This went against everything we’d done so far. It was expensive. Like a lot more than we’d normally spend! Saying that, Char still got a bargain and paid less than we should have. It was a special treat for her for the kids. She always wanted to go there, the kids were old enough to enjoy and love it, and it was blinking Christmas. So, we went.
There are LOADS of blogs about Disneyland. When to go, how to maximise ride experiences, which packages to choose, which hotel to stay at to see Cinderella etc etc. Have a look at them for some hints and that if you want to go. There’s a great Facebook page too, where parents help others out. Can get a bit ‘Mumsnet’ at times though.
Flew over. Looked at other options, and got a bargain on the flights. One of the things we saved a bit on was the transfer. Companies are set up just to rake in money from tourists. Fact. They call their company‘Magical Disney Bus’ or something, and people see it as an easy option. We got an Uber. Was cheaper than train/official transfer/unofficial transfer. We weren’t shoehorned onto a coach or had to pay £30 per person.
This is the worst bit. I know it has to cost money to do stuff, but when a company charges £25 per person, and they have 50 seats, that’s a shed load of money they are making! Even the TGV prices are more expensive than an equivalent trip towards Paris or whatever. Trains can be confusing, Magical Bus can be easier, private taxi can be expensive, Uber can be cheapest. Have a look at your best options before going.
The other thing to decide, is where to stay. Disneyland has 5 or 6 hotels, ranging from mega expensive, to expensive, depending on how far out of the park you stay. The main one is in the park, then further you go out,the stars drop, and so does the price. We stayed in Santa Fe, which is a Cars themed hotel. Stan loved Cars, we love cheaper prices. There is one further out too. Rooms were Travelodge standard. Double and a bunk bed, bathroom, kettle etc etc. I think we had to ask for a kettle.
There are also other non-Disney hotels obvs, just a bit further on too. Or there’s AirBnB, but then it’s getting into the park everyday. You can camp as well, but not in the winter man! Well, you can, but you know.
To get to the park, there is a free shuttle bus that does about 80 million trips a day. This is manic. You have to queue up outside, and then barge your way on when the bendy bus comes. Chaos. Not very British with queuing! It can be quite intimidating, when trying to get kids on, with bags and pushchairs running over you and that. Worse in Winter when folk have coats and that on.
One tip we had was to get a pushchair if kids are likely to get tired. It is a big park with a lot of walking. Stan was out of pushchair by then, and didn’t actually have one, but a friendly person donated theirs when they left. We found out loads of families do this. There is the Facebook page where people say things like ‘we’re leaving a buggy by the main entrance’, or ‘does anyone need a pushchair, we’re going at 1600’ etc. These pushchairs may have been there longer than some of the staff have worked there, swapping between families! We obvs did the same when we left.
Bit of a walk from bus station to the park. Disneyland is split into two parks – Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios. Both are great. Park is bigger, and some say better, but both are really good. If going for three days, I’d say do park one day, studios the next, and then the park.
Bag searches upon entry, through a metal detector. Cold. Controlled chaos. Once in, it’s good. Defo get a map, and plan your day a bit. The things we most enjoyed was the production shows and meeting the characters. These are at set times during the day, so we planned around these. Big queues for character meets, and shows can fill up quickly, with queuing beforehand. The shows are amazing though. West End standards, really good fun. Magician, Big Band, and loads more highly recommended.
There’s rides too! These are quite good you know! Toy Story ones were good, especially the car where you shoot things. Peter Pan was good.I’ll have a look at a map in a bit to remind myself of others! Just looked.There’s loads. The Park is split into 5 zones, with different themes in each.Studios is smaller, but no less fun. It’s more about the movies and film making, but rides as well.
After every ride, there is obviously the gift shop. The kids had a bit of money to spend, and obviously wanted everything they could see!
Next big cost is food. It’s like a wedding – Venue and food make up most the cost! We had planned ahead a bit. We had brought over some breakfast stuff and evening meals with us, to keep costs down. Pasta pots and porridge, fruit and that. We had a meal in the restaurant, and it cost about £10 each for effectively a McDonalds meal. Burger, chips and drink. We had a sandwich at the start of the day, and that was fairly expensive. I know it’s a treat and an expensive holiday, but we were still keen to keep costs down where we could.
