Best of Disneyland

It shouldn't come to a surprise to you that I love Disneyland. Since being with Rudy we've taken countless trips to the parks and we've always have the best time. Disneyland means a lot to the both of us. All our spontaneous trips wasn't until we became annual pass holders back in 2014. That was when we really took advantage of the passes so we could make sure we got our moneys worth. I was asked by one of my followers if I could make a post on all my Disneyland favorites along with a some tips so that is what I am finally bringing to you today. This will be a long post.

Starting off with Rides! Most people go to Disneyland for the rides. I am going to share my top rides starting with my favorite park Disneyland. You have to go on at least once on all the Fantasyland rides. To me they are the classic rides from all the movies I grew up watching. Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan is my favorite. I think those two are the best rides in fantasyland and figures since the wait for both those two rides are usually over a hour... Ouch I know but they are worth it. Tea cups is another favorite too but I prefer to go on that one at night time when they have all the colorful lights on!

I love Pirates of the Caribbean but mainly the two 'little' drops in the beginning. I enjoy going on this ride when I am starting to feel a bit tired and my feet are starting to hurt. We go on here and get to relax for a while and by the time the ride is over I am recharged. Indiana Jones is on the top of my favorite rides! Rudy and I hate waiting in line for a ride so if we have the option to get a fast pass that is what we do! *This is one thing I highly recommend people do to is get a fast pass for the rides that offer one.* That way you have a specific time that you can go back in line for ride and cutting a major part. I really enjoy the Haunted Mansion as well, a little more in the Christmas time for the Nightmare Before Christmas decorations.

Astro Blasters is definitely a favorite of mine and Rudy's! I've lost count at how many times we've gone on this ride. The wait or this ride almost every time we go on it is a 5 min wait. The line is always moving which is why we're always on it ha ha. You also get a free photo you can email yourself each time. Star Tours is Rudy's favorite, and I enjoy this one too except one time while we were on it it made me feel really sick like I was about to throw up so I've been holding a grudge. Since Disneyland has been celebrating the Season of the Force for Star Wars the wait time for this ride has been insane, so definitely get the past pass option for this one. Space Mountain which is currently known as "Hyperspace Mountain" they have it all Star Wars theme at the moment also for the season of the force. I really enjoy this ride. It is super fast and doesn't have a big of a drop. I can not handle rides that have drops, I just can't stomach it. For this ride too try to get your hands on a fast pass unless you're willing to wait close to a hour and a half wait.

(No surprise I'm always making dumb faces.)

DCA "Disney California" doens't have too many rides that I'm a fan of unfortunately. I was so excited that they made a Little Mermaid ride over on this side though and the ride is super cute! Rudy and I always go on this ride and its perfect since we normally only wait up to 15 mins at the most. Also when it's insanely hot this ride is perfect. The ac is cranked high especially when you go 'under the sea'. Ariel is my favorite Disney princess too so this ride is always a must. Goofy's Sky School is a ride you should check out. This one is more of a roller coater type of ride. It's really fast and has a couple of drops, I can't help but laugh and scream the whole time I am on this ride. The Monsters Inc. ride is another really cute one!

Now for my favorite ride in I think both parks, Radiator Springs Racer! Everyone and anyone that goes to DCA has to go to this ride! Rudy and I once stood for almost 2 hours waiting to get on this ride and I think that was our very first time we went on this ride. It was so worth it but I'll never do that again! Two hours or more is the usual wait time for this ride, I know it is insane!!! It is just that good and so much fun. What Rudy and I do now every time we can is as soon as we get to the parks, (Early mornings only though.) is go straight to DCA to get our hands on a fast pass! Believe it or not many times by 10-11 am when we arrive at the fast pass distributions for this ride its already gone for the day. So if you are planning on experiencing this ride get a fast pass! You'll thank me later.

If you are looking to eat at the parks my favorite breakfast spots are The Plaza Inn and the Carnation Cafe. They both have delicious foods along with those cute Mickey shaped waffles everyone always shares on social media, including me. The Plaza Inn however is a lot more fun because they offer character dining. While you are eating breakfast a good handful of Characters  such as; Tigger, the Fairy Godmother, Hook, Chip, Max, many more including Minnie herself. This spot would be perfect to go to to meet certain characters that aren't really out walking around the park and especially if you have children. They don't only serve breakfast they also serve lunch and I want to say dinner too but I could be wrong. I have only been there for their breakfast. Also both these spots will require for you to make a reservation in advance unless you'd like to wait in line until they are able to seat you, and I think that only works for the Plaza Inn.

When we are in Anaheim we don't typically eat lunch then later on dinner. We usually have some sort of breakfast then a good sized dinner. If we get hungry before or after 'dinner' we will snack. We love to get ourselves a churro, macaron which is a favorite of mine or pretzel which Rudy loves. These are some of the treats we will get and munch on. I do recommend that everyone try the macarons at least once. They sell these little or should I say big cuties at the Jolly Holiday located at the end of Main Street. The flavors always vary and they're all so delicious. I also love the caramel apples they sell in the parks but that I only purchase one on my last day. I like to take it to eat while I am back home since eating a caramel apple can get pretty messy and I like to cut mine up.

For a dinner choice there is't too many places I care to eat at in the parks but I really enjoy the Galactic Grill. They have some really good burger and fries there. One trip Rudy and I had made reservations at the Blue Bayou. Even though we have only been there once the plates we ordered was delicious! I wouldn't mind eating there again. Same thing with Ariels Grotto we've only been there once but the food was amazing! I still remember their crab soup they served as a appetizer!!!!! Best soup I have ever had. These two restaurants do require reservations and is a little more on the pricier side.

