First, buy your tickets BEFORE u get there - go to a Disney Store in a mall if that's your only option (or buy them online with Mickey News Travel) - even if you know u are purchasing a season pass - just get a one day pass, and later in the day, when there's a lull, change it INTO a season pass once inside (They will apply the cost of that ticket towards the more expensive one).

Next, find out what time the park opens (You can use Mickey News for this as well.) then prepare to arrive at the front gates half an hour to an hour early - bring a bagel, or, take turns standing in line while someone goes over to the Bakery in Downtown Disney, which is just a few feet from the front gates, and get Danish and drinks for the rest standing in line. Talk to the other guests! Ask them where they are from, what rides they have been on already and what did they think of such and such ride for a child your child's age!

The other guests are often better than hired guides. OK, Next big decision (which u can make while you're standing in line) - what's your favorite ride that means the MOST to u? Head straight for that first. THEN, go and get a fast pass for what u want to ride on next. People, people, people, it's August, everybody wants to ride the new Space Mountain - GO THERE FIRST. Get Fast Passes as SOON as possible----THEN, if you want to spend time sitting and enjoying a meal, you do that in a lull while waiting for the fast pass to kick in.

Try to remember that you are in Los Angeles in the summer - it will get beastly hot in the middle of the day - but you know what? The Tiki Room is ALWAYS nice and cold with air conditioning - as is the Theater on Main Street where the movie about the 50th Anniversary is playing - and u can ALWAYS get in there easily. If you plan - just a little - it leaves plenty of time to just relax and enjoy the magic.

And the magic of Disneyland is the unexpected that happens all around you - and I've seen it on every trip. I once saw 2 young couples - teenagers - break into a spontaneous clog dance to the country music being played by a Disney street band when I was sitting out of the heat cooling off with a soda in DCA….. Or, Major, one of the horses who draws the trolley, breaking into a little dance step of his own as he jogged down Main Street U.S.A…..Or riding the Jungle Cruise at night while waiting for the Indy Fast Pass to kick in, only to find it hosted by the funniest river-guide we have ever heard….you have to take the stress out of the trip by planning- just a little - and it lets you relax enough to notice the fun going on all around you, at any given moment. Like - The little tiny Princesses dressed exactly like the "real" Princesses getting their autographs (who could hear one of them say "I love you Belle" and NOT get a tear in your eye?), or joining a spontaneous Conga line started by Minnie Mouse in the Animation Building….or once, while killing time waiting for the rain to stop, I was playing "Toss the ball into the milk bucket" and actually WON a giant stuffed Cow- on the first toss! Had I been stressed, had I been rushing, I would have missed it all, every time.

It's the little moments that you'll always remember more than the thrill of any single ride. Can you ride every single ride in 2 days? NOOOOOoooooo. This is not a goal-oriented, checklist experience- if I wanted to do a job, I would have stayed home and gone to work that day. This is an experience- and no matter how many times you do it, it's never the same twice.

So remember if you do just a LITTLE to create your own happiness, and to avoid stress, Disney's magic will do the rest.