If you’ve been wondering why there were no new articles last week, it’s not because the heat fried my brains but we decided to go on a road trip. We promised the kids that we’d bring them to Disneyland before they came to America and now was as good a time as any to keep that promise. For me, the trip helped to de-mystify the childish notion I had of what a wonderful ‘Fairyland’ Disneyland was. But I truly enjoyed visiting the many places we did in the span of one week. So here are some tips I gleaned from my trip so that if you’re going there as a first timer, you will be better prepared. Frankly, after all the planning and the checking up on the web, it still took us some time to get a grip on how to maximise time fully there.

Here’s our road map and considerations we had to keep in mind when planning the trip since we were driving.

Road Map:

1. First stop at Sacramento - Hyatt Place
2. San Diego - Four Point Sheraton visited Seaworld
3. Anaheim - Anabella Hotel visited Disneyland, Disney Adventure (in 2 days from 9am - 12midnight) 
4. Los Angeles - Universal Studios (half a day)
5. San Francisco - Four Point Sheraton visited The Golden Gate Bridge
6. Oregon - Double Tree Hotel by Hilton - SHOPPING!!! (since it was tax free!!!)
7. Back to Washington - Home Sweet Home….

Considerations:

1. Value for Money
2. Accommodation had to be close to zabihah restaurants
3. Stop overs should not be too far away from the highway
4. Maximising the road trip - so we could see other places along the way
5. Safety - both in the route taken as well as accommodation

Pointers:

1. Accommodation- If you stay at the Anabella Hotel - don’t expect too much. It will save you the $12 parking fee since you can walk to Disneyland but be prepared to pay the $10 parking at the hotel. However, if you have kids, you might want to stay a little further and pay for the parking at Disney. It’s not terribly inconvenient to drive and take the tram. But to walk the distance might tire the kids even before reaching the park.
2. Time Frame - The 3 day hopper pass was a good deal. We realised that the parks were so huge that we would need three days if we wanted to complete it at a leisurely pace. But 2 days were enough to complete the attractions that we were interested in.

Minimising Cost

1. Check out Southern California Go! CityPass deals. This was the most value for money deal for us. And especially so since we bought them at Costco in Oregon which saved us the tax.
2. The cost of food at Disney and Sea World will be rather pricey for the portion. (But you have no choice because they will search your bags before you reach the entrance! So don’t bother bringing food.)Drinks will be the killer! So it would be a good idea to bring along your water bottles. And it will be a healthier choice compared to the soda.
3. We rented a car from Enterprise Rent A Car. We got a good deal. Although we would have preferred a Nissan Ultima for its power and fuel efficiency, they were out of it and gave us a Chevy Impala. It was powerful but not as fuel efficient. However, I’m not complaining because we rented it for $USD261/wk. We returned it late because there was a HORRIBLE traffic jam on the way out of San Francisco and was charged an additional day. Anyway, we could drop it off at 11pm and rest the rest of the next day. Convenient!
4. We realised the price of gas at gas stations near towns were cheaper than the ones which were out of the way and seemed almost like gas stations out of horror movies.

Maximising Time

1. Be prepared for the very long lines for the rides. So it is a good idea to start off with the shows and leave the rides to later. The shows also end earlier while the rides stay open till 9pm. The lines for the rides do become significantly shorter during lunch, dinner and after 5pm as well as when the parades are going on. So you might want to make use of these window periods to plan on queueing for rides which are most popular or the ones you would not want to miss.
2. The park maps and the show times are on 2 separate pieces of paper. It will take quite a bit of deciphering before you can figure things out. So make use of the time you are waiting in line to plan your next move.

Must Haves!

1. Shades, suntan lotion, water bottles, camera, comfy pair of walking shoes (if you don’t want blisters), a change of clothes after the water rides, a sweater (if you plan to stay for the night shows or till the park closes). 
2. Get a cooler and keep it in the car. Buy ice so that you have all the cold drinks you want on your way there. For me, I packed little bottles of milk for my kids and stashed it in.

