Before we left for Disneyland, we reached out to people via social media for their best tips, tricks, hacks, rides, and foods to try at Disneyland. I'll post all the advice we received and then go over what I personally would choose to do :) (Mainly for future reference!)
Source 1:
Fav FOOD in Disneyland:
-Pickles and pineapple spears
-Chimichangas in food carts
-Corn on the cob in food carts
-Cheeseburgers at Hungry Bear Restaurant
-Steak @ Blue Bayou inside Pirates of the Caribbean if you want to splurge (more than you already do at Disneyland, ha!)
-Corn dog @ Red Corn dog truck on Main Street (SO GOOD)
-Chicken nuggets and fries @ Golden Horseshoe (stay for the show!)
-Skewers @ Bengal BBQ (a great snack, and they're all tasty.. we usually just order one of each and share, depending on how many people you have)
-Pommes Frites @ Cafe Orleans
-Monte Cristo sandwich @ Cafe Orleans (need a reservation at this cafe, but SO good!)
-Grilled cheese and tomato soup @ Jolly Holiday
-French dip sandwich @ French Market Restaurant
-Taco salad @ Rancho del Zocalo Restaurant
-Quarter chicken at French Market
-River Belle Terrace has good food also
Fav TREATS/DRINKS in Disneyland:
-Dole whip or dole whip float at Enchanted Tiki Room (the line moves faster if you go inside the Enchated Tiki room and wait there, then either exit or watch the Enchated Tiki room show. If your daughter likes music, she'll LOVE it)
-Matterhorn macaron @ Jolly Holiday Bakery
-Mickey Beignets @ Mint Julep Bar (near French Market cafe)
-Lightside Lemonade @ Galactic Grill
-Hot Cocoa @ Jolly Holiday (seriously my fav hot cocoa EVER!)
-Pomegranate Pirahna lemonade @ Bengal BBQ
-Churros (duh!)
California adventure FOOD/TREATS:
-Pear of dice soda and/or red apple freeze @ Cozy Cone in Cars land
-Popcorn @ cozy cone in cars Land
-Broccoli cheese soup in bread bowl @ Pacific Warf
-Lobster Nachos @ Ariels Grotto
-Corn dogs @ Corn dog castle
-Refreshment corner drinks (if you like soda, so you don't have to buy bottled and wait in line at restaurants)
Tips:
-save money if you eat breakfast at your hotel
-don't buy water bottles in the park (they have drinking fountains to refill yours), and bring snacks. But I really do love the food and it's part of the reason I love Disneyland so much
-download DL waits app
-Cars ride and Cali screaming have different fast pass systems
-For Disneyland, if you get sick, don't ride the Star Tours ride. We don't even ride it when we go and I don't even get sick on rides besides that one. Don't do the toy story ride either in Disneyland. The toy story ride in Cali Adventure is Better.
-When you get to Disneyland, especially since you have a daughter, go STRAIGHT to Fantasy Land. It depends what time you get there, because it starts filling up around 10-11. The best time in the park is when it opens until 11 am. I would for sure start in fantasy land. But split up and one of you can wait in line in Fantasy Land (Peter Pan always has the longest line) and go get a fast pass for Space Mountain. Then when you're done in Fantasy Land or whenever your Fast pass is, go to Space Mountain and do Tomorrowland. There's not a lot to do there besides Space Mountain and Matterhorn. Finding Nemo is OK, your daughter will like it. Not adults fav. Don't waste time on Autopia unless it's a short line.
-Are you taking your daughter? Have you heard of the rider swap pass?
-Other places to get fast passes for in Disneyland: Thunder Mountain Railroad, Indiana Jones, and Splash Mountain.
-Toon town is super fun and usually not too busy so save that for when you're done
Source 2:
Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen Express: has amazing Gumbo! Also make sure you GET THE BEIGNETS!!!!
Taqueria at Tortilla Jo's They have good Mexican food. I just kinda built my own nachos but I'm sure that they have other things.
So when we start the day in disney we get there earlier than opening usually. We head straight to Tomorrowland and fast pass Star Tours, ride Space Mountain, check time for buzz lightyear. If short ride that. Run to Indiana Jones and grab fast passes for that. Run back and ride Star Tours (with the Fast Pass) then after star tours I would go ride pirates (use right line it is shorter.) Ride haunted if line is shorter. Fast pass splash, ride Indiana Jones. If you didn't ride haunted yet ride that now if you already rode it then go ride Thunder Mountain.
Use your fast passes for splash and then you've ridden all the big rides. Usually we will now go do the fantasy land rides like teacups, matterhorn, any of the other rides. We don't really do those rides though so we'll do the ones we want, grab something to eat and then head over to California adventure.
We never go to toontown but it's fun to walk through if you're in the mood. The rides aren't worth it there in my opinion so we just don't go. Also, the fantasy land rides don't have fast pass options so keep that in mind. Peter Pan is my fave (legit I cry every time) but the line gets SO LONG! So beware of that.
