Pops Travel Guide, Disneyland

In Front of Castle

It pays to go to Disneyland with someone who knows what they are doing. Last week my daughter and I went to Disneyland on Thursday. I thought midweek the crowds would be light. I was wrong, the crowds were huge with lots of school age kids. If it wasn't for Jennifer I would have spent most of the day in line.

Jennifer is my Disney expert and with her knowledge we were able to ride most of the best rides before noon. Here is how she did it.

Jennifer uses the "Fast Pass" to the full extent which allowed us to avoid most lines. As we entered the park we went directly to the Indiana Jones ride and picked up a fast pass. Most people stopped there to get in line. We then went to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and found no line. We were able to ride twice in a row with no lines. We then went to the Haunted House and again no line. After riding the Haunted  House it was time to use the fast pass for the Indiana Jones ride but before we went over there we picked up a fast pass for the Haunted House so we could ride it again. At the Indiana Jones ride we had a very short wait using the fast pass. We then went over to the Haunted House and rode that again. Jennifer didn't want to ride Splash Mountain so I was able to get into the single rider line and had a very short wait. Now it was time to get a fast pass for Space Mountain. As we walked over there we noticed the wait times for Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones were 70 minutes each however we were done with those rides. After getting the Space Mountain fast pass we went to It's a Small World and rode that, then the Jungle Cruise which was about 30 minutes and 20 minutes wait each. When we finished both it was time to use the Space Mountain fast pass. Before that we got a fast pass for the Buzz Lightyear ride.  Wait time for Space Mountain at that time without the fast pass was 60 minutes, we walked right up. When we finished the ride we still had to wait before we could use the Buzz Lightyear fast pass so we got in line and rode it that way which was about 20 minutes but as we got off the ride we went right back in with fast pass and were able to ride it twice within 30 minutes.  We wanted to get a fast pass for Thunder Mountain but the ride was down and fast pass was closed. Therefore we went to lunch.

Beauty and the Beast

So, we were able to ride Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted House, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, some of them twice all before lunch.

After lunch Thunder Mountain was open and we were able to pick up a fast pass. Normal wait time was 70 minutes. We then rode some of the rides in Fantasy Land and walk through Tarzan's Treehouse.  After seeing the Roger Rabbit area we rode Thunder Mountain with the fast pass and by then we had been on every ride we wanted to go on and it was only 4:30 pm.

The rest of the day was walking around, shopping, drinks in Napa Rose in the Grand Californian Hotel and dinner at Storytellers Cafe in the same hotel. We then walked Downtown Disney and did more shopping before calling it a day.

Napa Rose for Drinks

It was a lot of walking, my phone app said over 30,000 steps, but next to no lines. I figured we saved over 4 hours of waiting in lines. 

If you plan your visit take advantage of the fast pass and talk to someone that has been there before.

A note on fast pass. When you get your fast pass it is good for a window of time. You cannot get another fast pass until that window starts. So you can have 2 fast passes but the first fast pass window must be active.

Space Mountain

Winnie the Pooh

It's a Small World

Buzz Lightyear

Pops Travel Guide, Universal Studios Hollywood

View from our room.

Last week I took my daughter on a father/daughter trip to Los Angeles to see Universal Studios and Disneyland. For Universal Studios I booked a VIP tour which turned out to be the best thing I could have done.

We started out with the first tour of the day. You arrive about 20 minutes early so you can check in and enjoy a continental breakfast and meet your guide and other members of the tour. Each tour size is about 12 people. After filling up on food you board a smaller bus that takes you on the back lot tour. Universal offers the back lot tour to everyone but you are on a larger trolley and you are not allowed to get off the trolley. We made a few stops along the tour and were allowed to get off and walk around. We stopped at the property room, which is a multi-story building, where props can be rented for any movie. Some of the props we saw dated back to movies like the original Spartacus. We also stopped at what they now call Wisteria Lane where they filmed Desperate Housewives. Some of the houses had been used in TV shows like Leave it to Beaver and The Munsters. Another stop was a scene from War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise. The movie purchased a retired 747 in which they cut up and used in the scene where the 747 crashed into a neighborhood. We were able to walk around the wreckage.

After the back lot tour our guide took us into the park to take advantage of the attractions. The VIP experience gave us front of line access. My favorite was the Special Effects Show where they showed us fight scenes using stuntmen, how they set someone on fire and all the precautions taken to ensure safety in a stunt. They also showed sound effects and some of the technology used in film making.

Part of the VIP experience included a lunch. Now this wasn't the theme park food you would expect but was a full sit-down buffet. We had the option of crab legs, shrimp, prime rib and a great dessert bar. It was all you can eat and was well worth it.

After lunch they saved the best for last. We were taken into the Harry Potter area where we tried Butter Beer, and watched someone purchase a wand where the wand picks you. We were also able to do all the rides and at the end our guide left us but we were still free to go anywhere in the park and still take advantage of the front of line pass.

We went back to a few attractions we wanted to see again and then finished the day with the animal actor show which was very entertaining.

The VIP Experience is on the expensive side but if you have one day in the park, want to see as much as possible and get the most for your dollar then the VIP Experience is the way to go.