A Disneyland vacation is exciting and entertaining. It is NOT restful. As we were packing up and getting ready to travel home I thought about all the things we had seen and experienced. I present to you our top ten (OK, it’s really eleven) list of things we will always remember about our trip to the happiest place on earth.

10a. Oh my aching feet. Peter and I walked for miles, stood in lines for hours, and then hiked the ten minutes back to the hotel at the end of the day. We tumbled into bed at the same time as the kids because we were too tired to stay up later.

10b. The marketing genius of Disney. Did you know that almost every ride exits into the middle of a store? While the shopping only consists of Disney merchandise, it is nicely displayed and fun to look at. We enjoyed just looking at the mountains of Mickey Mouses, Princess dolls, and Disneyland t-shirts. Our favourite toy store had Mr. Potato head pieces such as Mickey ears, Donald Duck beaks, and princess glass slippers. I found the Mr. Potato Head & “Darth Tater” at the end of Star Tours to be very creative.

9. Fire alarms are never pleasant. When you are awoken in the middle of the night because of a false alarm it is downright miserable. We later found out a small child pulled it. Don’t parents control their children at midnight?

8. Traveling with children is actually not bad if you make sure to pack lots of snacks and leave lots of extra time for unexpected events such as going to the bathroom. We were pleasantly surprised at how well our kids did on the cars, buses and planes during our trips.

7. Our 4 year old son’s love for fast rides and scary things. He was good for any ride that promised a fast ride, a scary moment, or a daring thrill. His favourite rides included Star Tours, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the Matterhorn. I don’t know where his thrill seeking ways will take him as he grows up, but he definitely enjoyed a little of the wilder side of Disneyland.

6. Our 7 year old daughter’s pleasure in giving a princess a hug, spinning on a teacup, and seeing something new on It’s A Small World every time of the dozen times she went on it. She and Dad also enjoyed the quality time together they had learning how to draw some of the different Disney characters in an animation workshop.

5. Fastpass: There is nothing like going to the head of the line and bypassing the poor souls that have been standing there for over an hour. We used the Fastpass system extensively and it helped that I had done some reading before hand on how to best use it. It would have cost us a lot of time and frustration if I had not known that fast passes technically do not expire until park closing. Most people did not know this and were constantly trying to return in their designated time slot. Do not go to a theme park uninformed.

4. Soarin’ Over California is a ride that should not be missed. We sat in this chair lift like apparatus which gently lifted up and suspended us in the air in front of an IMAX type screen. While different vistas of California scenery flashed in front of us, the bench moved along with the illusion. When going over a mountain top, the bench actually dipped back and then leaned forward. The wind rushing through your hair had the scent of pine in it and it just seemed so real. Not really scary unless you are really scared of heights. This is a must see ride if you ever get the chance.

3. The Aladdin show in California Adventure Park is presented in a world class theatre and included some amazing special effects. Our favourite was when Aladdin and Princess Jasmine actually flew over our heads on a magic carpet all while singing “A Whole New World”. Disney is truly an entertainment master.

2. The fireworks extravaganza. We spent an evening along with 100,000 others in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle while the sky exploded with colour all around us. It was all set to classic Disney music, and even included a real life Tinkerbell flying back and forth above the castle. It looked exactly like the opening credits for The Wonderful World of Disney. Yet another childhood fantasy come to life before my eyes.

1. The Parade of Dreams. Wow! What a sight. Our whole family will always remember the magic of that night starting with Tinkerbell and ending with all the princesses and Mickey himself. I don’t even like parades and yet this was definitely the highlight moment of our trip.

On our way home from the Seattle airport we stopped in Bellingham for supper. As we ate we talked about our favourite memories of the trip. At the end our daughter said that her head was full of memories and that it was her best vacation ever.

Just her saying that made it our best vacation as well.

Arlene

We’ve seen lots of characters, ridden exciting rides, and paid exorbitant prices to buy meals with corn chips in the shape of Mickey’s ears. We’ve also stood in lots of lines, walked what I’ve been told is an average of 5-7 miles a day, and each taken turns at having little meltdowns caused by lack of sleep and an over abundance of activity.

We have also seen dreams come true in the hidden gems of Disneyland. Our daughter has especially enjoyed the Princess shop where 3 times a day a different princess comes to tell her story. Each princess is accompanied by a “helper” who plays all the parts besides the princess. The stories are enchanting and funny, and are followed by a meet and greet. Priceless chances to see her favourite stories come alive and get a hug from Cinderella too! We like it for all the reasons she does, and because it doesn’t cost extra.

