citymama
01-01-2013, 04:47 AM
I'm still amazed by all the advance planning that goes into Disneyland trips (here and on other boards) and wondering if I missed something by doing virtually no planning. First, we decided in early Dec to make an LA/DL trip over the holiday break, and other than booking a hotel (in downtown LA), we did no prep for the trip until maybe two days before we left. We just couldn't; Dec is one of the busiest times at work for both of us. My prep came from the couple of posts here and from asking my cousin about her trips there with kids. The best advice you gave me was: go as early in the day as possible. So true!
We only had a day and decided to stick to just DL and not try and cram the other park in (despite DD2s love of Cars). We arrived just before 8 (waking up at 6 and driving an hour to get there). It took another 45 minutes to get in to the park even with our advance purchase tickets, what with paying for parking, waiting for the tram, etc. But between 8.30 and 10.30, we had almost no wait at the rides we did - per TwinFoxes recc, we made straight for Dumbo! We did that, Alice, teacups and Small World in our first two hours and also got to meet three princesses unexpectedly (Belle, Cinderella and Snow White) on their way to the meet the princess place. Fortunately, DD1 is past the princess phase and DD2 has zero interest. We got fast passes for Autopia (to make up for missing Cars), got a snack at Star Wars and meandered off to Toon Town. Kiddos were happy to meet Goofy and Pluto. (By this time, the park was a zoo - it was close to noon. We decided against waiting for Peter Pan although it was on our list. We had made it close to the front of the submarine line when they decided to close it due to a maintenance problem.) We escaped by riding the Pooh ride (very missable, but it pleased the 2.5 yr old no end), and we had to swim against a sea of people to return to Autopia. Yikes, madness. After the car ride, we needed lunch and intended to go to one of the New Orleans options, but the sea of people dropped us off at some other the Stagecoach cafe so we ate there instead. It did the job, minimal wait, and we had lots of backup snacks. Then we did a few lamer things before working up the energy to stand on a long line - rode the steamship Mark Twain, climbed Tarzan's tree house, met the Alladin cast - and then DD2 conveniently fell asleep just in time for the hour long line to Pirates of the Caribbean. But it was worth the wait! So much fun, and the two year old woke up after the first waterfall splash. ;)
By this time it was maybe 4.30 and we were running out of steam. We walked through Sleeping Beauty's castle and a few other things, then watched the parade, bought our souvenirs and got out of there at around 6.30. The kids were troopers and even made it through a yummy Ethiopian meal back in LA!
I'm probably an anomaly as the highlight of my trip was the good Thai and Mexican food rather than Disney, followed closely by good hiking in Santa Monica and Beverley Hills. I even liked the tea at the American Girl Place (more on that some other time but we managed to spend 3 hours doll shopping!) more than DL, but, that said, seeing my kids enthralled by the Small World holiday decorations (wow, it was beautiful!) and all of us squeal with joy through Pirates....was pretty special. I'm sure we'll go back if we can - and next time they'll be ready for big kid rides!
Thanks to all of you for the good advice! My two cents would be: go early, bring snacks, and don't sweat it - you're sure to have a good time!
We only had a day and decided to stick to just DL and not try and cram the other park in (despite DD2s love of Cars). We arrived just before 8 (waking up at 6 and driving an hour to get there). It took another 45 minutes to get in to the park even with our advance purchase tickets, what with paying for parking, waiting for the tram, etc. But between 8.30 and 10.30, we had almost no wait at the rides we did - per TwinFoxes recc, we made straight for Dumbo! We did that, Alice, teacups and Small World in our first two hours and also got to meet three princesses unexpectedly (Belle, Cinderella and Snow White) on their way to the meet the princess place. Fortunately, DD1 is past the princess phase and DD2 has zero interest. We got fast passes for Autopia (to make up for missing Cars), got a snack at Star Wars and meandered off to Toon Town. Kiddos were happy to meet Goofy and Pluto. (By this time, the park was a zoo - it was close to noon. We decided against waiting for Peter Pan although it was on our list. We had made it close to the front of the submarine line when they decided to close it due to a maintenance problem.) We escaped by riding the Pooh ride (very missable, but it pleased the 2.5 yr old no end), and we had to swim against a sea of people to return to Autopia. Yikes, madness. After the car ride, we needed lunch and intended to go to one of the New Orleans options, but the sea of people dropped us off at some other the Stagecoach cafe so we ate there instead. It did the job, minimal wait, and we had lots of backup snacks. Then we did a few lamer things before working up the energy to stand on a long line - rode the steamship Mark Twain, climbed Tarzan's tree house, met the Alladin cast - and then DD2 conveniently fell asleep just in time for the hour long line to Pirates of the Caribbean. But it was worth the wait! So much fun, and the two year old woke up after the first waterfall splash. ;)
By this time it was maybe 4.30 and we were running out of steam. We walked through Sleeping Beauty's castle and a few other things, then watched the parade, bought our souvenirs and got out of there at around 6.30. The kids were troopers and even made it through a yummy Ethiopian meal back in LA!
I'm probably an anomaly as the highlight of my trip was the good Thai and Mexican food rather than Disney, followed closely by good hiking in Santa Monica and Beverley Hills. I even liked the tea at the American Girl Place (more on that some other time but we managed to spend 3 hours doll shopping!) more than DL, but, that said, seeing my kids enthralled by the Small World holiday decorations (wow, it was beautiful!) and all of us squeal with joy through Pirates....was pretty special. I'm sure we'll go back if we can - and next time they'll be ready for big kid rides!
Thanks to all of you for the good advice! My two cents would be: go early, bring snacks, and don't sweat it - you're sure to have a good time!