On one of the days, we ate in a 5 Guys, which is just outside the park. We find these expensive in the UK, but here they were really good value for money!! You get a shed load of chips, and the burgers are bloody yummy! There is also a McDonalds there too, outside of the park. We went there. It’s not too far of a detour, especially if you come out of one park to go to the other.
It’s funny how we keep costs down some places, and then don’t in others. Like the Character Breakfast we had on the last day. This was good though. It’s a buffet style breakfast in the park. Set times, so I think there are 2 sittings in the morning, because that’s when breakfast happens. You get a table, and then go help yourself to pancakes, sausages, cereal, fruit, you know how breakfasts work. Then the characters come. It’s normally 6 of them. We had Mickey, Scrooge, Daisy, Tigger, Piglet, and Eyeore, they each come to your table, have a pic, sign their autograph and have a laugh. It doesn’t feel too rushed even though you know they have to get around to everyone. Really exciting for the kids, and a good way to meet the characters.
Another way to meet them is in the hotels in the mornings and afternoons. They have one in the reception at different times, and there isn’t a queue to see them as most folk are out and want to get to the park early doors. That was nice.
Another amazing thing is the Parade. They have a couple of these a day I think, but at Xmas they obvs have an Xmas one. All the characters, all the fun, all the floats, really really good. Kids were so happy to see them and had the best time.
I said this wouldn’t be about tips and that, but it turns out it has been a bit. SO here are some more:
1. Buy Mickey ears etc before going. Primark have them for a couple of quid. Or spend £20 on them in Disneyland.
2. Same for autograph books. This is a thing that we saw on the Mumsnet page or whatever it was. The characters sign it, and the kids keep it as a momento, to make it that little bit more special. Buy these before you go too! I got ours off eBay, and they were personalised. Best bit about the autographs is seeing Mickey or Darth Vader using a pen in massive gloves, whilst trying to peer out a hole in their head to see where the page is!
3. It’s A Small World ride is absolutely bonkers.
That’s about it for now! Great tips.
I think with the park tickets, you get one day of ‘early entry’ where you can go in an hour before it properly opens. You can either get a couple of quick rides in, or get in a queue for one of the bigger rides. Some of the rides had wait times of over an hour, so can save some time. But then again, if you’re pre-queuing, surely that’s the same thing?
The other big queues were to meet the princess. Amelia and I queued for over an hour to see Aerial. It was indoors though, so win! Was cold that day. It was cold most days. Stan and Char went off to do other bits, and were lucky enough to meet Mary Poppins, who was just knocking around. She looked really good.
Sometimes we were really lucky with meeting the characters, right place right time. Like walking through one bit and seeing Mrs Incredible, or ending up first in line to see Jessie, or seeing Genie just as he was finishing, but he still saw us. Other times we were like ‘no chance are we queuing up to see Marie from The Aristocats! Or Chip and Dale’! Other times we weren’t so lucky. Like when Darth Vader made Stan cry, or the baddy from Aladdin made Amelia cry. Awks.
There were quite a few things we missed, and a few things we wouldn’t do next time, if there is a next time. The car stunt show was good, but quite long and boring, and cold. I did learn how they did fast reversing scenes though (they actually put the steering wheel and that in the back of the car, facing backwards, so they are actually driving forwards, just makes it look like they are reversing)!
This was a very good, I wouldn’t say holiday, or break, but whatever it is, it was great. Kids really enjoyed, Char enjoyed, I enjoyed. It was lovely going and seeing all the ‘magic’. Disney do really have you once you’re in there, but also do a lot to make your visit as amazing as it can be.
Downsides are it can get very busy. Oh, I forgot the best bit – the main road when you go in is like a little street – it ‘snows’ all the time. Makes it look ace. Also, fireworks every night from the Castle. We only stayed once for these as it was mega busy and dark, making it harder to move and get out.
The cost does put people off. We did it for under £1000, which I know is A LOT of money, but we always save and budget correctly.
I think Char was already planning a return when we were there.