July 1, 2017

And to think… It all started with a mouse.

TIPS FOR GOING TO DISNEYLAND & CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE IN ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA🐭🎢

The happiest place on Earth🌏🎉😀

1) BRING A BACKPACK- I think this one is pretty obvious, but we almost didn’t bring one because we didn’t want to lug it around all day.  But it came in handy for sure to store our wallet, phone, jacket, sunscreen, water, and souvenirs we picked up along the way.  We just brought one for the two of us so we were able to switch off who carried the backpack every hour or so.  One amazing thing about Disneyland is they don’t have cubby holes on any of the rides to store your bags.  You keep your backpack with you between your feet during every single ride so you don’t ever have to worry about anyone stealing any of your stuff!  

2) DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON BOTTLED WATER- Of course, it is essential to stay hydrated throughout the day, but don’t waste $3.50 on bottled water every time you need some water.  Instead, ask at any vendor that has a soda fountain if you could have a cup of ice water.  It is completely free and they give the water to you in a normal size soda cup!

3) WEAR COMFY WALKING SHOES- Folks, let me tell you, you will walk A LOT at Disneyland.  We were there for 15 hours (8AM-11PM) and do you want to guess how many steps we took?    26,889 steps.  That is equivalent to 11 miles.  And do you want to know what shoes I walked almost a half marathon in?  My high top converse of course.  So don’t be like me and wear shoes like that.  Wear your tennis shoes or some other good walking shoes.  They might not match with your cute outfit, but trust me you will thank yourself at the end of the day.  

4) IF YOU ARE CELEBRATING A SPECIAL OCCASION, LET THE STAFF AT DISNEY KNOW- At Disneyland, every staff member makes you feel so welcome and special.  It truly is a magical place.  At Disneyland, there are these cute little buttons for everything.  They are FREE and you can get one for various occasions. The most popular button lets everyone at the park know “It’s my first visit to Disneyland”!  It is super cute and a great momento to have to commemorate your first visit at Disney.  If cast members see you wearing the button, they always welcome you to the park and ask if you are enjoying your first visit at Disneyland.  You can get this button at almost any of the merchandise stores at the park.  Just ask the cashier or a store employee if they have the buttons at that store and they will give you one!  There are many other buttons Disneyland gives out for special occasions; birthday, anniversary, just graduated, engaged, and others.  So whatever you are celebrating, get yourself a button and let the rest of Disneyland celebrate with you!

5) DOWNLOAD THE DISNEYLAND APP- This app will be a lifesaver!  On the app, you can see the current wait time for every ride!  So instead of walking all the way over to Space Mountain to see if it is an hour wait or not, you can save yourself a trip and just check the app.  It will also tell you the times that ride is currently distributing fast passes for (or if there are no more fast passes available).  AND it will tell you if a ride is temporarily closed.  Besides rides, the app also tells you which characters are out in the park for meet and greets, what time they will be out, and where they will be.  This way you won’t miss getting to meet your favorite characters!  These are the two most useful features of the app, but there are many more features the app offers so go to the app store now and hit that download button!  It is free.  

6) GET FAST PASSES FIRST UPON ARRIVAL- This is key to skipping the horendous lines on your favorite rides.  Fast passes are little slips you can obtain for free by scanning your Disneyland ticket.  Each fastpass has a time range printed on it saying “Return between this time and this time”.  Pay attention to that!  You MUST return between this time range.  You’ll have about a 15 minute grace period, but any later than that and you will not be able to bypass the normal line unless the crew member working the line is super nice, but you never know so it is better to just try your best to make it between the designated time slot.  The fast pass allows you to skip the standard line and get onto the ride much faster.  By far, the two most popular rides at the moment are Radiator Springs Racers and Guardians of the Galaxy (the old Tower of Terror).  Those are the two newest rides (to my knowledge) and always have extremely long lines.  At one point, the wait without a fast pass for Guardians of the Galaxy was three hours.  But with a fastpass- only about 30 minutes!  But this was only for this particular ride because it is so new.  Most fastpass lines only take about 10 minutes. FYI- YOU CAN NOT GET A FAST PASS AT DISNEYLAND AND CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE AT THE SAME TIME.  On the bottom of your fast pass, it will tell you the earliest time you can go get your next fast pass.  

