Find Part One of my FAQ here.

Where should we stay?

We stayed at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa. It’s the high end of the three Disney hotel properties, and I really think it’s worth the extra bucks. I loved the decor - dark wood, vaulted ceilings, very subtle Disney themes. It felt far more adult than I expected, which was refreshing.

The other two Disney hotels are also very convenient to the parks, but when I saw that the Grand Californian actually had a private entrance to Disney’s California Adventure, I was sold. Especially when the five of us were totally wiped out and able to take a much-needed short cut back to the hotel (vice carrying two sleeping children through Downtown Disney as we’d done the night before).

There are other hotels in the surrounding area with access to the parks, but considering the time value of money, I’m sold on the Grand Californian.

Should we bring our own stroller?

I was impressed, as only a mom of small, whiny children can be, by the stroller rental service at the parks. They don’t have double strollers, but one single stroller is $12/day, two for $22.

The strollers are joggers, easily maneuverable and quite comfortable for babies who can sit unsupported all the way up to pre-schoolers. In fact, Tacy and CJ perched in our two strollers to watch Fantasmic! and the fireworks display.

I especially liked that we could return the strollers, hang on to our placards (each stroller has a placard with your name on it, which reduces the potential for mix-ups) and receipt, leave the park for a while and then come back and get new strollers without waiting in line again or paying a second time.

The only drawback is that you must turn in the strollers before leaving the park, which means that you might end up carrying sleeping children all the way back through Downtown Disney, as we wearily did after the fireworks.

Is the food any good?

Surprisingly good!  At Disneyland, we had dinner at the French Market restaurant in New Orleans Square.  I had the jambalaya, and Kyle had the citrus chicken.  The girls shared a plate of macaroni and cheese (which comes with carrot and celery sticks), and Oliver chowed down on shreds of chicken from Kyle’s plate and mine too.  We also splurged on dessert - a chocolate mousse torte for the ladies, and cheesecake topped with red raspberries for Kyle.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the Storyteller’s Cafe at the hotel, accompanied by Chip ‘n Dale.  It was probably the most pleasant sit-down meal we’ve ever enjoyed with all three children, thanks to intermittent visits from the character, plus a post-meal dance parade around the entire cafe.  My only gripe?  The food is pricey - $25 for the buffet for adults, $12 or so for kids.  We ordered off the menu, and in retrospect, we should have ponied up for the buffet and taken advantage of the selection - like Eggs Benedict, sauteed asparagus, and smoked salmon with capers.

Then we had a late lunch at the Wine Country Trattoria at Disney’s California Adventure.  I had a caprese sandwich, and Kyle had a meatball sandwich - both of which were delicious.  It was pretty chilly out that day, so we forewent the adult beverages in favor of hot tea.

How much is this vacation going to cost me anyway?

Believe it or not, I’ve got some good news for you there.  Our airfare was surprisingly low, and because there are several different airports in the general area, you can shop around for flights.  Just make sure your chosen car rental company has a location at each airport; we learned that lesson the hard way.

Disneyland has also begun a new promotion that makes for an ideal vacation.  Buy a three-night hotel and three-day ticket package, and get two more nights and two more days absolutely free.  The reason I think this offer is so fantastic is that it lets you relax more as you explore the parks.  Instead of feeling compelled to see and do everything in only a couple days, you’ve got five full days to leisurely make your way to every corner of both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure.  And aren’t vacations supposed to be leisurely?

Granted, a five-day stay means you’ve got more days’ worth of meals to buy and more time to be tempted by souvenirs.  But you can return home knowing that you’ve really made the most of your time at the parks.

In short, for a family of four - with the cool new promotion (get the details here) - with airfare and car rental and meals and a few sets of souvenir mouse ears, I’d say you’re looking at around $3500.

But like I said in Part One, it’s an experience for the whole family, and unless you live in SoCal, it’s not one you’ll repeat every year - or even every other year.  Plus, you’re just not going to find a comparable family vacation for less.  Certainly not one that’s anywhere near as memorable as a trip to Disneyland.

For more information on Disneyland promotions, check out their Special Offers page.  And if you’ve got any more questions about our Disneyland experience, please email me directly at mothergoosemouse AT gmail DOT com.

On our recent trip to California, we stopped at a Fresh & Easy neighborhood market to pick up a couple bottles of wine to bring to dinner.  We emerged with two bottles of wine, a twelve-pack of beer, a one-pound package of grapes, a bag of spinach artichoke tortilla chips, and an apple that CJ and Oliver fought over shared on the way to Hollywood.  All for about $20.

