#2: We have decided to save up to go again next year. And we told the kids they'll need to save half the price of their tickets. We're planning on giving them some money for birthdays and Christmas....not that money will be their only presents, but probably a large part of their haul. We have so many toys and stuff in our house. I'd rather give them brilliant memories than just more stuff.
#3: Souvenirs. Oy! They're expensive in the Disney stores. But if you're looking for something fun and cheap, the stores and some of the rides have those penny-smashing machines. You can even get a paper that tells you where they all are and what pictures you can get on them at each. We made a whole bunch of them and we're planning on drilling holes in them to make them into necklaces. I'm going to make a charm bracelet for me.
#4: I mentioned this in the my last post, but if you can swing it, four days was a great amount of time. And if you can go a couple days and then take a day off to catch your breath and then do the next two days, I think that's the way to do it. Your tickets are good for two weeks. You don't have to use them consecutively. Which I had no idea until we were towards the end of our trip!
#5: Fastpasses are the way to go. Why don't more people use them? You'll see these super long lines of people waiting for a ride with fastpasses and I just don't get it. Use the fastpasses, people.
#6: For the rides without fastpasses that get long lines, hit those first. Like Toy Story Midway Mania in California Adventure. We rode that first thing on the two days we went there. And even then the line was still a bit long. It's crazy popular and there's no way I'd wait until the middle of the day to try to ride it.
#7: If you're going to have a Magic Morning pass, you might want to wait to do Fantasyland or Tomorrowland that morning. Or maybe not...because those are the only lands open for the Magic Morning (I think!) and so all the people are there.
#8: It's not all about the rides. Go see Aladdin over in California Adventure. It's amazing! The genie is so funny. And our family is still quoting lines from the show. We loved it! Also, the 3D Muppetvision show is really great. We laughed through the whole thing. Make sure you catch some of the shows. They're a nice break from the lines. Maybe you'll want to save them for the busier days or parts of the days. We were there Tuesday through Friday. Tuesday and Wednesday the lines were so short! But the park started to get busier towards the weekend.
#9: If you're taking a little girl with you who loves to dress-up like a princess, make sure you pack your own dresses and crowns. The park is full of little girls dressed up as Aurora, Cinderella, Ariel, etc. If you wait to buy something there you're going to shell out $65 for a dress. Crazy, right? Either make your own, buy an inexpensive one on-line or Wal-mart, or use some dress-ups you already have kicking around your house. Or if your little one doesn't care about dressing up...don't worry about it!
#10: Everyone has Mickey ears. They're everywhere! BUT they're also $17. What? These things are so easily made. Disneyland do you really have to charge that much?! Luckily, with a little planning, you could probably find some better priced on ebay or just make your own. Here's a very cool tutorial to make your own Mickey ears headband. And you don't have to keep them traditional! You could use pink sequined fabric, add a big pink bow and some feathers and have some One of a Kind ears!
#11: Speaking of making things, check out this awesome tutorial for making a really neat Minnie or Mickey necklace. If I'd had time, I would have made one for Zoe (next year!)
#12: The food in the park is expensive. EXPENSIVE! I calculated it would've cost us somewhere between $40 and $50 for a hot dog meal. Hot dogs, people! That was not what we wanted to spend our money on. So, we packed it all in. Although next time we'll have to get more creative. As it was, we did chicken salad sandwiches for lunch and then pb&j sandwiches for dinner. We threw in snacks, crackers, chips, drinks, etc. Sure the kids were getting a bit tired of sandwiches by the end of the trip, but they understood we just couldn't afford to eat at the restaurants. There are some restaurants outside of the park and nearby...like McDonalds and IHOP. Also, we could've gone back to our hotel and made dinner or eaten the free dinner/snack thing they had at night. But we would have had to ride the bus back and that's time away from the park. So, we decided to bring it all in.
#13: Make matching shirts before you go! Fun, right? I used this idea for our Mickey shirts. These tie-dyed Mickey shirts are also very cool.
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