Disneyland

I visited the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim last year for the first time. It was during summer season so I expected it to be packed and I made sure that I had everything planned out: which rides to go on, how long are the usual wait times, what food to get, as well as which rides needed fastpasses. Safe to say that my family and I managed to get through all of our must-rides and had a great time there! Castmembers stayed as friendly as ever, and food stayed as delicious as it needs to be. I can't wait to go back!

Oh, Disneyland... every little kid's fantasy world. How I wanted to visit here so badly as a child, meet all my favorite Disney characters, see the parade, the famous Disney castle... but sadly I never got the chance to go until I was an adult. That being said, even adults can have a ton of fun here! I'm sure my preferences would have been different as a child, but as an adult, I'd have to say that the best part of the entire resort is the Adventureland Park. Amazing rides, if you're into that sort of thing. Of course there is so much to see and do in the entire resort, that you really can get stressed out thinking about how you'll see and do it all. Several days to spend in all the different parks is a must. If you want to spend a little extra money, it can definitely be worth it to even high a professional trip planner to help you out with all the tricks and tips you would have a hard time finding out about on your own. Buying a Fastpass if definitely worth the extra cost, because if you don't, you can easily spend much of your time just waiting in lines! And seriously, get there early, right when the park opens (at 8am in the summer), and hit all of the most popular attractions then. Don't skip the Indiana Jones ride, it's amazing! But get there first thing in the morning!

It's Disney! What else do you need? As other's have said you need more than one day unless you want to spend your time running to every show, ride or attraction. We had a 4 day park hopper and ended up buying an extra day because we had so much fun. You'll have a better experience if you do this:

*Go early - If Cali. Adventure has the early morning opening then go to the opposite park. The early park will always be the most crowded.

*Go during the week - Obvious reasons (school, work etc)

*First 2 weeks in June - Cali kids do not get out of school until mid June so for those who get out in May you'll have a couple of weeks where you have some elbow room.

* Make a game plan and plan your day to save on the back and forth of getting fast passes. Be efficient with you time and energy and you'll enjoy the small things the park has to offer. (Drawing lessons, fun time with the different Mickeys, Disney JR Live)

Place is amazing and even better after visiting Disneyworld in Florida! Nothing beats the original.

Our first trip to Disneyland. Make sure to prepare far in advance by researching lingo, how-to, tips, tricks and fascinating facts. We did that and had a professional trip planner and still felt stressed while on vacation. My advice, there's so much to learn and do, just enjoy the moment and accept that everything else is to keep the locals coming back. We'll go back!

TIP: Right outside the Haunted Mansion there’s a Haunted Wedding Ring embedded in the pavement! If that’s not creepy enough, there are real bones used as props in Pirates of the Caribbean. Also, here's a cool factoid: The park allows feral cats to roam the park at night. It's true. It’s to keep the mouse population under control. There’s even feeding stations set up throughout the park to keep the kitties fed. What would Mickey and Minnie think!?

Our recent visit proved disappointing. Most of our day was spent waiting in line anywhere between 60-120 minutes for every ride that we wanted to get on to. Fastpasses was an option but costs additional $$ and there's still a wait (shorter line) :(. Toontown was closed, and only a handful of Disney characters were available to see. Overall our trip turned out OK but I do not think it was worth the money.

Everyone has such magical things to say about Disneyland and I hate to be a party pooper, but it just wasn’t my favorite. We spent $800 for one day at one park and only got to ride about 6 rides (that was WITH the flash pass). Food is over-priced and the rides just weren’t that special. Save your money and go to Six Flags if you’re an adult or have teenage kids. Disneyland is just a bit over-hyped and entirely too commercial. A pair of Minnie Ears on a headband will cost you close to $30, so buy ahead!

Disneyland is super fun, but you really have to plan and prepare to have a good time, and accept that if you want to do even a majority of what is available, you will need to have the option of a multi-day stay.

Did you know Disneyland has some secrets? Here are the best ones I've hunted down so far: