I’m a child at heart. In my book, nothing can reawaken your childhood quite like the escapist innocence, magic and sparkle of Disney. Recently I reacquainted myself with the enchantment of Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. If you’re sizing up a Disney vacation, 2025 is a milestone year to swing through the Mouse House, because Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom will be celebrating its 70th anniversary. A fitting tribute will debut on Main Street USA with the first Walt Disney Audio-Animatronics as part of a new stage show, "Walt Disney — A Magical Life."
Full details of the milestone celebrations are yet to be revealed, but you can expect nostalgic nighttime spectaculars, returning parades and reimagined entertainment. If you’re a history buff like me, a great way to immerse yourself in Disneyland’s heritage is to book a place on the Main Street Story Tour, with behind-the-scenes stories and a visit to Walt’s legendary apartment above the Disneyland Fire Station in Town Square. It’s one of the enticing extras you should add to your Disneyland experience.
Photo opportunities abound with a host of cartoon and big-screen characters, all over the parks. Some characters will be foot-loose around the parks, or you can take your turn getting selfies with a cast of characters around Disneyland’s Town Square, and Royal Hall, Buena Vista Street, Pixar Pier and Avengers Headquarters are the best meet-and-greet character haunts in California Adventure.
Great eats? There’s only so many churros and Mickey Mouse waffles you can gorge on, right? Feast on New Orleans-inspired dishes at the recently opened Tiana’s Palace, inspired by Disney’s animated flick, The Princess and the Frog. It’s a newly reimagined quick-service restaurant. Try the 7 Greens Gumbo, a beef po’ sandwich and the gorgeous lemon-glazed beignets. For nostalgia buffs, head to the Golden Horseshow in Frontierland. It dates back to the park’s 1955 opening — Walt and Lillian Disney celebrated their 30th anniversary here. You can still see Walt Disney’s private box upstairs to the right of the stage. The interior of the saloon took its design cues from the 1953 Doris Day film Calamity Jane. The menu includes traditional American favourites like chicken tenders, funnel cakes and ice-cream floats.
For great character dining, Goofy’s Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel is an insatiable hit, with a supporting cast of characters like Pluto, Aladdin and Jasmine, Chip & Dale and Pinocchio. How could you say no to a peanut butter and jelly pizza?
Throughout the day and after dark, there’s a slew of parades and the fireworks extravaganzas to take in, too. If it sounds exhausting, yes Disneyland can zap your energy. Don’t try packing everything into one day. Your race against the clock is a recipe for stress. Buy a multi-day pass, whether it be two or three days, so you can strike out in the parks at a more leisurely, relaxed pace. I was struck by how many young families I saw in the late afternoon, in meltdown mode. So many children looked frenzied, as the post-sugar hit tantrums hit fever pitch and panicked parents tried to cram more experiences into the fading light of day. That’s not a holiday and it’s certainly not fun. Extending your stay is going to cost more, but it will be worth every cent!
Stay on-site. It will eliminate the stress entailed getting to and from the park. Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa is the most luxurious of the hotel offerings, beautifully designed with nods to the early 20th century arts and crafts movement and the woodsy lodge finery of Yosemite National Park in the soaring lobby and atrium. But it’s also a superb place for extra-pampering. Plunge into a world of aquatic thrills in the Mariposa, Fountain, and Redwood outdoor-themed pools! An enormous waterslide extends from a redwood tree trunk. There’s a vast range of accommodation options to please all tastes, but the greatest amenity of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel is undoubtedly its proximity to Disneyland and direct entrance into Grizzly Peak at Disney California Adventure.
Try not to lose your cellphone. Of all the places in the world to misplace your phone, Disneyland wouldn’t spring to mind as the ideal locale. However, my misadventure opened my eyes to the Herculean lost and found operation that happily hums behind the scenes at Disneyland Resort. Disney employs a vast cast of lost and found workers, who trawl the parks retrieving thousands of left-behind items and set about reuniting them with their owners. In my case, after a moment’s inattention, my cellphone was duly picked up, dispatching to the sorting office and returned to me several hours later, after I filed a lost item form. Fun fact: of the tens of thousands of items that are handled by the lost and found department each year, that includes over 40,000 hats, 20,000 pairs of sunglasses and 8000 cellphones. The repatriation rate is remarkably high. And apparently the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride is notorious for parting people from their cellphones!
Finally, if you want to accentuate your Disneyland Resort experience, dodge the peak seasons. For Kiwis planning a post-Christmas holiday in Anaheim, January, February and March are the quietest months for park visitors. In contrast, July and August are jam-packed. Mid-September to mid-November is also a quieter period, although the Halloween season spikes visitation. And try to book your visit for weekdays (particularly Tuesdays and Wednesdays) which are considerably less-trafficked than the weekends.
