It’s no surprise that we are {somewhat} Disneyland obsessed over here.
We like to go. A lot.
Here are the latest TIPS N’ TRICKS we’ve discovered at the DL.
{Yes…we’re on an initial named basis with the park}.
* If you get a Fast Pass…which you WILL have to do at some point….that Fast Pass is good ANY TIME after the start time. So if your pass says: Come back between 11:00 – 11:50 …..you are actually allowed to come back ANY TIME after 11:00. Which is good. Because a lot of times you get caught up in other rides and you miss the time slot allotted. They won’t tell you this. But you’re allowed. We did it all day long. So don’t stress about making it during that 50 minute time span.
* If you have kids that are too scared to ride Pirates of the Caribbean…try out the Tarzan’s Tree House right next door. We did this for the first time ever and we were pleasantly surprised. It gave my Carson something to do to waste the time while waiting for his older brother.
* And while we were ‘wasting time’ we discovered that Princess Tianna from Princess and the Frog hangs out in New Oreleans Square…back by those cute little shops. There was NO line to see her and we even got a picture!
* The very best place to watch the parade at night is right across the street from The Penny Arcade. It’s a little house front with a bench and two chairs perched up on a few stairs. Get there early and you’ve got a GREAT seat! Plus..the Gibson Girl Ice-cream Parlor is right across the street so you can grab a Mint Chocolate Chip sundae while you wait. Mmmmmmm.
* Single Rider Passes. Have you ever used these? If you don’t mind riding by yourself…it’s the best! You literally get RIGHT ONTO the ride. All you do is walk up to the ‘cast member’ who is standing outside of the ride and tell them that you’re a ‘single rider’. They give you a pass and you literally go straight to the front of the line. My sister and I did this together on Screamin’ a couple of times. So fun and so worth skipping the line over!!
* I discovered a new app for Disneyland wait times. It’s called Mouse Wait. Check it out.
Very handy.
*If you are planning on doing the Princess Lunch or…any other character dining…you must make reservations. And the sooner the better. We usually go on the ‘off’ seasons and we make our reservations about a week in advance. If you plan to go during the ‘busy’ season however I would make those reservations as soon as you find out you are going. We have also dined at ‘Goofy’s Kitchen’ for breakfast and Yum-O….they have the most delicious breakfast buffet spread.
*Definitely ALWAYS do a fast pass for Star Tours. That line gets LONG! I can honestly say I’ve never seen a Star Wars movie from start to finish {bleh!} and I was thoroughly impressed with this ride. My boys LOVED it!
* If you are thinking of visiting Disneyland anytime soon…my advice would be to WAIT until the middle of June OR after. {Preferrably after because who wants to wait in those long summer lines?} Cars Land opens on June 14th as well as everything that has been under-construction at California Adventure. Everything will be up and running by then!! So excited to see all of the changes. Is it too early to start planning our fall trip?!?
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Be Different Act Normal
I'm a frequent visitor to DL too, and one of my favorite times to go is the week after the Super Bowl. Our only wait was for the Toy Story Mania ride in CA. It was still really new, so we waited almost 30 minutes to get on as a group. Then we did single rider and rode several more times. The other ride waits were that you could get on as fast as you could walk through the lines. 5 Minutes was our longest wait on any other ride.
There is one down side to going at this time of the year. Small World and Haunted Mansion are closed. But if you are willing to pass on those two rides, then you will be successful at getting everything else you want done.
Thanks for the tips ( I read them ALL). We are going (our first time) this fall and am debating what will be the less crowded time to go? Have you ever been in the fall? Oct. Nov. Dec.??? It sounds like you guys have the park down good! Thanks for the info!
We LOVE going in the fall time. We seem to go about every Oct. Just schedule it either at the very start or the very end…during Oct. is a lot of different places fall break and it can get crowded. I've heard the first part of November is GREAT as well as the first couple weeks of December. If you go in Oct. you HAVE to do the Trick or Treating party they have….it's SO MUCH fun!!
Thank you, thank you for these tips. (I also went and read your other posts) We are planning a family trip there for our first time coming up Jan. of 2013 and I have been asking around about meal prices and any tips so this is much appreciated. We are so excited and having my kids look at other peoples fun pictures just makes them that much more excited. : )