Author Archives: jennypersons

Saving Money at Disneyland

 

For us to get to Disneyland, it takes quite a bit to travel there

And since I like to go often, I need to save money where I can, so we can go more!

I will give my best tips for Saving Money at Disneyland

Saving Money at Disneyland:

Always check out

Mousesavers.com for the most up to date deals, coupons, and offers

 

Food & Drink (I will do a separate post with Character Meals!)

  • Take your own water into the park – water costs a fortune per bottle in the park. You’ll need alot of water and to re-hydrate often, so make sure you have plenty of water.
  • Get free ice water at all counter service restaurants – good for refilling your water bottle with COLD water!
  • Take your own lunch and snacks. You can take a soft sided cooler into the park. We just put it in the bottom of the stroller. We pack Sandwiches, carrots, string cheese, chips, etc. We keep a large bag of carrots out on the stroller all day and the kids munch on them – they are often gone by the early afternoon! Just bringing in your own snacks (since my kids are ALWAYS hungry) will save you TONS of money! If you don’t have a stroller, you can always rent a locker or carry a backpack.
  • You MUST and I mean MUST have a Dole Whip outside the Tiki Room. If you have never had one before, ask for a FREE button to commemorate the event! For a shorter line, go inside the Tiki Room outside waiting area – it is often a MUCH shorter line!
  • One of the best places to eat is Rancho Del Zocalo near Big Thunder Mountain RailRoad – the plates are HUGE and I highly suggest sharing! Splitting entrees will save you on the cost of your meals and there is usually more than enough food to share!
  • If you don’t want to share an adult meal, get a kids meal. Cheaper and usually has plenty of food (at least for me!) and includes a drink!
  • Eat Breakfast at your hotel. If your hotel does not have a free breakfast, simply pick up breakfast items at the grocery store and save a ton of money using your hotel room refrigerator and/or microwave (we will do this for lunch/dinner as well!)
  • The Blue Bayou, in MY opinion, is WAY overpriced, and only mediocre food. but it is fun to eat inside the Pirate of the Caribbean ride. However, now that I have done it, I don’t plan on wasting my money on it again.
  • Jazz Kitchen Express in Downtown Disney has decent prices, good food, and the Beniets there are DELICIOUS!
  • Have a Birthday within a month or so of your trip? Head over here and get my tips for getting lots of free food for your birthday!
  • Rainforest Cafe has Club you can join – it costs money, but you will make it back in Welcome Rewards, you will get a birthday reward, and you get a discount in the store! I happened to get mine when they were running a sale for $10! Check out my post here for how to get FREE Rainforest Cafe gift Cards!
  • Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney is always a delicious and inexpensive (for theme parks!) place to get a sandwich
  • If you have a Disney Visa card, you can get 10% off at many restaurants (check your card website for the restaurants currently being offered)
  • Head over here to MouseSavers for up to date coupons for restaurants in the area

Tickets:

  • My husband gets Disney Ticket discount through work – you might check your place of employment and see if they have a discount program
  • Getawaytoday.com offers discount on Theme Park Tickets – you can even get discounts on Character Meals from them. They also offer a  Best Price/Best Service Guarantee, so if anything, including tickets have a price reduction, they will honor it – how cool is that?!?! So you can buy worry free!
  • Check your local Costco – ours often has tickets available at a lower price
  • Watch for Gift Card deals at your local Grocery store. Around here, they often have the Park Hopper tickets at the store, and they are often included in the gift card deals (like save $10 on your next grocery shopping trip when you spend $100 or 10x gas rewards, etc.) This would also work to buy Disney Gift Cards, to pre-buy some of the food, souvenirs, etc you are planning on spending at Disney anyway -so you might as well save some money by getting the gift cards!
  • If you plan on doing other things, like Universal Studios,  Sea World, or San Diego Zoo – you might check out the CityPass tickets – they are a GREAT deal!!

