Any Tips for Disneyland in California? Secrets or Tips?
Written by master on May 22nd, 2009
princess leia asked:
Im going on vacation for the first time ever to CA Disneyland. I am so excited. I’ve beent o WDW in Florida over 5 times and had a absolute blast there. Are there any secrets or tips anyone has to offer me that could enhance my vacation?
Im going on vacation for the first time ever to CA Disneyland. I am so excited. I’ve beent o WDW in Florida over 5 times and had a absolute blast there. Are there any secrets or tips anyone has to offer me that could enhance my vacation?
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Here are a few tips for Southern California theme parks.
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There are litterally books that tell you all the secrets. I bought one that helped me look for all the secret symbols of mickey throughout the park. Did you know there is only 1 RIDE in disneyland? the workers have to spray the windex on the windows in three circles, forming mickey’s face!
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The thing to remember about Disneyland after visiting WDW is that Disneyland came first, and is, by definition, going to be not as “new and improved” as Disney World. Disneyland was the pioneer of theme parks, and WDW incorporated a lot of improvements, based on what was learned at DIsneyland. For example, Walt set up a bunch of “shell” corporations, which existed only to buy the land he wanted around Orlando. By the time anyone figured out WDW was even going to exist, Walt had already bought up the land for miles around, so he could set up multiple parks, many Disney hotel resorts, etc. So, in a nutshell, some WDW visitors are rather unimpressed, even disappointed, when they see how much smaller Disneyland Resort is compared to WDW.
The thing about Disneyland is that just about all the rides you are familiar with are all in one smaller area. Even the parks are adjacent to each other.
Tips:
-Stay close to the park. I recommend the HoJo (www.hojoanaheim) or the Candy Cane Inn, if you cannot afford the prices at the Disneyland Hotel or the Grand Californian. They offer the best value, and are close.
-Arrive EARLY, before the park opens. You can ride as many rides in the first 3 hours of the park opening as you can the entire rest of the day.
-Utilize Fastpass.
-Call 714-781-DINE to make reservations for eating. This saves a LOT of time.
-Don’t miss the parades and fireworks. Do most of your rides early in the day, then stake out a spot early for the fireworks. Do Fantasmic (Rivers of America) one day, and then stake out a spot in the Hub in front of the Castle another day for the “Believe” fireworks show.
-Check out mouseplanet.com for ride closure schedules and insider hints.
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First of all is have fun, which is the #1 thing.
-Like the other guys said, do your stuff early in the day, I would recommend around 9-10 AM.
-At night there will be a parade and fireworks near a theatre I think, it’s pretty cool.
-If your guts tell you to go for the ride, go for it! It’ll make you happy. But only for Disneyland.
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You might want to check out “Tips For Optimizing Your Disneyland Resort Experience” -
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Since it is your first visit to Disneyland, make sure to go to City Hall and get your free button, you can also get a free button for Celebrating anything. If you dont wear it then it makes a great souvier, and better yet it did not cost anything.
If you love Coffee you can get a reg. coffee at the Blue Ribbon Bakery and if you save your receipt you can go back and get a free refill all day. I did this a couple of weeks ago and on all my trips and it is so great I usually only get a refill twice but it is so nice on a cold night while you are waiting for the fireworks.
Make sure you do utilize the Fast Pass system even if it is not busy you can get one for a ride that has a longer wait then you care to wait and come back. I’ve even saved the ones I’ve not used and put them in my scrapbook.
I also would suggest getting a postcard and mailing it to your self it sounds odd but if you mail it inside Disneyland when the mail goes out it will have a Disneyland Stamp on it to document your visit. Just make sure to bring a stamp with you, I usually do this on the second day and write what I did the day before or what I plan to do it is a great keepsake that does not cost allot of money.
If you ride the Disneyland Fire Engine down Mainstreet you can get a Disneyland Jr. Firefighter Sticker at the end. I am a kid at heart and love to get the sticker.
If you ride the Mark Twain Riverboat, ask to ride with the Captain he will let you steer and pull the whistle and you may also get a certificate, and be able to sign the guests log.
Make sure to look at the light in the window above the Firehouse. That was Walt’s apartment and the light is left on all the time to symbolize his presence in the park.
Look above the Snow White ride and wait for an appearance by an Evil Queen she pulls the drapes apart and peeks through the second story window at the crowd.
Outside the Snow White ride there is a ‘golden’ book and apple - try to take the apple and see what happens!
While waiting to ride Star Tours, listen for the announcer to page Sacul Egroeg - that’s George Lucas backwards.
In New Orleans Square at the train station, you’ll hear a telegraph signal, the message is Walt’s opening day speech.
Also something to check out would be the re-done Small World ride which now includes Disney Characters, they even have a map outside right now that shows you where they are.
There are also rides that are at Disneyland that are not at Walt Disney World like, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Pinocchio’s Daring Adventurer Ride, Alice in Wonderland Ride, Finding Nemo, Storybook Land Ride, Indiana Jones Ride, The Matterhorn Roller Coaster, and an upgraded Space Mountain, Buzz lightyear astro blasters is newer.
If you have not yet planned where you are eating here is a website with all the Disneyland Resort Restaurants and prices, it helps to know where you want to eat so you can make priority seating reservations, to the restaurants you can, it will save you some time, also if you plan on eating at the Blue Bayou which is inside the Pirates ride make sure to get to there 10-15 minutes before you reservations that way you can ask for a seat by the water, it is the best seats in the house and you can watch the Pirates boats go by.
Well I hoped this helped, Enjoy! *Jena