My Disney Tips

I guess I am still in Disney-mode, because I keep thinking about the little tips I have picked up on our trips to Disneyland with the kids the last two years - and a few things I learned this time that I will do next time. So, hopefully you can use these tips on your next trip:

1. Timing - If at all possible, make your trip on a weekday, but try to include Friday as your last day because certain shows only happen on the weekend. We went on Thurs, Fri, Sat this last time, and the crowd on Saturday seemed double the crowd on Thursday. Friday was a happy medium between the two.

2. Plan ahead - Check Disney's calendar in advance to find out about ride closures and construction - when we went, there was a lot of construction. The entire area over by Splash Mountain and the Pooh Bear ride was closed. If you know about the closures in advance, you can either avoid mentioning those rides to your kids or let them know in advance that you won't be able to go on them - depending on how your kids usually respond to disappointment.

3. Don't pay for drinks - Bring in as many drinks with you as you can - as long as they aren't in glass containers, you can bring them into the park. We save a lot of money by having juice boxes for the kids, and we don't buy the kid meals (they come with drinks) - we just all split adult meals. And this might sound totally cheap, but I bring powdered drink mix with us and ask for a kid's cup with water to mix up the juice. Saves about $2 per kid per meal, which can add up over 3 days of Disneyland. We also had some sodas for us, and would just ask for a cup of ice from the kiosks - not from the restaurants.

4. When I did research on Disney tips, I found a few worth passing on. When you go into Disneyland, head over to Adventure Land and New Orleans Square first, and then work your way around the park going clockwise. Most people go counter clockwise, starting in Tomorrow Land - so you avoid some of the crowd, and get to rides like Pirates and Indiana Jones first. Here is a map of the park.


5. Bring your own glow sticks/bracelets - I stopped in at Target and bought several packs of the glow bracelets for $1 each. At night, the vendors bring out all their glow stuff and it is really expensive for just a few hours of fun. Also, the glow bracelets make it easier to spot your kids while walking around the park.

6. Buy your own Disney t-shirts (or make one) before you go - I am not that into character t-shirts, but the kids want to wear them in the park. Target or WalMart have very affordable shirts with Disney characters on them.

7. My friend Stephanie let me in on this tip - give your kids their snacks only when waiting in line for the rides. That way you can actually give them something to look forward to and it might make the long lines go faster.

8. Check the times in advance for the special shows or character visits - knowing when the parades, princess visits, etc are, you can save some money on the character breakfasts and lunches (though we did decide that Ariel's Grotto was worth it, the one thing I didn't like was having other diners in the background of all our pictures).


9. Our new favorite restaurant is Cafe Orleans - we used to go to the Blue Bayou for their Monte Cristo sandwich. We found the exact same sandwich at the Cafe Orleans, it costs less and it is available for lunch AND dinner. I found out the hard way that it is only a lunch item at the Blue Bayou. And it has outdoor seating so you can watch the Princess Tiana show on the weekends.

10. Ride the train around the park at least once - it's a nice break and it might show you parts of the park that you will want to go back and see again.


11. Photo Opps - If your kids are into the characters and you want to get their photos taken, show no hesitation and just jump into the line as soon as you see one. When we got our photos with Mickey and Minnie, I just saw a line in New Orleans Square, but no characters yet. And I just got in the line and then asked what it was for :) If there is a line, something good is going on!


We got really lucky this trip and always got to have our photo taken with the characters, but we saw many other people turned away from the line. The characters only stay out for so long, and then their attendants close the line. And then your kids have a meltdown...


12. Best places for naps - We left our schedule open to either go back to the hotel for naps, or nap on the go if Miles cooperated in the stroller. He did end up falling asleep for an hour or so, and I would wander around trying to find a quiet spot for a nap. The best place I found was right inside Toon Town - there is a round sitting area with plenty of shade, and though it is near the monorail tracks, it doesn't make too much noise.

The Rides

Big Thunder Mountain - Claire's first roller coaster!