Souvenirs

  • Your Disney Visa card will get you 10% off $50 purchase, so we try and get all of our souvenirs at once and get the discount
  • Hit up your local DisneyStore or Disneystore online and get souvenirs cheaper or on sale!
  • Make a budget for your kids, so they have to stick to it
  • We tell our kids they get mickey ears and a stuffed animal – anything over that, they have to pay for. Make up your own rules, and maybe have them save up for it before the trip. Makes them appreciate what they get more and stops many of the “I wants” if you have it set up beforehand!
  • Buy Disney Gift cards to pay for all your meals and souvenirs, when your local grocery store is having a Gift card deal or Target for 5% off if you have a red card. You can also get Fuel rewards at many grocery stores for buying gift cards!
  • Go to the Disney Character Warehouse Outlet that is not too far from Disneyland, and get park merchandise at a reduced cost. Google it and you can often find coupons as well!
  • Get a Free Birthday, Anniversary, Just married, or I’m Celebrating buttons from City Hall or Guest Services
  • Free License at Autotopia
  • Autographs from the Characters are always Free
  • We made binders with printer paper in them – we got the autographs on one side, and then we printed the picture of the kids with that character on the other side of the paper. They turned out AWESOME!
  • When we were there, in CarsLand, they had Free CarsLand buttons at the stores (not sure if they still do?) Each of my kids, got each of the colors (6 total colors x3 kids – yeah we had 18 buttons!)
  • Cast Members will give out Free Mickey Stickers!
  • Jedi Academy Participants get a certificate to take home

Other:

  • Try and bring in things you need like sunscreen, to batteries, to avoid the high cost in the park
  • bring ponchos, if rain is in the forecast – get them at the dollar store and throw them away when done

Run Disney – 30th Birthday Challenge

 

Run Disney Medals

Run Disney Medals

 

Before my 30th Birthday,

I decided that I wanted to run in some Run Disney Races – BTW, I had NEVER done ANY running before!

Then I saw the Coast to Coast Medal, and a Dream was born

I was going to earn that Medal for my 30th Birthday

My Husband supported my CRAZY Dream

and we got annual passes to Disneyland in anticipation of taking 4 trips that year!

It was the greatest year of going to Disney and best of all??

I achieved my goal!

  • I first ran the Disneyland Half Marathon with my sister in law. I had decided to do this challenge too late in the year to get the Coast to Coast this calendar year, so it had to wait. But we got a fun week long vacation out of it!
  • Then I ran the Disneyworld Half Marathon – First step to my Coast to Coast Medal. I went to Disneyworld for ONE night with my cousin. NOT an easy feat coming from Oregon! But I had kids at home and a baby child. Only way it would work!
  • Then I ran the Tinkerbell Half Marathon – only 2 weeks after the Disneyworld Half!! This was before they changed Tinkerbell to May. I earned my Coast to Coast Medal here!!! It is soooo cool 🙂 My entire family came with me for a fun vacation and to celebrate my Daughters Birthday (it’s in January!)
  • We then took another trip – no races! – to celebrate my 30th Birthday! It was a great trip and fun to enjoy my accomplishment
  • Ran the Disneyland Half Marathon again! We had the annual passes, so why not? They were going to expire, so we wanted to use them again, and really get our money’s worth! I ran this one with my cousin (who did the Disneyworld half with me earlier), so she got her Coast to Coast medal at this race! She turned 30th in the same year as me! It was both our 30th birthday challenge!

All in All, we ended up with about 28 days at Disneyland that year (not calendar year). Not bad! Especially when we live in Oregon. Run Disney also puts on an excellent race. Each of my Run Disney races was a GREAT experience!

Best of all, I accomplished a DREAM! I met my goal and made one of my dreams a reality. I feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to do this and that I was able to make one of my dreams come true. I am also very blessed to have a husband and family who supported (and financed) my dream and helped make it a reality. Of course, I think they did enjoy all the trips to Disneyland as a by product of making my dream a reality 🙂

Yes, my annual pass is in there with my medals. I ALWAYS wanted to have a Disneyland annual pass. Yet another dream that was realized by my goal!

 

Dreams can come true. I know that if you have a goal, you can make all your dreams come true. My dreams just happen to include Disney 🙂 (and my family of course!)

 

Here are links to my reviews of each of the Run Disney Races

Disneyland Half #1

Disneyworld Half

Tinkerbell Half

Disneyland Half #2

Birthday’s at Disneyland

celebrating Birthday's at Disneyland

celebrating Birthday’s at Disneyland

Celebrating your Birthday’s at Disneyland is, in my opinion, the best way to Celebrate!

