As you all may know, Disneyland is one of my favorite places to be. Over the years I have aquired great knowledge in navagating through this happy place and today I am proud to share these observations with you in hopes that they will be of some use. [Also check out my new Dating At Disneyland Section.]
Fast Pass
A way to cheat the lines you say? Cutting in front of a hundred other people to get into your favorite ride? Saving precious minutes even hours of wait? I'm impressed. A product of Disney inginuity (since they're not using it on improving any rides), Disney's Fast Pass allows guests to "hold" they're spot in line with their themepark passports. This is really handy when wait lines can often exceed one to two hours on Disney "E Ticket" attractions. One of my favorite strategies is to get a fast past for Indiana Jones (if the wait time is 45+ minutes) and ride nearby attractions such as Pirates of the Carribean. DO NOT waste your fast pass on a ride whose Stand-By time is less than 25 minutes, because you may only have one pass under your passport at any given time. You must wait until it hits the time of your passport before you can recieve a new one. Of course, if you can arrive at "E Ticket" rides at non-peak times, then you are always in good shape.
Fireworks
If you are visiting Disneyland during summer or winter break, the park offers you a spectacular display of fireworks nightly. The truth of the matter is - fireworks make people happy. As an added bonus, Christmas travelers get snow! The recent motto being - "Remember the Magic." It is always a high moral part of my visit and is often very nostalgic and good for the soul. Seeing that Disney spends such a large amount of money to satisfy its visitors is a very fulfilling feeling, so make sure that fireworks make it on to your priority list. The rewards are awesome, I promise you.
Disney's California Adventure
I am not lying when I tell you that I actually love most of this park. Although its "replay" value isn't that high, It enables me to have a lot of fun - epecially as a way to escape the overcrowdedness of the Magic Kingdom half of the Disneyland Resort. It does well serving as a teen hangout as well as finally providing little kids with an escape (not provided when the new park opened). Flik's Fun Fair mainly consists of kiddy carnival rides - accenting the big kid rids in Paradise Pier. However on my last visit, I found it highly entertaining (most likely because it was at an off-peak time). While you're there, visit the Pacific Wharf. It is actually quite nice and the free sourdoughbread and tortillas are a really nice touch. You might say that the only "worthy" attractions there are Disney's Soarin' Over California and California Screamin'. You're mostly right. Fast Pass 'em and you'll be well on your way for a good time.
Favorite Spots to Hang Out
Disney Animation - Cartoons! Yay!
Condor Flats - Yummy Burgers!
Pacific Wharf - Mmmm. Food.
Sunshine Plaza - Beach Boys Music!
Ariel's Grotto area - Roller Coaster!
Burger Invasion area - a place to sit.
Tagging Along Friends
The most important thing about enjoying a theme park is to enjoy it with people who more or less think the same way you do. Tagging along with friends with your same though patterns eliminates wasteful walking around and boring stops. You're there to have fun! Try to keep your groups in low numbers. The less people, the less you have to worry about satisfying their needs. My best advice, learned from experience, is to never ditch the people you know will follow your theme park patterns. Ditch the people who are slowing you down. I know ditch can have a bad connotation, but sometimes splitting up a group is beneficial to how well you spend your time (and money). In the end, you'll probably end up having a better time.
Last Updated Jan 04, 2003
All references to Disneyland and/or it's attractions are property of Disney Enterprises Inc. and their affiliates.
