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| By Mark Landucci |
Oh brother…what to see? What to do?
What to eat? Where to rest? What to miss? What not to miss? What to
buy? Where am I going to park? What time do I arrive? What if I miss
the rope drop? When and where should I wait for a parade? There is a
lot to consider when venturing into to the Happiest Place on Earth.
It’s quite easy to get overwhelmed with it all. There are many
books and companies that give you touring plans, guides and ideas.
This is all fine and good. I mean I love Disneyland, but it
definitely can be a bit overwhelming. Even for me. I have my thoughts
and ideas about all of this structured touring and planning. Continue after the page break for more…shall you???
When planning a trip to Disneyland,
there are a few givens that you have to allow. First you have to
understand that there will be people…and sometimes lots of them.
Second, a lot of shows, parades, attractions will be presented to you
at different parts of the day. Third, everybody in your party may
have a different idea of what they would like to do. It’s for these
reasons that I try to save up enough time and money to go for
four to five days. In fact, even between my daughters, there’s
difference in what they want to see and do.
Understand this! Disneyland means
something different for everyone. We all have different reasons why
we go. It’s important to acknowledge that difference among us. No
matter what the reason is, you can definitely make it your own.
That being said…There a few schools
of thought about visiting Disneyland. On one hand, there are those
folks who approach Disneyland in a very militaristic manner. They
have every minute detail planned: when they’re going to arrive,
where they’re going to enter the park, where they’re going to
eat, which restrooms have the lowest wait time. On the other hand,
there are those that are mostly casual about their trip and want to
go at their own pace and explore everything. And there’s a third
group of people
that really don’t seem to have any
agenda and don’t really care about what they see or don’t see.
All are welcome, of course.
I align myself mostly with the second
group of people. I learned a while ago that when we go to the parks,
we try and go for as long as possible. I’ll talk more about that
in a bit. But I wanted to discuss a little about the first group.
Structured plans help relieve a bit of
the anxiety that comes with trying to figure out what to see and
where to go. However, the can also provide some anxiety of their own.
For example, what if you get held up in a long line or something
along your journey catches your eye that you want to explore? Let’s take
a look at a real-life suggestion from one of the leading Disneyland
planning groups.
- Arrive approximately 30 minutes before the park opens.
- Enter through east side tunnel.
- Immediately head to Space Mountain and get a fastpass.
- Head over to Indiana Jones and wait in line.
- Exit Indiana Jones and turn left towards Pirates of the Caribbean.
- Wait in line for Pirates of the Caribbean.
- By this time, your fastpass for Space Mountain should be valid.
- Run towards Space Mountain.
- Stop…stop….stop.
Does anyone else see the fallacy
in this? I’m not of the mindset that Disneyland needs to be rushed
through. Let’s take a look at just
one aspect of this list. Let’s say you do in fact, run
towards Space Mountain. You’d be running past a couple of unique
elements to the park.
First, you’d be running past the
Dole Whips. And you need to have one of those because…..Wait,
what? You don’t know about these gems? Dole Whips are a
pineapple-flavored soft serve dessert. They also come as a float and
they are crazy good. I must admit though, my daughters haven’t
tried these yet. (Note to self: Insist on forcing these on them next
time.) These are located just at the entrance to the Tiki Room. You
definitely shouldn’t run past these.
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Dole
Whip Stand
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Dole
Whip and Dole Whip Float
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Coincidentally, just behind the Dole
Whip stand, near the entrance to Frontierland, lies another hidden
gem. Well, a gem to me. What is it?
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Frontierland
Pond
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It’s a pond!!! Sometimes there’s
foliage that obscures the view of the pond, but there is a
pond there! In terms of aesthetic design, I find this to be quite
fascinating and….enchanting. It’s subtle touches like this that
impress me. Now, I’ve read that there were Koi fish in this pond,
but I’ve never seen them. I have seen the Koi fish at the
Disneyland Hotel. And if you get the opportunity, take a look at
those. Quite impressive.
I know these aren’t really
attractions, but they serve as a reminder that there are things
scattered around the park that would be easily missed if one were to
“run from attraction to attraction.”
A final thought about the structured
plans. I think they (structured plans) are a good starting point for
those people who may have limited time at the park(s). However,
Disneyland cannot be enjoyed in just one day. They throw so much at
you that it’s nearly impossible to see all there is to see. On top
of that, it’s a disservice to yourself to try to do this. In
addition, I’ll say that following a pre-determined course at the
park(s) will ultimately meet with diversions because you’ll stumble
across something that you might want to see.
When I approach the parks, I approach
it with a bit of structure but I allow for flexibility. I ask what
everybody wants to see or do…or more likely, ride. My youngest
daughter will want to ride Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder
Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, Snow White’s Scary Adventures
and Pirates of the Caribbean. All in that order. I try to diffuse
this by adding some logic in there and
explain how it doesn’t make sense to go in
that order. But the more I think about this, the more I think, does
it really have to make sense??? Can’t you just go wherever you
feel like you want to go? Hmmm. For me, I try to focus on two or
three lands per day. This only really works if I’m able to go for
four to five days. But I can happily spend time venturing through
Adventureland, New Orleans Square and Critter Country on a certain
day and then move on to the other lands during the other days.
However, I always take time leaving the park to look through all the
shops in Main Street. I always seem to find something new. Plus, I
always seem to buy an ice cream for my daughters.
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Enjoying
Ice Cream on Main Street USA with My Daughters During the 50th
Anniversary
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I guess one thing I have to keep in
mind as I write this is that most people don’t have the luxury of
both the time and money to go to the parks that often. I try to go
every other year, not because I don’t want to go more often, but
because I want it to be special for the girls. If I had my way, I’d go
a few times a year.
But structured (or at least,
semi-structured) plans shouldn’t really be followed point by point.
I think it’s good to circle a few major attractions and build your
day(s) around those. I was talking about this the other day with some
friends and I said I could easily have a great time at the park
without really riding much at all. I mean, there’s always something
to see and do for everyone.
I think of that quote “life is about
the journey, not the destination” and I find this to hold true for
your experience there. Breathe, relax, smell the flowers, listen to
water, eat popcorn, listen to the jungle drums near Adventureland and
take it all in. Forget about the plans and the places to be.
I will see you there soon.
Great article! Can't wait for next year!
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