Each of my children have been blessed enough to get to spend a birthday’s at Disneyland and Disneyworld (in the older 2 kid’s cases, 2 or 3 birthday’s – so far!), except the baby, but he did JUST turn one!

Our trip to Disneyworld (less than 100 days to go!) we will be celebrating 3 birthday’s (2 of our sons and my husband’s 4oth – gasp!)  PLUS our 14th wedding anniversary! We obviously like to go to Disney to celebrate!

But this post is about Disneyland, and we have spent MANY birthday’s there! You can score lots of FREE food at restaurants near by, saving you quite a bit of money on your vacation!

Birthday’s at Disneyland:

  • The first thing you must do, is get a FREE “Birthday” button at City Hall or Guest Services if in California Adventures
  • Enjoy Cast Members and other guests wishing you a “Happy Birthday” all day.
  • You can even book a Birthday Party Package directly with Disney.
  • My kids have received free desserts at the Disney restaurants. This is NOT guaranteed, so your mileage may vary! The above picture are cupcakes they got at a Disney Restaurant on one of their birthday trips!
  • Sign up for Rainforest Cafe’s Landry Select Club – they give you $25 to spend during your birth month! There is a cost involved, but they give you a credit on your card, that more than makes up for the cost of the club. Enjoy a Vollllcccccaaaaannnnnnoooo on your birthday! Combine this offer with the FREE gift card from my points I explained here and you’ll have a bunch of free food for your birthday. The Rainforest Cafe is in Downtown Disney, but you can also use your Landry Select Birthday Reward and your FREE gift cards at Bubba Gump’s and McCormick & Smick’s over at the Anaheim Gardenwalk, which is VERY close to Disneyland!
  • Join the Patina group list, and you will get $30 towards you dinner at one of their 3 Downtown Disney Locations! You can use it at Catal’s, Naples, or Tortilla Jo’s. My kids LOVE the free balloon animals while you wait for your meal at Tortilla Jo’s! YAY for more FREE food!
  • Earl of Sandwich, we we grew to love at Disneyworld, is now at Disneyland! Wait to sign up for their e-club until just before you go, because you will get a free brownie just for signing up! They will also send you a FREE sandwich to use on your birthday!
  • Mimi’s Cafe is a great restaurant right across the street from Disneyland’s entrance (easy walk!). Sign up for their e-club for a free entree! Again, wait to sign up until just before you go, because you will get a freebie just for signing up!
  • Johnny Rockets is located at the Anaheim GardenWalk, which is very close to Disneyland. Sign-up for their e-club and get a FREE burger for your birthday! Again, you will get a free burger for signing up, so wait to sign up until shortly before your trip.

 

Not only will you have wonderful memories and a fantastic birthday, you will save tons on money on food for your trip! Celebrating Birthday’s at Disneyland is the best way to celebrate!

FREE Dining at Disneyworld

The Popular FREE Dining Offer is back at Disneyworld!

Good for qualifying stays between August 31 – December 23rd

Go here for more details

We did FREE dining on our last trip to Disneyworld and I LOVED it!!

No worrying about paying for meals, or making meals, or anything related to food! It was really a vacation even more me with no worries about cooking or feeding my kids.

You get plenty of food – we had credits at the end of our stay (we got sick during our stay, so didn’t use them all) and bought a whole bunch of candy, etc to bring home to use up our credits.

Thanks to FREE dining, we got to eat at almost every Character Meal available, including Cinderella’s Royal Table – all included in our stay! It made wonderful memories that I will cherish forever! We could not have afforded all of those meals out of our own pocket. Character Meals run from $100-$250 for one meal for a family our size! We also enjoyed BOMA and other wonderful restaurants, but got the most bang for our buck eating at the 8 Character Meals we enjoyed on that trip! (yes, I have spoiled children)

We are staying in the DVC villas on our trip in a few months, so we don’t qualify for the free dining offer 🙁 Oh well, I’ll console myself with my 2 bedroom Savannah view condo 😉

 

So if you are planning a trip to Disneyworld, I HIGHLY recommend the Free dining at Disneyworld offer! Enjoy all those Character Meals for me! 🙂

Disneyland Touring and Tips

Thought I would share some Touring and Tips that we have learned from all our MANY trips to Disneyland!

