Travel and Leisure

Have you ever dreamed of going to Disneyland? Have you ever wondered about how to get the chance to see the best of the Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park during your stay? Disneyland Resort is a big complex, divided into 8 different "lands" in addition to Downtown Disney, with a wide variety of activities. To help you plan your trip, Anaheim Express Inn Maingate provides this list of 10 Things to do to fully live the Disney experience.

The best trip to Disneyland must be planned in advance to make it easier when you get to the park. For this reason, we are providing a few travel tips. Before you can decide which activities will best suit you, you need to make sure that you set aside time to have the best visit to the Disneyland Resort. As a result of its popularity, the park is very crowded all throughout the year, so to avoid long lines and thoroughly enjoy both parks, we suggest that you arrive at the opening of the park at 8 am. Since most visitors will not arrive before 11:30 am, you have a few hours to ride the most popular rides. Since the Disneyland Park closes at midnight and Disney California Adventure Park at 10 pm in the summer, a visit during this season is a great reason to appreciate the resort at night. You can see a show while most people are already leaving.

Arriving early or staying late does not mean you will have more time to enjoy the park if you don't know where an attraction is, or where a show featuring your favorite character is taking place. In order to be efficient with your planning, you can check the 'Information Board' at any time of the day, this will show you where every character is at that particular moment of the day. You will also be able to check the wait time for any attractions. A long day of walking around the park and riding attractions is tiring, but you do not have to worry about getting tired, or even slowing down, if you buy your coffee at the Market House and make sure you keep the receipt, you will be able to enjoy free refills all day long.

If you do not want to waste time entering every shop during your visit, you can just stop by the World Of Disney store - the best place to shop that has everything you could possibly be looking for. The store is located at the entrance of the park, so you can go at the end of your visit before leaving the park.

1. Enjoy the Rides:
Of course, the rides are the #1 reason why people come to Disneyland. For kids, teenagers or adults, everyone can enjoy rides in both parks. In order to share this experience with your kids, you can bring them to attractions such as the Disneyland Rail Road, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, It's a Small World, Toy Story Mania, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Mad Tea Party and Pirates of the Caribbean. Some thrill-rides accommodate both kids & adults, for example Indiana Jones Adventure, Radiator Springs Racers, Haunted Mansion, Star Tours - The Adventures Continue, Space Mountain or the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. To make it easier to get from one attraction to the other, we recommend you to get the FASTPASS. It allows you to save your place in an attraction line while you're enjoying others in the Park. You can also use the "rider switch" when you are at least a party of 2 adults accompanying a child. This will allow one adult to enjoy the attraction while the other waits with the child, then they switch. Also, if you don't mind splitting up your group, you can take advantage of the single rider lines - take the ride by yourself, appreciate it as much as you would with your friends or family, but wait less than in the regular line.

2. Character Experience:
Disneyland is a magical place where your favorite Disney characters live. It is where you meet them and get the chance to take a picture with them, or have them sign an autograph. Just by walking around the park, children and adults can meet the characters in person. But, if you don't want to wait for your character to magically show up wherever you are, you can use other options to make it happen. You can check the 'Information Board' at the entrance and meet your favorite characters wherever they are and get a photo or autograph from, for example, a Disney Princess or other Disney stars. You can enjoy the characters dining for a special occasion, or just for the pleasure of sharing a meal with Mickey or Cinderella at your table. Many of the attractions feature Disney characters also, so you can simply run into them while enjoying your favorite rides. The best way for you to see Aladdin or Buzz Lightyear may be to attend the many shows and parades.

3. Watch Fireworks:
The iconic image of fireworks behind the Sleeping Beauty Castle is true to life, and you can see it! This magical experience is one of the "must-sees" of the Disneyland Park. Several are offered during the year according to the season, like summer, Halloween or other Holidays. No matter what show you see - July 4th, Halloween Screams, New Year's Eve or any other show, the magic is always there.

4. World of Color:
The Disney California Adventure Park offers the captivating World of Color water show at night. This show puts together a work of water, colors, fire and lights for an unforgettable spectacular including Disney music, stories and characters. Another "must-see" located in the outdoors area on Paradise Bay where you can rest and relax with your family or friends before the show starts.

