Before school started this week, we took our kids on an end of summer trip to the happiest place on Earth! 
Not too long ago, I wrote this post about the amazing Fuel Rods at Disneyland. Today I want to tell you about another awesome thing Disneyland added that improved my experience at Disneyland last week drastically! 
We are Disney obsessed! We have had annual passes for several years and go pretty often. Last week we were there and tried something new that ended up being totally worth it. It is the Disneyland MaxPass. 
You can read all the official Disneyland MaxPass info here, but here's the basic run down from me.
It costs $10/person/day and makes it possible to get fast passes on your phone through the Disneyland app. You also get all your photo pass photos through MaxPass. (all you have to do is put in your picture code from rides that take pictures or photographers around DL can add photos they take to your max pass). 
Honestly, if you want to really utilize your time at Disneyland to the best of your ability, fast passes are the PRO TIP to make that happen, and Max Pass makes that easy to do. (Plus-pictures guys!)
(The price does seem a bit steep-for my family it is an extra $70/day-but it was SOOO worth it to for us based only on the fast pass experience. The fact we got all those awesome pictures as well was icing on the cake! I really wish it was a free service, but I guess it never will be if people like me are willing to pay...and I am willing to pay for this!)

Back in April, my husband had a continuing education conference in Southern Cal, so he and I went without our kids and made a vacation out of it. The conference was at the Hotel Del Coronado (one of my awesome top 5 worthwhile splurges) so we got to stay there and play! 
One of the days though, we decided to sneak away and do something we had never done before-go to Disneyland KID FREE! That's right, alone as adults at Disneyland! YEAH! 

Those of you that know me in real life probably know I am a huge Disney fan (HUGE) so this was awesome. However, one of my major pet peeves when I spend all day there is how quickly my cell phone dies. I want it to work all day for calls, texts, photos and even to play (the battery draining) Pokemon Go if I feel so inclined. But it doesn't. And even when I bring several of my good portable chargers, the phone still only lasts until maybe early evening at the longest. Especially when my husband and I are sharing portable chargers. 
But guys! Disneyland has now installed these amazing machines that solved my problem! FuelRod stations are portable charging stations. You purchase a fuelrod portable charger there for $30 at the park (or if you plan ahead-unlike our last minute trip, you can order one on their website for $20). 
They look like this: You just use the portable charger until it dies. Then take it to a charging station and exchange it for a brand new fully charged one.  There are several charging stations, I only used 2-one in Disneyland on main street near the lockers, and one in California Adventure near the photo shop. The only list of where they are that I can find is one posted by a great blog, The Disneyland Daily, that you can find here. (If you are looking for any Disneyland info, make sure to check out the Disneyland Daily blog while you are there. Lots of good stuff there-I read this blog but otherwise have no relationship with them-just a fan!)
You get unlimited exchanges! UNLIMITED! I LOVE IT!!!! Best new product in years and it took my Disney experience up a notch from AMAZING to PERFECTLY AMAZING! I literally cannot say enough good things about these Fuel Rods. I am just hoping these become even more popular so I can start exchanging all over the place! (Oh BTW-you can recharge them at home yourself and use them as you would any other portable charger as well. So, if you aren't near a charging exchange station, you can still get use out of them!)
Please FuelRod-expand out all over the country! Please! This product is great! 
Also, just so you know, this is a completely unsolicited opinion. I have no relationship with this company and was not asked to review or try these. I just simply tried and loved it so much that I HAD to tell you all about it. I hope using them can enhance your Disneyland experience as well. 

