HUNTING PIXIE DUST Tips & Tricks HUNTING PIXIE DUST Tips & Tricks Guide BY M. SCHMIDT 2 Welcome to the Hunting Pixie Dust Disneyland Tips and Tricks Guide. We are Mark and Heidi and our goal is to help people create Pixie Dust on their next Disney vacation! In this guide you will find 79 tips and tricks to visit the Disneyland Resort like a Pro! We have compiled these tips and tricks from our years of visiting the parks and research we have conducted. We know you will get a lot Pixie Dust out of this guide. This guide is sectioned into groups to help you find the tip you want fast. Not all of the tips will be useful to all people. For example, you may be driving to the Disneyland Resort, so you will not need the tips on flying. While some tips may only apply to certain groups, there are more than enough practical tips to help you save money and get the most out of your Disneyland vacation. If you are planning your first trip to the Disneyland Resort, check out our over- view articles to learn more about the parks. Overview of the Disneyland Resort Overview of Disneyland 3 Table of Contents Pre-Arrival Tips .................................. 5 Travel Tips ........................................ 12 Money Saving Tips ........................... 18 Packing Tips...................................... 26 Hotel Tips.......................................... 27 General Disneyland Tips ................... 34 Cheap/Free Souvenirs ....................... 44 Security Line Tips ............................. 47 Parking Tips ...................................... 49 Conclusion ........................................ 51 Join Us on Social Media ................... 51 4 1. Pre Arrival Tips The following tips will help you plan for your trip. A well-planned trip can make the different between an average trip and pure Pixie Dust. 1. Deciding on when to visit Disneyland Deciding when to go to Disneyland is more complicated than you might think. Disneyland has become more crowded each year as attendance rises. That doesn’t mean you can’t find the right dates to go, it just means you have to figure out what your goal is. If your Goal is to avoid crowds, try these dates: First full week of January through the middle of February Third Tuesday of February to mid-March (when spring break starts) Mid-April through the third week of May First Tuesday of September to the beginning of October Second week of November If you have a specific time in mind and can’t avoid the crowds, check out the following tips: Sundays are usually less busy than Saturdays—unless the following Monday is a holiday. Weekdays are less busy than weekends, but the parks close earlier on weekdays. Fridays are the busiest weekday. School holidays and three-day holiday weekends will be busy. This includes President's Day (third Monday of February), Memorial Day (last Monday of May), Labor Day (first Monday of September), and Columbus Day (second Monday of October). The first week after Annual pass blackouts end is also busy as all those pass holders rush back for their Disneyland fix. You can find the blackout dates on the Disneyland website. 5 2. Restaurant Reservations Restaurant reservations are becoming more important as more people go to Disneyland. There was a time when you could simply drop in on a restaurant and get a seat with minimal wait. Now the wait times for the sit-down restaurants can be as long as 45 minutes to an hour. Planning your Reservations: Heidi often reminds me that we need to get our reservations in as early as possible. She likesto get reservations done 60 days in advance of our trips. I know this sounds like a long time in advance, butthis ensures that we will get into the restaurants we want. There are both counter service and sit-down restaurants inside the Disneyland Resort. You only need to make res- ervations for the sit-down restaurants. Decide which sit-down restaurants you wish to eat at and reserve them on the Disneyland Website. If this is your first time going to Disneyland, check out our Article on Best Places to Eat at Disneyland. 3. Hotels around Disneyland Hotels can be one of the more expensive parts of a Disney Vacation. Check out our Travel Partner for some great hotel prices. There are basically three options when it comes to hotels near Disneyland. You can stay at a Disney Hotel on property, Stay at a hotel within walking distance, or stay at a hotel further away from the Park. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages. We will provide more tips and tricks about hotels, in our Hotel Tips below. But for now, let’s look at a brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages for each option: Stay on Disney Property Pros: Closest Hotels to the Park, less walking Special Entrances to the parks 6 Do not need to drive and pay parking fee Early Magic Mornings Cons: Expensive Hotel charges daily parking fee in hotel parking lot Stay at a hotel within walking distance Pros: Do not need to drive and pay parking fee Restaurants outside Disneyland are sometimes cheaper than inside Disneyland Cheaper rooms than the Disney Hotels Cons: You have to walk back to hotel after a long day in the Park. Stay at a hotel further away from Disneyland Pros: The further away from Disneyland the Cheaper the Room Rates If you are going to multiple Theme Parks in the area, you can get a hotel between your two destinations Cons: You have to pay the Parking fee to park at Mickey and Friends parking structure. Could be a long drive back to the hotel after a long day at Disneyland. If you are bringing pets to Disneyland with you, check out our article 3 Hotels that accept pets. 7 4. Download Apps There are a lot of useful Disney Apps that can enhance your time in the Parks and help create more Pixie Dust. Here are a few Mobile Apps, Heidi and I recommend you download: Mouse Wait: Mouse wait provides line wait times, so you will always know how long a line is and when to get a fast pass. Disneyland App: This app's strength is that it's connected to Disney's wait time database. You can make and check your restaurant reservations and you can link your tickets to the app in case you lose them. Starbucks App: Starbucks is the coffee provider of choice at the Disneyland Resort. You can't use their app's line-bypassing pre-ordering feature inside the parks, but it can help you when you're on the way in at the two Starbucks in Downtown Disney. Starbucks Downtown Disney is closest to the security gates, and the East location is near the Disneyland Hotel. 5. PhotoPass Service The PhotoPass service at Disneyland is one of the best things offered in the park. Photos are must have souvenirs for any vacation and the Disneyland PhotoPass service makes getting great photos super easy. Throughout the Parks, you will find Photo Cast Members that will take your picture at great picture stops. This allows your whole family to be in the picture. The pictures taken are linked to your tickets and you can view your photos online and decide if you want to buy a download or buy prints. You have 30 days to review the pictures online and see if you want to buy them. How it works: Link your ticket to yourDisney Account. This is the same account you will use to make your reservations for Disneyland Restaurants. Each time a Photo Cast Member takes you picture, they will scan your ticket. Log into your Disneyland.com Account to view your photos. This service lets you get great pictures from a professional photographer. They also create digital effects for photos, such as adding Tinkerbell in the palm of your hand. They are very fun. We definitely recommend you link your account to the PhotoPass Service so you can take advantage of it. 8 6. Buy Tickets online / Print at home Disneyland Tickets are expensive, but there are ways to get them a little cheaper than at the ticket booths at the park. Hunting Pixie Dust has partnered with an Authorized Disney Ticket seller to offer discounted tickets. You can save up to $30 per person. One of the advantages to purchasing your tickets online, is that you can print them at home and go directly to the gate, skipping the annoying ticket booth line. Simply, walk right to the gate and present your print out and your tickets will be given to you at the gate. Once you have your tickets printed, you can link them to your Disneyland.com account by entering the code on the tickets. This ensures that if you lose your tickets, you can get replacements by showing your Disneyland.com Account information. This is one of the first things Heidi and I do when we buy tickets. 7. Checkout free Disney planning videos Whether this is your first trip to Disneyland or you just want to get excited for your trip, consider requesting Free Disney Planning videos from Disneyplanning.com. Disneyplanning.com is a branch of the Disneyland website and offered free video downloads and DVDs to help you plan your next Disney Vacation. You can find videos for the following vacations: Walt Disney World Resort Disneyland Resort Disney Cruise Line Adventures By Disney Disney Vacation Club Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa 9 After you have watched the Official Disney Videos, if you want more videos about Disneyland, Check out our Youtube Channel for more tips and tricks as well as reviews and park history.