How to make the most out of your Disneyland trip

How long since you've been?  The last time Dale and I experienced the Land was the weekend he asked my father for my hand in marriage.  (sigh!)

I cannot go any farther into this post without thanking my sister: 

Nanette was INTENSELY GENEROUS enough to use her access as a Disney employee-spouse to get Dale and me in to a free day at the happiest place on earth.  Once inside, the three of us experienced

20 attractions in 10 hours!!!

She-yeah!  Star Tours, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro-blasters, Splash Mountain, The Indiana Jones ride, Pirates of the Carribean, the Haunted Mansion, The Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, The Blue Bayou (!!!!), Big thunder Mountain, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, Michael Jackson as Captain EO, Aladdin the Musical, the King Arthur Carousel, the Jedi Training Academy, California Screamin', Soarin' over California, the Tower of Terror, Toy Story Midway Mania, and the Sorceror's Workshop.... that was more than 20 and there are still more things that we saw, did and LOVED!

How does one do this, you ask?

1. Go on a Monday (or any mid-week day).  On the weekends it is so crowded that you'll be lucky to get onto 4 rides and enjoy what my parents lovingly termed "the line ride" for 90% of your trip.

2. Get there RIGHT AT OPENING!  In the first hour of our trip we did 4 rides because we were waiting at the rope for the rides to open.  And these were 4 BIG rides.  Four of the most popular rides at Disneyland!

3.  Use fast passes.  Your ticket can be scanned at many of the biggest rides of the park to provide you with a line cutting card at a later mentioned time.  Once you pass that time, they work all day.  Study up on which of the rides have fast passes and plan how you will attack the day. Each ticket can hold up to two fast passes at a time, so you can have line-cutting privileges only 30 minutes apart from eachother!

4. Use single rider.  If you're all grown up enough to sit alone on a ride, ask if they have single rider spots.  You ask the attendant at the line entrance if they have single riders, then they let you go to the front of a line immediately (like a fast pass).  You are then used to fill the seats that are left empty by uneven groups who wait in line to sit together.  I think it's FANTASTIC.

5. Going with Adults makes it easier.  Before you judge me.  I acknowledge that children make Disneyland magical all on their own.  All I want to point out is that as 3 adults we were able to wait in line at one place while another adult ran to get updated fast passes and join us in line later.  You get some dirty looks sometimes for getting your sister/spouse in line with you, but no one stopped us from doing it.

6.  Study a map and show schedule before hand.  When we were on the way to our dinner reservations (30 min early), my sister noticed we were passing by the Golden Horseshoe Stage and knew that a Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show was starting in the next 3 minutes.  We grabbed a seat and laughed for 30 minutes straight.

7. Don't be afraid to try something silly.  As we were passing by things that were happening, I ended up dancing with the French Market Band, we walked into the animation studio in California Adventure and did some voice overs of Jaffar and Vazzini, and you're never too old to get excited to take a picture with Captain Hook.

That's all the secrets I have from this trip, but they were secrets that worked.  Follow them and you too can have a picturesque experience much like ours.