Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Planning my next Disneyland Trip!

For those who don't know, I just returned from a trip to Disneyland! Rather than forget the lessons I learned, I thought it would be useful to jot down a few items here.

Lesson #1: Plan some down time! I think for me, the optimal Disney stay would be 4 days in the park, with a rest day in the mix.

Lesson #2: Stagger the standing! World of Color, fireworks, Toy Story Mania and other long waits need to be spread out.

Lesson #3: Avoid the crowds! Arriving early was awesome. Some of my older children and family members stayed late, and they said the crowds were low then as well.

Lesson #4: Travel with family. Having more people there had many benefits. I appreciated my older children being able to stay late and do more with their aunt and uncle. Traven was happy with Grandma's endless supply of Skittles!

Lesson #5: Stay close to the park! I was jealous of those who could walk back and forth.

7 comments:

John said...

Hey Mike, I gotta tell ya man - there's a LOT more to do down here than just Disneyland. Yeah, yeah, I know... Disneyland's a lot of fun but your older kids would probably LOVE Magic Mountain with all the roller coasters (of course, it's not so easy for us old guys to ride those things anymore). Universal Studios is fun for a day, too, and I hear Knott's is nice. And speaking of down time, please please please tell me you made time to go to the beach!

I hope your trip was nice and the weather cooperated - you should post some pictures.

Mike Elquist said...

Thanks John! I love Knotts and Universal. This was a quick trip over the weekend, minimizing missed school and enjoying one last fling before my son Braden leaves on his mission. My next trip will be longer and include some beach time!

John said...

Mission? Where's he going? (And congratulations to him and his parents!)

Remember Elder Quist? A couple months ago I ran into him* in a ward down here, picking up his son who had just finished his mission. My oldest (also named Braiden!) isn't even 18 yet - just waiting on college acceptances right now.

*http://bookworm-dad.blogspot.com/2011/11/they-were-still-his-brethren.html

Mike Elquist said...

Braden leaves for Indiana next month. We are way excited!

There are quite a few of us on Facebook. You should check it out. I think you would recognize quite a few names!

Lauren said...

Next year, we'll try to hit it up a week earlier when it's less crowded. Do I hear annual trip plans??

Mike Elquist said...

Hey Lauren, sounds great to me! Maybe that week would be less crowded as well, since it is between holidays.

John said...

From what I heard the holidays were VERY CROWDED at Disneyland this year. Someone here at work said there was even a day when the park "ran out of tickets"... which I think means they closed the gates.