My top 5 worthwhile travel splurges  (In no particular order)! 
1-Disneyland:  I have written extensively about Disneyland and how difficult it is to get deals for Disney. This post is all about choosing the right ticket options for you to get the most bang for your buck. But notice there is no top secret money saving tips here-the tickets are what they are. There are rarely any discounted tickets or awesome deals on DL tickets, but in spite of that, for our family, Disneyland is a travel splurge that is totally worth it. When we plan a Disney trip, I just plan on the park tickets being expensive and I try to save money in other areas (Hotel , Food, airfare, etc)
2-Hotel Del Coronado:  Our family stayed here once for Wes to go to a conference, and it was magical. We went to Disneyland a couple days on that same trip, and our little Disney fans could not wait to leave DL and get back to the Hotel Del. There is something magical about this historic gem right on one of the most amazing beaches in the world. But it is a real splurge-especially for a large family like ours. Wes and I were able to go back there last month without the kids. It was still as magical as the first time and we cannot wait to go again with the kids (they are so mad we went without them this time LOL). 
3-Broadway shows: For my 16th anniversary my amazing husband just took me to New York City for a week of Broadway shows! Dream come true!! But I will tell you that the prices for Broadway shows have certainly gone up in the past decade since I was last in NYC. The good news is there are ways to get discounted tickets (which I will write about soon). BUT I decided that on occasion, it is totally worth the splurge to buy exactly the seats you want at exactly the show you want to see. Like how I bought full price tickets almost a year ago to see Hamilton for my 16th anniversary on May 17, 2017...totally worth it!!! :)
4-Helicopter in Kauai
When I was planning our trip to Kauai, there were a few consistent pieces of advice people gave me-make sure you get to see the Na Pali coast, and take a helicopter ride-it is amazing and totally worth the cost. Once again I learned that my friends give great advice. We took a helicopter ride through Blue Hawaiian Helicopter. They had an online special that saved us some money by booking it online at least 5 days in advance. Even with the special it was over $200 each (We saved about $30 each through the online special). But $200 per person is not cheap! But it was totally worth it! Maybe someday we will take our kids to Kauai, and if so, we will have to save for this splurge! 
5-Universal Studios VIP tour!!   Last year we took our family to Universal Studios and since Harry Potter land had just opened and we had one day only, we decided to splurge and go for the VIP experience. It was pricey, but so, so worth it! I thought the front of line passes all day would be worth it alone, but that was just the tip of an already awesome iceberg! We are NOT guided tour people. At all. So we thought that if we get through the few hours of the tour, it will be worth it to get the front of line passes the rest of the day. BUT friends, this tour was awesome! Our guide rocked, our group was fun, and we had so much fun. Then the gourmet, all you can eat lunch...Um YES! Please! It was ideal for our family (my teen aged son for sure got his money's worth of food! I wrote an extensive review of this amazing experience here. Please read all about it, and if you are considering a big family splurge, consider this one seriously! 
BONUS!!! 
Family Visits
There is not time that is more expensive or more of a hassle to travel than holidays. Seriously, they are not cheap times to travel, but they also happen to be the times when kids are out of school and hubby is (sometimes) off and we can go see family. We do not live near any family, so it is a treat to visit family or to have them visit us. And a lot of times, it is also an expensive splurge to do so, But it is always worth it! You can save money of course on those family visits by staying with family (not hotel costs) and letting them feed you as often as possible (less $$ on food spent), etc. One more thing I always do when planning a family visit during the splurgy times (cough Christmas cough) is to research flight options plus van rental costs and compare that cost to how much gas (and time) it will be to drive to the family. With 5 kids and 2 adults and family visits usually about a 10 hour drive away, it almost always ends up that driving is our best cost option...but sometimes I still splurge on the flight/car rental option because like I said, sometimes the Splurge is worth it (like if you have limited time!). 