But Fresh & Easy has so much going for it that the prices are only a small part of the appeal.  Before our trip, I chatted with a couple friends here in Denver who’ve heard about Fresh & Easy from friends and family in LA, and I was surprised to hear that low prices didn’t top the list of reasons why they like to shop there.  Instead, it was the accessibility of the stores, Fresh & Easy’s community involvement, and the quality and simplicity of the selection that they cited.

Hear that, megastore-that-shall-remain-nameless?  Low prices aren’t everything.

The Fresh & Easy we visited in Glassell Park was austere, but well-stocked and immaculate.  It wasn’t large, but the aisles were wide, the shelves didn’t tower over me (I always hated how Manhattan groceries were jam-packed floor to ceiling), and I’ll reiterate how clean it was.  Cleanliness always makes a favorable impression on me.

The selection was very basic: a few name brands, plus the Fresh & Easy brand, for each type of item.  But here’s what struck me - I gravitated to the Fresh & Easy brands.  Simple packaging, with appealing descriptions and visible contents.  Plus, the prices were outstanding.  There were so many items I wanted to try, I wished I were shopping for my own pantry and refrigerator.

Did we like what we bought?  Definitely.  The wine was good - I chose a couple bottles bearing the “selected especially for Fresh & Easy” sticker, along with a $4 price tag - and the chips and grapes kept the kids happily satisfied and out of the minibar.  Kyle grumbled that the beer was bland, but the man drinks Natty Light every night - when did he get so picky?

I also noticed the diversity among our fellow shoppers.  Unlike some specialty groceries that seem to be populated exclusively by young white couples, I saw a wide variety of ages and ethnicities at Fresh & Easy.  Which made me smile, because eating healthfully should be important to everyone.

Fresh & Easy markets are currently located only in southern California, Phoenix, and Las Vegas, with planned expansion to northern California.  I realize that they’re working to get the model down pat before opening stores in other locations, but I can’t help being a bit impatient for them to get to Colorado.  Yes, I was that impressed.

Have you visited Fresh & Easy?  What did you think?

…well, you know.  It rhymes with “grass”.

I looove peanut butter.  I’ve always loved it in combination with chocolate, or in a PB&J sandwich - strawberry jam and soft white bread for me, please.  It’s good on crackers, and it helped me gag down celery sticks, forced upon me by my father who never believed my claims that celery makes my tongue numb.

Dad, I get at least ten Google search hits a day for “celery makes my tongue numb”.  It’s true!

Similar to my feelings for whipping cream and soft cheese, my love for peanut butter has only grown as I’ve gotten older, just like my posterior.  Now I like it in sauces and spreads and even straight from the jar.  At a time when my derriere can least afford my love for peanut butter, that love has reached an all time high, thanks to Maranatha peanut butter.

Regular peanut butter, the kind you find in mass quantities on the grocery shelves, is delicious, no doubt.  But Maranatha’s organic no-stir peanut butter blows the old stuff away.

It’s not nearly as sugary, which makes it ideal for cooking.  My kids still dig the Skippy, but their taste buds are unsophisticated, so they can’t appreciate taste variations the way that Kyle and I do.  When I tried the Maranatha, I could immediate taste the difference.

Not all foods that go by the same name are created equal.  For example, anything from 80/20 beef (or worse, those frozen JTM hockey pucks) to ground sirloin can be called a hamburger.  The same is true for peanut butter, and Maranatha is definitely at the ground sirloin end of the spectrum.

It’s expensive - I’ll get that out of the way right now.  A 16-ounce jar at Target cost me $4.99.  So unless the kids want to pay for it out of their allowance, I’m going to hoard my Maranatha for my own PB&J sandwiches, sharing it only with Kyle if he feels like cooking something with peanut butter.

Who am I kidding?  It doesn’t matter whether or not he feels like it; I’ve already started bookmarking recipes for him to try, because this peanut butter’s taste is so pure that it’s ideal for cooking.  Oh, and eating it straight from the jar too.

Want to try Maranatha peanut butter for yourself? I’ve got five coupons, each for a free jar (up to $4.99 value).  Get it at Whole Foods or Kroger or Target or wherever else you’ve already seen it - it’s popping up more and more.

Before midnight Sunday, leave a comment to tell me how you like your peanut butter - in cookies, on crackers, slathered on a celery stalk, smothering your chicken satay.  I’ll choose five commenters at random (US only, please).

Okay, so no one has actually asked me these questions yet.  But these are the questions I asked (or wish I’d asked) before going to Disneyland, and I hope my answers will help others who are planning a family vacation to this classic and timeless resort.

Are my kids too young/too old to enjoy Disneyland?

Personally, I don’t think anyone is too old to enjoy Disneyland.

Too young though…that depends on your situation.  For example, I know Oliver (14 months) won’t remember this trip to Disneyland at all.  Tacy (7 years old) will remember it well, and CJ (4 years old) will remember certain highlights, especially with the aid of pictures and video.

