I went to disneyland a few times when I was young and don't remember enjoying it all that much. I was skeptical but my two and a half year old wanted to go. I am very glad we did. It was crowded even in the middle of the week during slow season but we had more fun than we have anywhere else. My son loved the rides and felt so big being able to go on quite a few. We went on buzz Lightyear six times in two days. The food wasn't as badly priced as other theme parks and it was amazingle clean. The only thing that was a little disappointing is that there didn't seem to be as many characters as there used to be. Other than that it was a wonderful experience.

I just returned yesterday from a 5 night stay in Anaheim, CA visiting Disneyland and California Adventure. We stayed from Feb 19 - 23, 2008. We were fortunate enough to have an Uncle in LAPD and he was nice enough to get us 3 day hopper passes for $56 each. Which is an incredible deal since one day, one park passes are $66.

Unfortunately the second day my ticket got taken away. All of the other members of our family were able to get in fine (everyone got their name on their ticket) but unfortunately mine got messed up, and instead of my name it had our Uncle's name. The first day I had no trouble coming/going from Disneyland, but the second day when we entered for our Plaza Inn breakfast a very rude CM took it away without explanation and made me wait 20 minutes for his manager to explain to me what the mix up was.

After the manager (who wasn't much nicer) told me they were taking my ticket away, and finally gave back my ID. I had to buy one day passes at $66 for the next two days and ended up spending a lot more on tickets than I wanted.

Besides that we had a wonderful time at the parks. In case you guys are wondering I am a huge Disneyland fan and always plan to go to the parks in late January or early February. It did rain in the mornings while we were there, but by noon it cleared up. And the rain scares the SoCal residents away so the wait in lines are non-existent.

On Friday morning there was a wait of 3 hours for Nemo. We came back at around 7 PM during the Parade of Dreams and the CM said the wait for Nemo was a 1/2 hour. We got in line and an hour and a half later we made it to the front. We were disappointed that the CM had lied to us about the wait time (they weren't even close and she was specifically advertising to everyone it was ONLY a 1/2 hour; a lot of us in line were discussing how off she was) but despite that it was still shorter than 3 hours.

Besides Nemo the longest wait we had was a 1/2 hour at Indy. We walked on Pirates, Haunted, Splash, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Monsters Inc, Muppets, Tiki, Tough to be a Bug, Pooh... and had about a 20 min wait at Screamin, Soarin, Thunder, Mr. Toads, and Storybookland. We used fast passes on Space and Roger Rabbits and walked right even though they had a 40 min stand-by wait.

In Feb 2006 we had visited as well about a one week apart difference from this year's visit. We noticed that Tiki and Small World had several problems with not functioning birds and dolls. Small World was closed (to fix the boats since they are supposedly having a problem with the population being heavier than before) but when we sat through Tiki all of the birds, tikis, flowers were functioning perfectly.

The crowds were so wonderful, I couldn't complain. Although it seemed for no reason they closed Tom Sawyers Island, even though only in the mornings was a drizzle. They also randomly closed the Tea Cups, Alice, Thunder because of the rain but reopened later in the evening on Fri.

We ended up walking from our hotel on Disney Way to the park. It saved us $12 a day (that's $36 for 3 days) and was very close to the walk from the tram to your car in the Mickey & Friends parking structure (especially if you parked way in the back). We also saved money by eating one meal in the park (lunch since its cheapest) and then just munching on a churro / popcorn / cotton candy until dinner. (Have breakfast out of the park, as well as dinner- will save you loads of cash) Although churros / popcorn / cotton candy is about $3 each. Soda runs from anywhere from $2.69 (for a cup) or $2.75 (for a bottle).

We really did have a magical time, and Nemo was cute. If I really had to wait 3 hours to see it then I don't know how I would feel about it. The loading/unloading time for that ride is ridiculous. We also got to do the new "Pirates" since it reopened with Capt. Jack Sparrow and Barbosa. We enjoyed the Davy Jones smoke screen but was kind of annoyed at how much they mentioned Capt. Jack throughout the ride. It was a bit overkill and I missed the original. Although the last shot of Capt. Jack with the treasure was fitting and better than those two pirates pushing the treasure up the lift.

Some more tips for you travelers:

- If you are going to eat at Blue Bayou (inside Pirates of the Caribbean) make reservations a couple of weeks before you visit the park through Disney Dining. Also if you are on a budget make reservations before 3:50 PM as their lunch prices are 1/2 of their dinner prices. Lunch prices range from $21-35. If you want waterside seating ask when you check-in, it could be anywhere from 15-45 mins extra to sit by the water. The restaurant has wonderful atmosphere, good food, and excellent service.

- Another great place to get more bang for your buck is Rancho Del Zocalo located in Frontierland. They have huge portions that you can split with someone. Also good food.

- If you are on a budget for Disney souvenirs you can get some pressed pennys from 50 cents to $1 in the Crystal Arcade on Main Street. You can also go to the Disney Outlet store located on Harbor past the 91 where they still carry current items inside Disneyland for normal (instead of exuberant prices)

- During the parade / fireworks do rides that have abnormally long lines like Nemo. You'll only have to wait 1/4 to 1/2 the time when something isn't going on.

Anyways I <3 Disneyland and had another wonderful time. Hopefully next time I'll finally be able to see the fireworks (they were canceled due to winds) and eat Plaza Inn's Character Breakfast!

This place is MAGIC and will always bring the kid out of you!. I'm glad my family had a good time! Everyone knows what to do at amusement parks so I will tell you the good and bad about disney.

Pro:
-buy your tickets online or at your hotel
-map out your day for efficiency
-ALWAYS do fast track
-for families with small kids, get the switch pass (fast pass for families)
-eat ice cream, dole whips, corn dog, popcorn, bacon cheeseburger
-go to mattahorn, Pirate and nemo rides early.
-bring your own drinks, strollers and appropriate clothing for the weather.


Cons
-buying your tickets at the park...you'll be sorry waiting in those lines.
-security check points are small and time consuming, need more staff.
-souvenirs and food are overpriced
-adults falling in line for town town and fantasy land rides (these rides are meant for little kids, not ages 18-30.

although its the happiest place on earth, you'll see crying kids not getting what they want, pissed off parents yelling at each other or their kids, people upset with each other due to crowding and long lines. LOL! we're all human!

I've been to Disneyland probably more than anyone I know. I'm 21 and I've been at least over 100 times. I've seen this place change many times. I love it.

Here are some tips:
1. Go in off season. Basically anytime schools are in session. Also weekdays are much better than weekends. People worry that rides will be closed, but usually it's only 1-2 rides. There are usually only 5 minute waits.
2. Fast Pass is good. People underestimate the power of the fast pass, but it really can save you time. Get Fast pass to the major rides like Indiana Jones and then while you wait go on another ride or eat.
3. Everything is expensive at Disneyland. If you are on a budget you can go outside of Disneyland and eat. Research the area and you'll find that just 2-3 blocks away there are affordable food.
3.a. Bring your own water and snacks. Drinking fountains are sparse and you will get thirsty in line. I always bring 10 bottles.
4. Backpack, Backpack, Backpack. Not a fanny pack, backpack. Where are you going to put 10 bottles of water?
5. Shows are an opportunity to get on the rides. There are going to be hundreds of people lining up to watch the shows, which means hundreds of people are out of line.
6. Get your tickets online. You can just walk up to the gate with your printout.

If you plan things right you can get on every single ride in one day.