Well, this is a long overdue post here in my page. So here it is…
Disneyland, the happy place on earth. Siyempre everyone wants to go and we finally got our chance to. For those who would tell you that your kids are too young and they will not remember a thing, DON’T MIND THEM! IT was a delight to see on the eyes of a child how Mickey and Minnie Mouse come to life. You will not regret it so if you can, save na and go!
Mahaba habang kwento ito kase five days.. hope you reach the end..
I always plan our travel six months or more. Kung pwede ng a year of planning, ginagawa ko talaga to have myself prepared. Especially big money and isishell out so kelangan thorough planning talaga. Pinterest had been my bestfriend on this. Most ideas, tips and tricks I got from Pinterest.
PLANE TICKETS:
I bought our tickets through Orbitz.com. This site is my go to site talaga for plane tickets. I always get good ticket deals plus I never had any problem. I chose American Airlines. I flew before using this airline and okay naman ang service nila. Me free food and mababait ang mga employee. Total price of our tix was around $600 for 3 seats. My son since he is 3 may bayad na while my daughter is lap seat so libre pa.
Cons: I haven’t flown that long I guess na marami ng changes sa plane rides due to such and such kaya two days prior to departure, I checked in and I saw na magkakahiwalay kami ng seat. Well kami ni Gabriel magkasama and then my husband was separated. Not unless I pay for the seats then I guess magkakatabi kami.
Me bayad na din ang luggages. I thought na first luggages were free. Each checked in luggage is $25.00. I guess this were the part na I did not really look into kase I paid a pricey plane ticket na.
Tip: There are budgeted airlines in US domestic flights. I will go for Southwest which includes 2 free checked in luggage. Cons eh di mo mapipili seats mo. Other budgeted airlines are Frontier, Virgin America, Spirit Airline wherein you pay for your luggage and seat but your plane fare itself will not really cost more than $200 if you search early for tickets.
For those who have kids: prepare new toys for your kids. I went to dollar store and bought new coloring book at gumawa din ako ng lego kit. Picture in comment box. Patakbuhin din ng patakbuhin ang mga bata para mapagod. Bring their security toy/blanket. My little girl’s security blanket is a queen size and hassle man dahil sobrang laki but we brought it with us. Bring suckers for little kids para sa pag take off at ng di sila magcomplain about earpain. One of the mommies in the plane approached me and told me she used to put hydrogen peroxide on her daughter’s ears para mawala ear pain. I wasn’t able to concentrate if meron pa ba iba inilalagay or what so Im not sure about this one.
Moving on, we were sick the day before our trip. Though I didn’t prepare to be sick, I still brought my emergency medicine kit- Tylenol infant and child. Benadryl for kids, Tylenol for adults, Motrin for kids, Immune booster, cough syrup, Manzanilla, Tera Honey. I always bring this on all our travel kahit pa overnight or kabilang state lang. It is super indeed helpful. Salamat din sa prayers ninyo kase by Tuesday night, we were able to start enjoying our trip.
I hired Lansky services to pick and drop us off the airport. They offer car seats kaya super convenient. I preferred to just stay around Disneyland kase ayoko magrent ng car dahil poproblemahin ko pa rin ang car seat. Knowing California, I am also afraid to drive on their expressway- traffic, the fast and slow lane. Anyways, the trip is for the kid kaya sabi ko we will stay in Disneyland na lang. Lansky driver is mabait. Chinese ata mayari nito kase singkit mga driver. Malinis din ang car. Very convenient. I didn’t go for Uber kase car seat again. Safety first. Madali lang transaction with them. I just emailed and they reply right away. I asked them about how to reserve and then they make an invoice. You can pay thru paypal or credit card. Pick up is $80.00 and it includes one stop over to a nearby grocery store. Drop off is $75. They help naman with your luggage din.
