And right off the bat we made our first and second mistakes. By waiting too long we couldn't avail ourselves of the full power of the AAA travel agents. Lesson learned: give yourself plenty of planning time.

Second mistake was booking through the Disneyland site. We saved some money by not staying at any of the Disney hotels proper but after we hit the confirm button on our reservation, we then spent the time to price our room and tickets separately. We found that we could have saved $300 if not more by booking our hotel room through the hotel web site (or AAA) and buying the Disney passes through Costco. Stupid us.

Recently I finished a book about Disneyland and all the hidden stuff therein. One of the points it made was that the difference between the Disney Era compared to the Eisner Era is that Disney was concerned about the guests having a good time. Eisner's focus was on the guests leaving with empty pockets.

I can see how true that is today. I grew up with Disneyland during the time of the A-E tickets and when they first brought out the passes. You could do Disneyland in a day - no problem - and go on all the favorite rides. But not any more. By expanding the park and adding California Adventure you have to spend at least two days, if not more, to do things right. I fear that for my kids Disneyland won't have that special homey feel that I remember. Instead it'll be just another amusement park. Run! Get in line and wait for 40 minutes. Do the ride. RUN!

Of course, to make the experience more efficient we could pay for special passes but that's my point. The Disney magic comes with a steep price and for Joe Ordinary like myself, I don't want to pay it. Nor, I think, is that what Disney intended when he built the place. I know my kids won't be growing up with Disneyland the way I did.