m, did you see that Chew Chew is getting ready to close permanently? Last chance to go. :(

j, thanks for explaining that. Glad you like the Haunted Mansion decorations and that we won't really be missing out on anything. So we'll both buy the MaxPass and then use one phone to pull the FastPasses. Is there a limit to the number of FastPasses you can pull?

https://www.undercovertourist.com/bl...yland-maxpass/ seems to have some good info.

https://touringplans.com/disneyland-resort/fastpass is another good link.

https://disneylanddaily.com/a-fastpa...nia-adventure/ shows a nice list of rides that have Fastpass available.

Disneyland Ride Closures and Special Events ? Build A Better Mouse Trip is a good link for showing ride closures.

I think I finally have the Fastpass and MaxPass systems figured out. Thanks for all the good tips!

m, very cool that you go to to go to Club 33. It looks pretty amazing, like a secret club. How was the food?

Food vendors do really vary in quality. I didn't plan the first time with kids, and we ended up in like Critter Country, the kids were starved and everything was fried, heavy, no salads or anything green. We spent $40 for what was essentially McDonalds chicken nuggets and fries for 5 people. Since then I learned to study the food vendors in a book or on a mouse-friendly website.

We brought a bag with nonrefrigerated food to tide everyone over. If you don't want to carry it, traditionally there are lockers near Main Street at Disneyland. This allowed us to eat lunch at 2-3 pm rather than noon, and the lines were slower at the food vendors.

Also, I think you've already gotten your lodgings squared away but I noticed others were bookmarking. One thing we did was stayed at a Disneyland "Good Neighbor" hotel. These are local hotels not owned by Disney who participate. The advantage was that you got early admission one day to the park but didn't pay nearly as much as you would to stay in one of the 3 official Disneyland hotels. At the time we did it, you could book directly with the hotel and still get the Good Neighbor benefits. I don't know if that is still the case. We stayed at the Howard Johnson on our trips, but there are many others on the list.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/hotels/good-neighbor/

Oh you can bring food in with you? I didn't know that. Would be good to bring some snacks along. That's a great way to save money. I was already planning to bring bottled water in with me. Nice to know they have lockers - do you have to pay for those?

I was also wondering what you do with your purse when you're on a ride? Do you just bring it with you, or do you leave it on the side of the loading area? Wasn't sure if they would let you carry it on, but I'd like to have my phone, etc. with me.

Yes you can bring snacks. And you do have to pay for lockers.

You can carry a purse or (small) backpack on a ride. Some of the fast rides have pockets for these things. If you will be doing splash rides, have some way to protect your electronics.

I didn't know Heimlich was closing.

https://hellogiggles.com/news/disney...ew-chew-train/ talks about it closing - sad, I won't get to see it.

Good idea to protect electronics, didn't think of that. I already bought a cute little Mickey purse, so glad I can bring it with me.

Damn! Closing Sept 4...sad about Bug's Land, I loved the giant plants with the firefly lamps, and the cereal box. For SuperHeroes no less.

Thanks for that link. "It's Tough to be a Bug," which has been closed for a while, was another favorite for cooling down..and scaring unsuspecting friends with arachnophobia.

It sounds like you may not be able to use Bug's Land as a cut through anymore.

I imagine it's all going to be Marvel Superheroes and Pixar over there, too bad. We also like the entertainment on Buena Vista Street.. Red Trolley News Boys, Five & Dime, and the characters "Citizens of Buena Vista Street". Hope they don't wipe all of that out, also.

Still no entertainment schedule posted for after Labor Day on the official site.

To 5alive, Disney has made a big effort to improve their menus. Even the restaurant in Critter Country (Hungry Bear) which I never liked, has a healthy choice now. It really isn't necessary to bring a cooler full of food anymore. Snacks and bottled water will tide you over.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/din...taurant/menus/

I'm already eyeing the corn dogs; we eat those once a year at our local rodeo, and the ones at Disney seem to get great reviews. I do like that they have healthier options too - for after the corn dog! I think we've decided to go for two days now, just too much to see and do in one day and hubby agrees.

It seems sad to me that everything is turning into Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. Where's the charm? Not everything has to explode and have lasers. I'm really looking forward to Peter Pan - I rode that with my dad as a kid, and I still remember it. It has that bit of magic.

I had to stop eating those, especially the week before my cholesterol blood test!

Glad hubby has agreed to the two-day adventure.

Since I actually saw the original Star Wars, when it was first released..I'm okay with the Star Tours ride. It's a new version and one I think is worth doing even if you don't care about Star Wars. It's a 3-D ride with motion of the seats to enhance some of the maneuvers. Youtube doesn't do it justice.

i thought the same, but not all of the changes are bad. Tower of terror, for example, was probably the weakest version I’ve ridden, and the new version with Guardians, is an improvement imo. Has a charm of it’s own.

I can take or leave Star Wars but a lot of people love it.

That is good news. When we went a second time, I did plan out our meals, things went much better but I didn't go back to the places I didn't like before.

It still may be worth bringing more food if your kids eat a lot. My oldest was starting his teenage growth spurt on our second trip. Bringing him a lunch meant that we only bought him one lunch and not two.

People do seem to love all the Guardians and Star Wars stuff; it's not really my thing, but if we have time I would definitely do those as well.

Our guide book recommended a few restaurants for days you might be outside the park - Umami Burger, Pizza Press, and La Casa Garcia for casual food; they look pretty good. Also a spot called Haven Gastropub.

I was curious if Disneyland ever "sells out" - do you have to buy your tickets ahead of time or can you leave it open based on how your schedule pans out? Could we just buy online a day ahead?