ON CHOOSING A HOTEL:
We were suppose to stay at Best Western Plus along Harbor blvd kaya lang nagkuripot pa ako. The price per room then was $130.00 and I was hoping na magmumura pa siya. I wasn’t able to reserve our rooms not until 3weeks prior to departure and because of that, naubusan na kami ng rooms and the price increased as well. We ended up staying in Fairfield Inn by Marriott.
Pros with Best Western Plus:
• It is right across Disneyland entrance, by the stoplight.
• They offer free continental breakfast.
At Fairfield Inn, it is a half mile away from entrance of Disneyland. Pang- apat na hotel ata siya from the stoplight. Inside the hotel is Pizza hut on the third floor. Me maliit na pool, heated water. Me jacuzi din. We had a king size bed. Sakto for a family of four. Malinis. Everyday din sila naglilinis at nagpapalit ng towels and whatever you need. Other hotels I know don’t clean your rooms everyday not unless you requested it. Only problem was we found a one bed bug. Dahil sa kalikutan ni Gabriel. SO parang di siya ganon kaganda at kalinis dahil sa bug? They are renovating their above floors din so sa umaga me maririnig ka na magpukpok or something pero minimal pa rin. Me laundry area each floor. Each cycle cost $1.50. You need quarters if you need to do laundry.
Around the area of the hotel, in front is Panera Bread, few walk up north is Mcdonalds, Captain Grill. Another mile away is Anaheim mall- maliit lang na puro kainan. I saw Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs (we had dinner here). Marami pa iba kainan. Marami pa rin hotels along this road. Harbor Blvd is the area to go if you want to stay closest to Disneyland entrance talaga.
DISNEYLAND
We bought a five day park-hopper ticket that cost us $990. Walang bayad si Claire since she is less than 3. If I only knew earlier, pwede pa rin sanang walang bayad si Gabriel since he is so small. HE could pass for a two year old. Since we have five day tickets, meron kaming magic morning pass where we can go earlier for an hour prior to opening. Okay to for picture taking purposes dahil less people. Mas mabilis din magrides pag siempre kokonti ang tao.
Despite having five days there, feeling ko kulang pa rin. Towards the end of the week na namin narealize na let’s do this, let’s do that. Kase nga wala kaming plans of what to do. Basta play it by ear lang kung ano mangyari.
Tips:
- Prepare your itinerary. (a) are you just going to see the characters (b) magrarides ba?
For the characters- download the Disney app so you can see what time the characters will come out and where will you see them. It really helps at least alam mo kung san ka pupuwesto at maghihintay instead na magikot ng magikot kahahanap sa kanila. Allow at least 10-15minutes for each character to line up. Pwede magpapicture gamit ang sariling camera dun sa official photographer. IN respect, tanggapin mo din ang photopass na ibibigay sa iyo. Magprepare din ng camera for some characters doesn’t have their official photographer as well.
For rides- me mga fast pass. We didn’t use this kase nagrides lang kami sa konti pila. PInakamahabang pila naming is Autopia. We did the Nemo Submarine, Ariel, Casey’s Junior Train, Storybook Land (gusto ko ito), carousels etc. For those with small kids, wag ninyo na ipilit iyong ayaw nila na rides. Like my kids don’t like anything spinning so kahit gusto ko magteacup, ayaw ko na since nakakahilo naman din talaga.
- GO for a dining package that includes World of Color or the fireworks. It is so worth it to see the World of Color at California adventure. We were supposed to see this Monday on Gabriel’s birthday but we reschedule kase nga super sama ng pakiramdam namin. Thank goodness kase nacancel nila ang show that night since it was windy and very cold. And yes they could cancel a show. The next day we went and me choice sila for less wet or more wet. IF you think hilig mo magvideo, dun ka na tumayo sa may railings/more wet area. Mist lang naman talaga siya and ano ba naman iyong konting basa although it is just a mist. Prepare to bring na lang some blanket/jackets just incase and malamig din sa gabi so just be ready. We went and they were celebrating the lunar new year so they included a chinese story pa prior to World of Color. Basta this is a must see
- The Electrical parade- paiba iba ata name nito depend on the season but it is still a parade at night with the characters. Ours started at 7pm. If you want a good spot, camp out at least two hours prior. Again, bring blankets. Maganda din ito. Pero super loyal ako sa World of Color or baka mas nauna ko nakita si World of Color kaya so-so na lang si parade.
