Hi Moms/Dads.
I would like any information, tips or advice about my husband and I taking our two sons ages 4 and 7 to Disneyland this fall.
I think we would like to go in October to help avoid crowds.
Thanks :)
We stayed at a hotel across the street, saved us a ton of $ but next time I think we will save up more and stay inside the park.
Utilize the train that runs around the whole park, the kids will love it!
Have fun!
We took my six year son last S. (he was 5 then). The lines were surprising short. EVERYTHING was fantastic. The food, the rides, the sights. My son's favorite was the Jedi Training School. They pick kids from out of the crowd to train as a Jedi Master and fight Darth Vader! My son's other favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride. He was a little wary of the Pirates of the Carribean, but he pulled through like a champ!
So much fun! I hope you enjoy it.
In the library there is a book or can find it at the book store that will tell you how to visit Disney. I think it is called The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2009,2010, 2011 .... it gets updated every year. It is worth the investment or even to check it out in the library. It will tell you how to do a 2,3,4 day trip there, cost of the cheapest food, hotel, accomidations, where to buy cheap tickets ect......
We've been passholders since 2005 and go a lot.
October is no longer a slow time at the park. In fact it will reach capacity at times or get very close on some days. Last year they began having their paid Halloween party at Disneyland instead of California Adventure and shut the park early for it. Their Halloween offerings are very popular now. It is something to consider.
Have layers, day and night temperatures are very different during the fall. This year it rained almost non-stop. I would pick up some rain ponchos before you get there as the ones the park sells are extremely marked up. Other Octobers we can get into the 100s though.
Use those fastpasses! One tip most people don't know. On the fastpass you will see a beginning and end time. So long as you use the pass after the beginning time it is valid until the park closes, it does not matter what the end time is. You can have more than one pass at a time but there has to be a certain amount of time between them. It says on the ticket somewhere when you are eligable for another pass. We end up with several rides worth in our pocket so we can avoid too many long lines.
If you're there for several days plan so that you see only 1 of the big shows each day. A lot of lines are walk on during the big shows - Fantasmic, fireworks, parade etc. If say you see Fantasmic day one you can hit the rides with no lines during the fireworks that day and switch the next day. The second Fantasmic typiclaly has less crowds You need a fastpass to see World of Color at California Adventure. I would do that first thing the day you want to see it, even if you're not going to be in that park that day so that you have it. They go super fast!
Make reservations for meals in advanced when you can. The lines can get insane during peak meal times. We try to eat off peak to avoid both the lines for food and the lines at rides since everyone is eating. Have some little snacks for the kids to be able to eat dinner a little later. It's really worth it if you can do it.
I'm having a mind blank for other things right now. I know I've posted to other's questions about going to the parks if you want to look up my past posts :)
My boys were 1/1/2 & 4 1/2 when we first got passes. My third made her first trip at 17 days old. We have it down to an art ;)
We tend to go when it's warmer (we alternate about 2 hours in the park with 1 hour in the pool... park, pool, meal, nap, park, pool, meal, park, pool, meal... except for days we have YES classes; edu programs put on by the park relating to things like animation, roller coaster design, etc.)... but I would still HIGHLY recommend staying "in the park" (in one of the park hotels so you can monorail it back to your room throughout the day to eat/watch cartoons/ rest) so you don't get exhausted / burned out.
Fast Pass. We alternate (not between parks, we're not "big" enough to be running back and forth from DL to CA-A like the preteens), but we typically get a fast pass in the park, ride, stand in line in another ride, get a fast pass, ride... go back to the room.
Multiple days. You can stay there a week and not do everything/see everything. So at least 3 days to do most/half (with repeats of favorite rides).
A character breakfast is worth it with young ones.
We go in Sept almost every year with the big homeschooling roundup down there for Disney's Not Back To School Days. It's AMAZING how much the park not only changed in the 20 years since I lived in Huntington Beach (used to go 2-3x per month, free-ish), but how much it changes from year to year. You won't get bored.
The first week of May seems to be good for having less crowds. I am not sure why that is, but that has seemed to be the case for my family......It is fun no matter when you go though. I would suggest you go for 5 days if you can afford it. When we went for 3 days, it just wasn't long enough!! There is so much stuff and if you have 5 days, you can not feel so rushed the whole time!
Former 3-year pass holder: it's almost always busy at Disneyland now. Sundays can be the worst because the lower-end (less expensive) local passholders show up in force. Best time to go is weekdays, during school. Disney is also rolling out a new system of reserving ride times, character meet-n-greets, etc. sometime in the near future it looks like:
http://ocresort.ocregister.com/2011/02/17/disney-guests-t...
I'd definitely take advantage of that if it's running while you're visiting!
Oh, BTW -- do you have American Airline miles? You can book California Adventure Hotel, Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Point Hotel and the Anaheim Hilton w/ your miles. The first 3 require beaucoup points per night, but I just booked a night in May for 8,600 miles for a one-night stay for 3 people. Since room rates start at $280/night at that hotel, I call that a major bargain!! (Anaheim Hilton Hotel is right across from Disneyland)
That sounds like it would be reasonable, but the only time I have ever seen Disneyland without crowds was when I went with my girlfriends (probably January or February) and it started to rain (not really hard, but steady). The park cleared like magic :), and we had a great time - bought ponchos and danced in the rain from ride to ride.
The good news is that even with crowds the lines can be okay (do FAST pass or whatever they call it as much as possible - especially Buzz Lightyear). The only part that gets really bad with crowds is the parades and the shows (like the fireworks show). Best view of the fireworks show without the crowds is from the deck at Innovention. You can't see or hear everything but most of it. If you can have someone stake out a spot, that is better. We never did get a good view of the Fantasmic show.
make sure they eat first because the food in there is god awful expensive. also, get hotels neear the area, because you dont want to have to take a long drive. the streets around here are always crowded.
lastly there are many other things to do here other than disneyland. there is almost always a party somewhere every night, and the clubs are pretty cool too. i say one or two nights find someone to babysit and just go and just party.
the beach is also very nice
