Monday, September 7, 2009
Tips for Planning a Disneyland Vacation
If you don’t want to plan your own trip, you have several options. Of course, you can have a travel agent make all of the arrangements for you, but for the best Disneyland experience, you might be better off using the Disney Vacation Planning Services. Either way, you can have every single aspect of your trip planned for you. Once you get there, all you will need to do is follow your Itinerary.
If you prefer the fun involved in planning your Disneyland vacation yourself, there are some things that you absolutely must not leave out of the planning stage. Before you can decide what you will be doing at Disneyland, you must determine which dates you will be there. The parks offer different things at different types of the year, with many different themes and entertainment to choose from.
Once you know when you will be at Disneyland, the next step is to figure out what you will be doing each day that you are there. Once you’ve set up your travel arrangements and your hotel reservations, there are a few more things you must consider.
Food is one thing you might want to arrange in advance. Disneyland is a very popular place, and having reservations at some of the more popular restaurants is recommended. These reservations can be made well in advance – before you ever leave home.
When planning which attractions at Disneyland you want to visit, use a map of Disneyland as a guide. This will make it easier to schedule time for attractions that are near each other. You want to see and do as much as possible, so as much walking or travel time as you can.
Keep your budget in mind. Often, by making arrangements through travel agents or through the Disneyland Vacation Planning Services, you will be able to get better deals – which can save you money. Look for these deals, and save as much money as you can on your hotel and food. If you have small children with you, keep their priorities in mind – they have less interest in where they will sleep and the food that they will eat, and more interest in what they will see and do!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Travelers' Tales India: True Stories (Travelers' Tales Guides)
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launching point for learning about India or planning a trip to India
I'm giving this book five stars not because the individual travel stories comprising this are five star stories (though many of them are), but because the breadth of subject matter and perspectives this book offers are remarkable. From the frosty passes of the Himalayas to the bustling streets of Calcutta, from the Ganges to shores of Goa, from the rarely-visited tribal interior to the even more desolate Rann of Kutch, this book portrays a country with a topography perhaps as diverse as Europe's. From the barriers of caste to the oppression of women, this book portrays a social evolution still in progress but with roots in ancient times.
Highlights for me included Rory Nugent's eccentric search for the supposedly extinct pink-headed duck, and David Yeadon's brilliant portrayal of character interactions (including an Indian interrupting his narrative digression in real time "Sir, are you hearing me, sir?"). For every traveler that timidly scratched the surface of India without real discovery (such as a particularly uptight and sheltered Oxford Fellow's first trip) there was one so recklessly bold that you're glad you could relive the experience from the safety of your own home (including one author's visit to a tribal island where past visitors had been killed). Somewhere in the middle there's bound to be powerful inspiration for a trip of one's own.
Reading this book was not only satisfying, but served as a launching point for future reading of the complete works from which these tales were excerpted (David Yeadon's Back of the Beyond and Jonah Blank's Arrow of the Blue Skinned God seemed particularly interesting to me).
Vicariously experience the best and worst of India
I read this book after reading the DK guide to India and Leila Hadley?s A Journey with Elsa Cloud (the latter is about a tour of parts of India in the 70s). This excellent collection of true stories really made all the places come alive and gave me a much richer and fuller sense of India than I could get from just Hadley?s book. The poverty, sexism, and daily encounters with excrement that are a part of life in India are compellingly conveyed at the same time as we come to feel the vast heavy weight of so many centuries of history, so much spiritual questing, so much diminished glory. Since I finished the book, I have found myself repeating stories to friends from the excerpts from Rory Nugent?s The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck and from Mark Shand?s Travels on My Elephant, which were particularly vivid and fascinating to me. There are a suprising number of tales featuring cyclists--evidently India is a popular place to tour by bike.
Excellent Range of Perspectives
I agree with the above reviews. There is such a variety of subject matter and types of writing collected in this book and I found myself saving so many pages with great information about places in India that I had not yet heard about but wanted to make sure I visited now when I plan my own trip!
Product Description
This popular book in the Travelers' Tales Destination Series weaves a tapestry of sensory images, profound transformations, and compelling history about a land that has lured and puzzled travelers for centuries and continues to do so today. Now in a new edition, Travelers' Tales India includes 49 stories and dozens of sidebar anecdotes covering the sprawling canvas of the country, from the high Himalayas to the dense jungles teeming with wildlife, to the chaotic inner cities and deceptively slow-paced villages. Among the stories: Jan Haag participates in a traditional Indian wedding, noted chef Madhur Jaffrey feasts on food for body and soul, Jonah Blank encounters the caretakers of the dead on the Ganges, William Dalrymple penetrates the mysteries of the Sufi masters, and David Yeadon takes a bath with 15 million people.
List Price: $19.95
Amazon Price: $13.57 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Source From bestsellingbooks2009-20
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Start Your Day At Disneyland in Fantasyland
Fantasyland is one of the most popular areas at Disneyland because there are no age or size requirements. The only height restriction is a 35 inch requirement for the Matterhorn. As the day progresses, Fantasyland will fill up. Getting there first thing in the morning will help you avoid the long lines that others will encounter later in the afternoon.
None of the attractions in Fantasyland have FastPass. This is another reason as to why you should go there first. FastPass allows you to more or less ‘set an appointment’ to ride certain rides – but none of the attractions in Fantasyland have this option. Cover Fantasyland first, then go get FastPasses for the other attractions that you want to ride.
The crowds and the lines will start growing within a few hours of Disneyland opening each day. Make sure that you arrive before the park opens so that you can be one of the first ones through the gate – and head straight to Fantasyland before going anywhere else.
Since all of the guidebooks suggest this, many other early risers will also be headed for Fantasyland. Even so, the lines won’t get really long for two or three hours, and by then, you will have already ridden all of the rides there.
From Fantasyland, you should start collecting FastPass tickets for the other attractions that have FastPass throughout the park. It is best to collect these early in the day – the longer you wait, the l onger it will be before your appointed time comes around, depending on how many FastPasses have been issued for each ride.
While you are waiting for the appointed time for your first FastPass, you should enjoy other attractions, visit the shops, or get a snack. Times between FastPass appointments are great for visiting the restrooms or sitting down to rest with a cool beverage.
Just remember that in order to enjoy the most attractions at Disneyland you should start with Fantasyland, followed by gathering FastPass tickets. Enjoy other attractions between FastPass attractions, but make sure that you don’t put yourself on such a tight schedule or such a rigid itinerary that you forget to have fun! Some people simply like to spend some t ime wandering around the park.