Tea Cups

Alice in Wonderland


Dumbo


The Carousel

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Storybook Land

More Disney

Best Souvenirs Ever! The kids are so into Toy Story that I knew I wanted to get a few things for them to remember this trip. Claire wore her Jessie hat every day, and Miles loves his Woody and Bullseye toys - I am already planning our Toy Story themed Halloween costumes.








Meeting Mary Poppins and Burt - one of the highlights of our trip. We have never seen them around the park before, other than in the parade. Claire saw her and yelled out, well more like cheered - Mary Poppins!



Few other random pics

Disneyland!!

Princesses wear panties - That is our motto around here, anyway. We had a wonderful trip to Disneyland, all in celebration of our new-found sanity and Claire's new commitment to the potty and panties. We got to see so many princesses on this trip to Disneyland! We opted to spend the money and go to Ariel's Grotto for lunch to make sure we saw them. Claire is at the right age to be really excited about everything we saw - her reactions were priceless, and worth the minor meltdowns we had with Claire and Miles.


Ariel's Grotto is a restaurant in California Adventure where five of the princesses come around to your table and you can take pictures with them and have them sign your autograph books. They are pros - they never blink, I swear! All the pictures came out great and they even posed Claire, moved her hand, etc to get a great shot.

It was definitely a splurge, and you can see the princesses throughout the park if your timing is right and you are willing to wait in several lines, but in about an hour we had lunch plus saw Ariel, Belle, Mulan (is she a princess?), Snow White and Cinderella. This was one of the first things we did on Thursday, and it kind of set the tone for our entire visit because we were on a mission to get more pictures and more autographs. Claire was into it this time around - last year she wasn't so excited to hug strangers, especially the ones that didn't talk and were of the stuffed variety (Pooh, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, etc). But not this year - Claire and even Miles liked every character we saw.




Miles especially liked seeing Woody - he just lit up when he first saw Woody, and Miles tried to run over to him right away. But of course we followed Disney rules and waited in line for our chance to see Woody.




And more princesses - Tiana and Aurora in the park. We have so many cute pictures - so bear with me when I post a thousand more.

Don't Jinx It...

... but I think Claire is potty trained, at least during the day. We aren't quite 100% yet, but it is soooooooooooooooo much better than where we were even 2 months ago. We went about a year between the times she was willing to go poop on the toilet. What a long year it was.

She cracks me up with her excitement to go poop, yes poop. One day she just went into the bathroom on her own and went. Months and months of begging, pleading and crying, and she just does it. Now when she goes she yells for either me or Matt to "come check this out!!" It is hard to stay excited every time, but we do because we can't face the alternative - Pull Ups. Yesterday she called in both me and Matt and said we had to come see something - then she started counting to what I assumed would be to 3 before she would show us the results of her efforts. Once she reached 12, we had to stop her. :)

So, as part of our long list of bribes for pooping on the toilet, we are going to Disneyland to celebrate! If that doesn't keep her motivated, I don't know what will.

First Talk

Claire gave her first talk in Primary on Sunday - this the children's Sunday School class in the LDS church. She is three and a half, and already she's been asked to speak in public. She did well and repeated her lines as I whispered them in her ear, though not until after staring at me with a funny face for a few seconds (see second photo for a taste of the silly look she was giving me up in front of the group). I had a moment of panic, thinking she was going to just freeze up. I had a short version and a longer version (2 minutes total) prepared complete with visual aids, so after her silly faces I went with the shorter version of her talk on Heavenly Father's Plan for Me. She is such a little lady now - Claire, you can't grow up anymore! Seriously.

Rest in Peace DVR

So, we finally did it - we cancelled our cable. We have been talking about it for about a year, but we were always one sporting event away from calling Cox Cable. First the World Cup, then football season and the Super Bowl, and we just had to draw the line before March Madness starts up.

I am honestly excited to watch less TV - I don't even mind only having 7 or 8 channels. But I am having DVR withdrawls. I feel like we have stepped back into the dark ages - watching TV live seem so... barbaric! :)

It is hard to explain to Claire why we can't pause a show while she runs to the bathroom, or pull up the latest episode of Phineas and Ferb at any time of day. Our kids are growing up with such a different experience with technology, aren't they?

But for now they will have to learn to love PBS.