Oh where, oh where should I rest my head whilst I am partying the week away with toddlers and teens at Disneyland?! Well, let's talk about that...
(Here are a couple of my little Seahawks fans walking back to our hotel the other day:)
Probably the most common question my friends and family ask me about going to Disneyland, is where we stay when we come. I have to be honest and tell you that I am always looking for the best deal I can when I book hotels, but the best deal for me now looks a whole lot different than it did a few years ago. I have been in that place where I HAD to find a room under $100/night that could accommodate my large family even if it meant staying in a not-so-nice place in a far location where we would have to walk several miles. I would tell myself that the extra long walks were good exercise and it was totally bearable! If you are in that spot, that's ok. There are hotels for all kinds of price ranges near Disneyland!
I am a little pickier these days, and I try to plan ahead a little more so I can get better hotels (at not much more cost). Plus, I have 5 children. Very, very few hotels have rooms (or even suites) available for 7 people. Six people, yes, but seven, no. And when we try to get 2 adjoining rooms, they will not guarantee the two rooms will adjoin (or even be next to one another). It is a nightmare for me really to find places. Much, Much easier when we only have 6 people with us. 
Lots of my friends rave about staying on property at one of the Disneyland hotels. I remember staying in the Disneyland hotel as a kid and having breakfast with the characters. I remember the fun pool and being so close that we just walked over to the monorail to go into the park. There were awesome things about staying there as a kid. I loved it. But as a kid, I was not footing the bill. So far, I have not been willing to pay for that experience for our family now that I am the adult. (Thanks mom and dad for being so awesome and talking me to the Disneyland hotel! Please don't tell my kids about that!) :) 
Here's how I choose a hotel when I come to Disneyland. One word: Expedia! Really! When we plan a trip to Disneyland, my first Internet stop is Expedia. I search my dates for the best hotel deals for my group. Once I find the best deals, or choose the hotel I want, I do one more little trick. I check that hotel's website and see if they will offer me the same deal (or a better deal) than Expedia is offering for those dates.
That is really all I do when I choose a hotel. Of course I have learned that some of the budget hotels are NOT worth it, and I have some favorite hotels. My mom always told me to be careful of booking the hotels north of Disneyland. She says the ones on Ball road are ok, but it gets a little shady when you get further north. I agree with that assessment and thus do not book those hotels (yes I know it's a personal bias, but the whole point of this is to share my opinion based on my personal experience). 
Make sure you know what amenities you want! We look for a big room, a pool, a convenient location, free parking, free WiFi, and free breakfast (ideally). 
What amenities are must haves for you? If you must work while you are away and need WiFi (My daughter is in the other room in an online class as I type this), make sure to check and see if that is an additional charge. If you insist on a great pool, check the pictures and reviews! If you must be within walking distance, need a shuttle, or want free parking, check the hotel's website to see what they offer! 
Beckee's Favorites!
As mentioned before I have lots of kids. Our big family needs to stay in a Suite, My favorite places to stay are Embassy Suites South, Homewood Suites, and Castle Inn and Suites.  
Embassy Suites and Homewood Suites are both Hilton properties. They are similar to one another, but my family prefers Embassy Suites given the choice. It is a little fancier. Both of them have awesome full breakfasts included! Embassy Suites has "firework view" rooms that we enjoy. The kicker on both of these is that you have to pay extra to park your car and it is a bit of a walk to Disneyland (1.4-2 miles). They do have shuttles, but we never use the shuttles (if I recall it was because it cost more for us to pay for the shuttle than it did for us to park at Disneyland parking). 
Castle Inn and Suites is my current favorite place to stay for one reason: Family Suites! What does this mean you ask? Well, usually if we stay in a suite hotel room with our kids, we want to have the kids all in one room and us in the other room. This usually means we are sleeping on a pull out couch bed. Folks, I am getting old and those things are not comfy! The regular suites at Castle Inn are just like this, BUT the Family Suites are like a piece of heaven! Instead of a blasted couch bed in the first room, there is a glorious king sized bed for me and my husband!
Here's the one I am currently using this week:
Isn't that a wonder to behold? I love it! 
Not only does Castle Inn and Suites have these amazing family suites, but it also happens to be about a block from Disneyland, plus as a guest of the hotel you get to park one car for free! Glorious! (Plus free WiFi.) The trade off is that it is really more of a motel than a hotel. It is pretty basic as an overall property. 
Beckee wants to stay...
When we arrived this time to Disneyland we saw this amazing water park at the Anaheim Courtyard by Marriott. It looks AWESOME! We will be giving this hotel a try next time we come out (well, depending on the cost!) 
Also, we have been anxiously awaiting the opening of the Anaheim area Great Wolf Lodge, and it looks like it will be taking reservations soon for it's opening in early 2016! It's also on my list of places to try!
Beckee WILL NEVER STAY...
There are a few places I will never, ever stay again, but I feel I should not name names so publicly. What I will say is this-if a place looks too good for the price, it probably is. AND, make sure to read reviews of the places you are looking into (take them with a grain of salt, but if there is a lot of negative reviews, don't ignore that completely). 
And if you have questions about the hotels around, ask. I will tell you anything I know about the hotels. Plus, I know Facebook and Twitter are just filled with people full of opinions about the hotels around Disney. You can always ask on there (whenever I am looking into staying at a new hotel, I ask a general questions on my Facebook page about whether anyone has had experiences with that hotel-I usually get really constructive comments).
If you are planning a hotel stay right now, happy hunting! I hope you find all you want in a hotel for your dream Disney vacation! 