In DCA I love to eat at the Cove Bar, but they only serve appetizer type of stuff. I love their lobster nachos!!! That is usually the only reason why I'd want to go there until this last trip. I had seen a couple of people posting about this 'cotton candy lemonade' drink they serve at the Cove Bar and I was interested in trying this out. Like I mentioned before on a previous post I don't typically like anything with lemon or lime in it, but I love cotton candy! I was really hoping that I was going to like this drink since we waited in line for a half hour to get seated. Luckily the lemonade ended up being delicious and I can't wait for our next trip back so I can get another one. You have to go to the Cove Bar at least once. Every time we go they have such a long wait that is from a hour or more but it is really worth it! I would probably suggest trying to go there early like right when they open, since usually when I go it's after 4 pm and the wait is already long.

We rarely eat at the parks and we actually enjoy to leave the park to eat at different places we don't have back home such as Bubba Gump. This is a favorite of mine and Rudys since we love shrimp. We do have two of these closer to home but both are a little over a hour away. We love to go there at least once during our trip as well, same thing with Shakeys! This is a cute little pizza spot and it is always so empty which I enjoy. Rudy and I came to this place on our very first trip to Disneyland. Recently we started going to Joe's Crab Shack another sea food place ha ha. We really like to go to all these places at least once during our trip. They all have such a good variety of food choices and we've never been let down. If you choose to go to at least one of these places you will leave satisfied.

One place I have been recommending to anyone that lives in the Anaheim area or is going to visit is Joe's Italian Ice! I had never tried this place prior to our last trip in February. I had always seen it while driving to Disneyland and back to our hotel but never had any interest in it. When I think of Italian ice I think of those nasty snow cones which I hate. I don't know how anyone can enjoy eating ice drenched in flavored sugar. I thought this place was something like it and was I wrong. This Italian ice is in-between a slurpee and shaved ice but its the best consistency of the two. I don't even know how to describe but it is amazing. I probably sounds like a fatty right now but it's one of the best things I have ever tried and I've been thinking about it everyday since we left back home. While we were on vacation last month Rudy and I went to this place every single day without shame ha ha. They have tons of different flavors to from and they change them daily. I think most of not all their flavored ice is made with fresh fruits so that makes it healthy right? The two that I really liked that I had while I was there was the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy' and their 'Passion Fruit'. I was really bummed that they didn't have blood orange or peach while we were there but the Fuzzy Wuzzy is a mixture of peach and watermelon so that made up for it. The way we got our ice was with their custard which is called a 'Joe Latti'. This is so good I don't think I can say that enough. Having the custard with your ice is just perfect and the best of both worlds. I am going to stop rambling about this because it's making me crave one really bad.

I honestly don't know when it would be the best time to go to Disneyland. I have gone to the parks numerous times in different months. Personally I would not recommend going when kids are off school and or on vacations since the parks will get really packed. I don't enjoy going there during those times. During Holidays is also another time I would not recommend for you to go. Since a lot of people are either off work or taking a mini vacation with kids being off school. It will get really busy at the parks and that isn't fun for anyone, trust me. I have gone once the week before Christmas, worst time to go!  Also on Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, 24 hour event, kick off to Disneyland's 60th anniversary and even summer time. All those times apart from Valentine's Day was insane. The park even hit max capacity during Christmas and the 24 hour event! This all really depends if you have kids in school then you would probably go while they are on vacation. My favorite time to go is anywhere from October-mid November and February-May. The weather is always crazy in La but I have noticed that during those months the heat is not as bad as it is in the Summer. In fact the last two trips there the weather was nice enough for me to wear a sweater all day without feeling gross and uncomfortable which was in November and February.

At the end of the day my most favorite thing to do at Disneyland is taking tons of pictures for memories and meeting characters. This may not come to a surprise to everyone that Alice is my favorite character to meet. She has always been the hardest character for me to find! It wasn't until my second or third trip in 2013 where I finally found her taking a stroll and was able to get a picture with her. It wasn't even a great picture because the sun was directly hitting me in my eye but I loved it and it meant so much to me.

I have gotten a lot better at finding her. I have seen many different 'Alice' in the park but I have became very picky to who is my favorite and who I find is the best. Its such a coincidence that this very photo happens to be with my favorite Alice. I've seen her countless of times during my Disneyland trips and each time I see her she makes each encounter so magical. I might sound so cheesy but I don't think anyone knows or ever will know how much I really love Alice. She means a lot to me every since I was around 6 or 7 years old or younger than that. I've had many people ask me to share why and what I love about Alice maybe I will make a post on that in the future but I don't think its something many people would care about. Its pretty tricky to find your favorite Disney character walking around so I wanted to share how I did it.

This is the last thing I am going to be talking about and its that Disneyland has a their very own Disneyland app! This really comes in handy. If you are a annual pass holder like me you can sync your pass to the app. So instead of digging around your bag or wallet to find your card you can pop out your phone since you usually know exactly where that is or its right in your hands. The app shows you a map of Disneyland and DCA so you can find everything on there from rides to bathrooms and places to eat. There it also shows you wait times for rides and my favorite thing about this app what times and where characters (Alice) will be! This app will pretty much show you where anything you are looking for is and it really comes in handy especially if you can't seem to find a cast member. That was what I used to do every time, ask a cast member the times Alice would be out and now having this app with all that information its really came in handy.

I think I covered most of the basics and answered most questions I got about Disneyland. I hope I didn't forget anything but if I did you can always feel free to comment down below. I am happy to answer anything for you guys. I will also be at Disneyland from April 18-21 and like always if you see me feel free to say hi.

Xo
Juliana