You must be so excited! It's time to head off to Disneyland! I do have just a few tips to get you through the long journey to Anaheim. As for tips of what to do when you're in the parks, that is another post for another day. Be patient! :)
When I'm on my way to the Happiest Place on Earth, I like to fully immerse myself in all things Disney. I spend a couple of weeks beforehand watching all the vital Disney movies, and listening to my Disneyland and Cars Land soundtracks.
Whether you are driving or flying, you've probably got a few hours to kill. As far as music goes, obviously Disney is a must! If you don't already have your own collection, I do have some tips on how to get your hands on a hefty amount. The most obvious (and most expensive) is the iTunes route. Just buy some of your favorites. To get a quick selection of the best disney music, simply hit up Disney's Greatest, volumes 1, 2, and 3.
If you don't want to spend the money to actually buy any of these albums, the next route to go is something like Spotify. If you pay for Spotify Premium (which is currently $10/month) you can save playlists to your phone or tablet to use offline (so you can listen on an airplane!). Or you can simply access their entire library from a mobile device with an internet connection.
If you want the completely free route, simply make a Disney station on Pandora. This is great to use if you're driving to Disneyland and have a smartphone. The smartphone app is free across all devices, and in my experience it doesn't take up a completely ungodly amount of your data plan, although it could vary across devices. I'm not sure on those kind of specifics. You can also make a playlist to use on Spotify, which has a free version that is riddled with ads and doesn't always play exclusively what is on your playlist. It's kind of like Pandora part 2 if you're using it on a phone.
If you have kids there are a few things that you simply must have on your trip, whether driving or flying. I always like to have a few Disney coloring books. They keep me quiet and focused...hopefully they will do the same for your children. You can get some good coloring book packages at most supermarkets, as well as craft stores.
As far as the driving itself goes, there are the obvious car supplies. Baby wipes and napkins, a small garbage bag, movies to watch, snacks to eat...but there is one other thing I usually like to add to the trip. As you may know, smell is the sense most strongly associated with memory. When I go on these trips, I like to pick a scent for the drive. I usually go to my local Bath & Body Works and get their Scentportables for my car. They all smell so good, and then every time you smell the particular scent you chose you will remember your fun Disney trip. It may seem silly, but I think it's kind of nice when I put a nice scent in my car and then I get just a little bit of Disney memory throughout my day. And at BBW, their scentportable scents often branch out to their Wallflowers or even lotions! You can wear your Disney memories! Alright I'm starting to sound crazy, lets move on :)
If you are getting into Anaheim the day/night before your first Disney day, there are some things you can do to get a little taste of the magic before you're in the park. I usually go to dinner at Downtown Disney, which is a shopping district that is totally free to enter and right next to the parks. In fact, parking is free for the first two hours, possibly longer if you get validations from various shops. So if you have a car, driving there isn't too inconvenient after all! There are a lot of great restaurants in Downtown Disney, and they each have a completely different style and type of food. My personal favorite for when I get in a little late would be the ESPN Zone. They have this Philly Cheesesteak Pizza that is to die for. And the best thing about it would have to be the fact that it is actually an appetizer, so it won't completely break the bank! There are also shops filled with activities for the munchkins. There is a Build-A-Bear Workshop, there is a place where you can build your own racecar, and there is even a Lego shop! Not to mention the World of Disney store...basically all the Disneyland shops mushed into one big store. It's fantastic.
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| Seriously though this pizza is completely amazing...we had to go back for seconds another night! |
If you go to Downtown Disney, make sure to go walk through the Esplanade. If you didn't already know, the Esplanade is the space between the entrance gates of Disneyland and California Adventure. Obviously, since you wouldn't actually be in the parks, walking through the Esplanade doesn't cost a thing! And yet the atmosphere there and the music gives me the chills every time. Walking through the Esplanade just may be one of my favorite parts of the trip, it gets me so excited for the next morning!
I think the rest of my travel tips are just widely known little things you can do to make things a bit easier. For instance, if you are flying don't check any baggage if at all possible. Not only will this save you money, it will save you a lot of time that you would have spent at baggage claim. This is especially important if you are flying into California the morning of your first Disneyland day. If you are only going to be at Disneyland Resort and you're not planning on needing to drive anywhere else, consider getting a shuttle, taxi, or Uber from the airport instead of renting a car. It can be a lot cheaper, and you won't get lost on your way to the hotel. And then when you're ready to go home, a shuttle can come and pick you up at the hotel...again, no getting lost.
And my biggest travel tip, which actually is a part of packing your suitcase...LEAVE ROOM IN YOUR BAGS OR CAR FOR SOUVENIRS!! I don't know about you, but I have never been able to leave Disneyland without at least one big bag of goodies for myself and the people who begged me to bring something back for them. Don't make the mistake of having to carry bags and bags of souvenirs through the airport.
Those are my basic travel tips, feel free to comment with any questions, or ideas I should add to the post!
Happy planning! :)
UPDATE JULY 2014:
Unfortunately, that incredible, amazing, delicious philly cheesesteak pizza has been discontinued at the ESPN Zone. I arrived there on my next trip, in December, and not only was the pizza (or any other pizza) not on the menu, but when I asked if they could pretty please make it anyway (I'm not usually THAT customer but this pizza is really important to me) they told me they don't have the stuff to make pizzas anymore. I am sad, but at least they still had nachos.
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