Hello From Disneyland! I realize that most, if not all, of my recent posts are all about Disney. If you're not a Disney fan, sorry about that (sorry because that's just sad, and sorry because I am an obsessed fan)! :) You may have picked up on the fact that I am a big Disney fan. In fact, my family is in the beginning of our 3rd consecutive year as Disneyland annual pass holders! We have had passes at other times, but this is 3 years and running now! That's just how much we like it.

The other day, before taking off for this most recent trip to Disneyland, I posted the following on my personal Facebook page:

Do you have a favorite thing about Disneyland? A favorite ride, a must try treat, or tricks to get great seats for shows?! We have annual passes and are headed to Disneyland in a few days, but I find we kind of do all the same things each time so I want to hear your Disney favorites and see if there is any new inspiration for me! 

Response to my message was varied. Some people took my plea seriously and gave me some great advice, one friend thought I was joking to even ask, and my brother-in-law commented that I was the one that should be giving the advice. I was really looking to see if I would learn anything new and awesome about Disneyland. Not kidding at all. But I realized that even with all the awesome advice I got, I did not learn anything new. Apparently my vast experience at Disneyland has not been for nothing. I have a pretty good idea of the tricks and treats and I know what my family likes.

And, maybe my brother-in-law was right, maybe I should post what I know. 

So, here it is, I will start to share some of my Disney deals, tricks, treats, and favorites for anyone who cares.
Let's start with this little question: Why would a family who lived in Arizona, and now lives in Washington state have Disneyland annual passes? Well, it's because we did the math. 
When you go to Disneyland, you really need to think about how much time you really want to spent there in the long term (like over the next year). Will you be frequently in Southern California? Do you have more than one opportunity to vacation to Disneyland? When you do visit will you want to spend multiple days at the parks? 
As you are answering these questions, you will want to keep in mind the fact that price per day of your Disney ticket goes down when you buy multiple day tickets. (Check out the price breakdown here: Disneyland ticket prices) Also note that it costs more money if you want to have park hopper passes (meaning you can "hop" between California Adventure and Disneyland throughout the day). 

Beckee's opinion about Park hopper passes: At Disney World, park hopper passes may not be worth it since the parks are so far from one another, but at Disneyland, it is absolutely worth it! The 2 parks are literally across a courtyard from one another. 

