Exploring Disneyland California

Let us first start off by saying we LOVE Disney. Some people may think it’s only for kids, but we would have to disagree. Disney brings out the child in everyone and that is one thing that we think is so fun about it. Yes it may be expensive, but it is oh so magical. We got the opportunity to splurge a little bit and had an annual pass for Disneyland last year. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to do it every year and we are certainly having Disney withdrawals this year…

The Annual Pass

Now if you’ve ever considered getting an annual pass you are probably asking yourself: Is it worth it? The answer is yes, depending on how many times you are planning to go. Now they have 3 different annual pass options (annual passports as they call them). Let’s say you purchased the flex pass, the cheapest of the options. It is $649 per person. A regular priced one day park hopper pass is typically $165 so you would only have to go 4 days to make it worthwhile.

Now which pass should you get? Well the first two do have some blackout dates so if you want total flexibility, you will want the most expensive one. For us, it didn’t matter so much for the blackout dates, we just could not go during peak times and holidays, which was alright by us since those are usually the busiest times anyways. Do you want parking included? Then get the Disney Signature. You get discounts for all of the restaurants and stores but you get more of a discount with the more expensive annual passes. All stuff to think about before purchasing. You can view a comparison of the different annual passes here.

Accommodations

Since we have been to Disneyland several times, we have 3 places we would recommend.

• Little Boy Blue Motel: This is the cheapest option that many of you will skip because granted, it is not the grandest or most luxurious place. But for us, it is perfect. This motel is a 15 minute walk from the park and it’s usually around $70 a night. Wifi is included and the rooms are clean. The 24 hour front desk staff is very friendly and efficient with checking you in. They always let us check in before the normal check in time when they could and when they could not, they were kind enough to store our bags in the back until we came back from the park.
• Embassy Suites by Hilton Anaheim South: This hotel has very comfortable, clean rooms and has a complimentary cooked to order breakfast with a lot of different options to fill you up. They have complimentary wifi. Also, they do have a nice pool you can relax in and a fitness center as well. It is pretty close to Disneyland but unless you want to walk a little over 2 miles, you will have to either drive or take a taxi/uber. The room rates run on average $160 a night.
• Sheraton Garden Grove-Anaheim South: This is another really nice hotel to stay in for the clean rooms, pool, and fitness center. This hotel does not offer a complimentary breakfast however, but there is a Target right across the street you could buy some breakfast foods. This hotel is around 3.5 miles from Disneyland so you would want to take a taxi/uber. The room rates for this hotel are around $150 a night.

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Disneyland Park

To-Do

With so many rides, how can you ride them all in one day? You can’t, but you can ride the best ones all within a day using one simple tool-fast passes. The nice thing about Disney is that anyone can get fast passes unlike some other theme parks where you have to pay more to jump to the front of the line. Here it is fair game for everyone. Now don’t go wasting your fast passes on rides that you will not have to wait very long for. Try to get there as soon as they open and hit some of the rides that have the longest lines:

• Hyperspace Mountain (previously Space Mountain): located in Tomorrowland

• Star Tours-The Adventures Continue: located in Tomorrowland

• Peter Pan’s Flight: located in Fantasyland (note: this ride does not have a fastpass so make sure to get this one in as one of your first rides)
• “It’s a Small World”: located in Fantasyland (this ride does not have a fastpass either. The lines on this ride tend to fluctuate a lot, sometimes it is very busy, time waiting tends to go down when it gets darker as this is a popular ride for children. Just be careful to go on it before the fireworks since they block off this area for those)

• Matterhorn Bobsleds: located in Fantasyland

• Pirates of the Caribbean: located in New Orleans Square

• Haunted Mansion: located in New Orleans Square

• Splash Mountain: located in Critter Country

• Indiana Jones Adventure: located in Adventureland

That is just a list of the rides that tend to be the most popular. During peak seasons the wait times for most all of the rides are going to be long. Disneyland has a website that gives you data on each month so you can find when you want to go. You can find it here. The best times to visit are generally midweek and then seasonally would be mid-January-mid March (minus President’s Day weekend), mid April-mid May (minus spring break), mid September-mid November (minus Halloween).

 

Along with rides, the park has parades and fireworks to keep everyone entertained! Both of which we would recommend if you have time as it only adds to the experience of Disneyland.Now there are some pretty dedicated people for these parades. They will get there hours in advance to reserve seats along Mainstreet. You don’t have to get there super early but we would say at least an hour prior to the first scheduled parade so you can at least find somewhere to stand.

After the parade is done, they will take down the ropes and everyone will merge into the street to watch the fireworks. Once the fireworks are over you can run and try to get to more rides before everyone else. There is another parade after the fireworks that a lot of people will go to that missed the first one so this is also a good opportunity to get more rides in if you are not too tired by then.

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Food

Now as we mentioned at the beginning, Disney is expensive so expect some pricey food as well. If you really want to cut down on costs, you can always leave the park and get food out there by eating somewhere close by or going back to your hotel and eating food you bought at a grocery store and stored in the fridge. Of course this option is not very convenient but if you have extra time on your hands and need to keep costs low, it is definitely a good option. If you are looking for food in the park, here are some places that we enjoy eating at.

• Blue Bayou (located in New Orleans Square): We’re going to tell you about Blue Bayou first to get the shock of prices over with as it is the most expensive ($35-$60 per person). But the experience and amazing food is absolutely worth it. You will definitely want to make reservations a few weeks in advance as it fills up extremely fast. It used to be you could just go there at the beginning of your day at Disney and make a reservation for later in the day but now even that is not usually possible. So make plenty sure you can eat there and make online reservations here before your trip.

