My entire family plans to venture to the Magic Kingdom (Disneyland, not Florida), in a couple months...and I will be the first to admit we are all novices. None of us has ever taken any of our kids...most of my siblings only have gone when they were younger - in high school or college.
So I need your helpful tips, all you brave and adventurous and devoted Mickey Mouse fans!
Mainly, where is the best place to stay? I've always heard it's best to stay in the park...If everyone comes there will be fourteen children, ages 2 1/2 to fourteen, and twelve adults. Do you know of any places with good group packages?
Other than that info, I'd be happy with all of your other little tips and tricks that have helped you have the best Disney experience possible...so lay them on me, PLEASE!
Thank you!
6 comments:
We just went this summer...so lets see...
Yes, stay near the park. As near as you can. We bid on a hotel there, stayed at the HoJo. It was o.k. as far as hotels go, but Joanna and her friend stayed at a castle style one (can't remember the name but it was just down the road from the HoJo and closer to the park entrances) and hers was cheaper and nicer with more parking.
Food in the park (and anywhere within walking distance of the park) is Expensive so think about possibly taking snacks or pb&j or something so as not to spend a small fortune on food.
Do the fast pass!!! Especially for some of the more popular rides like Pirates, Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, etc. They also have this great thing where, if you have small children that cannot or will not ride the ride, you can get a sort of parent pass (I forget what that's called too) when you go to get in line. Then you wait in line and when you are done with the ride, the other parent can go in the exit and not have to wait in the line too. Sometimes there is a small line at the exit, but we didn't have too many problems.
If it will be anyone's birthday or anywhere NEAR anyone's birthday, get a birthday button at customer service just inside the gates. We celebrated both girls' birthday and Fae was able to be picked for a LOT of stuff. They automatically look for the buttons.
Um. I'll stop there. Let me know if you have any questions...I'll try to get them answered!
Hi Keri! I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a 30-something who is addicted to Disney! LOL! I've been to Disneyland many times (although only once with a bunch of kids...when I wasn't one of them).
There are a lot of hotels you can stay in that are outside Disneyland that are priced very nicely. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the area around Disneyland is not very clean. The hotels (even cheap ones) can charge more just because they are near Disneyland. Basically, I'm saying that you don't get a lot for the money.
The hotels inside Disneyland are more expensive but it is a nicer experience. You can buy things in Disneyland and have the store bring them right to your room...so you don't have to lug around bags of stuff all day. I know you can do this in Disneyworld but I'm pretty sure you can do it at Disneyland, too...use your room key to charge things in the park like meals and stuff. You also sometimes get early admission into the parks if you are staying on property. But you have to check the day to make sure which park (Disneyland or California Adventure). Both of those parks are WONDERFUL and I would recommend getting a park hopper ticket so you can go into both of them. A couple of my favorite rides (Tower of Terror and Soarin') are in California Adventure. It might be more expensive to stay at a hotel on Disneyland property but I think it is worth it if you can afford it.
If you need links to sites that help you plan out your trip or help with stuff like learning what fast passes are and stuff like that, just let me know.
Oh, I just thought of this. When you go to the park make sure you check out the times and places that characters are going to be for taking picture and signing autographs. The line usually gets pertty long for those things but kids get so excited to see their favorite cartoon characters or princesses.
And another thing...Disneyland has a thing called Jedi Academy that teaches kids how to be Jedi and a Princess one too to teach little girls how to bow and curtsey like a princess! They are SO cute!! Both bring up kids for participation although the jedi one only brings up a few so it is harder to get chosen. For the princess one, I believe any young girl under a certain age can participate.
See...I could go on and on. :)
Kelli
How many days are you going to be there? Are you just doing Disneyland or other places too like the San Diego Zoo, Legoland, etc.? I'm not sure how far away the beach is from Disneyland, but on one trip with my family we rented a house on the beach instead of staying in a hotel. It was so nice to come home to a real house, with a kitchen and dining room and laundry machines, than a tiny hotel room. Plus when we just wanted to relax for a day (or a morning or afternoon) instead of braving the theme park madness, we just hung out on the beach, the kids played and swam, the adults lounged around in the sun and read books, it was SO nice. And we had home-cooked meals instead of park/restaurant food 24/7, which was awesome. If you're going to be there for more than a couple days, it might be worth it. I just looked up a few locations on Yahoo maps (I lived in that area for 3 years and still had to look things up!); Huntington Beach and Newport Beach are both about 1/2 an hour away from Disneyland. Oceanside is almost half way between Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo.
Exciting!!!! Disneyland with the kids...it's like a rite of passage or something. :)
Keri,
We are going to Disneyland this year too. We are planning on leaving as soon as school is out the last week of May. We are excited. You can go on the website getawaytoday.com that has some good deals. Let me know when you guys are going.
EEK! That is awesome. Um, no tips here...accept that you should totally stay at the Blau house!!
I guess I missed this post while I didn't have the internet! We go to Disneyland every year! And we always stay in hotels across the street from the entrance (within walking distance!) It's no bueno to wait for shuttels or walk a mile just to get into the park! Look up the good neighbor hotels and be sure to pay attention to how many miles it actually is to get to the park! Some 'good neighbor' hotels are like 2 miles away...to kids that's reallly far! Also to save we stay where they serve breakfast at the hotel, and we pack lunches everyday, and of course bring snacks into the park! Then all we buy is dinner! We hardly buy any food in the park, except for the occasional Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Ears, but there are plenty of restaurants right outside the gate. :0) If you have any more questions email me! raddonfamily4@gmail.com seriously we go every year! I have a lot of info that could be helpful. :0)
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