A whole new world: you’re never too old for Disneyland

WORDS NICKY ADAMS PHOTOS SUPPLIED

Don’t try to resist Disneyland’s pastel allure – this magical alternate universe really is fun for all ages.

Given it’s known as ‘The Happiest Place On Earth’, it’s hard to keep expectations in check ahead of a trip to California’s Disneyland. After all, this is it, the childhood land of milk and honey – one huge expanse of delirious delightfulness. It’s like a parallel universe has been created, filled with flowers, colour, magic and rides – so many rides. There are marshmallow dreams coming at you from every direction from the minute you step through the gates, and even the most sceptical of sceptics wouldn’t be able to resist the joy.

Now, to start with full disclosure, historically I’ve never loved theme parks, purely because an adrenaline junkie I am not. Big Dipper? A big not likely, so I certainly wasn’t visiting Disneyland for the rush. It had been a family dream to make the trip, and with three children between four and 10, the question was when, not if, it was best to take the plunge. In reality, absolutely any age works. As I watched my husband Scott shove the children aside so he could jump onto the first carriage of the It’s A Small World ride, I realised with certainty that you’re never too old for Disneyland.

The city of Anaheim is home to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park, which sit amid a district known as Downtown Disney. Much of the surrounding area is taken up with hotels of various degrees of swankiness, which service the parks. Downtown Disney is where the magic begins; a pedestrianised paved area, this hub is brimming with eateries and retailers. Among the flower gardens and benches, you’ll often see street performers – and we’re not talking a few juggling balls. Calibre-wise, we’re one notch off Broadway.

Despite the fact that the minute we arrived, our children were gagging to get to the parks, we opted to have a ‘rest day’ to chill out by the pool. Trust me, you need to be firing on all cylinders once you’re within the hallowed walls. There are a number of different options for passes; whichever you choose, strategy is imperative. I’m not organised by nature, but this is one time when military-style planning is not OTT. The Disneyland website is well worth spending time on, and a Disneyland app that provides wait times is potentially a lifesaver. Multiple entry on your pass allows you to come in and out as the kids become tired, and for us also meant our older kids – and Scott – could return at night and do all the more hardcore rides. Another bonus was being able to leave the parks to eat in the Downtown area.

We found the food pretty ho-hum inside the parks, so we packed plenty of snacks and water, and tried to last as long as we could. We picked Disneyland for our first day (not all tickets allow you to go between parks). It’s not a wild exaggeration to say that as soon as you’re inside, the euphoria takes hold. Everywhere you look, there are Disney characters; princesses, villains, heroes – all larger than life, friendlier and just as appealing as newborn pups. Although the temptation is to throw yourself on them, there is a protocol, with the kids quickly forming a line to get a handshake and autograph from each character. When it comes to the rides, some visitors plan their route around their preferences, some meander, and some are guided by the FastPass – a fantastic way to jump the queues. However, this isn’t available on all the attractions, so find out in advance if it works for the activities you want to do.

We largely ambled around picking the rides the kids fancied and didn’t seem to have lines that were too long. Of course, realistically, queueing is unavoidable; a bit like petrol prices, you just have to suck it up, and when the surroundings are so totally awesome, it seems churlish to moan about a queue.

So how did I fare on the ride front? Actually, pretty well. I gritted my teeth and went on the big Pixar Pal-A-Round wheel; with a grin fixed on my face, eyes squeezed shut behind my sunnies, I gripped with white knuckles to the side. I accidentally went on the Radiator Springs Racers ride, which I thought would be a gentle drive through the mountains. It transpired that behind the alpine façade was a well-hidden roller coaster, so I spent the duration screaming, with my head buried in my eight year old’s lap. But I loved all the less hairy options, of which there are plenty. As for the kids, well, they hit everything hard and fast – and with a range of rides that’s beyond comprehension, there’s something to suit every level of tolerance. To be honest, though, the rides are just one small part of the thrill.

Within each park, there are a whole range of experiences and scheduled shows that are put on throughout the course of the day – some are intimate performances, others take place in large amphitheatres. They’re absolutely worth going to; we were wowed by (shudder if you will) the Frozen performance, which in itself it was worth the cost of the pass. Another big whoop for our family were the parades that take place in the late afternoons. As the characters bound past, all twitching tails, shaking feathers and shimmering sequins, you can’t help but marvel at the truly incredible spectacle. Another must-see are the fireworks displays. As each rocket bursts sky high in pyrotechnic glory, it’s proof beyond doubt that here in Disneyland, the magic never ends.

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How to do Disney:

• check that your travel dates don’t clash with any events being held at the Disneyland parks, or you may have to vacate early.

• consider Character Dining at a Disneyland Resort hotel. The characters entertain you while you eat – super-fun for the kids.

• booking in advance is essential. ... choose your timing. The heat and American holidays can be intense, though we loved going in October, when the Halloween celebrations proved to be a bonus. Be sure to check out the daily calendar too.

