I recently returned from a well-planned and successful family vacation to Disneyland Park & Resort in lovely Anaheim CA. After tons of research on the best hotels, rides and food, my wife developed a comprehensive integrated Disneyland visitation strategy that included a stay at the Doubletree Hotel (two shuttle stops from the park) and a 3 day park jumper pass. We kicked off the afternoon of our first day by hitting Tomorrowland rides and attractions, including Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Star Tours and the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, followed by the parade. Although Star Tours is an older ride, it still gave me slight nausea, which is a good thing. The new Nemo Submarine ride is fantastic in terms of creativity meets technology. We topped off the evening with a swim in the pool and hotel-delivered pizza.

On day two of our Disneyland visit, we split focus between our adult needs and those of the kids, while taking some of the advice garnered from our research: use the railroad to get quickly to the back of the park and hitting the popular rides first thing in the morning (or in the evening during the parade). Day two highlights include: Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Mark Twain Riverboat, Splash Mountain and Space Mountain. On the safer and less-exciting side of life, the Toontown roller coaster, Storybook Land Canal Boats were decent. Many of the Toontown attractions were meant for very young ones, and the lines could get out of control, especially for Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, for which my dad and wife waited 45 minutes with our son in the stroller, only to have to turn around and leave because he fell asleep in line.

While they suffered through our only unpleasant experience (there was no indicator for how long the wait was for that Roger Rabbit) I took my daughter on the classic Matterhorn Bobsleds. Although enjoyable, they weren’t quite worth the 35 minute wait (which was on the longer side of lines based on our experience) other than for nostalgia purposes. Tip: work your way up to the best rides, otherwise, everything pales in comparison (this happened to me with Goliath at Six Flags a few years back when every other ride sucked afterwards). That evening, we enjoyed a dip in the pool and a surprisingly good dinner at Agio, the Doubletree hotel restaurant.

I suppose it could take a week to experience every ride and attraction at Disneyland, but I believe you can get what you need out of a carefully planned 2 day visit. Since we slacked a little with 2 children, however, we utilized our third day to catch up a few of the best rides before spending the rest of the time in California Adventure Park. I was unfamiliar with California Adventure, as my last visit to Disneyland was 22 years ago. In short, it’s primarily a teen and adult-focused park, in terms of rides and attractions. While we only had a relatively short time, we managed to hit California Screamin’, Grizzly River Run and Maliboomer. I’ve only been on a handful of world-class roller coasters, and I believe California Screamin’ qualified: fast, creative and fun. The best part: a 15 minute line! Similarly, Maliboomer offered a quick thrill and an even quicker line (5 minutes).

Unfortunately, we used up an hour of our time on the Grizzly River Run, mostly in line. While my wife and father went through the singles line (like ski lifts, it shaves 50 to 90 percent off your wait time), I waited about 50 minutes (vs. the 30 minute indicated) with my daughter so we could ride together. It was worth getting soaked, as it was a refreshing way to rinse off and keep cool for the long trip home. In all, I could see myself needing to head back to Disneyland for the kids, but I could also return to California Adventure for myself. Check out my Picasa photo album for highlights from the Lewis family Disneyland vacation, or as my son calls it, Bizneyland.