This restaurant is so desirable because you are right there next to Pirates of the Caribbean and it feels like you are outside in the Bayou. The absolute best thing on the menu (only on the lunch menu) is the Monte Cristo sandwich. It is a big portion and you also get an option of a soup or salad so you may want to split it depending on how hungry you are. Another delicious meal (only on the dinner menu) is the Pan-seared salmon. They offer 2 specialty drinks which are both very tasty-Louisiana Lemonade and Mint Julep.

• Now if you are craving a Monte Cristo and do not want to spend quite as much money, you can go to Cafe Orleans (located in New Orleans Square, not far from Blue Bayou). They are still very busy as well but we have never had to make a reservation more than a day in advance. You will just want to stop there when they first open and make a reservation for later. For your appetizer we would recommend the Pommes Frites, delicious fries with parmesan, garlic, and parsley. And then of course you can get the Monte Cristo. This restaurant’s Monte Cristo is even larger than Blue Bayou’s so you will almost definitely want to split this, especially after the filling fries.
• Royal Street Veranda (located in New Orleans Square): this place has really good clam chowder in a bread bowl, which is perfect on a chilly night. It is not very expensive and you can relax on the nearby patio overlooking Rivers of America. This is located right across from the Haunted Mansion, so you can step in there right afterwards for a calming ride.
• Another cheaper option is on Mainstreet USA. The Refreshment Corner (just look for the Coca-Cola sign) offers chili dogs, chili in a bread bowl, Mickey soft pretzels, etc. You can grab something quick here for the parade or sit down and give your feet a break from all the walking.

• You cannot leave Disneyland without getting a Dole whip! Located in Adventureland right outside the Tiki room ride, the line can be long for this delicious treat but it is worth it. If you have never heard of the Dole Whip, it is a frozen pineapple soft serve and you can either get a float (soft serve and pineapple juice) or just the soft serve in a cup. It won’t break the bank, the most expensive item on the menu being the float, $5.49.
• If soft serve doesn’t sound appetizing and you are more of an ice cream person, there is also Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor that serves up tasty ice cream cones, sundaes, and floats. They have quite a few different ice cream flavors! You can take it to go and watch the parade or you can sit down in the parlor and enjoy the smell of fresh waffle cones. It is located right on Mainstreet USA.

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California Adventure Park

To-Do

Again, there are a lot of great rides in this other park and the fast pass is truly your friend again here. Here is a list of the most popular rides with the longest wait times:

• California Screamin: located in Paradise Pier

• Mickey’s Fun Wheel: located in Paradise Pier

• Toystory Midway Mania!: located in Paradise Pier

• Grizzly River Run: located in Grizzly Peak
• Soarin around the World (previously Soarin over California): located in Grizzly Peak
• Radiator Springs Racers: located in Cars Land

• Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters: located in Cars Land

Along with the rides, there are musical parades of singers and characters all throughout the day at California Adventure, on Buena Vista street so definitely keep an eye out for that. There are set times every hour-ish, so people do not wait so much in advance like they do in Disneyland for those parades.

Something we really recommend seeing is Frozen-Live at the Hyperion. It is a live show of the popular movie and we were really impressed both times we saw the show. They have limited space and the wait will be long to get in if you want to get a good seat so we would recommend getting the “fastpass” for this show. You will have to go to the ticket office pretty early though as all the fast passes given out run out fairly early. If you don’t get a fast pass you still have a chance of getting into the show, just make sure to show up at least an hour and a half before the show. The theater is located in Hollywood Land.

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Food

Although California Adventure does not have quite as many restaurants as Disneyland, there are still some good ones you don’t want to miss!

• The Wine Country Trattoria (located in Pacific Wharf) is our favorite place to eat in California Adventure. The atmosphere makes you feel like you are dining in a Tuscan villa and it has a very relaxing feel, which is kind of nice especially when the park is so busy and chaotic. To start, get the Caprese salad, a fresh mix of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It is so simple, but so good! To follow, get the delicious Fettucine Shrimp Alfredo paired with one of their many wines they have to offer. We did not have to make reservations when we went but if you are going during peak season, you can make reservations here.
• Pacific Wharf Cafe (located in Pacific Wharf) has some quick options if you are in more of a hurry. Their menu consists of soups in a bread bowl, salads, and sandwiches. This eatery is cheaper than the previous one and it is conveniently located close to Paradise Pier. Just make sure not to ride California Screamin’ right after eating….

There are many other places to try out, however these are the only ones we have personally tried and can recommend.

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Downtown Disney

To-Do

There are many shops located in Downtown Disney so you can get your fix if you did not get enough shopping in the park. The shops stay open later than the park also, so if there was something you meant to get in the park, chances are you can get it here. The largest store is going to be the World of Disney, it is HUGE.

Also, if you have extra time and feel like catching a movie, there is an AMC located in Downtown Disney.

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Food

• Rainforest Café: This is the perfect restaurant to be in Downtown Disney because it is all about the cool experience. It seems like you are in a rainforest when you are eating: there are animals all around you and even “thunderstorms” with lightning and thunder! It is a really neat dining atmosphere. Plus the food is great, so that’s a bonus. They have salads, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, seafood, and more so there is a little something for everyone. You cannot leave here without finishing your meal with their famous Sparkling Volcano dessert, which is as appealing to the taste buds as to the eyes.
• Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria: This is a very nice restaurant with really good Italian food, specifically pizza (what we ate). Every time we eat there we eat outside on the patio they have on the second floor. It has a nice view of Downtown Disney and it is very relaxing. The prices are on the higher side but the food is well worth it-everything is quality tasting. We have tried the Margherita, Pollo, and Porchetta pizza and they were all really good!

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So what do you think? Ready to make a trip to Cali and soak up some sun and magic? Let us know in the comments below!