- Disneyland Fireworks.- Waley kami dito. Again, go for a dining package para magkaroon kayo ng reserve seats for best place para sa fireworks. Their fireworks were scheduled only for Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Since low season, hindi siya everyday but I guess pag peak season, everyday ang fireworks. The best spot for the fireworks is in front of the castle. And we have this best spot kase we camped out 4hours prior. And then it RAINED!. Nabasa lahat ng blanket namin that we ended up going home instead. Di na naming tyinaga kahit last night na. More reasons to go back.
- Dining- mahal food inside the park but our must have’s: Corn on a cob sa stall near Cinderella’s castle. Me chimi-changas din. Bengal Barbeue in Jungle Safari area is a must have. Super sarap nung spicy and chili nila. Meron din silang sweet (banyan). And the Safari skewer is a must too kase pantanggal sawa iyong asparagus nila. Mas prefer koi to kesa Vegetable skewer. Sa California Adventure meron Korean food (not sure if its only there because of the lunar new year pero meron sila pho, kimchi, barbecue grill.
Thank you to Macy at nilabas niya kami sa Disneyland. Hahahaha. We went to Anaheim Packing District. Iba iba food. Pinasosyal na food court. Masarap ang food and we really enjoyed eating away from the hotel. Sayang me malapit dawn a Chowking, nakakain sana ng siomai. Next time, itatarget koi to.
- Shopping- mahal magshop peros siyempre masarap pa rin mamili sa Disney ng pasalubong. Mura ang mga pens. Mahal for me ang keychain ($6-7.00). Jackets are worth $40-50. I wasn’t able to see ang mga ref magnets. I am not into pins kaya di ako tumingin. Collectibles are so good kaya lang iniisip ko mababasag kaya I refrain myself from buying any except for the ornaments which I really collect.
There are two big shops for souvenirs. One is the World of Disney, along Disneyland Drive, right before you enter the parks and the other one is the shop sa dulo inside ng California adventure. Meron pa rin naman ibang shops na maliliit or specific shops like the one na puro astronaut sa may Tomorrowland or puro princesess sa Hollywood blvd inside California Adventure.
Thank you to Macy kase sabi niya pwede palitan ang balloons pag nagpop as long as you have the weights. Our balloons pop nung tumama sa ceiling ng hotel and we were able to get new balloons. A regular balloon is $9. Iyong umiilaw na balloon is $15.
Sinabihan din ako ng cashier nung bumili ako ng bubbles na if in case masira or di kasya iyong mga sunglasses for the kids that I can return it. Siguro the difference of buying inside eh matagal ang buhay kase nakailang bend na dun sa mga sunglasses eh hindi pa rin sila napuputol.
- What to bring inside: Bawal ang wagon. Sayang lang ang pagdala namin kase di rin nagamit. We ended up renting stroller. 2 for $25. Thank you din ke Macy kase pinahiram niya kami ng stroller. It pays to know a N@Wie all over talaga. Our savior si Macy. Sabi nga ng asawa ko super bait daw. Kung super close daw talaga kami.. ☺
Bawal din ang trolley bag not unless you bring it like a handbag. Muntik na ipagbawal ang aming tripod. Buti na lang pumayag ang isang guard.
Bring water. Bring small snacks. Para pag nagutom, hindi palaging bibili inside the park.
Bring umbrella. Hayyyy iyong last day naming I trusted too much at di ako naniwalang uulan. WE have kapote and umbrella sa hotel. The temperature during our whole stay was in 50-70’s. Paglabas ng hotel, malamig, by the time we reach the park, pawisan na kami. At the end of the day, malamig na din so a light jacket will do. ☺
Bring a blanket. Always, always helpful. Pangcover sa kung anuman.
Wear comfortable shoes. There’s a lot of walking.