Disneyland

For thirty very happy years I didn't go to Disneyland. Not Even Once. I had seen pictures, received the occasional postcard but never actually gone anywhere close. And I never missed it. Not Even Once.

This year life was weird and hard and being a mom/wife was weird and hard. So someone offered us a trip to Disney. My gut reaction was to say, "No Thank you." But I worried about my kids because of how weird and hard things had been, so my husband and I said, "OK." And we all went to Disneyland.

Now as anyone who has been to Disneyland can attest to at the end of the week we were experts, ready to share our new found knowledge with anyone willing to listen. And so I have the following bits of wisdom and advice gained from my experience.

1. Get to the park early as possible, better yet get the Magical morning pass and come an hour earlier. That way you can ride more rides and spend less time in line.

2. Pack a lunch, best time to eat is while in the longer lines.

3. Get a small backpack for each child to carry their own gear, lunch and water.

4. In the gear: dry clothes incase they get really wet.

5. Take a siesta/dinner break to rest and save money by not eating at the park.

6. Set your souvenir budget ahead of time and stick with it.

Now you may be curious how our trip was thanks to our wisdom. Well unfortunately the wisdom came after the trip was over so we won't know if any of that would have helped until next time (hopefully it won't take thirty years to go back.)