5. See a Parade:
Parades are appreciated by everyone, and are also another way to see Disney Characters. Watch Mickey's Soundsational Parade, bringing Disney film stars to life, such as the Lion King, the Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins or Peter Pan going down Main Street U.S.A. You can also watch the Pixar Play Parade where you can see Disney Pixar characters from movies like Ratatouille, Monsters Inc. or Finding Nemo at the Disney California Adventures Park. The different seasons of the year also bring seasonal parades such as The Christmas Fantasy for Christmas and Phineas & Ferb's Rockin' Rollin' Dance Party! during the summer months. To know more about these amazing street parades which feature great floats & special appearances of Disney Characters, check the entertainment schedule.

6. Watch a Show:
Even if the show is always around you in the parks, its magic continues during the various creative shows presented by the Park. Disneyland has always offered great live shows that feature singing, dancing & audience participation. Some of their best and most popular shows are 'Disney's Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular' at the Hyperion Theater in Disney California Adventure Park, 'Fantasmic' a magical spectacular featuring Disney characters, film projections on water, and live performances around the Rivers of America. You can also check the other great Disneyland shows on the entertainment schedule.

7. Go Shopping:
To never forget this magical experience at the Disneyland Resort, buy a souvenir and bring the fantasy home or a gift for someone special. Disney shops and boutiques have a wide variety of products from apparel to toys and candy (Candy Palace), to art (Disney Gallery). These shops are mostly themed according the story of their land, such as Old West. You can also stop by Main Street USA (Disneyland Park), New Orleans Square or Buena Vista Street (Disney California Adventure Park) before starting the day, or quickly before leaving to buy one last gift. You will certainly find anything you need.

8. Enjoy your Meal!
Choose whether you want to have a low cost snack at a walk-up stand or a signature dining experience at a sit down restaurant. The Park offers a variety of cuisine such as American, Asian, Creole, Italian, Mexican, and Vegetarian food for any budget. Whether you share your meal with a Disney character or not, you are always guaranteed healthy meals no matter where and what you decide to eat. Remember to have a Mint Julep in New Orleans Square.

9. Special Occasions:
Are you bored of celebrating Holidays at home, as you do every year, such as Halloween or Christmas? Go to Disneyland instead to celebrate the Holidays. The Park has many surprises for these occasions such as decorations, characters' costumes, special attractions and tours, the Halloween Party, the Christmas Parade, and of course fireworks. As for Holidays, Disneyland Resort is a great place to celebrate your birthday, anniversary, wedding, graduation or any other special day. When you arrive, make sure you stop by the City Hall at the Disneyland Park, or the Guest Relations Lobby at the Disney California Adventure Park to pick up a Souvenir Button. It will let the cast members and guests know that it is a special day and they will offer their best wishes to you. Kids will be delighted and surprised to get a special message from goofy!

10. Tours:
Tours are an activity that we do not necessarily think about because there are already so many things to do such as the rides, shows and parades. But Disneyland Resort is big, and whether it is your first time or not, you want to make sure you can see the best of it. In order to do this, take a tour of the theme park. The Park offers different tours. Walk in Walt Disney's footsteps to see how this man's vision became reality and learn about the history of the park, take the magical tour since it is the perfect tour for the whole family, you will get to hunt treasures in the park and will be able to work next to Disney characters, learn the story of the Park by taking a tour of the amazing horticulture. You can also take the Backstage Magic tour showing Disney as you've never seen it before. The Resort offers a tour that shows what goes on behind the scenes with Disney and Hollywood too. The seasonal tours show the traditions and decorations of the Holidays through the "Disney's Happiest Haunts" Tour and "Holiday Time at Disneyland" Tour.

We have one last tip to share with you: to fully enjoy your stay in Anaheim and visit Disneyland without worrying about spending too much money on lodging and parking, visit Anaheim Express Inn Maingate. You will not have to worry about traffic and parking, since we have free outdoor parking and our hotel is only a few minutes walking distance from the Disneyland Park.

Remember: Disneyland is the ' Happiest Place On Earth ' so enjoy your visit!