A few days start of June, first timers, it really is the happiest place in the world...

[corrie563]

Tuesday
Lyft from LA, XL to Disneyland was $30 cheaper than an ordered car!

Stayed Hyatt House Anaheim, said they would call when our rooms were ready, they didn't... If flying in from Australia long haul and arriving in the morning, would definitely purchase a room from the night before...

Disneyland
Used RideMax
This was awesome, as a first timer to the park, got us on a lot of rides with barely any waiting that first day... We used it as reference over the next days, but honestly got so many attractions off our list that first day, it made its money worthwhile...

You can get free pins for your first time, graduation, birthday, honeymoon, we were told, even on arrival, only from city hall... It’s not true, you can get them from any store not just city hall... It was very cute to get the first timer pin...

We bought a lanyard and some disney pins (before our trip) and participated in the trading... It was fun, didn't see many cast members with them, but loads of stores had pillows with pins for trading, we got some very cool ones... Think kids would really dig this...

Lots of interactions with characters, they are very cool! As an adult without children on this trip, i definitely got a bit awkward with most of the character, except Cruella De Ville and the ones that couldnt talk...

Moana wasn’t always on the app, but she could be found at Aladdins oasis all day every day!

I also felt very lucky to meet Cruella De Ville, she was hilarious, my favourite character interaction...

Day parade, we used the RideMax tip to sit next to the king/queen bathrooms to see the parade... There were no crowds, the characters all look your way as no one is allowed on the other side of the parade as it’s a fence...

About now is when the crowds got insane, cast members in some parts of the park directing the foot traffic...

Electrical parade had people camping out 2h before, our feet were ruined, so about an hour before we took a seat on the side of main street, a good spot...

Fireworks were amazing! Stick to the right of Main Street to get the best view...

Wednesday
Park by 9, basically empty, compared to the previous afternoons insanity...

Space mountain fastpass, dash to small world and jungle cruise (for the hilarious cast member) and tarzans treehouse...

Checkout shops and downtown, went to Trader Sams, wouldn’t let us have a drink because no passport (we had valid international licences), I’m 38, my husband 40, there were two men in there after we arrived, one our age, neither carded... It felt really harsh that they wouldn’t let us have a drink, we weren’t going to go back to our room to get passports, if we lose those we can’t get home! So bought the two tiki mugs we wanted and left...

Animation academy
This was so cool! We just missed out on baby Groot, we did Donald Duck which was still fun... Will definitely do that again on our next trip...

Thursday
Magic morning, the worst queues to get in that I experienced... Was cool to wait 20 mins to get on Peter Pan takes flight, though it said 40 mins, in any case, it was whimsical and sweet, but I wouldn’t wait to go on it again...

Found snow whites well, and there was no one around, it was quite a magical experience... Went to the Princess Faire to get pictures with the Princesses, it was being painted, so we followed them back to Snow Whites well...

No queues for so many rides, strolled on to it’s a small word... No one at splash mountain so went on three times in a row...

Headed to DCA to get the Groot bread (we were told the previous day to be there before 11) at 10 it had sold out and been restocked... Back to Disneyland to the Jolly Holiday Cafe for a cocoa, was delicious... So many delicious treats over those 3 days! We were headed back to Australia this night, so one of the ladies in the sweet shop on Main Street to pack up a bunch for us to take home for the kids... They were over the moon with their treats!

Lyft XL to the airport, saved $30 off hiring a booked car...

An amazing trip, looking forward to bringing our kids back next year... I love how everyone had such good attitudes, despite at times being crowded...

You can scroll back in my instagram corrie563 and check our our pictures if you want...

 

[chickapin parterre]

thank you for writing.....but you gave away the Peter Pan secret, they never change that sign, been on it within 5 minutes and the sign always has a high number... whimsical and sweet.... ????? so what does capture your attention to ride again.?

 

[corrie563]

thank you for writing.....but you gave away the Peter Pan secret, they never change that sign, been on it within 5 minutes and the sign always has a high number... whimsical and sweet.... ????? so what does capture your attention to ride again.?

That's so cheeky about the sign I will take my kids on it when we'll back...

I like rides like Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones, a little thrill... Space Mountain I would go on again, but it broke my husband, haha, so I probably won't...

 

[chickapin parterre]

....so that little dip after the full moon didn't scare you....it gets me every time, I am so entranced with the london scene, that I always forget that the best ride at Disneyland.......has a huge thrill.....of course....I then fly over to splash mountain and put in my three rides on the same log....because some day.....that drop will break this 60 year old man....maybe i will just stay 60!!! **** a doodle do!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is always something at Disneyland worth crowing about!!!!

 

[luulu1999]

I really enjoyed animation academy when we went last year, we drew olaf and now my 8yr old daughter is REALLY into drawing and art so I cant wait to do it again next year with her

 

[Susie63]

I really enjoyed animation academy when we went last year, we drew olaf and now my 8yr old daughter is REALLY into drawing and art so I cant wait to do it again next year with her

They have great learn to draw books in the store. I have a few.

 

[Malcon10t]

Checkout shops and downtown, went to Trader Sams, wouldn’t let us have a drink because no passport (we had valid international licences), I’m 38, my husband 40, there were two men in there after we arrived, one our age, neither carded... It felt really harsh that they wouldn’t let us have a drink, we weren’t going to go back to our room to get passports, if we lose those we can’t get home! So bought the two tiki mugs we wanted and left...

I'm sorry you couldn't get a drink, but CA has pretty strict laws, and Disney makes sure they are followed exactly (loss of their liquor license is a big deal to them.) International licenses are not a valid form of ID in CA. And servers are required to only accept what CA allows. Disney sets strict guidelines, and actually shop their servers to be sure they follow the rules. A server who fails to get appropriate ID will be retrained once, and then fired on the second offense.

As for the other 2, there could be number of reasons why - 1. They looked over 35. 2. They had previously been carded. My daughter (she is 30) gets carded all the time. But never gets carded at Steakhouse, Carthay, or a couple other places on Disney property, simply because we are there a lot and servers know her.

If you are from out of country, and appear to be 35 or younger, you will need to use your passport for alcohol.

 

[lmhall2000]

Great report! Thanks for the tips! We are headed there in August with our college aged kids, these tips help!!!

 

[corrie563]

I really enjoyed animation academy when we went last year, we drew olaf and now my 8yr old daughter is REALLY into drawing and art so I cant wait to do it again next year with her

It was so much fun, I am always nervous drawing wih my husband, he is an artist, but it is pretty much fail safe

I'm sorry you couldn't get a drink, but CA has pretty strict laws, and Disney makes sure they are followed exactly (loss of their liquor license is a big deal to them.) International licenses are not a valid form of ID in CA. And servers are required to only accept what CA allows. Disney sets strict guidelines, and actually shop their servers to be sure they follow the rules. A server who fails to get appropriate ID will be retrained once, and then fired on the second offense.

As for the other 2, there could be number of reasons why - 1. They looked over 35. 2. They had previously been carded. My daughter (she is 30) gets carded all the time. But never gets carded at Steakhouse, Carthay, or a couple other places on Disney property, simply because we are there a lot and servers know her.

If you are from out of country, and appear to be 35 or younger, you will need to use your passport for alcohol.

I think the surprise and disappointment was because we had been carded drinking all around LA the previous week and they all accepted our local ID...