But we’ll remember CJ’s and Oliver’s enjoyment of the trip, their reactions to everything that they saw and did.  As much fun as I know Tacy had at Disneyland, I think CJ’s and Oliver’s experiences were more magical, which made them even more fun for Kyle and me to observe.

So if you’ve got an only child, I’d say wait until they’re three or four, so that they can get the full effect and you can marvel at the experience through their eyes.  But if you’ve got two or more, don’t wait for the youngest to be old enough to remember the trip.

What are the must-ride rides?

I love rides.  I don’t care how kiddie they are, rides at a big park like Disneyland are all awesome.

But I did have a few top favorites that I’d highly recommend.  First, at Disneyland, “It’s a Small World” is non-negotiable.  It’s integral to the Disney experience.  The ride itself, inside and out, is just beautiful, and I love the subtle cultural messages.  Plus, if you’re there on a day like the one when we visited, a nice cool boat ride is just the ticket.

Also at Disneyland, if you have a fan of the Disney Princesses, check out the Disney Princesses Fantasy Faire.  Even if you don’t wait in line to meet and greet the Princesses in person, go around the corner to the merchandise area and spot them as they make their entrances and exits.  CJ waved at them all like she was hailing a cab, and Belle - still in character - greeted her: “Hello!  Have you read any good books lately?”

Over at Disney’s California Adventure, I had to forego the big rides in favor of those the kids could enjoy too.  But I didn’t expect to love Toy Story Mania! as much as I did; I insisted that we ride it twice.  It’s a 3D virtual midway, where you “shoot” targets and a small screen mounted on your car totals up your points.  Absolutely addictive.

My other top favorite at Disney’s California Adventure was Soarin’ Over California.  It’s a simulated hang glider that suspends you over a hemispheric screen with footage of gorgeous parts of California - sail over orange groves (you can smell the oranges!), up the cliffs of Yosemite, skimming the ocean past the surfers, down the ski slopes.  I’ve never been on another ride like it.

What’s FASTPASS?  Does it cost extra?

One area in which I did not adequately do my homework before our trip was FASTPASS.  I thought it was a premium service, so I dismissed it as a nice-to-have.

FASTPASS is basically a virtual line.  At the rides which feature FASTPASS, you can get a ticket that tells you to return to the ride during a certain window of time, and when you do, get in the FASTPASS line instead of the regular line.  This means that you will likely wait somewhere between 5-15 minutes to get on the ride, instead of 45-90 minutes or more.  But it also means that you need to plan out your day, so that when you get a FASTPASS ticket for a particular ride, you can be sure to make it back there during the window.

While FASTPASS is found at rides with height requirements that leave out many younger kids (such as California Screamin’, with a 48″ height requirement), it’s also available at rides with lower height requirements like 40″, which both Tacy and CJ met.  I really could have used FASTPASS when the three of us went on Soarin’ Over California, and it would have allowed Kyle and me to enjoy some of the bigger rides ourselves without splitting up the family for an hour or more while one of us waited in line.

What are the must-see shows?

I have to admit that I’ve never really been one for seeing the shows at amusement parks.  Why sit on bleachers when there are roller coasters waiting to be tamed?  Even when we went on family vacations to Disney World and Disneyland, we stuck to the rides.

But this trip to Disneyland really changed my mind about shows.  I was fairly well blown away by every one we saw.

The newest one, which just debuted the day before we saw it, is Celebrate! A Street Party with costumed street dancers and dancing characters.  High energy, with lots of crowd involvement - it had even Kyle and me dancing and singing along, and we typically only do that at Depeche Mode and Rush concerts.  But even better was how much Tacy and CJ got into the fun, thanks to the engaging performers.  I would absolutely recommend camping out twenty minutes ahead of showtime to get a front row spot for Celebrate!

Also at Disneyland, we were amazed by the theatrics of Fantasmic!, the evening show featuring Mickey Mouse, which takes place just before the fireworks display.  The effects are incredible, in particular the projection of vintage Disney film sequences onto huge sheets of water.

Over at Disney’s California Adventure, we saw the stage production of Aladdin.  It’s a 40-minute show, and all five of us were riveted.  The costumes were beautiful, the animatronics were lifelike, and the actors were talented and entertaining.  I was genuinely impressed.

As an aside, I haven’t taken the kids to any stage shows yet.  I knew Tacy would do well at Aladdin, but I wasn’t sure about CJ - that’s a lot of sitting for a four year old.  But since she knew the story and was able to follow along easily, it was an ideal first stage show for her.

Go see the shows.  They’re absolutely worth the time.

Next up: the logistics and costs associated with a trip to Disneyland.