This isn't a review - more of a "Top tips survival guide"
1) During summer months make sure that you have remembered to take the sun cream with you. (sounds obvious i know, but we left ours at the hotel and rather studpidly thought we'd buy some more. At £22 for a small bottle of factor 30, my husband was sent back to the hotel, complaining bitterly, to go and get ours.)
2) Take your own bottles of coke and water. (We got a case of coke and water from our local cash and carry and took it over with us.) Then to keep it cool fill the sink with cold water and leave the bottles floating in it.
3) If #2 isn't an option - take a WIDE neck sports bottle with you (it will be easier to fill it from the plentiful water fountains if it has a wider neck)
4) Take fruit and healthy snacks with you. (Disneyland is full of greasy fried food and snacks - which is fine once in a while - but unless you want to look like an extra from Dumbo, then not great for a whole week. We took boxes or raisins, dried apple slices, apricots etc...)
5) Prioritise the rides you really want to go on, and use the Fastpass system as soon as you enter the park. The Peter Pan ride especially requires speedy action - leave getting a fast pass until 1pm and the day's allocation is most likely to have gone already!
6) If you have young children - plan to see a show during the day - it will provide an opportunity to sit down whilst keeping your children occupied.
7) Want to meet lots of Princesses? Hang around the entrance to CJ Le petite train du Cirque, at about 4pm on Friday. We happened to be in this area, when a fanfare sounded and Cinderella, Ariel and Eric and Snow White and her Prince appeared through the nearest gate. The look on my 5 year old daughter's face when Snow White grabbed her hand and walked down the street with her was amazing! I don't know whether this happens on a regular basis - but if you're there at the right time - who knows....
8) The parade starts out of the gate to the right of "It's a small World" - it's not too crowded here either, and is conveniently close to toilets (handy when you have a 3 year year old - who "gotta go - now! mommy."
9) If your French isn't fluent - then speak to the cast members in English, if you try French they are likely to talk back in French - tricky if it's been a while since secondary school. My daughters were gob-smacked to hear Snow White whittering away in French - i started to translate for them, when Snow White, in an American accent declared - "oh Gee, your English - you should have said..."
10) If you want Jack Sparrow's autograph - employ a two pronged attack strategy! He is very much in character and will only stay in one spot for a short period of time before doing the "Sparrow arrogant shuffle" and walk off in a different direction. Position two people either side of his hang out, at some point he will make a point of barging through the crowd and heading for a quieter spot, hopefully the spot where your partner is.....(it worked for us)
11) Got a child who is too short for a ride, but wants to go on it? Get the Cast Member at the entrance to measure their height and tell them no. Somehow it was easier for our 3 year old to accept when it came from someone else (kids!)
12) You gotta check out Stitch LIVE - well worth the wait!
13) Snow White and the 7 dwarves is a dark and quite sinister ride. Best avoid this one of your children dislike the dark or are sensitive. It focusses very much on the evil queen.
14) Children like dressing up? Go to Woolworths first and buy Disney dressing up costumes. Take them in your suitcase and then your little ones can dress up, without the need to go over the limit on your credit card!
15) The Hakunna matata chicken restaurant is good value for money. They do a family bucket chicken meal - afterall it is a holiday and a bit of a junk splurge wont kill you.....
16) ENJOY YOURSELF!
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Sep 14th, 2008
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