Why do we, the Beckee's Deals family, have annual passes? Like I said, we did the math. Our first year as annual pass holders, we lived in Arizona and discovered it was a 6 hour drive from our house to Disneyland. For us, that was close enough to decide we could drive down any 3 day weekend or week off school for the kids. PLUS to sweeten the deal, our good friends were living just a short drive from Disneyland and also had passes that year. We could drive out as often as we wanted and stay with our friends. (Well, often enough, but not so often they wanted to kill us!) It was an awesome year, and we got SO much use from our passes.
The next year we moved to Washington state. I actually let the passes expire thinking we would never get enough use from them. We were going to go to California in August of that year, but had decided to try the SoCal City Pass. That way we'd get to do Disney for a few days, but we'd also get to do some other things. 
While we were on that trip, my husband's sister, who we had been trying for a long, long time to plan a Disney trip with, called. Her family was good to go to Disneyland with us in October and were starting to book travel arrangements. We had let our passes lapse, and had purchased the SoCal City Passes already, but we decided to do this awesome thing, and upgrade our Disney Passes into annual passes while we were at Disneyland that trip. It turned out we were able to use them several more times through the year since my husband had some work conferences in SoCal later in the year. 
This year as our renewal date approached, I was mourning the loss of the passes as I could not see any upcoming trips or a need to renew. One day I got something from Disney saying if I renewed by a certain date that week, I could get each pass for $509 instead of $549. That same day my husband (who was in Utah visiting his family) called to tell me his parents were planning to go to Disneyland with us in the spring, so could I please renew the passes...YES!!! So, we renewed them once again.
For us, the Deluxe Annual Pass was the best option. We have used it and enjoyed it so much over the past 3 years. There are blackout dates, but we don't like to go when it's busy enough to be a blackout day anyway! You will need to watch out for those when planning trips if you buy the Southern California annual pass or the Deluxe annual pass though! 
My first piece of advice to all of you who may be planning a trip to Disneyland is to first figure out how often over the next year you plan to go to Disneyland and plan your park ticket purchases accordingly! Decide how many days you want to spent, how many trips you will take, whether you want to park hop, and then do the math to decide what your best option is for tickets! 
(Keep in mind, if this is a one time trip, or if you plan to stay in hotels near the park, many of them offer package deals, so that is also an option to look into as well!) 
Speaking of hotels, I think that will be the topic of the next installment of my Beckee's Deal at Disneyland! Stay tuned!

I owe you all a big fat apology and explanation. Last week was complicated and I knew it would be. I knew I would be unlikely to be able to post, but I could not explain because one of the big complicated things I had going on was a surprise. A surprise for a lovely young lady that reads my blog!
Let me explain. This is my youngest sister Melanie:

She is about to leave on an 18 month religious mission for our church. Before she leaves, she wanted to go to Disneyland with our baby brother. In fact they have been saving up for this. Well, my dad decided we should surprise her and have myself and my sister Andrea show up at Disneyland. As it turned out, due to work schedules and stuff, I was only able to go for one day-Friday.

So, I boarded a plane with my baby boy on Thursday evening at 7 pm, and after a layover I arrived at LAX at about midnight (that's 2 am in my time zone). I took a Super Shuttle to my hotel in Anaheim and arrived there about 1:20am (3:20 my time). I tried to get the baby to sleep so we would be well rested when they family arrived at like 8am. It did not work.

I managed to surprise my brother and sister. Check out this ultra blurry picture of their surprise as they saw me and baby E:

We spent a very cold and rainy and gloomy day at DL and California Adventures. We left a bit early since we were all soaked to the bone and cold and I had to feed my baby (who was already at the hotel with my parents). I rested and took care of baby for about 2 hours before we had to turn around and head to LAX again for me to return, I got took the red eye which left LAX at 12:45am (LA time-2:45am my time) and had a layover then finally arrived home at 10:30 am. Phew-it was a fast and furious trip!

In spite of the tight time restraints and the gloomy weather, I had a great time and was glad to get to spend the day with my family. Sadly my sister Andrea and I were unable to go the same day out there so she arrived in LA as I arrived back home on Saturday morning. They had a blast the rest of the weekend though I hear (with great weather). Here are some of my fun pictures from my day away:




Thanks for sticking with me and continuing to read my blog. I have a lot to catch up on!

The Happiest Place on Earth! Wow, I LOVE Disneyland.! LOVE it!!  I have so many wonderful memories of Disneyland and it holds a special place in my heart for those memories and for the memories of my family all together there before my aunt Cathy's death in 2008.  I remember going to Disneyland as a very small child with my parents and sister (Until I was 10 I only had one sibling), with Cathy and my XiaXia and Papou (Grandma and Grandpa in Greek). Then, as a teenager (with 2 sisters now) I remember for a couple years in a row as a family we bought annual passes and drove to Anaheim (from Salt Lake City) many times a year.  Once we spent Christmas in Disneyland! As an adult, (now with the 2 sisters and 1 brother), I loved going to Disneyland with my extended family and my kids. In spite of the crowds, the expense, and the lines, I still LOVE it!!

