BabyTravels and Hilarye in line at "It's a Small World"

When I was a kid (and not so much a kid), Disneyland was the greatest of all greats. It was something to look forward to and I remember having butterflies each morning as we got near the park. Soon the butterflies were squashed as we tried to conquer all the rides, see every site, and explore every area. It was not a satisfying trip to Disneyland if we hadn’t hit every major ride there. It’s funny how things change so quickly once you have a kid.

This time it wasn’t about me enjoying the “happiest place on earth”, it was about watching the magic unfold in my 16 months old eyes.  This time it was all about her. Taking her on It’s a Small World and watching that cute pudgy little index finger shoot out in all sorts of different directions as she cooed at the chanting children of all ethnicities just melted my heart. We probably made it on less than 10 rides total that day, dealt with random rain storms, exhausted my feet and my shoes, and spent $50 on mediocre hamburgers, but it was all worth it hearing BabyTravels excitement over those same silly songs and characters that I too loved as a child.

Isn’t that what’s great about parenthood? You get to relive your childhood over again through their eyes and excitements. It reminded me of why we love traveling so much. To have fresh experiences and explore new cultures it makes us feel so alive and so young, like anything is possible. And now I think that a trip to Disney World is in order. Oh Walt Disney you have done it again.

First off, you can look through the slide show (which is actually really cute) or I will just recap some of the places for you. 10 of the 15 places every kid should see are the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, Colonial Williamsburg, Lincoln Memorial, Niagra Falls, Gettysburg, Alamo, Pearl Harbor, Monitcello, and Disneyworld.

I think when you are a kid you enjoy vacations as a family but when you look back at the vacations is when you realize why your parents went through all the trouble and hassle to load up the brats and the picnic basket and put up with all the complaining. The memories and experiences make it worth it. My husband’s family would pack up the van and for months during the summer drive across the country and stop and see anything and everything along the way. When I married him he had been to 49 of the 50 states (we made is 50 this memorial day when we went to Alaska). His family is very close, which I am sure in part stems from these trips and have billions of stories and memories that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Some of my personal favorite vacations from when I was a kid would have to be Disneyland, visiting the Grand Canyon with my grandparents, day trips to San Francisco, visiting Cannon Beach in Oregon, visiting Victoria in Canada and many others. So thank you to my parents for putting up with the kids and taking us on these trips! What are some of your favorite vacations as a kid?

But hooray there is a solution! A company called provides customers, for a yearly fee, a high tech card that lets you skip ahead in pre-desginated security lines. Think of it as a Disneyland fast pass for the airports. This could save some serious time for frequent flyers.

Right now the company is operating in twenty airports and is continually adding more. Airports include: Albany, Atlanta, Cincinnati, DC Dulles, DC Reagan, Denver, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Little Rock, Los Angeles, New York JFK, New York LGA, Newark, Oakland, Orlando, Reno, Salt Lake City,San Francisco ,San José, Westchester. I am not going to lie, a little disappointed not to see Chicago, but otherwise most major airports notorious for thier crowded lines are listed. And only $128 a year? That’s cheap. Plus, it’s even registered at some sports stadiums to get you into the games faster.

Trips I have already taken this year:

1. Anaheim/Disneyland
2. Washington DC
3. Anchorage, Alaska
4. Saint George, Utah
5. Las Vegas, Nevada

Ok, so the first part of the year was a little slow as far as travel goes, which makes me a little sad. However, when I think about it- we bought a house in February and we spent the winter doing a fair amount of snowboarding, so I guess you could add Park City, Utah to the list.  Anyways, I am gearing up for Fall travel season which includes an awesome trip to Europe (my first time!). I used to say that we are going to backpack through Europe but apparently that’s not true- I was told we are packing our clothes in a backpack and going to Europe. So that accounts for the first five places on the list- and the rest are stateside cities or states I want to visit.

Trips I want/will take this year:

1. London, England
2. Athens, Greece
3. Ireland
4. Slovenia (here is a map- in case you want to know where this is)
5. Paris, France
6. New York City
7. San Diego
8. Seattle
9. Oregon Coast
10.North Carolina

However a Disneyland trip not planned carefully  can find yourself amidst screaming toddlers in toon-town, 3 hour lines for Indiana Jones and the Nemo ride, along with a big headache wondering what happened to your magical Disneyland vacation.

We had one day at Disneyland and I was determined to do it all in the most efficient and pleasant manner  possible. It was an extremely crowded day where you could barely walk through main street, lines were formed way beyond where the actual gates began, yet we managed to get in all the major rides before lunch and not wait in a line longer than 25 minutes. You may be scoffing to yourself wondering yeah right I have been to Disneyland and in order to hit all the major rides you need at least two days. But I say, yes to that only in the case of two things: 1) you plan on hitting California Adventure as well as Disneyland or 2) you have young kids.

My tips are simple, and remember they are not guarantees, but if followed they should help you have a successful and entertaining trip to Disneyland.

Tip number one: Be There Right As It Opens. If it opens at 8 am, be in the parking garage at 7:30 am. Most people who go to Disneyland, have two day park hoppers or longer stays, and typically Disneyland is open to midnights on weekends, so most people take their time getting there in the morning. But if you are a late night partier or this is just not possible for your situation, see tip number two, if you plan on leaving Disneyland earlier than it closes skip to tip three.

Tip number two: Plan on staying until midnight. Little kids go to bed early, not as early when they are at disneyland but it would make sense that the park would have pretty good ride times between the hours of 10 p.m. and Midnight. Plus, then you get to see the fireworks show.

Tip number three: Do plan on using fast passes. But if you get there right on time, do not bother with fast passes for the first two hours. Most rides will only have a wait time of about 15 minutes which will be a better wait time even if you do have fast passes. Suggestion: Run to Space Mountain. Space Mountain usually has a notoriously long wait time, that and Indiana Jones. So hit up either of the rides and you will be doing yourself a huge service.  Then, just make your rounds hopping on any rides that you can that have short lines. Another notoriously long wait time for a ride would be the Submarines that feature Nemo. Kids love this ride so if you have your heart set on going on this ride, try to do it early. Also this is a great time to go on rides that do not offer fast passes. Some of these rides could include:  Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, The Teacups. Peter Pan,Jungle Cruise, or any other of your favorite rides.

Tip number four: Plan the rest of your day around fast passes. Grab fast passes every half hour. There is a limit, you can only get a fast pass once every half hour. While you are waiting for your fast pass time, take this time to enjoy Disneyland, stroll Main-Street, grab lunch, visit with the characters, go on other rides, and just play around. Sometimes it is hard because you get so caught up in making sure you make it on all your favorite rides when you know you have such a short visit and you want to cram it all in, that you forget to relax, enjoy and reminisce of old times. Make sure you laugh and enjoy the rides, watch the parades and enjoy the shows.

More tips that can help make your Disneyland trip more time efficient:

Buy your tickets before you get to Disneyland. You can do this in a number of different ways, for example a lot of times you can buy them at your hotel if you stay in Anaheim, or you can pre-purchase them directly from Disneyland over the phone, but you need to allow a few weeks for delivery. www.disneyland.com

Stay at the Disneyland hotel. I feel wary mentioning this because I am in no way endorsing the Disneyland hotel, being that I have never had the opportunity to stay there myself, but you will not have to deal with parking and there is a tram directly from the hotel to the park. So this could roughly save you anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on the situation, plus the 11 dollars for parking.

Rides that offer fast passes:

Autopia
Space Mountain
Matterhorn
Indiana Jones
Haunted Mansion
Splash Mountain
Star Tours
Pirates of the Caribbean
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
The Many Adventures of Winnie the pooh