I am probably asked this question, 5 times a week, so I am writing down all my favorite ways to tour and tips for your enjoying your time at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Disneyland Touring and Tips

  • #1 tip – Get there when they open!!! You can seriously get ALOT of touring done before most people show up! Shortest lines and waits first thing in the morning. If you do nothing else, get there when they open!!
  • Try not to go on a Saturday. Just don’t do it, if possible. Local crowd the parks and the wait time are horribly long!
  • Go during the Low Season, when possible. We take our kids out of school. Bad, I know! but it is so much more pleasant without all the people and lines!
  • If you do go during the busy season, my sister and brother in law SWEAR by RideMax to limit their waits in line.
  • Try the line inside the Enchanted Tiki Room waiting area to get your Dole Whip – often shorter and you get to enjoy a show!
  • If you have small kids or just want to ride those rides, head to Fantasyland there FIRST! Peter Pan and Dumbo always get long lines, and it does not get better through the day. They are shortest in the morning and the best time to see them. We often send my husband to get fastpasses for Space Mountain or Star Tours while I head with the kids to get in line and he catches up to us minutes later (he is fast on his own without kids)
  • Use fastpass whenever possible – use one person to run and go get all the fastpasses for the group – it is much faster, especially with small children!
  • Have small children? Use rider swap for the rides they are too short for. Lessens the time you wait in line! Just ask the ride attendant outside the ride
  • With small kids, We get our rider swap and then we use our fast passes for the first group, and one parent will take the too small child on an adjacent ride – like Buzz Lightyear for Space Mountain or Star Tours (since there is rarely a long line for Buzz!), or the Jungle Cruise or Pirates for Indiana Jones and Big Thunder, or Winnie the Pooh for Splash Mountain (I have ridden Winnie the Pooh soooo many times!!). We then switch, use the extra fast pass (from the parent that didn’t go the first time), and the rider swap for the other parent and the two older kids to go again! (and the other parent then takes the little one on the other ride again)
  • We also save our fastpasses for when the little one is napping. HOWEVER, I have heard rumors that they were going to enforce return times. We have not experienced this, but be warned, your mileage may vary!! But, you could at least save your rider swaps for when the little one is napping, as they don’t have return times, so they don’t have to wait twice.
  • If your kids are dying to do Jedi Academy – make a SIGN!!! Every time we’ve been there, ALL the children with a signs get chosen. Can be as simple as a piece of paper saying “Pick Me!” Some people make more elaborate ones.
  • The Fantasyland side of the Matterhorn, is often the shortest line
  • If Pirates of the Caribbean is running 2 lines, go with the one on  the right
  • EVERYONE heads to CarsLand first – head to Paradise Pier first instead. Do Toy Story, that often has a long line all day and then California Screaming.
  • CarsLand is less busy around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. We walked on to the Mater ride, with no wait at all, several times (like 10 times in doing the child swap for Radiator Springs), and this was only 2 months after it opened…
  • Try and see the neon in CarsLand at night
  • Use the Single rider line, when possible, for Radiator Springs – when we were there, there was no line at all for it – just walk on!
  • Get your fastpass for Radiator Springs FIRST thing in the morning – they are gone QUICK. You won’t be disappointed, it is a GREAT ride! One of my favorites!
  • Then get your World of Color Fast Pass
  • While the bigger kids are riding California Screaming and other rides in Paradise Pier, take the little ones on the carousel, or the Little Mermaid (again, I’ve ridden Little Mermaid more times than I can count!) Both have little to no wait times.
  • While I LOVE World of Color, this show can be a PAIN, if you have small children, because they cannot see above all the adults. Our last trip, we finally found a solution. TRY and get a spot at the top of some stairs!! They can see above the other adults below! Also try piggyback to hold them up. You will be sore afterwards no matter what 😛
  • Take the Monorail to get to Downtown Disney – you there faster, and you get a ride at the same time 🙂
  • Down near Small World is one of the better places to get a spot for a parade – often less full!
  • The Back car of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is BY FAR the best seat on the train!
  • DRILL it into your kids what to do if they get lost. Have a meeting place. Tell them to find a Cast Member. Make sure they know your cell phone number! I can’t stress this enough. We’ve been to Disneyland and DisneyWorld MANY times, we have never lost one of our kids… until our last visit there. I was back at the hotel with our 2 year old, who was taking a nap. My Husband had our 7 & 9 year old with him. They were leaving Grizzly River Run and were going to head back to the hotel. There was a parade. My 7 year old distracted my husband and my 9 year old got lost. Our 9 year old is Autistic. He called me saying he couldn’t find her. I was stuck at the hotel with a sleeping 2 year old. However, within 5 minutes, I get a call on my cell phone – it was a security guard near Soarin’ over California and they had our daughter. She knew my cell phone, sought out a cast member – security guard in her case – and had them call me. I called my husband and they were able to get back together. It was a very scary 5 minutes for me though!! So drill that phone number into them! and to find a cast member at a ride or gift shop/restaurant.
  • If your kids are too small to remember your phone number, I laminated small tags with our phone number, where we were staying, etc. and used a key ring to attach one to their shoes (in the laces, or put the Velcro through it) and one to the zipper on their coats. Works for losing a coat too! Sharpie across the forehead works too, but might not look the best in photos 😉 I am going to be trying the liquid bandage method on our trip this year!