There are a lot of deals and options for saving money at Disneyland and I have put together some here.  I will try to follow the normal Tuesdays Travels series categories, but with one change (Admission instead of Attractions and Activities) and one additional category (Websites to Check out):

• General Information
• Getting there 
• Accommodations 
• Transportation 
• Food
• Attractions and activities
• Shopping
• Websites to check out

General Information

Disneyland is in Anaheim, California. It consists of 2 theme parks, Disneyland and California Adventures, as well as Downtown Disney shops and a couple Disney Hotels.

Getting There

To Drive or to fly is, as always, the question. For now, I live far enough away, that I would not consider driving a viable option. But when I lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, I never flew. It was a fun little road trip and saved money over flying 9 times out of 10.

Flying to Southern California is pretty easy as there are 4 airports within 34 miles of Disneyland:  Orange County (SNA-14 miles away), Long Beach Airport (LGB-22 miles away), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX-32 miles away), and Ontario International Airport (ONT-34 miles away). The nice thing about having so many airports around is that is gives you more options and you can often find one airport is much cheaper than others. As a reminder once again, when you are comparing ticket prices, take into account HOW you will be getting from the airport to your hotel and add the money it will cost to get you to your hotel to get an accurate price comparison.

(Note: Please read my Tuesdays Travels: Overview post for info on how I search for best flight prices and options)

A funny thing I just thought about is the fact that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday's tend to be the cheapest days to fly, and I do these travel blogs on TUESDAYS! Just a funny coincidence...

Accommodations

Accommodations near Disneyland are plenty! There are SO many hotels within walking distance that it is almost funny.  And I have stayed in most of them! Seriously! Especially at Disneyland, I am happy to just get a cheap hotel on one of those few "name your own price" type travel sites I trust, like Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Cheap Tickets.  Even Priceline is OK (I used to exclusively use Priceline , but it has changed so there is not really a lot of negotiating anymore and I am not a fan, but I thought I should mention it as it is still an OK site to check out). 

As an FYI, my favorite place I ever stayed at was an Embassy Suites near Disneyland. It was great because we got a Suite where the whole family could stay in one room. They had a full made to order breakfast each morning (which helped us save on food) plus it was a suite so it had a kitchen area in the suite where we could keep food from a grocery store.  There was also a cocktail hour each day where they had some pretty tasty free food (appetizer type). It was awesome how much we saved on food staying there! Plus we got a great deal on it by watching on the travel sites for a while before we went. 

A great tip from my cousin Laura who lives in California, she reminded me that if you stay in a hotel on the other side of I-5 (just over the bridge, less than a mile from Disneyland) it tends to be a little cheaper and they usually have shuttles that run to and from the park every hour-- so you won't have to pay parking and may save some on hotel.

Which reminds me of the other thing to be aware of when booking a hotel near Disneyland-check to see if you have to play for parking (in case you have a car) and see if they have a free shuttle to and from Disneyland.  Many of the hotels are walking distance, but it is nice to know if there is a free shuttle in case you are just beat at the end of a big Disney day!

Also, see if your hotel offers any deals on Disneyland admissions. Sometimes if you combine the tickets and hotel you can get a better deal on the overall trip.

Transportation

Transportation is going to vary depending on your travel plans.  We have done Disney 2 different ways: 1-as a purely Disney trip, 2-as part of an overall Southern Cal trip. 

If you are JUST doing Disney, I would recommend staying at a hotel with a free shuttle to and from Disneyland and finding a shuttle to get you from the airport to Disneyland, and don't bother with a car rental.  My mom would probably disagree with this advice though as she likes to be able to drive to the Target and to the laundromat when everyone else is sleeping to get things done for the day, so she likes to have a car. 

If you are going to be doing other Southern California activities (Sea World, Six Flags, The Beach, etc), you will likely want to rent a car.  There are many options of car rental places-just do the homework to see who has the best deals when you are there-if you have an entertainment book you might check to see if it has any of the coupons for national car rental places. Also look online for coupons and deals.

Food

I have already mentioned some of the things I do to save money on food while in Disneyland. The first thing I will say is this-do not eat in the park!! Be willing to leave the park for your meals and you will save a bundle!
Also, look for a hotel that serves breakfast and has a kitchen area (many near Disney do), and you can grocery shop for some of your meals.  We usually just eat free breakfasts and grocery store food at our Disney trips.