• consider the benefits of the Disneyland Resort Hotels: proximity plus an Extra Magic Hour, when the park is closed to everyone else. Do note that not all rides are open during this time, however.

• also think about staying in one of the hotels along ‘the strip’, Harbour Boulevard. It’s an easy walk and there are regular buses.

• don’t worry too much about security. Bag checks are conducted on entering Downtown Disney. The one incident of unruly behaviour I saw drew three undercover security guards faster than I could say, “Mickey Mouse.”

• don’t take your own pram. They can be hired daily.

• and don’t judge locals with Disney tattoos. You’ll be seeing a lot of them.

Have family, will travel

WORDS AND PHOTOS AMY BOARD

Tauranga locals Amy Board and Pat Johnson take their three daughters: Ellie (10), Celia (8) and Molly (4) on a year long trip around America, the country of Pat’s birth.

Travelling around America in a bus has always been a dream for us. I wanted the freedom of long-term travel and the experience of camping alongside other traveling families. My husband Pat was drawn to exploring national parks and teaching the kids wilderness skills, as well as showing them that the country of his birth has so much more to offer than the negative clichés they often heard.

Last year we received an invitation to a family wedding in America. It seemed a pretty big expense for just two weeks. We reasoned that the children were the ideal age for full-time travel and we had a family base (Pat’s parents) in the middle of America to launch from, so we decided this was the ideal time to travel for a year.

We moved out of our home on Oceanbeach Road in The Mount, gave away or sold most of our belongings, and bought five, one-way flights to Los Angeles. Pat's uncle picked us up in his luxurious 33 foot, class-A RV and drove us 2500 km back to Pat’s home town in style, with us thinking “Don’t get used to this, kids!”

Whilst staying with Pat’s parents in Omaha, we quickly found a 1985 converted short bus from a self-proclaimed redneck. He had built it as a 'bug-out bus' for the impending apocalypse and had installed a new Chevy hot rod engine, new tyres and brakes, and a ridiculous powerful sound system: Pat was happy. There was also a flushing toilet, small kitchenette, water tank, and bunkbeds: I was happy. It was nothing like the uncle’s fancy RV monster: the girls were crestfallen. We now had our new, tiny home. We named her Shelby, installed solar panels and hit the road.

Ten years ago, Pat I had witnessed the extraordinary beauty of the Glacier National Park in Montana. That was the kind of wilderness we wanted our girls to experience, so we headed west and have been traveling through the Pacific Northwest for the last three months, camping and exploring the immense wilderness of Oregon and Washington. We always go on hikes when we are staying in national parks and are often surprised at the stamina of the girls. In Crater Lake National Park, little Molly walked 7km with a 350m elevation change and refused to be picked up once. Torrential downpours in the rainforest or recent sightings of bears have yet to stop them from going out into the wild. We have found that the long stretches of time walking out in nature lend themselves to deep discussions and we have been surprised by some of the topics that come up during these walks: Trump versus Hillary, American history, the Civil War and slavery, World War II, and the oil pipeline protests.

To keep up with their schooling, the girls do observational drawings and keep travel journals. Ellie and Celia each have large workbooks that cover all subjects for their year level; proper nouns, long division and so on. But the bigger curriculum they are following at the moment is the one I’m really enjoying helping them with: walking along South Beach in Oregon finding fossils, observing erosion and the weather, identifying animal footprints and semi-precious gemstones, and guessing how fresh bear poo is.

It has been hard adjusting to the small space in the van. Each area has multiple uses; our dinner table converts to our third bed, for example. Something simple like getting your swimming bag out is a three step process with two people in your way. And when it’s pouring with rain, the chaos is intensified. We like to settle at one spot for more than a few days, but we are restricted by our holding tanks. Several times we would have liked to have stayed at certain places longer, but have to go into town to empty our black water and fill up with fresh water, and end up moving onto the next spot. We also have had to change the way we normally hike and camp because of potentially dangerous animals such as bears, cougars and rattlesnakes. We can't let the kids run ahead on hikes like in New Zealand, and have to be very conscious about storing food and cleaning up.

To fund our trip we have been working online or stopping to work when needed. We wanted to keep our route very flexible so if we meet people we want to travel with, we could change direction at a moment’s notice. Some of the best moments on our travels have come about from changing our plans, and making new friends with other traveling families. After surviving a typhoon in the Oregon High Desert, we went with two other families to Summer Lake hot springs. That night the tail end of the typhoon hit hard and all the kids and animals piled into our bus. We lit candles and played the ukulele while very strong winds swept through camp. It's been wonderful to savour what feels like old world moments; cooking on an open fire and eating outside every night, fishing and foraging for wild fruit and berries and reading to the kids by candlelight.

And now we are heading south for winter to stop and work for the holidays; then perhaps onto the East Coast and Canada next year. Ultimately we want to bring Shelby back to New Zealand and continue this adventure.

Amy writes travel letters from the road to her friends and family at her blog