Disneyland Character Meals

Character Meals

are not as big of a deal at Disneyland

as they are at DisneyWorld

but it doesn’t mean they aren’t as much fun

and they are much easier to get into!

 

We’ve done just about all the Character meals

at BOTH Disneyland and Disneyworld

So I’ll highlight the Disneyland ones in this post!

 

I didn’t used to think that they were not worth the money

until we went to our first one

then I was SOLD!

They are so much fun,

there is dancing and sing a longs,

no waiting in lines, and

they just come to you while you eat

which you have to do at some point anyway 🙂

 

We love them

even though I am frugal

I like to splurge for the Character Meals!

Totally worth it,

in my opinion

Oh and be sure to get your free button

with your meal

It is my daughter’s favorite souvenir

and she LOVES to collect them 🙂

If you miss a character

be sure to let the handler know

and they will be sure to stop by your table later

We have never been missed

but my son HAD

to go to the bathroom

so the handler made note that someone didn’t get to see the character

and they came back when he was back from the bathroom

Disney makes sure you are happy 🙂

 

Goofy’s Kitchen

 

Goofy’s Kitchen is my favorite character meal at Disneyland. If you are only going to do one, I suggest doing this one! It is my favorite, because the food it GOOD and the variety of characters will make both boys and girls happy. We have only gone for dinner, because we are not big breakfast people.

 

You will first get your group picture taken with Chef Goofy, and then you will sit at your table. You can then hit up the buffet, or if there is a character close by, wait for them to come by. There will be some dancing and music too for some more fun! I love the variety of characters you get here too and you get to see MANY characters – the most at any character meal we have gone to! It is the only character meal I know of where the Princes often show up! I hear there is a wide variety of characters you can see when you go.

Here is who we have seen at Goofy’s Kitchen:

  • Mice from Cinderella (can’t remember their names!)
  • Aladdin
  • Pluto
  • Cinderella
  • Sleeping Beauty
  • Chip
  • Dale
  • Donald

 

Plaza Inn – Minnie and Friends Breakfast in the Park

 

This is another great meal. I would have counted it as my favorite, but I have to say the food wasn’t the greatest. I would totally do this one again, but the food was only, meh… Which is why Goofy’s gets the #1 spot in my list. This one a great one though, because you get to eat in the park – we made reservations for BEFORE the park opened, so we got some pictures with an empty park! This one also has a great cast of characters and a wide variety of characters, including Captain Hook. My son LOVES Hook, and this is is often the ONLY place you can see him, so it was worth every penny 🙂 You also get LOTS of characters at your meal here too – like Goofy’s kitchen, so you get a lot of Characters for your buck!

