Disneyland

For the past two years I have managed to miss my youngest daughter's birthday. This year I needed to do something special and make it up to her. Instead of having a party or getting her a big gift, my wife and I took her to Disneyland for two days. There were no siblings, just her. I was surprised that a 17-year old would want to spend her birthday with her parents, it involved one of her favorite places and so I was happy to oblige.

I have to confess that it has been a decade since I have been to Disneyland. In 2005, I took the family to DisneyWorld in Florida for a week. It was fun, but the kids actually preferred Arches National Park two months later. After being gone for so long, it was a fun return. My daughter reverted to a pleasant 5-year old that loved Daddy, yet was old enough not to complain nor have to use the restroom every 5 minutes.

What does Disneyland have to do with computers? Well a lot has changed in the past 10 years. When it came time to get tickets, there was the usual Internet searching for the best deal. We determined that we wanted Park Hopper tickets so we could visit both Disneyland and California Adventure on the same day. The best deal for two days turned out to be at SweetVacations.org. You can pick up a 2-day park hopper ticket for $125. That is almost $75 off the price from Disney's ticket office. Basically you register on their website and they send you a confirmation e-mail. Bring the confirmation e-mail on the first day of your visit with cash to pick up the tickets. They don't take credit cards, but at those savings, it shouldn't be a problem. Our tickets worked great both days we were there. When we were done, we just returned the tickets back to the office where we got them.

The next change that I saw at Disneyland was with all of the smart phone apps. If you have an iPhone, go to the app store and do a search on Disneyland. You will get a number of free and paid apps that provide real-time information about lines in the park. Suppose you have just finished at Pirates of the Caribbean and don't want to wait too long for your next ride. Simply pull out your app and it will show you wait times for the Haunted Mansion or the Indian Jones ride. Of course these things only work if you are also willing to post your own wait times as you stand in line. However, that is a small price to pay for maximizing your ride times.

Disneyland claims to be the "Happiest place on earth." When you have little ones crying in line, it is tough to believe, especially when you are paying $100 per day to be there. Now that I have experienced Disneyland with an older child, never having to wait in lines, and having spent close to half of regular costs, I find it much happier.