Our son’s highest moments are a little more varied. He LOVED Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, lives for Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters, and cried when he had to leave the caves on Tom Sawyer’s Island. His eyes were the biggest though, when he got to meet Buzz and get a hug, picture and autograph. Again we liked it for all the reasons he did and it didn’t cost any extra.

There have actually been Disney characters everywhere. Major ones like Mickey and Donald, and minor ones like the mice from Cinderella or the old monkey from the Lion King. As a family our favourite thing so far has been the parade. We saw it at night with the stars shining and the Disney music resounding around us. The floats were extravagant, colourful and larger then life. There were acrobats, dancers, and characters galore. It was enough to make even a hardened cynic clap along with the music. At the end were all the princesses with their beau and at the very top Prince Mickey and Princess Minnie. The sights and sounds were enough to make me feel like a kid again and remember what stuff my little girl dreams were made of.

The Parade of Dreams will definitely be a dream we will always remember.

Arlene

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It’s been some time since I’ve flown and obviously things have changed. It took almost an hour to check our luggage because they couldn’t find our tickets. Then there was the insane line up to go through security. Everything was going fine until our son decided that he really did not want to remove his shoes. There is nothing like having a whole airport watch you as you try to convince a four year old to stop screaming. After that we walked what seemed like a mile to our gate. It was at this point that we became sincerely appreciative of the double umbrella stroller we had wondered if we would really need. The answer was a resounding yes.

Luckily the actual flight was smooth and both children slept for part of the way. When we finally collected our luggage in L.A., the kids were thrilled to see that the last portion of our trip involved a ride on a “Mickey Mouse” bus to our hotel. I will admit that the Disney marketing campaign is slick. There was a Mickey plane, a Mickey bus, and then of course the Mickey poster all over our hotel room.

By the time we actually walked in the front gates of Disneyland it was 7:00 pm. While our day had already been full, the Disney magic sucked us in and revitalized our energy. The kids went to bed with the tune of “It’s a Small World” ringing in their ears. We went to bed thankful to have survived a long day of travel and happy to be together as a family.

Arlene

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For our friends Baden and Barb, planning involves researching local culinary treasures, historical sites, and special cultural events. For the upcoming Disneyland adventure for our family of four (myself, my husband, our 4 year old son, and 7 year old daughter) we have found new definitions for these terms. A culinary treasure is a restaurant that has more than just cheeseburgers or chicken nuggets on the kids menu. Our version of historical sites is to find all the Disneyland rides that Mom and Dad rode when they were kids. Special cultural events are clearly limited to parade and fireworks times that cannot be missed.

Of course our children are doing their own version of planning as well. Our son likes to begin the day by asking “Are we going to Disneyland today?”. Since he usually asks this while waking me at 6:00 am on a Saturday, I am often forced to answer with a rather sleepy and haphazard guess as to how many days do remain before our departure. Our daughter has taken to creating multiple masterpieces of art depicting Mickey Mouse and the many princesses she dreams of seeing. Both of them are also completely entranced by our Disneyland Sing-Along-Song video. While this video does show numerous kids having fun at Disneyland, it was clearly filmed in the 80′s (the hair is very BIG). This has somehow not kept our children from watching it so many times that they know all the songs by heart.

As for myself, I have been compulsively checking websites like mouseplanet.com, mousesavers.com and micechat.com. People who post on these boards are obsessed with Disneyland and find enjoyment in revealing tips and tricks for finding the best parade spots, avoiding the worst lines, and saving money in the most expensive place on earth. In amongst all this excitement, my poor husband has been reduced to pulling out the credit card and paying without asking too many questions.

Really all he wants to know is if there is any possibility we can escape Disney and go to Vegas instead. Sorry honey, not going to happen.

After years of driving and camping vacations we are ready to venture into the magical world of Disney. Our kids are young enough to still think that Cinderella might live in the castle, and that Mickey Mouse might take them on a ride. We find our magic in seeing the joy and excitement on their beautiful little faces. So in the next week as we pack our princess T-shirts and our Buzz Lightyear swim suit, we know that the enjoyment of our Disneyland trip has already begun. It’s easy to see how the journey can be as much fun as the destination.

Arlene

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