used for 2 people so if your son really loved a ride he could go the 2nd time with the other parent (or even the same parent in the case of rides you can’t go on due to pregnancy with your little lady). You could also use it for your husband to test a ride to see if it is ‘dylan’ friendly (ie: matterhorn which we saw a ton of little kids riding, but could go either way depending
on the kid).
-Each day there is a pamphlet with the entertainment times and where you can see all the characters in both parks. Good to grab as you enter.
-Start in Fantasyland as it was always the busiest for the rest of the day and the 1st hour or so the lines are shorter.
-The rides multiple people told me definitely to skip because they were too scary were Snow White & Mr Toad’s (both in Fantasyland) and Roger Rabbit in (Toon Town). We tried Pinocchio and that was still too scary for our 5 year old daughter – all those indoor rides right at the entry of in fantasyland were clearly constructed while someone was on acid: dark, loud, and scary.
-Taking the train around the perimeter and not getting off is a really cool way to see the whole park. Part of it is in tunnels with fake animals behind glass – for some reason that part scared daughter – but other than that it was awesome.
-Get an autograph book for the kids so when they meet the characters they’ll get signatures. They sell them everywhere but the easiest place to grab one is at the start of your trip at the stroller rental hut.
-Rent your stroller for all the days you need. They give you passes to skip the lines the following mornings and just pick one up right away.

-The kids meals are pretty gross. We had much better luck brining in bagels & fruit and having them eat in the strollers as we walked between areas. The times we bought them food at the park (besides treats) they never ate enough to kill the hunger. As adults we had ok luck with food at a mexican place in frontierland and the pizza port (for the pasta) in fantasyland so it might just be the kid meals that are suspect.
-Early entry – everyone told us how awesome this was. We found it fairly useless – hopefully you have better luck. Only two “lands” have rides open and the lines get long really fast. There is a huge line just to enter the park (the other day they open main street early so you can tool around in there leading up until the real opening). By the time we got in it was just after the 9am open-time and the nemo ride line was already well over an hour long.

Specifics on California Adventure:
A lot less stuff for the younger crowd but still really cool – here were a couple of favorites, although we did a lot of other stuff besides just these.
*Soaring over California – Our 5 year old daughter’s favorite ride, and ours, too – the little guys aren’t tall enough so during this we took our 2 year old son over to get a head start in grizzly peak recreation center – a challenge trail, slides, caves, etc – that is just down the street (adjacent to your hotel) and
really fun for both kids.
*Bugs land – all ‘fair’ type rides and water area – better for your 3 year old.
*Playhouse Disney show – I thought it was ok, but the kids loved it.
*Electric Light Parade (really awesome) & pixar play parade (all the pixar movie characters and it is early in the evening – around 5pm when we were there)

Specifics on Disneyland
The kids did almost every ride they were tall enough for – you could spend all your time here and not run out of things to do. A few highlights:
*Our 5 year old daughters’s favorite ride on this side was the roller coaster in toon town. Our 2 year old son’s favorite was the rockets at the entry to fantasyland.
*Jungle cruise – cool for kids and the guy narrating the cruise is funny for adults
*Main street parade – a great place to watch is right next to the closed
down ‘it’s a small world’ ride which is where it starts. If you’re in toon
town about ½ hour before it starts that area empties out with people getting
ready to watch and you can ride the roller coaster without much of a line.
Then you just walk a short distance and you can watch the parade starting.
This is also a PERFECT time to go in to Mickey’s house to get his autograph.
We waited 5 minutes to see him – the next morning the line was over an hour.
The parade stops and does the show one time there before getting to main
street so you get a much closer view. It was one of those moments where the
kids jaws hit the floor and they were soaking in all the magic of the trip -
such a cool memory.

Downtown Disney:
-we only checked it out once but you’ll be staying right there. I was told  the best places to eat are the le brea bakery & espn zone (which also has fun arcade games)
-the biggest merchandise store with the best selection is also there – but don’t shop during the end of the day as it is a madhouse.

Things that were only open on Sunday while we were there, sounds like the hours might be changing for you. You can preprint the daily schedule from the Disney website which is also nice to look over before.
California Adventure:
Aladdin show
Electrical light parade

Disneyland:
Fireworks (if you’re still there late – walk right out to main circle after
the light parade and stay by the California sign to watch fireworks – don’t
need to go back into Disneyland)