Disneyland

Sorry for another post about Disney but we are visiting my sister in LA and will be taking my DD to Disneyland for her 5th Birthday.

Would love to know the ins and outs of Disneyland.

Re: Disneyland

Following this- because we want to go there this year.
I do NOT want the huge big deal and 10 years of planning, 14 excel spreadsheets and a masters degree that is required to go to Disney World.

I want DD to get the experience, see a princess or two, go on a ride and be done!

Re: Disneyland

Posted by NervousNell

Following this- because we want to go there this year.
I do NOT want the huge big deal and 10 years of planning, 14 excel spreadsheets and a masters degree that is required to go to Disney World.

I want DD to get the experience, see a princess or two, go on a ride and be done!

Re: Disneyland

Posted by nraboni

Posted by NervousNell

Following this- because we want to go there this year.
I do NOT want the huge big deal and 10 years of planning, 14 excel spreadsheets and a masters degree that is required to go to Disney World.

I want DD to get the experience, see a princess or two, go on a ride and be done!

When are you thinking of going?

Re: Disneyland

I find Disneyland so much more relaxed and easy going to disneyworld. Still helpful to get fast passes ahead of time but again so much smaller and less crazy.

Re: Disneyland

Posted by NervousNell

Posted by nraboni

Posted by NervousNell

Following this- because we want to go there this year.
I do NOT want the huge big deal and 10 years of planning, 14 excel spreadsheets and a masters degree that is required to go to Disney World.

I want DD to get the experience, see a princess or two, go on a ride and be done!

When are you thinking of going?

Unfortunealy with DD in Kindergarten now we are stuck with either Spring Break or early summer- like end of June
Spring break is out now, because it's getting too late- so probably late June or early July.
We plan to combine it with my touring of Cali- seeing places we want to see out there- and making Disney just like a day or 2

Re: Disneyland

I went with my DH, and 2 sons (4.5 and 1.5) last month. I have some opinions that could help.

First of all, everyone kept telling me how SMALL it is. It may be smaller than Disney World but it's got more attractions crammed into a smaller space which I wasn't expecting. It was crowded. Even though it wasn't packed, it was HARD to get around, especially with a stroller. The attractions were very close together that often times I had to ask what line people were on.

The Fast Pass system sucks. Absolute worst. It's the old way Orlando used to do it where you go to the kiosk, get a reservation and return. But if I get a ticket to come back in an hour I can't get very far before I have to about-face to the original. Halfway through the day with our 1.5 yo asleep I attempted to go across the entire park to get a FP for Haunted Mansion while my DH and 4.5 yo hung out in Toon Town. It was a mess. It took forever to get there and when I swiped our tickets it said I couldn't occupy two FPs at the same time and there was no way to get a future FP besides what they were offering. Our attempt to "plan" our FPs backfired almost every time. Also, we notice certain bigger attractions like Star Tours, Haunted Mansion and Pirates kept "breaking". We think it was a sham to get people to move along b/c they got so crowded. At the time the ride "breaks" so does the FP kiosk so they can't give out any future reservations. We call shananigans.

The weather was great! Actually a little cooler than we expected. It gets cool at night so plan accordingly. We were prepared.

I know you didn't ask but I'll tell you a little something about the other parks we hit during our trip - Disney's California, Universal Hollywood and Legoland. California was great! Lines were long. Not AS crowded as Disneyland. At Universal we purchased tickets to get to the front of each line for $25 more a ticket. Worth. Every. Penny. Especially with two little ones. Granted we skipped some of the larger rides but it was worth it for the Backlot Tour alone. That was pretty cool to see some real sound stages. Legoland was perfect for our kids' ages. I almost skipped this park b/c it was 1+ hours south but it was great! In fact we didn't even see the whole park b/c the hours were only 10-5. My 4.5 yo especially loved the driving course. It's a actual little town where the kids really drive, not tracks. It was so fun to watch him cruise around. He even obeyed the traffic light. I should be honest and say this ride is for 6-13 yos but we said he was 6. He's a big boy. And he was a better driver than some of the older kids.

A note about LA which I'm sure you've heard a million times. It really does take forever to get anywhere. The traffic is brutal. And the lights are forever.

LA itself I thought was a huge let down. I was expecting glamour and sparkle. It was full of head shops and sex stores. I was embarrassed to take my family on a hunt for Lucille Ball's star. The neighborhood was beyond desirable. The Grove was nice but it's just an outdoor mall. We saw a Kardashian. I could care less but we saw her. We tried to go to the Chinese Theatre to put our hands in prints but it was closed off for a movie premier. Boo. :(

I'm not sure I'll ever go back to Disneyland unless I'm heading west for another reason. For me it wasn't worth the trip. It did not have the same magical feeling as Orlando. The whole trip my DH and I kept noticing that "something" was missing.

I know the frustration of Disney World. We went there recently too and the planning is overwhelming. For me it was kind of the opposite. I had so much expectations b/c I had planned basically every minute of the Disney parks from what rides we were going on, dinner reservations, etc. that when things went differently I was so disappointed. Maybe I was just expecting the Disney magic 24/7 plus we never traveled with the little ones. The reverse happened with the Universal parks (CA and FL). I didn't plan and things were fantastic. Maybe there's a lesson there?

Have fun in LA! If I think of anything else I'll add.

Disneyland

I LOVE Disneyland. While it is smaller in size it still packs a big punch as far as attractions go.
I loved that they had characters just roaming around and interacting with guests. I was in a wheelchair at the time and Donald actually pushed me to the gate when it was time for me to leave. It was so magical!

They do still use the older fast pass system which can be frustrating but with a good touring plan put together by a travel agent it is totally doable and amazing.

I felt that my Disneyland trip was a lot less stressful than any Disney World trips I have been on and trust me, I've been on a lot.

Anyone looking to go to Disneyland please send me a message or an email. I'd love to make sure you have a magical experience and know what to expect before arriving.

Kerri
Facebook.com/TravelKerri
[email protected]

Re: Disneyland

Re: Disneyland