tabbycat7815
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 4, 2006
Well, it's hard to believe our much anticipated Disneyland trip is over! We (hubby and I) were in Anaheim for a week with my 15 year old stepson and his best friend...what a blast! Here are some points I thought may be useful to others on their way (especially those with teenagers who want to ride the BIG rides often!)
-Enhanced Fastpass is THE WAY TO GO! I had read some people didn't think it was a big deal, but let me tell you, it MADE our trip. We were able to get fastpasses for all the best rides at the beginning of the day (usually I did this for all of us in both parks) and then enjoy the rest of the day with such minimal waits (maybe 15 minutes at the most). The boys also made use of single rider on Screamin' California (their favourite). We didn't want to spend the big bucks to stay at a DL hotel the whole trip, so we stayed at the Sheraton Park (wonderful hotel) for the first 5 nights and then switched to the DL hotel for the last two (mandatory to get Enhanced Fast Pass - through AAA).
-Knott's Berry Farm was a bit of a dispapointment...lines were SO long and we picked a Saturday thinking it would be best to avoid DL on the weekend. It was a mistake...Knott's was packed and we returned hot and grumpy. I think I would have preferred going to the waterpark.
-We rented a Mustang Convertible from the car rental outfit at the Best Western Park Place Inn. We got two nights for the price of one and the staff there was SO accommodating. They picked us up at our hotel and we had a blast driving down the coast with the top down.
-We drove to Huntington & Newport Beach and had a blast. We rented boogie boards and body surfed in the waves...very fun. There's a great ice cream place in Newport Beach. It takes a long time but the milkshakes are amazing.
-We went on a tour of L.A. (movie stars homes, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Mann's Chinese Theatre, etc.) It was great. There's only one company that does the movie stars homes and it was a lot of fun, but I would guess mostly for older kids.
-YOU MUST, MUST, MUST head to "The Block at Orange" shopping mall in Anaheim. It's fantastic. We didn't see much of it as we found "Steve and Barry's College Clothing" and stayed there for an hour and a half. Everything in the entire store is $6.99...nice jeans, shoes, beautiful good quality college sweatshirts/hoodies, shorts, shirts, etc. etc. There's more men's clothes than ladies, but I found some INCREDIBLE deals. It was one of the highlights of our trip. If you like good deals, this is the place to go. I can't way enough about it. It was much better than the Citadel (which the bus took us to after our L.A. tour).
I hope that helps make your trip as enjoyable as ours was...
All the best,
Erin.
-Enhanced Fastpass is THE WAY TO GO! I had read some people didn't think it was a big deal, but let me tell you, it MADE our trip. We were able to get fastpasses for all the best rides at the beginning of the day (usually I did this for all of us in both parks) and then enjoy the rest of the day with such minimal waits (maybe 15 minutes at the most). The boys also made use of single rider on Screamin' California (their favourite). We didn't want to spend the big bucks to stay at a DL hotel the whole trip, so we stayed at the Sheraton Park (wonderful hotel) for the first 5 nights and then switched to the DL hotel for the last two (mandatory to get Enhanced Fast Pass - through AAA).
-Knott's Berry Farm was a bit of a dispapointment...lines were SO long and we picked a Saturday thinking it would be best to avoid DL on the weekend. It was a mistake...Knott's was packed and we returned hot and grumpy. I think I would have preferred going to the waterpark.
-We rented a Mustang Convertible from the car rental outfit at the Best Western Park Place Inn. We got two nights for the price of one and the staff there was SO accommodating. They picked us up at our hotel and we had a blast driving down the coast with the top down.
-We drove to Huntington & Newport Beach and had a blast. We rented boogie boards and body surfed in the waves...very fun. There's a great ice cream place in Newport Beach. It takes a long time but the milkshakes are amazing.
-We went on a tour of L.A. (movie stars homes, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Mann's Chinese Theatre, etc.) It was great. There's only one company that does the movie stars homes and it was a lot of fun, but I would guess mostly for older kids.
-YOU MUST, MUST, MUST head to "The Block at Orange" shopping mall in Anaheim. It's fantastic. We didn't see much of it as we found "Steve and Barry's College Clothing" and stayed there for an hour and a half. Everything in the entire store is $6.99...nice jeans, shoes, beautiful good quality college sweatshirts/hoodies, shorts, shirts, etc. etc. There's more men's clothes than ladies, but I found some INCREDIBLE deals. It was one of the highlights of our trip. If you like good deals, this is the place to go. I can't way enough about it. It was much better than the Citadel (which the bus took us to after our L.A. tour).
I hope that helps make your trip as enjoyable as ours was...
All the best,
Erin.