Some things to know before going to Disneyland

Something I learned pretty quick about Mason is that he loves Disney. Back when we were dating I went to Disney World with my mom and we made a game where I would take a picture of something there and he would have to tell me where it was. He guessed every light fixture, random prop, and even where I was standing when I sent him a picture of my feet while standing in line for splash mountain! How’s that for a random hidden talent?

Last week I surprised Mason with a trip to Disneyland and while we were there, we made a quick list of things to know before going and how to make the most of your trip to the happiest place on earth!

• Fast Passes

  • There are a lot of people that think fast passes cost extra, but they are free to anyone with a ticket! Having a fast pass to a ride basically guarantees you a spot in the “short line” within the times they give you. Only a certain number of fast passes are given out for each time slot, and each guest can only hold one fast pass at a time. They are the best though, we would see a 90 minute wait time and use our fast passes to get on the ride in 10 minutes! Not every ride has a fast pass, but we chose our favorites to get fast passes for and went on all the nearby rides while we waited for our time slot. 

• Make Your Favorite Disney Park Food

  • We all obsess over Disneyland’s pineapple dole whips, let’s be honest! Well we learned that you can just walk up to the food stand and ask for the recipe and they have cards ready to hand out! When we asked last week he said they didn’t have anymore (or I would have posted it), but they have all of their recipes on the official Disney blog.

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• The Magic of Disney

  • This was my 7th or 8th time at Disneyland but I had never been in the Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln building on Main Street. When you walk in, there’s a video of Steve Martin that is probably decades old of him talking about Disneyland and has clips of Walt Disney and some of his ideas for the park back in the 50s and 60s. It’s a short video but it was so cool to see how they made some of the first rides and what inspired them – it definitely made me look at things a lot differently and it got me really excited to see it all myself! It’s not something I would do every time I go, but it is definitely worth seeing the next time you go if you haven’t already!

• Watch For Balloons

  • To avoid ruining the ‘theme’ of each part of Disneyland (adventure land, fantasy land, etc.), they make sure you can’t see any part of the attractions with a different theme because it would ‘ruin the magic’. So when you see random balloons up in the air, it means they’re measuring a new attraction to be sure you can’t see it from anywhere else in the park!

• The Freebies

  • If you go to Ghiradelli, they’ll give you free chocolates. Any sit down restaurant has water cups ready to hand out to anyone who asks for them – no more paying for bottled water and no more backpacks full of gatorades! If you go to city hall on Main Street or to any cashier in the shops, they have tons of different buttons (picture below) that you can take. Oh, and if you ever want an amazing hand-dipped corn dog – get it at the booth next to the Golden Horseshoe! It’s $2 cheaper and it comes with french fries. That was a great discovery for two college students.

Let’s hear your Disney tips! Plus I want to hear your favorite things to eat hehe.

xx

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