We have been planning for the last few months with some friends of ours to surprise all our kids with a trip to Disneyland the day after Thanksgiving. To cut down on cost we took our 15 passenger van and drove together. The original plan was to leave late in the evening the day after Thanksgiving and let the kids sleep on the 16 hours it would take to get there. But as we got closer to the date we decided to leave at 5 in the morning so we could make it over the Siskiyou Mountain range during the day. That changed our "SUPRISE" plan too. We ended up giving them their Mickey shirts at 5 in the morning and only 1 out of the 8 kids go it....to early for them to comprehend or believe us :-) But about an hour later they all got it and were super surprised and excited. 17 hours of driving and one hotel stay later we arrived at Disneyland.
We had such a great time at Disneyland with great friends and our children. And during the week we learned all sorts of stuff so I thought I'd take some time to share. Maybe this can help you in your plans if your going.
We took our 5 children ages 13, 11, 9, 4 and 2. We were very excited because we were celebrating our 15th year anniversary, 2 birthday's, and 2 first time visit to the park. So the first thing we did was go to City Hall just inside the gates of the Park to get our buttons. They are free! and they make you stand out. Have you ever had strangers wish you "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Anniversary" it's pretty cool. Our kids were so excited as so many people wished them happy birthday.
One of the biggest lessons we learned was that 2 years old is really a tough age to take. Not because of the terrible two's but because the line between reality and fiction is not there yet. We discovered that our 2 year old was not able to distinguish between the fact that the evil characters were not real, that the bad guys weren't real. She adored meeting all the characters but we couldn't take her on very many rides due to the fact that most, especially the little kid rides, all had a dark part or character that scared her. What made it worse was the dark music. She would hear the music and start to panic. She loved the roller coasters and rides but began to suspect that there was a bad guy around every corner, taking a lot of the fun out of the ride. She loved Buzz Light year! That was the one ride she would do over and over because there was nothing scary. We attached her to one of the backpacks with a leash and she had a great time and we didn't have to spend the week chasing her!
Next lesson - We took a double jogging stroller which was great because we could load both little ones up and they could nap in the stroller. The bad part was the front wheel was fixed and I got the arm workout of my life lifting the front of the stroller so I could maneuver through the park. SO a must have, unless you want to spend 15 - 25 dollars a day at the park to rent a stroller, is to bring a stroller with a movable front wheel! NO fixed wheeled strollers! There are just to many turns to make and people to avoid. But a stroller is essential to a fun day at the park even if it's just to hold all your stuff.
Food- If you have a child with a food allergy Disneyland is a great place to go. They really accommodate families with food allergies. We have Celiac in our family (an allergy to all things wheat and gluten) and we had no problem getting food. When you go to City hall to get your buttons just ask for the food Allergies menu and they give you about 6 pages of places you can eat at both Disneyland and Adventure. Also you can call the head Chef and he can educate you on places to eat or prepare the chef of where your going if your doing a character breakfast. For GF eaters it's so easy and each of the eateries/cooks that we came to knew what we were talking about! We had no issues eating in the park.
We didn't eat park food often. We chose to make our meals so we visited the Costco about 5 minutes from Disneyland. It's worth the stop just to pick up snacks because eating in the park is so expensive. You can bring your own food in the park so it's very convenient.
Don't miss the shows. I have to say the shows are worth the crowds!! They were beyond amazing and well worth the wait, crowds and planning to get there. Special note about World of Color which is a must see. If you don't go to any other show go to World of Color! World of color is arranged on a Fast Pass system so when California Adventure opens you need to be one of the first ones in the park. You go over to the Grizzly Bear Rapids ride (the water one over by The Grand California Adventure hotel) to stand in line for your fast passes. Don't forget to bring the tickets of everyone in your party so you can be together.
Our first time seeing it we didn't know what we were doing, we happened on the fast pass by accident. Then at the show we tried to get as close to the water as possible. But we learned that the closer to the water you are the less you see. It was just my friend Nicole and I with the big boys at the first show and it was amazing so we came back the next night with everyone. The second time we we're in the last row and we got to see the whole show! It was incredible. It kept everyone's attention ages 2-adult.
Disneyland Candy Shop - If your there during the holidays they make fresh Candy Canes on certain days. Inquire at the candy shop when they will have fresh Candy canes available. You have to stand in line for a ticket as they only make 600 of them! We missed out on this because we didn't know about it until the last day.
*If you see a line of people that looks out of the ordinary (ie not for a ride or character) ask! Always ask why people are standing in an unknown line. Most likely they know something you don't know and it's probably something you or your kids will love.
Charaters - You can only see Tinkerbell in Pixie Hollow (between the Castle and Tomorrow land), Buzz Lightyear is only in Tomorrow Land, Woody and Jessie are only in California Adventure, Prinesses are all back at the Princess Faire (back by Toontown) And if there is a character that you really want to see and can't find just ask at one of the shops. They have a number they can call to find the characters.
IF you want to see the Princess back by toontown in the morning when there is no line, it's best to take the train back it's fast and you don't get there with the masses :-)
A very fun area that we have never done before was Innoventions the spinning building next to Space Mountain and Autotopia. We spend over an hour in there, it was really cool.
Over in Adventure you'll want to go to Play House Disney Live. They do a great job and we all enjoyed it! And the new Toy Story 3 ride is worth the wait (there was always a line). It was super fun!!
And last but not least we drank Spark everyday and we kept up with all our kids! Now if that isn't amazing I don't know what is! So for all 4 adults Spark was an essential ingredient to everyday. 6:30am to closing for 6 days was super busy.