Another great tip from my cousin is that quite a few restaurants within walking distance to the park offer "kids eat free" with each paying adult (i.e. two adults, two free kids meals)-- you will have to leave the park-- but this isn't a problem if you have a hopper pass or get a stamp to return. They are within five minutes walking distance. Look for those places. 

I have to admit that when we go to Disneyland with my family (i.e. my parents and siblings) we DO have one complete splurge meal at the Blue Bayou restaurant in The Pirates of the Caribbean area. It is awesome to sit in that nice cool restaurant and eat great food in the middle of a hot long day! So, if you have a special place you know you want to eat-budget it in and go for it-just don't do it last minute because you are too hungry!

Also, BRING WATER BOTTLES with you into the park and just refill them in drinking fountains. You do not want to spend $2.50 on each water bottles in the park!

Admission

Disneyland is, in and of itself one big attraction, so in this section I am going to talk about admission prices. Currently there are 2 special offers available: you can get a 5 day park hopper pass for kids 3-9 for $154.00 and adults $184.00, or you can get a 6 day park hopper pass for kids 3-9 for $169.00 and adults $199.00.  Annual prices will run anywhere from $299-$700 per person, and daily admissions for 1 park (not a park hopper) are $62.00  for kids and $72.00 for adults. Please see the full price list here.

So the question is, how do we get better deals on admission?  First, if you will be there multiple days, Disney makes it a better bang for the buck to get the package deals-like the 5 or 6 day park hopper passes versus the single day tickets.  And if you will be at Disney often throughout the year, an annual pass might be an option to consider. 

Also, many hotels offer a hotel+tickets deals where you can get free or discounted  tickets to Disney-watch for those. Even after you book your hotel, you could still call them and see if they have any discount deals with Disney. 

And, here are a few tips about getting discounted admission from Laura:

1) Military-- check for active duty military discount-- you have to call beforehand because they don't usually advertise it-- but it used to be the military person gets in free and their dependents get a 3-day hopper pass for the price of one day admission-- Don't know if it is still that good but worth a try.


2) Southern California Resident discount-- they usually have this as well-- if you know someone who lives in Southern California and can get the tickets at a discount

3) Credit Unions-- In California, nearly every credit union offers discount tickets to its members, some outside of the state may do so as well-- again, if you know people in California-- check with them to see if they can get discounted tickets
 
Shopping

OK, lets talk about souvenirs here.  WOW-talk about a money pit, am I right?!

Well, let me tell you a tip my sister told me the other day. Often Disneyland or Disney World merchandise will be available online or in stores and my sister, Andrea, mentioned that a friend of hers buys the stuff on an online or in store Disney sale this then packs it with her when they visit a Disney park. Then each morning when her kids wake up, "the Disney Fairies" have delivered them souvenirs from that day. That helps you avoid buying expensive shirts and stuff at the parks!! I LOVE that idea and my kids would love to see gifts from Disney Characters left for them (why not-they get Christmas gifts from all kinds of characters-Rudolph, the Grinch, Yoda...it is a tradition from my husband's family).

I do like to shop at Downtown Disney, and you can use coupons at the stores there if you have them, so don't leave your coupon stash at home when you go!

Websites to Check Out
 
A few websites others have emailed me to tell me about as I have been writing this post.  First Merrilyn said that Mousesavers.com was her best resource when planning her last Disney trip. It is a GREAT resource and has way more info than I could possibly cover in this one post. Please check it out.
 
And Andrea told me that Get Away Today has been her best resource as she has been planning her upcoming Disney trip (she is taking her family and my other sister and they are going on MY birthday-can you believe that...I have major Disney envy!!).  Andrea ended up purchasing her whole package from them.  And when she asked other travel agents about the deal she got they could not believe how good it was. 
 
Conclusion

These are just the things I have learned in my Disneyland travels and my opinions on traveling to Disneyland. I am not the definitive Disney expert by any means. Please feel free to add your own tips and tricks to this and feel free to ask me any questions you might have. Thank you to all my readers, family and friends that have given me tips and tricks to include in this post!