Just got back! I've got some great tips...

[tabbycat7815]

Well, it's hard to believe our much anticipated Disneyland trip is over! We (hubby and I) were in Anaheim for a week with my 15 year old stepson and his best friend...what a blast! Here are some points I thought may be useful to others on their way (especially those with teenagers who want to ride the BIG rides often!)

-Enhanced Fastpass is THE WAY TO GO! I had read some people didn't think it was a big deal, but let me tell you, it MADE our trip. We were able to get fastpasses for all the best rides at the beginning of the day (usually I did this for all of us in both parks) and then enjoy the rest of the day with such minimal waits (maybe 15 minutes at the most). The boys also made use of single rider on Screamin' California (their favourite). We didn't want to spend the big bucks to stay at a DL hotel the whole trip, so we stayed at the Sheraton Park (wonderful hotel) for the first 5 nights and then switched to the DL hotel for the last two (mandatory to get Enhanced Fast Pass - through AAA).

-Knott's Berry Farm was a bit of a dispapointment...lines were SO long and we picked a Saturday thinking it would be best to avoid DL on the weekend. It was a mistake...Knott's was packed and we returned hot and grumpy. I think I would have preferred going to the waterpark.

-We rented a Mustang Convertible from the car rental outfit at the Best Western Park Place Inn. We got two nights for the price of one and the staff there was SO accommodating. They picked us up at our hotel and we had a blast driving down the coast with the top down.

-We drove to Huntington & Newport Beach and had a blast. We rented boogie boards and body surfed in the waves...very fun. There's a great ice cream place in Newport Beach. It takes a long time but the milkshakes are amazing.

-We went on a tour of L.A. (movie stars homes, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Mann's Chinese Theatre, etc.) It was great. There's only one company that does the movie stars homes and it was a lot of fun, but I would guess mostly for older kids.

-YOU MUST, MUST, MUST head to "The Block at Orange" shopping mall in Anaheim. It's fantastic. We didn't see much of it as we found "Steve and Barry's College Clothing" and stayed there for an hour and a half. Everything in the entire store is $6.99...nice jeans, shoes, beautiful good quality college sweatshirts/hoodies, shorts, shirts, etc. etc. There's more men's clothes than ladies, but I found some INCREDIBLE deals. It was one of the highlights of our trip. If you like good deals, this is the place to go. I can't way enough about it. It was much better than the Citadel (which the bus took us to after our L.A. tour).

I hope that helps make your trip as enjoyable as ours was...

All the best,

Erin.

 

[churchlady]

Thanks for the info! We are going in October. What is the difference between enhanced fastpass and just fastpass?

 

[mikayla73]

Did you have to purchase the Enhanced fast passes? If not, how did you get them?

I love Newport Beach - it's so awesome! The ice cream place (at least the one I always go to) also has frozen cheesecake on a stick, dipped in chocolate .. mmmmmm.

We are headed for our first stay at the DLH in May and I can't wait!!

 

[hlbtimes2]

Enhanced fast pass is part of the AAA package when you stay at one of the 3 onsite hotels. Enhanced fast pass allows you to get a fast pass for each ride that offers them, with out waiting for the return time or two hours to pass. You can have one for each ride at a time. Its great for peak season trips or short trips. Its not as needed during the off season or if you are going to a longer trip.

 

[tabbycat7815]

You can get Enhanced Fastpass if you stay at a DL hotel for a minimum of two nights and book through AAA. We stayed at the Sheraton for the first five and then switched to the DL hotel for the last two and received the Enhanced FP for our whole trip. It was definitely worth it at this time of year.

As mentioned above, Enhanced FP allows you to get a Fastpass for many different rides at once. With normal fastpass you can only hold one at a time (until the time for you to ride arrives, then you can get another). With Enhanced, you can get as many different rides as you like, but not more than one for each ride. So, you can have one for Splash, one for Space, etc.

 

[KBFinFan]

TabbyCat -

Thanks for the helpful hints for Disneyland!

I had a question - we're planning on staying at the Sheraton Park in a couple weeks, and I wanted to know how far it is from the parks? Did you walk or use ART most of the time? We're in our 20's so I don't expect it to be an issue, but just wanted to know if it is REALLY a pain.. or just a little pain.. haha.

Thanks!

 

[Ella1]

Sheraton Park hotel is a 10 to 15 minute walk from the parks.
The ART bus stops right outside and theres also a ticket machine there. We only caught the bus once as it was such a short walk, but the time we sat and waited for the ART bus, we could have walked it.
Love Ella
PS. I'm not in my 20's, I'm in my late 40's!!!

 

[tabbycat7815]

Yes, the Sheraton Park is only a 10-15 minute walk into the Parks...we walked a few times and took the ART shuttle most of the time because my husband has a bad back. The shuttle comes by the hotel every 20 minutes and is $3 per person per day. When you're returning to the hotel, you'll find the shuttles with all the rest (at the entrance of the parks) just look for the shuttle beside the letter "C" and it will drop you right off at the hotel.

Have a great time...we really enjoyed our stay at the Sheraton Park. It is very clean, well kept and the pool/bar area is great. They also have two restaurants (Molly's Kitchen and a Steak/Rib place) right at the hotel as well as a little store in the hotel that sells snacks, muffins and pizza. We ordered pizza from there one night and it was GREAT! We also ordered from Pizza Hut one night as it was a lot cheaper than eating at the restaurant for the four of us. Pizza Hut delivered right to our hotel room door.

All the best for a wonderful holiday...

Erin.

 

[KBFinFan]

Sounds great Ella and TabbyCat.. thanks so much!

 

[Ella1]

And you also have the "sweet sleeper bed", I wanted to bring mine home, it was so comfy!!...lol.
The pool area is very nice as well and you can buy snacks from there as well as cocktails. We had lunch in Molly's Kitchen on our last day and it was really nice. If you are looking for a really nice steak, then walk down to Harbor/Chapman and you will find the Outback Steakhouse, this is our favourite place to eat. Across the road from the Sheraton Park you have Subway, a pizza place and a nice chinese place. On the same side as the Sheraton, there's a 7/11 which does fantastic donuts (chocolate with custard inside) and theres an ABC.
We asked the hotel for bowls and spoons and plates and we bought cereal and milk and had breakfast in the room each day.
If you go down to Target, theres a little 99c store next to it and we bought cereal and breakfast bars from there.
Love Ella