Disney Vacation Pics and Tips.

These cute little music boxes I purchased at Disneyland. When you turn the handle they play the "You can Fly!" song from the movie Peter Pan. With all the cute little things you can buy for children at Disney, I thought these were perfect gifts for adults and a perfect souvenir for me!The best part about our trip was being able to relax from everything and enter a world just for your imagination. It was crowded and we had long days, but we had fun - and that was what was important!

Instead of just a recap and pictures of our trip, I would like to add a couple tips in with my post. I don't propose to know everything, but after living in S. California and going many, many times and this trip, I feel we might be able to give some advice to first time Disneyland adventurers!

1. If you want to enjoy the parks to their fullest, go off-season. Lines are shorter, characters in the park are easier to meet, it's cooler, and the crowds won't overwhelm you. We've been in February, March, April, May, July, September, and October and by far the best month to go was February-March and after labor day to October.

2. Getting a fast-pass invites you to come back during a specific time and go to the front of the line. We fast past Splash Mountain, and cut our time by 45 minutes. The girls finally passed the 40" mark and we were able to all go on Splash Mountain. Seriously, this photo is the funniest picture I've seen. The look on all our faces are priceless and I when I look at this photo 30 years from now, I'll still laugh just as hard.

There is some wait, but not the hour or hours you might experience if you waited in line with everyone else. You have to get the pass at the ride entrance and if you don't want to go to that part of the park yet, it might be a hike. Craig would often troop ahead of us and get the fast pass, we would follow more slowly and meet up at the ride. Once in that part of the park we would hit those rides and shops until our fast pass time slot. Fast-passes are a must!

3. Set yourself free of bags and strollers (if you can). Pushing a stroller through the throngs of people at the parks is frustrating. Our first trip to Disneyland in March 2005 we rented two strollers and haven't rented or taken a stroller since (that would be 20 visits later!) The reason for going strollerless is simple, it's too frustrating to push a stroller through the crowds, try to find a space to park it when we want to ride a ride, and they just wanted to walk anyway! We opted for three things: A locker. Walking. Shoulders. Lockers are located midway down main street across from the Carnation Cafe. They have large and small lockers for $10 or less a day. They are key coded and you can come back whenever you want during park hours to retrieve your items are put more items in. The photo above is indicative of everyone of our visits to the parks, accept I am usually carrying one of the girls on my shoulders - or they walk. It's much easier and gets you in lines quicker and easier.

4. Dressing-up or dressing alike is a great way to catch the eyes of the characters you might see walking the streets of Disney. Our encounters were numerous, such as, riding in a car with Wendy and friends, Minnie taking the girls to a bench and posing for pictures with them, Alice and the Rabbit taking them aside and acting out one of the skits, Snow white walking with them, and on and on. For example, the girls were dressed separately for all the days we were there accept for the last day when I dressed them alike; the same and only day they received attention outside of scheduled visits was on the last day. We had just entered the park and Alice and the Mad Hatter were standing with the Disney band singing. They grabbed the girls and took them up to the front and sang to them the Happy Unbirthday song. What fun! It may seem corny, but it works!

5. Every other entrance into Disneyland was done through an overnight stay at a hotel and entering the park with a car and parking. Once you're inside the parking garage you walk to the train shuttle and carted into Downtown Disney. We were pros at this and didn't know any better! This time we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and what a difference it made! We were able to stay later and get there earlier. I don't think I'll ever be able to do it any other way. If you can, try to stay at the parks hotels.

6. We opted also for the Disneyland meal plan tickets which we won't do again! It would have been easier to pay card or cash for everything instead of worrying about where our tickets were and whether we could use them before we left Disney. I think we spent more than if we had opted out of the meal plan. Go cash and card!

Goofy's Kitchen

Ariel's Grotto

7. Disney Character dining is fun, but some of them are a waste of time, and way way to crowded. With the meal plan (you don't need the meal plan to dine) , we were able to go to three character dining places and two of them were worth it. First, the Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure Park was crowded and the food wasn't worth the money, but the girls were able to meet, Ariel in a dress, Mulan, Aurora, and Cinderella; have pictures with them, talk to them, and have them sign their books. Second, was the Breakfast in the Park at the Plaza Inn in Downtown Disney. This one was way to crowded, too messy, and although you got to meet some different characters like Captain Hook, I wouldn't go back again. To much of a cafeteria feeding frenzy. The third and our favorite was inside the hotel at Goofy's Kitchen. We had breakfast and a dinner with all sorts of characters and really good food. The only one we'd return to is Goofy's Kitchen - it was just a lot of fun. Before you go to any of these places - Make Reservations!


8. This photo was taken on Pirate Island (once Tom Sawyer Island) , it's a lot of fun and our girls really liked it. One of the things we started on this trip was a reward system for staying tantrum and whine free. When they were younger they were in such awe of their surroundings, we hardly heard a peep out them. Now that they are older and have their own expectations of what they want to do, we had to manage what we did and saw, so that everyone was happy. Since we knew we would be spending money for souvenirs no matter what, we opted to give the girls $10 a day to spend on anything they wanted. They could save it or spend it anyway they wanted. Nini was in a bad mood above, as you can see, if she continued to have a fit she would loose a dollar. If she stopped she could keep it and so on through everyday at Disneyland. Our goal was to make sure they got all $10. It worked so well, I started them on an allowance at home. They love it!

Waiting in line for the Princess Fantasy Faire

9. Some plans allow you to enter earlier than everyone else into the parks. The only catch is a lot of people have the same plan, and you'll still be waiting in line. Persons staying at the hotel can ride the monorail into the park, again, everyone wants to ride it and you'll wait in line. We found it better to walk to the entrance of the park, and avoid the monorail all together. It's fun to ride, but if your counting on it to get you in or out of the park, don't! Just remember, if you have the great idea of getting their first, you're not alone!

10. Some rides have faster lines than others. Here are the rides for young children you might want to plan on waiting in line: Fantasyland: Peter Pan (20-30min), Mr. Toad (15-20min), Alice (15-20min), Boat Ride (20-30min) Dumbo (10-15min) and Tea Cups (5-10 min). Tomorrowland we usually only hit the Rocketships (15-20min) or Buzz lightyear (10-15min). Autotopia was a pain for us to go on because our girls always had such a fit that they wanted to drive. If your not sitting in the drivers' seat it's really hard (for me) to keep the car moving. The girls loved the Big Thunder Railroad coaster, it's about 20-30 min wait or you can cut it by 3/4 if you fast pass it. The toon town roller coaster was fun and quick - 10-15min. Pooh ride was usually quick, the longest we've had to wait may be around 15min. Splash Mountain is a must to Fastpass or it's a good hour wait. There are more, so if you have any specific questions about wait time, let me know - I'll add it. The fastest moving ride we've encountered is the Pirate Ride, the line may seem long, but you're constantly moving up to the front.

Cheesy In-n-out photo

I'll add tips when I think of them, if you have any specific questions leave them in the comments. If you have a car and want a really good hamburger, check out In-n-Out, a hamburger joint in the SW (CA, AZ,NV). Introduced to it on our first house hunting visit to California in 2005, we quickly fell head over for these yummy burgers. "Animal Style" is a must when you go, so hide your phobia for onions and get the cheese, grilled onions and spread combo they call "Animal Style" - PS you can have it on your fries too!

You can view all of our vacation pictures HERE or view the video of the girls being told about Disneyland HERE. PS. I started the pictures on page 10 at Disneyland, the previous pages are from are time in Utah.