Here is who we have seen there:

  • Minnie (of course)
  • Mice from Cinderella (I really need to look up their names!)
  • Captain Hook
  • Tigger (another favorite of my sons! He loved this meal!)
  • Fairy Godmother
  • Chip
  • Dale
  • Eeyore

 

PCH Grill – Mickey’s Surf’s up

 

This is the only meal where you are guaranteed to see Mickey! We came to this meal when it was a Lilo and Stitch themed meal too, and it was basically the same menu and same cast of Characters. You take your picture with Mickey before you go to your table and then you can enjoy the delicious breakfast buffet. I think the food here was better than the Plaza Inn.  You can dance with the characters, learn the hula, and play some games. It is a cheaper meal than the others, but you also don’t get quite as many characters. We still love this meal, and it is one of the few places you can see Daisy in the parks!

Here is who we have seen on different trips:

  • Mickey
  • Daisy
  • Donald
  • Pluto
  • Minnie
  • Goofy
  • Lilo
  • Stitch

 

Ariel’s Grotto – 

 

If you have a Princess lover in your house, this one is a must do. The lines for the Princess are insane, so to not have to wait in line and have them come to you, is worth EVERY penny in my opinion. My problem with this meal is that we did not really enjoy the food. It was a little too “fancy” for our liking and the kids didn’t really want to eat the food there, which when you are spending a fortune, you want them to like the meal! The dessert was really good though. I believe we went for lunch when we went.

We saw the 5 main princesses, which was good because they were our daughters favorite. You get your picture with Ariel on the way into your meal, and then 4 others come to your table. They announce the princess with a royal scroll and messenger, which was fun

We saw:

  • Ariel (of course)
  • Cinderella
  • Snow While
  • Sleeping Beauty
  • Belle

 

StoryTellers Cafe

 

We’ve never done this one. The cast of Characters never appealed to my kids. Have any of you been there? What is your opinion?

 

So If you are headed to Disneyland

Give the Disneyland Character Meals a try!

 

Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train

I am so excited to ride the NEW Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train ride!!

It is the whole reason we waited to take our trip to DisneyWorld

So we could see the ENTIRE New Fantasyland completed

This ride is the last new feature

of the Fantastyland remodel

It looks like it is going to be a really fun and cute ride!

I love roller-coasters the whole family can go on!

(our baby will still be too little to ride though 🙁 )

I plan to use our first fastpass+ on this!

I’ll do a video on it when we ride

I love to get videos of my kids faces on rides

especially roller-coasters!!

100 days to go!!!

Saving Money at Disney Parks: MyPoints

Saving Money at Disney Parks

Shop online, earn gift cards!

I thought I would make one of my first posts about one of my favorite ways to save money at Disney Parks

Join MyPoints

I have been a MyPoints Member for YEARS!

I used my junk mail email to sign up and then I just click on their emails to earn points. You can also take survey’s to earn points. You can also shop through their website to earn points.

I then save up all my points and turn them in for FREE $50 gift Cards to Rainforest Cafe! We use them on our trips to Disneyland and World!

Earn Gift Cards for Your Online Activity from MyPoints.

I currently have $250 (I’ve been saving for 2 years) in FREE gift cards to use on our trip to DisneyWorld in August. We’ll be eating at RainForest Cafe and T-Rex several times  (we’ll be at Disneyworld for 2+weeks, so we’ll have several chances to use them!). My Points is a great program that I use to help us save on our many trips to Disney! Just use your junk email address when signing up! I love Saving Money at Disney Parks!

When you are Saving Money at Disney Parks, then you will have more money to go again and again!


 

I’m a Disney Parks Addict

Hello,

My name is Jennifer and I am a Disney Parks Addict

 

I am a mother of 4 and I have been in love with going to Disneyland and Disneyworld since I was a small child

We go to one of the Disney Parks, as often as out pocketbook will allow. With 4 kids, it is not as often as we used to!

I’ve run several of the Run Disney Races

We used to have Disneyland Annual Passes, and we don’t even live in California!

Come this summer, I will have visited or stayed in all the DisneyWorld hotels and eaten at most of the Character Meal at both Disneyland and World!

 

I plan to share all my tips and secrets to Disney. What we have been successful at and what we would skip. Reviews of everything Disneyland and World.

So Follow along and I share my tips, secrets, and best ways to take a family to Disney!