Entries Tagged 'Lands in Disneyland' ↓

If you are traveling to Disneyland during the busy summer months or on a typical vacation time from school like the Christmas holiday or spring break, be prepared for lines.  A lot of them.  Waiting in these long lines is especially hard if you are traveling with very young children can be excruciating and exhausting and leave you wondering why you decided to vacation to the UN-happiest place on Earth in the first place!  Well, let me let you in on a little secret…Fast Passes.  That’s right, folks.  Fast passes are the new wave of the future at Disneyland.  These precious little passes let you jump your pretty little selves to the front of the line in front of all of those people who didn’t know the Fast Pass secret and you can ride on your chose attraction and go on your merry way to your next ride adventure.  In order to ease the strain and stress of lines at the park, the brains of Disneyland got together and created Fast Passes.  These kiosks that are placed beside all of the major attraction rides at Disneyland (a.k.a. the most popular) allow you to insert your admission ticket and it will print out a voucher, or Fast Pass, telling you what time you should come back to the ride and you will get first dibs on the attraction. While you wait for your designated time, go grab a bite to eat or catch a live show or parade.   Be careful, however.  You are only allowed to use a Fast Pass up to 3 times a day, so if the line doesn’t appear to long, wait it out and use the Fast Pass when the lines get a little longer during the busiest parts of the day.  And that, my friends, is the secret of the infamous Fast Pass.

Turning your impending Disneyland vacation into a Disney Adventure can be a ton of fun!  Instead of the same old same old, spice things up a little bit and really enjoy yourself at the park.  If you are traveling with a large group of people, divide up into several small groups and go on a sort of scavenger hunt throughout the park.  Give each group a disposable camera and a list of clues that will lead them to places they must find inside the park.  Once they find what they’re looking for, they have to take a picture of it.  You have to really “know” Disneyland in order to play this game, which can make an adventure like a Disney Scavenger Hunt incredibly fun!  One person has to make the rules.  Write clever little sayings and hints to give them clues.  This game will have everyone in your group, young or old spending hours running all around the park trying to beat the other team.  At a certain point in the day, everyone should meet at a designated area inside or outside of the park.  At that time, someone can run the disposable cameras to a one hour photo shop and the team who got the most answers right, wins!  Reward them with a great souvenir of their choosing from Disneyland.  If you are bored with the same old Disneyland, spice it up a big and make a fun adventure game out of your next visit!

When you think of a vacation, do you think of blissful relaxation on a warm, sandy beach with a cabana boy bringing you an endless supply of margaritas?  Well, that may be your idea of a vacation, but your kids have other ideas!  No vacation suits a child more than an exciting stay in the most magical place on Earth…Disneyland!  From toddler-hood to teenager, every “kid” gets a kick out of this park and its neighboring park, California Adventure.  From the moment you pass through the gates, you are magically transported into a different land.  Inside the park you will find an immaculately kept park full of character and wonderment with rides, shows and shops that could make even the grumpiest of dwarves smile a little.  There is something for everyone here at Disneyland.  Little ones will get carried away in Fantasyland where elephants fly and pirate ships sail over Neverland.  Adventureland takes you on a safari through a cruise filled with elephants, tigers and head hunters, where you can swing from vines like Tarzan of the Apes.  Frontierland takes you to the Wild West where you ride on a runaway train on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and take part in a saloon shoot.  If you’re not into rides, it is sometimes just as enjoyable to grab an ice cream cone, sit under a cool shade tree and people watch.  A trip to Disneyland is just something that you have to do at least once in your lifetime.  Relaxing it is not, but it will definitely be memorable!

For the first time since Disneyland opened well over 50 years ago, the infamous Pixie, Tinkerbell is able to grace the park.  Before, this precious pixie was only allowed to “fly” at night to light the top of Sleeping Beauty’s castle and start the fireworks show.  Now, as she has become more popular, the folks at Disneyland opened what is now lovingly referred to as “Pixie Hollow”.  Located in Fantasyland nestled next to Alice in Wonderland’s ride, here you will find Tinkerbell and all of her friends, Silvermist, Iridessa, Fawn and Rosetta.  You can find them at the end of a long pathway that winds around the banks of a magical pond.  The clever minds that envelop Disney made everything look ultra big to make the little unsuspecting minds of a child feel as though they have shrunk down to pixie size!  Once you reach the end of your magical journey you will meet all of your favorite pixies who are always eager and ready to have their pictures taken, so snap away!  Fairies are known to be great carriers of secrets, so whisper to them your most deepest wish or desire and you know they will never tell a soul!  Delight every little girl, young and old with a trip to Pixie Hollow.

