thebabyscryin
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2004
- Messages
- 4
We just got back from a 3 day trip (Wed-Fri). Had a blast. Thanks to all who answered my earlier questions.
Some of these things may be common knowledge, but I thought I'd share a few tiny quick tips & observations after my experience at Disneyland for those who might not know.
FOOD
The Blue Bayou - we were able to make same day reservations at the door (for about 30 mins later). The Monte Cristo sandwich is a must eat!! Probably the best food I had all week! Mother's beware - no changing table in the bathroom in this restaurant.
Ariel's Grotto - we called that morning and made reservations for the afternoon with no problem. Fun atmosphere, good food. My daughter especially liked the mac n cheese (sprinkled with goldfish crackers and a big octopus looking hotdog on top). Ariel greeted everyone at the door by blowing bubbles. Not a whole lot of characters. We saw Goofy, Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Pluto. The kids got a big Ariel button, a shovel, a pail, and a big scoop of cotton candy. Also, the peach cobbler was delicious.
The Golden Horseshoe (in Fronteirland) - we missed the show, so I can't comment on that, but for the food... they have a very short menu of hotdogs, chili dogs, chili bowls, etc. I don't recall prices, BUT - one thing I didn't even see on the menu, but I overhead someone order... a kid's meal. They have 2 different kinds - hot dog or chicken nuggets. I'm not sure if the prices are the same, but the hot dog meal was only about $4.50, and was pretty good size. Comes with fries, 2 small hotdogs (worked out to be about 1 1/2 hotdogs) with buns, and a kids drink. *** AND THE BEST PART - the kids meal comes in a small, plastic lunchbox with a Pirates of the Caribbean comic on one side. We all got one of these, not just the kids! A really cheap meal, but filling, too. Remember, this isn't printed on the menu, but they did have the kids box on the counter, so just ask for it.
RIDES
We were only able to squeeze in one ride at CA Adv. I wish we could've done more, but we simply ran out of time. Anyway, it was the Soarin' Over CA. I thought my 4yo would be too scared, but she loved it!
Lines at DL for Indy never seemed to get under 60 min wait, and by the time we went to get Fast passes, they were gone for the day. Splash Mountain was no better. Sometimes the wait was around 120 min!
We had absolultely no line whatsoever for the Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh, Star Tours, Haunted Mansion, Small World, or Snow White. It was wonderful.
SHOPPING
Most t-shirts for adults are around $26. Some more, some less. Funny because they sell Mickey sneakers for only $28. Weird. If you want to buy a Disney (not Disneyland) tee for the kids, you might stop by your local regular Disney store. I believe they have lots of things on sale right now. My mom picked up a couple kids tees (Ariel & Nemo) for only $3.99 or $5.99 before we left (sorry, can't remember the price). Also, big Disney beach towels at the Disney Store were only $7.99.
The biggest hit for everyone was the Mr. Potato Head in a box thing that we got at the toy store Engine Ears in CA Adv. For $16, you get as many Mr. Potato Head parts as you can stuff in the box, as long as the lid closes. Cute Disney themed parts - camcorder, Mickey baloon, ice cream, mouse ears, etc. Everyone loved this one. Tips mentioned before - you don't have to get the body as they're the same bodies as the regular potato heads. If you don't get the body, it is possible to fit every single part in the box (I did it!).
A real nice and inexpensive thing to buy the kids (especially for the drive/flight home) are coloring books. They sell really nice ones (I saw Disneyland, Princess, and a couple others), with lots of pages, too, for only $3.99. A great deal, especially considering something similar would probably cost more even at Walmart!
MISC
DL sells those lighted glow in the dark type bracelets/necklaces. I didn't find out the cost, but something we had done was to go to our local Dollar Store before we left and buy a bunch of the pre-packaged kinds. We ended up with 2 bracelets for each of us for only a couple bucks. A whole lot less I'm sure than if we had bought them at the park, and the best part about having them was that we could find each other a lot more easily in the dark and in the crowds. Really good, especially when you have kids that like to either run ahead or lag behind.
Small lockers are $4 for the whole day. You can open and close as often as you like for that one charge.
All day parking at DL is $9, and you can come and go as often as you like for that one charge.
New Orleans Square and the surrounding areas got COMPLETELY NUTS about 30 mins before Fantasmic. We got separated. It was a mess. So, if you're not planning on watching Fantasmic (or at least one particular showing), stay clear of this area. Of course, lots of rides are empty at times like this, so this is a good time to hit rides with normally long lines.
Fireworks were way too loud for my 4yo. She cried and covered her ears. We had to stay inside a store until they were over. The baby didn't seem to even notice the noise.
A good place, at least for us, for the Parade of Stars was near It's a Small World. That's where it starts. Everyone lined up Main Street, so the area near Small World wasn't crowded at all.
Pay attention to the map thing they give you at the gate. It lists where certain characters will be at certain times. Unfortunately we didn't see this until we were driving home.
Since it's been 10 years since I've been to Disneyland (and then it was without kids!), I found out that a big thing there is to get an autograph book and get the different characters autographs. So, if you're new to DL or going for the 1st time with kids, this is something to definitely consider doing. My 4yo is still looking at all the signatures she was able to get. They sell DL autograph books for (ack I can't remember) either $6 or $8.
Stroller rentals were, I think $8 a day. They were all the same - a jogging type stroller. We ended up bringing our Sit N Stand stroller instead of renting one. I'm so glad we did, otherwise we probably would've had to rent two - one for the baby, and one for the 4yo.
