Disneyland 2008

We visited Disneyland and California Adventure this week. I was wonderful. Monday and Tuesday were a little crowded, but Wednesday was perfect!

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We visited Disneyland on Monday. We watched Fantasmic at night, and rode many rides. It was so much fun.

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On Tuesday we hopped over to California Adventure. We hoped to ride the new Toy Story ride, but it was broken down. Azriel braved the Hollywood tower of terror. I couldn't believe that she wanted to ride it. She is such a risk taker. SHE LOVED IT. We could have spent the whole day at that ride alone and she would have been happy.

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Wednesday we were more familiar with the lay of the land, so we hopped between both parks. I totally recommend Soarin California. It is the most breathtaking ride I have ever seen.

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OK, so true to my blog, how did I do it...on a shoestring.

TICKETS: Well, first, I bought a 3 day park hopper for 99.00 each. Ok this is a little steep, but in fairness, I had 45 days to use up the days. (meaning that I didn't have to go 3 days in a row, I could have spread them out) So the tickets to the happiest place on earth were 33.00 a day each.

FOOD: Disneyland will allow you to bring food into the park as long as its not like a mondo sized cooler. We froze sandwiches (mayo doesn't freeze well, so use miracle whip instead), juice boxes, and water for lunch and dinner. We also brought fruit, trail mix, granola bars, chips etc to snack on during the day. If you have a lot of food, you can rent a locker in or out of the park for $7 a day. (this is an all day fee, so you can go in and out of it as much as you need) They also have a picnic area if you wish. One day we left our food in a cooler in the car instead of renting the locker. It was not that inconvenient, and it gave us a little break in the middle of the day.

(tip...if you want something hot for lunch or dinner, try hot dogs. Just cook them ahead of time, then stick them in a hot thermos to keep hot all day. If you boil your hot dogs, you could even add some of the hot water to the thermos)

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PARKING: this is 12.00 a day. I have heard rumors that you can park in the Pumbaa Lot for free, but that it is not opened up until the main lot is full. I haven't tested this out yet. I have also been told that you can hop on one of the nearby Disney resort shuttles, and not pay for parking at all, but I was a little leery of being so adventurous with my 8 year old in tow past midnight when we were set to leave. So I decided to just pay the parking.

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To keep cool, we purchased a spray bottle at the 99 cent store to fill up with water, and spray us down when we got to hot.

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The only thing that was bought at Disneyland was a cup of coffee. We stayed until midnight, and then drove 1 hour home. I found out the 1st night that Starbucks is closed at that time. I did some research, and found out that if you buy coffee at the Main Street Market House, you can get free refills all day, just save your receipt. The park allows guest into Main street about 1/2 hour before that park opens. Get your first cup then. Then get a 2nd cup just before Fantasmic, or the Fireworks,and enjoy it while you are waiting for the show. Get your last cup before you leave the park. The cost for the coffee is 2.79. I you get 3 cups, thats 93 cents per cup. Not bad.

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So really, our trip for 2 to Disneyland cost 78.00 a day, plus gas money (about 15.00)

$93.00

Well worth the priceless memories that we will hold onto forever!