There is usually a parade that happens right before the fireworks. I would find a place somewhere in front of the castle to line up for the Parade and usually after the Parade everyone then crowds into the street to watch the fireworks. In front of the castle is my fave place to watch the fireworks. So magical! It will be very crowded but worth it.
Here is the order we do things a California adventure:
Arrive early, get to cars ride first and ride it. (This is seriously the cutest ride ever and I think I also cry of excitement on this one especially because it makes me feel like home). Then we usually grab a fast pass for Soarin' (We would normally go ride Tower of Terror now but alas it's closed ) then we would grab our world of color fast passes and go ride screamin' (the roller coaster). Grab fast passes for the toy Story ride and then go back and ride soarin' with our fast passes.
From there the rest of the ride lines aren't too long in that park so there is no particular order from there. We usually would ride Tower of Terror like 6 times and we would keep getting fast passes to ride soarin a couple more times. And in between waiting for our fast passes we always do the show It's a Bugs Life and the other smaller rides we like. The one other ride you might want fast passes for is the grizzly river (I'm not sure if they offer the fast passes for that one though so you might want to check.) Also, they have a cream cheese pretzel there and I think you can just get that at any of the little food carts they have around it's really good.
Also, any time a ride line splits right or left, go to the left because more people usually go to the right. The only ride that you want to get in the right line for is Pirates.
Our plan seems like we don't have any down time but we actually do. We always find that we have time to walk around the little shops and things like that. I will say we do usually sacrifice the smaller dark rides in fantasyland (snow white, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio etc) So if those are important to you then some people suggest you go to matterhorn first and then do all of those right after that. And then you could resume to our plan after that. Peter Pan does seriously get really long. In fact the last time we went we didn't get to go on it because it was too long. If you don't care about where you see the fireworks, if you watch them from the carousel then you could dash over to Peter Pan right after and have a shorter wait time.
I forgot to tell you about this place in California adventure. When you go in, go to the left side area (like you would be headed towards tower of terror) on the way there is this Disney Animations building. Go in and go the the little workshop area. (You'll have to go through some little gates). But down there you can draw characters, look at little animations, take a fun little quiz to find out which Disney Character you are most like and you also can voice a disney scene!
After taking all of that into consideration, here is my list of must-haves and must-do's:
-comfy shoes
-check weather beforehand
-if rainy pack extra socks
-if rainy pack umbrella
-$1 ponchos from Walmart for sure!
-wear comfy clothes (leggings)
-wear a jacket that can tie around waist
-Arrive 15 min before open
-plan 5 big rides per day to accomplish
-make a plan of how to accomplish them
-FAST PASS from the start!!!
-fast pass close/near rides... save your feet
-sometimes rest and snack while waiting for fast pass ride
-otherwise ride shorter rides while waiting for fast pass ride
-ride monorail into Disneyland if wanting to start at space mt or star tours
-Disneyland firework show on the weekends
-world of color (I would prefer sitting)
-check the weather before hand and plan accordingly
-download the Disneyland app for wait time references, shows, and other entertainment updates
FOOD:
-Beignets $7 jazz kitchen express downtown Disney
-gumbo from there too ^
-cozy cones mac'n cheese $8
-corn dog from red cart $10
-dole whip $5
-bengal beef skewer $6 (these are yummy, but very small!)
-free water from pizza port
-fill up waterbottles at filtered water station near jolly holiday cafe
-eat a GOOD breakfast at hotel
-bring a whole case of water bottles for hotel room
-only pack 1 water bottle per person before going to the parks
Great Snacks:
-meal bar/protein (cliff bars)
-almond butter packets
-string cheese
-Apple
-cutie
-baggies of trail mix
An example of rides:::
Take the monorail into Disneyland (Tomorrowland).
Fast Pass Space Mountain (ex. return between 10:00 and 11:00 am, next available fast pass 10:00 am)
Ride Space Tours
Ride Matterhorn (if short line)
Fast Pass Thunder Mountain (at 10:00 am) (ex. return between 11:20 and 12:20, next available fast pass 11:20 am)
Go back and ride Space Mountain
Go back to Adventureland or frontier land, ride the jungle tour while waiting for next fast pass.
Fast Pass Indiana Jones (at 11:20 am)
Ride Thunder Mountain
etc.
The key is to use your fast passes as soon as they're available. That way you are able to almost walk on to the rides you desire within like a 20 min. wait, compared to waiting in line for 45+ minutes!! It's genius if you can figure it out!
Also, remember to always take the left line. We forgot to quite a bit but when we did it went faster!
Also, remember to always take the left line. We forgot to quite a bit but when we did it went faster!
A big thanks to everyone for the awesome tips, hacks, and advice. Until next time!
Love,
Kate
No comments:
Post a Comment