Like I said, a lot of you probably already know most of this stuff, but it was all kind of new to me, so hopefully this will help someone!
Some of these things may be common knowledge, but I thought I'd share a few tiny quick tips & observations after my experience at Disneyland for those who might not know.
FOOD
The Blue Bayou - we were able to make same day reservations at the door (for about 30 mins later). The Monte Cristo sandwich is a must eat!! Probably the best food I had all week! Mother's beware - no changing table in the bathroom in this restaurant.
Ariel's Grotto - we called that morning and made reservations for the afternoon with no problem. Fun atmosphere, good food. My daughter especially liked the mac n cheese (sprinkled with goldfish crackers and a big octopus looking hotdog on top). Ariel greeted everyone at the door by blowing bubbles. Not a whole lot of characters. We saw Goofy, Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Pluto. The kids got a big Ariel button, a shovel, a pail, and a big scoop of cotton candy. Also, the peach cobbler was delicious.
The Golden Horseshoe (in Fronteirland) - we missed the show, so I can't comment on that, but for the food... they have a very short menu of hotdogs, chili dogs, chili bowls, etc. I don't recall prices, BUT - one thing I didn't even see on the menu, but I overhead someone order... a kid's meal. They have 2 different kinds - hot dog or chicken nuggets. I'm not sure if the prices are the same, but the hot dog meal was only about $4.50, and was pretty good size. Comes with fries, 2 small hotdogs (worked out to be about 1 1/2 hotdogs) with buns, and a kids drink. *** AND THE BEST PART - the kids meal comes in a small, plastic lunchbox with a Pirates of the Caribbean comic on one side. We all got one of these, not just the kids! A really cheap meal, but filling, too. Remember, this isn't printed on the menu, but they did have the kids box on the counter, so just ask for it.
RIDES
We were only able to squeeze in one ride at CA Adv. I wish we could've done more, but we simply ran out of time. Anyway, it was the Soarin' Over CA. I thought my 4yo would be too scared, but she loved it!
Lines at DL for Indy never seemed to get under 60 min wait, and by the time we went to get Fast passes, they were gone for the day. Splash Mountain was no better. Sometimes the wait was around 120 min!
We had absolultely no line whatsoever for the Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh, Star Tours, Haunted Mansion, Small World, or Snow White. It was wonderful.
SHOPPING
Most t-shirts for adults are around $26. Some more, some less. Funny because they sell Mickey sneakers for only $28. Weird. If you want to buy a Disney (not Disneyland) tee for the kids, you might stop by your local regular Disney store. I believe they have lots of things on sale right now. My mom picked up a couple kids tees (Ariel & Nemo) for only $3.99 or $5.99 before we left (sorry, can't remember the price). Also, big Disney beach towels at the Disney Store were only $7.99.
The biggest hit for everyone was the Mr. Potato Head in a box thing that we got at the toy store Engine Ears in CA Adv. For $16, you get as many Mr. Potato Head parts as you can stuff in the box, as long as the lid closes. Cute Disney themed parts - camcorder, Mickey baloon, ice cream, mouse ears, etc. Everyone loved this one. Tips mentioned before - you don't have to get the body as they're the same bodies as the regular potato heads. If you don't get the body, it is possible to fit every single part in the box (I did it!).
A real nice and inexpensive thing to buy the kids (especially for the drive/flight home) are coloring books. They sell really nice ones (I saw Disneyland, Princess, and a couple others), with lots of pages, too, for only $3.99. A great deal, especially considering something similar would probably cost more even at Walmart!
MISC
DL sells those lighted glow in the dark type bracelets/necklaces. I didn't find out the cost, but something we had done was to go to our local Dollar Store before we left and buy a bunch of the pre-packaged kinds. We ended up with 2 bracelets for each of us for only a couple bucks. A whole lot less I'm sure than if we had bought them at the park, and the best part about having them was that we could find each other a lot more easily in the dark and in the crowds. Really good, especially when you have kids that like to either run ahead or lag behind.
Small lockers are $4 for the whole day. You can open and close as often as you like for that one charge.
All day parking at DL is $9, and you can come and go as often as you like for that one charge.
New Orleans Square and the surrounding areas got COMPLETELY NUTS about 30 mins before Fantasmic. We got separated. It was a mess. So, if you're not planning on watching Fantasmic (or at least one particular showing), stay clear of this area. Of course, lots of rides are empty at times like this, so this is a good time to hit rides with normally long lines.
Fireworks were way too loud for my 4yo. She cried and covered her ears. We had to stay inside a store until they were over. The baby didn't seem to even notice the noise.
A good place, at least for us, for the Parade of Stars was near It's a Small World. That's where it starts. Everyone lined up Main Street, so the area near Small World wasn't crowded at all.
Pay attention to the map thing they give you at the gate. It lists where certain characters will be at certain times. Unfortunately we didn't see this until we were driving home.
Since it's been 10 years since I've been to Disneyland (and then it was without kids!), I found out that a big thing there is to get an autograph book and get the different characters autographs. So, if you're new to DL or going for the 1st time with kids, this is something to definitely consider doing. My 4yo is still looking at all the signatures she was able to get. They sell DL autograph books for (ack I can't remember) either $6 or $8.
Stroller rentals were, I think $8 a day. They were all the same - a jogging type stroller. We ended up bringing our Sit N Stand stroller instead of renting one. I'm so glad we did, otherwise we probably would've had to rent two - one for the baby, and one for the 4yo.
Like I said, a lot of you probably already know most of this stuff, but it was all kind of new to me, so hopefully this will help someone!
