We all know that Disneyland is the ultimate fantasy trip for kids. I don’t think I know a single family that does not have a Disney vacation on their wish list. Thankfully Disney makes it possible to go on any budget. There are budget hotels outside the park, theme packages, and of course the upscale resorts.

Once there, your family will be transported into a land of fantasy. You’ll find rides, parades, shows, fireworks, and your child’s favorite Disney characters — life-size.

Disneyland is separated into eight themed areas. You have Main Street, New Orleans Square, Frontier Land, Critter Country, Adventure Land, Mickey’s Toontown, Fantasyland, and Tomorrow Land. Each area has rides, dining, and shows that fits in with the theme. I’ll go into detail about what you will find in each area in a future post. For now, I’ll advise that Main Street is where you will find Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and Mickey’s Toontown is where your children can meet Mickey himself.

Now for tips on taking a Disney trip with the kids. There are many rides that are very popular. I went last year and stood in the long lines with my 4 year old and I know first hand how exhausting that can be. You must park your stroller before entering the line. Now here is the trick, and I found out about this after my trip. If the ride you want to go on is a fastpass ride, you can pretty much make a reservation for the ride, and come back at your assigned time to take the ride. Here’s what you do. Go into the fastpass distribution line. You will see a clock showing what time fastpasses are being issued for. You will get your fastpass then you are free to do something else until your time frame. I say time frame because you have 1 hour (say from 1pm - 2pm) to come back to the ride. When you come back, you go to the fastpass entrance and you will be on the ride in no time. This totally beats standing in line with the kids.

Stay tuned for future blog posts on the different areas within the park.