Certain images pop in to your head when you mention place names, for example New York is the empire state building, Las Vegas is casinos, San Francisco is the Golden Gate Bridge and California well there’s the sun drenched beaches and in Anaheim there is of course Disneyland.

A child’s promised land their Shangri-la, its name conjures up a place of wonder and amusement. But is the reality quite the same….everyone has to judge for themselves, but I think most people will probably love this place if only because their children do. Disneyland Park is on a scale that only America can manage and to see it all will take a few days if only because of the bane of Disneyland…the crowds. Everywhere you go there are queues and jumping them could at times be a potentially life threatening mousetake (had to get it in).

General Info:

The park is split into different areas, each has its own name. There are currently 8 areas these are –

Main Street, USA
Adventureland
Frontierland
Fantasyland
Tomorrowland
New Orleans Square
Critter Country
Mickey’s Toontown

There are several things to know before you go:

When to go:

There is no hard and fast rule to this but the least busy times are January and February during the weekdays, the problem here is that the weather is not good and more rides are likely to be closed for maintenance.

School holidays are always busy particularly during summer, to avoid this go outside of these holidays during the week, but this may be very difficult when taking the children. Generally Sundays are better than Saturdays and weekdays are the least busy.

Rainfall is highest from November to March and the coolest months are December and January, so always take umbrellas and warm jackets if visiting at this time of year.

Tickets:

Children under 3 are free, but over 10 and they pay adult prices.
Multi day passes allow you to visit more than one Disneyland Park, the one day tickets only allow you entrance to one park.
Lost tickets cannot be replaced so make sure you keep them safe.
The RideMax system will fast track you through the queues and will help to maximize your time at the parks. It is a piece of software that you can download, at a cost, visit their website for full details.

There is a frightening array of tickets so visit the Disneyland website to learn all and the pros and cons of each.

Finding a hotel:

It is always a good idea to book in advance as it will allow you the best range of options. There are a lot of hotel to choose from, so a few of the more popular hotels are:

Disney Grand California Hotel (4 star)

Doubletree Anaheim Orange County Hotel (3 star)

Best Western Inn Suites Buena Park Hotel (2 star)

The best rides are always busy, but the most popular are:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Indiana Jones Adventure
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain

There is a lot to do at Disneyland and a few days here can be both enjoyable for the kids and parents, I think that most people will really find this a place of wonder, just remember to plan ahead and maximize your time.