Disneyland is known for their incredible rides, charming shops and magical characters.  They are also known for great food and snacks are no different!  If you have a craving for a little snack to tide you over until the next meal, you have a huge number of places and choices to choose from.  Head over to Toontown to grab a quick hot dog at Pluto’s Dog House or a sandwich to go from Clarabelle’s.  Adventureland holds some tasty tropical treats like a tasty chicken teriyaki kabob or a refreshing pineapple spear or pineapple sorbet from the Tiki Juice Bar sponsored by Dole.  As soon as you pass though Mainstreet USA, you will find the red Corn Dog Wagon with the most delicious tasting corndogs you can imagine, hot and crispy on the outside.  Refreshing non-alcoholic mint-juleps and fritters or beignet’s are available at the Mint Julep Bar in New Orleans Square.  For a quick bite on the go, you can taste some hot crispy French fries from Conestoga Fries across the street from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Tomorrowland holds Red Rockett’s Pizza Parlor where you can “fly” in for a quick slice of pizza before you go on your way to fight like Buzz Lightwear or a Storm Trooper.  For those who are searching for a healthier alternative, there are produce stands located in several different spots in the park.  Here you will find a large variety of fruits and vegetables from grapes, apples and strawberries to carrots and celery with ranch dip.  Also available at these stands are the world famous HUGE dill pickles just waiting to be crunched!

Disneyland is not just reserved for the young or young at heart.  Both Disneyland and California Adventure cater to everyone in between too.  Yes, the goal of Disneyland is to bring out your inner child where “everyone can be a kid” is the motto that is heard all over the parks.  Traveling with teenagers and pre-teens can be disastrous with mood swings, bad tempers and sheer embarrassment over traveling with “nerdy” parents.  Luckily, Disneyland has so many attractions and rides geared towards pleasing those in their tween years that a trip to Disneyland can be enjoyable for all.  Some of the favorite rides in the parks are Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the newly remodeled and “ultra-cool” Space Mountain roller coaster.  If you make your way over to California Adventure you will find a ton of rides where you won’t see a kid under the age of 8 years old in sight!  Have a splashin’ good time on the Grizzly River Run, shriek in all your glory on The Tower of Terror and get a jolt of fear, shock and adrenaline all at once of the loop-da-loop California Screamin’ ride.  So, teenagers, put that grouchy face into a smile and enjoy yourself…you’re only young once and with the help of Disney magic, you don’t ever have to grow up if you don’t want to!

The magic of the Disneyland resort starts with the huge variety of sites, sounds and activities geared towards children of any age and adults who are young at heart.  This is no more apparent than when you take a walk through the many “lands” that encompass the Disneyland resort.  Upon entering the gates, you walk into Mainstreet USA which is modeled after an 1800’s All-American town with adorable buildings, a soda fountain and barbershop quartet.  Traveling onward you will be greeted by an old western saloon and can-can dancers in Frontierland.   A little farther ahead you can go on a jungle safari and climb a gigantic jungle tree house made just for Tarzan in Adventureland.  Go sailing down the Bayou on the Pirates of the Caribbean or listen to a jazz band playing as they walk along the streets of New Orleans Square.  Critter Country gives you the characters in the Hundred Acre Woods as well as a thrilling (but darling) ride on Splash Mountain.  Tomorrowland brings out the space traveler in all of us with Star Tours and Space Mountain.  Walking over the bridge and through Sleeping Beauty’s Castle leaves no question to the mind that you have entered Fantasyland.  Here is wear all of your fairytale dreams come true.  Soar over London in Peter Pan’s ride, fight the evil queen on the Snow White ride and fly high on the back of that silly flying Elephant with the big ears, Dumbo.  The end of Fantasyland brings you the all-time favorite ride, It’s a Small World which leads you to your final land in Disneyland, Toontown.  This land is where all of the characters “live” when they’re not working at Disneyland.  You’ll find the homes of Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy as well as some other bright and lively attractions.