Six Tips & Tricks for your Trip

Welcome back to Destined to Disney! It's 2018 and I've already been to the parks five times! Needless to say I have a lot to share. Pixar fest is in full affect and all I can say without spoiling it is, it's SOOO cute. I personally am not a huge Pixar fan, but for those that are this is great. We'll save the details on that for another post. For this post I want to share some Disney basics for the first timers!

Let's get into it!

1. Download the Disneyland App.

THIS IS A MUST. I REPEAT THIS IS A MUST. This app will be your tool to success while you are in the parks.

The blue image you see is what the icon will look like in your app store. With this tool you are able to do a lot.

* Purchase Tickets

* View Park Opening and Closing Times

* Make Dining Reservations

* View Park Maps

* View Wait Times for Attractions

* Find Where Characters are Doing Meet and Greets

and much much more! It's a free and anything that's free for Disney is just right for me!

2. Rope Drop!  Get there when it opens!

This is a tip I tell EVERYONE! Yes, it may seem awful to wake up so early on a day that's already destined to be long but it's totally worth it! You can check the opening and closing times on the Disneyland app. Now let's pretend you, your friends and family are going on a trip and the park opens at 8 a.m. You should get there at 8 right?! WRONG! If your driving you should really get to the parking garage about 45 minutes before the park opens. This will give you enough time to park, go through the security lines and catch the tram to the park! The security lines can get VERY long. A trick to avoid the long lines is to go through the security line through Downtown Disney. The gates to each park will open 30 minutes before the official "opening" time. This is a good time to go in, grab some coffee or a locker and get ready for the rides to open. This is known as "Rope Drop". There are ropes blocking off each land and right at opening time the ropes will drop and everyone will be off to their destination. This gives you the opportunity to be first in line and ride attractions multiple times! Try it! You won't be mad.

3. Lockers are your best friends!

Lockers are available in both parks, inside and right outside the front gates. There are two size options. A regular locker is $7 and a large is $11. There are also refrigerated lockers and charging lockers available as well. Lockers are good for storing sunscreen, snacks, merchandise and a change of clothes for the evening. Once you pay it's yours all day!

4. Fanny Pack Fun!

If you don't want to purchase a locker for the day, you can also bring in a back pack, purse or my personal favorite a fanny pack. Here is a picture of what I ALWAYS bring with me when I take a trip. Most of these things you can find in the park but why pay for it when you can bring it in for free! If you can't find what you're looking for inside of the park, you can always walk to the gift shop of the Disneyland hotel. They have last minute travel items that guests may have forgotten.

5. Fastpass! Fastpass! Fastpass!  

Grabbing a fastpass will be a normal part of your Disney day! A fastpass is a FREE tool that can be used to cut the long lines of certain attractions. To receive a fastpass you must go to a kiosk which is located near the ride you are wishing to go on. You will insert your ticket into a machine and a pass (pictured above) will be distributed with a time for you to return. This is a great system Disney has created! As we all know nothing is perfect and there are a few negatives to this system. The biggest inconvenience is that you can only hold one to two fastpasses at a time. You are not allowed to book another fastpass until one has been used. Another thing to remember is that you MUST use the pass within the time that is written. You have a fifteen minute grace period after the latest time. After that the pass can no longer be used. A new system to enhance the fast pass system  is offered to guest at the price of $10. This is called the MAXPASS, and can be added onto any ticket. The maxpass was created to help guests collect fastpasses right in the palm of their hand. This saves the run around in the park to the kiosks. You can also grab a fastpass for a ride in California Adventure while you are enjoying a ride in Disneyland. This is a game changer, and in my opinion makes the $10 worth it!

6. Stay Charged!

This is my FAVORITE thing to share. Our phones are used so much during a Disney day, it's easy to go through a whole charge. Disney now offers portable chargers for $30. This may seem like an expensive deal but here's how it works. You purchase a stick which comes with multiple cables to charge any device. Once your stick is empty, you simply find a machine (pictured above) and swap the empty stick for a fully charged stick. It's amazing!! I used to bring three or four sticks with me into the park. Now I can swap my stick with no problem. This is well worth the $30. There are multiple machines located in both parks as well.

Of course there is way more I could share but I wouldn't want you to be here all day! If you ever have a question or concern about your trip to the parks please feel free to ask! Pixar Fest will be here until September! If you haven't been yet, you should go! Pixar Pier will be opening June 23rd and Starwars Land is set for summer of 2019! Thanks for reading and supporting my obsession! I hope this helps!

"And as the years go by, our friendship will never die.

You're gonna see it's our destiny, you've got a friend in me!"