Enhancing Disneyland

For our trip yesterday I had done quite a bit of research on tips, hints, and tricks for enjoying the expereience at Disneyland. What prompted my search is the rumor I heard about Disneyland being required to give you one toy per child if you cannot afford to buy them. I still have not found any confirmation to this rumor, nor have I tried it yet myself. I have no clue if it were true if you'd need some kind of proof. But if it is true, don't expect Disney to confirm it or advertise it. What a huge loss it would be if lots of people found out :X

I did find some cool websites though.
Snopes.com lists rumors, and facts about the park and all things related. Most of them have to do with actual events rather than tricks for the park, but it's still interesting.
Yesterland.com provides awesome information on "old" Disneyland, with amazing old picture as well.
Disneyland Vacation Tips is a great website for all kinds of tricks to use to maximize the fun. I enjoyed this website and wrote down quite a few.

The compliation of tips I wrote down and took with us were as follows...

1) If you buy coffee, save your cup, you can get free refills all day long.
2) Broken or lost balloons (with proof, even if found) can be replaced free with any balloon vendor.
3) Ask to go in the very front of the Train, Monorail, and Mark Twain's Boat for a special experience.
4) Visit the Hanuted Mansion elevator for a different view that most don't see.
5) Try to take the golden apple after the Snow White ride and wait for a surpirse.
6) Watch above the Snow White ride to catch a glimpse of the evil Queen.
7) After leaving the Heffalump and Woozle Honey Room in the Winnie-the-Pooh ride, turn around and look up to see the past still there. Three moose heads from the old Country Bear Jamboree which used to stand in that same place.
8) Ride Peter Pan first thing in the morning. It usally fills up fast and stays packed all day long.
9) Most people travel to Tomorrowland or Adventurland first. Head to Fantasyland or Toontown to beat some crowds.
10) The line on the right for Pirates of the Carribean is shorter.
11) Get drinks at Rancho Del Zocalo and go back for free refills all day.

We tried all those and they worked for us. Good luck to anyone who goes.


Top Mommy Blogs - Vote for us @ TopMommyBlogs.Com!

Christmas at Disneyland

All I wanted this Christmas/Yule, was to spend a day at Disneyland with my Husband and Son. Neither of them had seen it dressed up for the holidays, and I wanted to share this excitement with them. I got my wish this year. Today we spent a very fun (and towards the end painful) 13 hours at the Happiest Place on Earth!



I couldn't get the pictures to come out to well today, so I only came back with a few. But the memories should last forever. I ended up inviting my younger sister and her boyfriend as well, and that made it more fun and merry. Her boyfriend had never been to Disneyland at all, so that was a lot of fun for him.




We did park hop to expereince the joy in both parks. At night we saw the fireworks display at Disneyland. That in itself is a memory to last us forever. The way our sons face looks as he watches in awe at the show and says, "Wooooooooow!" Is so priceless.




We enjoy Disneyland for ourselves, but we also want to take advantage of the fact that our son will be free until he is 3 years old. Even the first time we took him at 18 months he fully enjoyed his time there and we love to be able to bring him so much joy at such a young age. Thank you Disneyland. If the prices were lower we too could get just as much excitement out of the trip :) Still, I highly suggest if you have the opportunity, that you visit Christmas at Disneyland atleast once in your life.

Top Mommy Blogs - Vote for us @ TopMommyBlogs.Com!

Tree Differences

We picked up a Holiday tree today. (To celebrate both Christmas and Yule in our house) This is going to be our third holiday season in this cozy little apartment of ours and so, our third tree.



Year one we received the tree as a gift. Our son was just three months old, and we had a happy and tiny little tree, which was actually the top of some other too large tree. I'd say it was about a foot and a half or so. Cute for our first ever tree together.











Year two we were settled in to our home and set out on a mission to get a tree. Driving only a small Honda Accord we thought it was perfect that we lived in equal (and close) walking distance of two tree lots. We chose one and went to visit it. We came home with a 3 foot tree that cost us $29.95 plus tax. Ouch! It's all we could afford at the time so we took it not knowing better.









Year three (this year) we took my Mother-in-law's offer (and advice) to go get one at Home Depot. WOW! What a shocker to walk in and see a huge 6 footer for only $24 plus tax. We were thrilled at how large we could go for the same price we shelled out last year. Also, size wise, we could go much bigger this year. We have tried many arrangements in our 10 by 12 living room and our current one is the perfect one all around. It gives us the most space, light, and room for a tree. Even with two couches. We shall be pros at organizing small places by the time we move out of here.










My husbands family is a Douglas fir type of family. I personally prefer the Noble fir. I think they look more Christmassy. But so far all three have been the former. Next year maybe we will try the Noble fir.



At any rate, don't shop at tree lots, especially if you don't have a lot of cash to waste. Happy Holidays!


Top Mommy Blogs - Vote for us @ TopMommyBlogs.Com!