The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland

The Unofficial Story: What You Didn’t Know You Needed to Know

Get a hold of a unusually helpful book called "The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland.” It will help you plan the Disneyland vacation of a lifetime.

This little tome is a goldmine of information, maps, charts and touring plans to facilitate an optimal Disney experience. The handy paperback is updated every year, and the writing and research staffs are totally independent of all Disney corporations to ensure unbiased content.

Also included are testimonials, both positive and negative, from real vacationers who have used the sourcebook.

"The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland” provides in-depth coverage on all aspects of planning a vacation to Disneyland Park, Disney’s California Adventure Park and even the non-Disney related Universal Studios Hollywood.

Each attraction is described in detail and rated according to how dark, loud, scary, yucky, rough and wet it is — as well as how likely one is to experience motion sickness, or the jettisoning of items such as hats and sunglasses — so you can judge if a ride will be appropriate for your particular child (or you).

Restaurants in the parks and the greater Anaheim area are also meticulously reviewed, with guidelines on seating and atmosphere, menu specialties and price ranges.

Every chapter is enlightening, but most valuable is the clip-out touring plan section located in the back of the book. These plans are veritable treasure maps: ride-by-ride itineraries of where to go and what to do — in exact order — to optimize your time in each park. With headings such as "Dumbo-or-Die-in-a-Day Plan,” one of the nearly dozen touring plans offered are sure to fit your needs.

"The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland” is also a wellspring of information you never knew you needed to know, but could make a world of difference in the quality of your vacation. Here are a few of those gems.

The truth about the FASTPASS. Some popular park attractions have two lines: regular and FASTPASS, the "express” line. If the regular line to a ride is insanely long, you may obtain a FASTPASS by putting your park ticket into the FASTPASS kiosk located at the ride. The kiosk will spit out a FASTPASS with a time range — e.g., 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. — to return to that ride and zip through the FASTPASS line.

"The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland” also includes an annual calendar of Anaheim’s scheduled conventions. The Anaheim-Orange County Convention Center is one of the country’s leading event venues. When the center is hosting a meeting, as many as 75,000 people can be instantly added to the local population. This increases road traffic and attendance at theme parks and restaurants, as convention attendees often bring spouses and kids along to take advantage of Anaheim’s family-friendly delights.

The guide provides lists of the convention center’s planned events with exact dates and numbers of anticipated participants. This allows you to possibly schedule your vacation around a major convention so you’re not competing for services with thousands of extra visitors.

The "Chuck-Bubba Relay” Secret. Named after a guide user from Kentucky, this nifty strategy saves time and sanity when your little one wants to ride an attraction twice in a row without excess waiting in line. How do you do it? One adult takes the tyke through the ride the first time while the another adult lets a certain number of people go in front of them before lining up again. When adult #1 and junior complete the ride, adult #2 is located in line and a child handoff occurs for a second go-round. The guide provides a list of specific rides where the relay usually works, as well as how many people should proceed in line in front of adult #2.

I think this alone is worth the cost of "The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland.” :)

Fun fact from the Guide

The parks do not restrict you to the narrow window indicated on your ticket. You may not return to use the ride’s FASTPASS line any earlier than the start time indicated, but you may now return anytime after that start time, until the park closes that day.

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