7) BRING SUNSCREEN!- There isn’t much to say about this except don’t be dumb.  If you want to save yourself from looking like a firetruck tomorrow, then do yourself a favor and bring some sunscreen in your handy dandy backpack (and don’t forget to reapply every hour or so!).

8) BRING A JACKET- This is one us Texans don’t usually consider.  We are used to it being hot day and night, but California weather is different!  It might be hot during the day, but the temperature will drop significantly and without the proper attire you will freeze your butt off like I did.  Going on Splash Mountain at 9PM when it was 68 degrees probably didn’t help either. 

9) LOOK AT THE PARK MAP & MAKE A PLAN- If you want to save yourself from running all over the place back and forth, then take some time when you first get to the park (after you sprint to get your first fast pass) and map out what you want to do.  Find out which rides are by which other rides so you aren’t running from one end of the park to the other all day long.  There is a park map on the Disneyland app!

10) EAT EVERYTHING AND TRY EVERYTHING- You only get the opportunity to be at Disney for a short period of time so take advantage of that.  I promise you will walk off ALL the calories you eat.  I recommend…

1. The churros!! (Lots of churro stands everywhere!)  
2. Mac N Cheese from Cozy Cone Motel
3. Mickey Mouse Pretzel 
4. Mickey Mouse Chocolate Covered Rice Crispy (found in stores in park)
5. Dolewhip

You’re at Disneyland my friends!  Just eat it🍦

11) TAKE PICTURES OF THE SCREEN AFTER YOUR RIDES- This is allowed!!!  The disneyland workers don’t care AT ALL if you take pictures of the screen displaying the photos taken while on the ride.  I am amazed by this because any other theme park you go to you will be told “Please no pictures of the screen”, but Disney doesn’t care!  So take advantage of that! 

12) GO TO THE WORLD OF COLOR SHOW- You will not regret it!!  What an amazing show!  It takes place at California Adventure park at 9PM and 10:15PM.  It is a water show put on right in front of the ferris wheel and California Screamin’.  It is a wonderful display of colors, characters, and magic as Disney lights up the night with a grandiose water display.

13) GET THERE WHEN THE PARK OPENS- In order to get the fastpass you want and ride the rides before they get too busy, getting there when the park opens is a smart idea.  You will also have more time to figure everything out before it starts getting insanely crowded.  

14) YOU CAN BRING A GOPRO AND THE GOPRO STICK AND CHEST STRAP INSIDE THE PARK- I wasn’t sure if I would be allowed to bring these items in, but I figured I would try.  Selfie Sticks are banned, but there was nothing about Go Pros online.  Not only did I bring in my gopro, but I filmed on multiple rides.  I did wait until the ride had started to pull out the gopro just in case it wasn’t allowed, but I saw other people doing it out in the open so it shouldn’t be a problem if you want to film.  I’ll be posting the videos after I edit them on my youtube channel.  Click Here to view my channel and subscribe!  

15) ENJOY YOURSELF AND BE A KID AGAIN– Reminisce on your childhood as you go on your favorite rides like Winnie the Pooh, Little Mermaid, or It’s A Small World.  Stand in line to get pictures with your favorite characters.  Have a character breakfast.  Take a picture in front of the castle.  Ride all the rides and laugh a lot.  You’re never too old to find the child inside yourself.  

So this is everything I learned from my first time at Disneyland and now I know better for next time.  Here are a few more pictures from our day.  I hope this article was helpful in giving you some tips for your next visit to Disneyland.  As Tigger would say… TTFN: Ta Ta For Now!