Zabihah restaurants for the hungry traveller:

• Anaheim, California - Mas’ Chinese Islamic Restaurant

We had Calamari Rings for appetiser. Orange Chicken, Spicy Beef Hotplate and Mixed Vegetables for the main course served with rice. I must say that the food was REALLLYYY GOOOD! Although it was crowded, there was no line and we were attended to immediately. All the dishes were served in less than 15 minutes and the proportions generous. It was truly satisfying. And even more so when the total bill came to about USD$40+ and we had leftovers which we could have it packed to go.

Orange Chicken

Calamari Rings with Sauce

Spicy Beef Hotplate

Mixed Vegetables

• Anaheim, California - Win Thai Cusine

This restaurant’s humble exterior was more than made up for by the cosy, clean and comfortable interior. We were given a choice of 3 different ’starter’ teas of which we chose jasmine. We ordered beef and chicken satay (barbecued meat on wooden skewers served with peanut sauce), Pad Thai noodles (a mix of prawn, chicken, and beef), Thai steak and mixed fried rice. And for dessert we had sweet glutinous rice with mango.

The portions for the fried rice and Pad Thai was generous and delicious. However, the steak was rather disappointing both in terms of portion size as well as the taste. It didn’t taste awful, but it wasn’t something you’d rave about. As for the satay, I suppose it didn’t come close to what we were hoping for but it wasn’t a let down either. The dessert was heavenly!

• Anaheim, California - Al-Sanabel Bakery (Lebanese)

This little eatery had the feel of a small deli. Although it had lovely teacup carved wooden chairs and interesting artistic pieces decorating its walls, it was difficult not to notice that it was far from a restaurant - more like a fast food. Despite the lack of an ambiance, there was little to complain about the food. The pizza like bread was soft and tasty. Just the right amount of crisp and softness. It was topped with cheese and shredded chicken pieces. We ordered two other dishes - chicken shawarma and a chicken kabob plate. These were just as delicious and portions large. Both plates came with hummus and salad. As well as a special naan-like bread. So excited were we to appease our hunger, we forgot to take photos of the food. Yikes…sorry! You’ll just have to visit and try it but be forewarned that you might need to be a little patient.

•   San Francisco - Indonesia Restaurant

 This restaurant was featured on the Zabihah website but we didn’t see any halal signs so we asked if it was halal and they gave verbal assurance that the meat used was halal. We ordered otak-otak. A set lunch meal of rice served with beef rendang, lodeh (mixed vegetables in coconut gravy) and sweet fried beef. We also ordered chili mussels. The food was not extraordinarily good but it was definitely good to see food that we missed served at a restaurant. The ambiance in the restaurant was contributed by the exotic Javanese/Balinese paintings and paintings of padi fields. However, the place was rather cramped and I would have preferred a more spacious table.

• Portland, Oregon - Kaboobi Afghan Restaurant

I loved the food served here. It was simply awesome.  We had Gulpi Chalaw (cauliflower in mild gravy) served with Naan, Kofta Mantoo (steamed wantons with minced beef filling and yogurt sauce) and Kofta Chalaw (meatballs in sauce) served with Basmati rice. A really satisfying meal. Another place we forgot to take pictures if the food. But I’m so glad they have a website with photos of the dishes to feast your eyes on. The one problem with eating at this restaurant is the lack of parking. So you can do what we did. We parked at Fred Myers just a stone throne away and walked to the restaurant. Then after the yummy meal, shopped at Fred Myers and back to the car.

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At the end of the day, when the bags were unpacked, the mountain of laundry was sitting in the closet in little neat piles and life went back to its summer routine, I felt that the satisfaction from this whole trip came mainly from realising that this would be one of those memorable experiences one looks back on, say 20 years from now, and think with a whimsical smile playing on one’s lips, “The things we do as parents for our children” and know that it was well worth every single minute, every ounce of energy and every single penny spent on making our first summer a beautiful memory.