First off, how did I keep those kids cool? Well...The first thing we did was plan ahead. August is always hot at Disneyland. A lot of people will say, "Oh, average temps in the high 80s...we'll be fine." Well, Disneyland generally feels about 10 degrees warmer than the surrounding area, probably due to the concrete and crowds. Also, this year there has been unusually high levels of humidity. Fine, of course, if you're used to it, but for those of us used to around 30% humidity, 60-80% is pretty darned annoying. So, knowing all of this, we bought some amazing stroller fans. A lot of people in the parks commented on them and asked us where we got them, so let me tell you--Amazon.com. Amazon has everything, and if they don't, it probably doesn't exist. We purchased this one: Ted Zee Clip-On Fan, which I think did it's job. Each one takes 2 AA batteries and it's a good idea to bring extra batteries if you plan on using it a lot. In addition to the fans, we also bought cooling wraps. Again, we got these from Amazon. We chose the Ergodyne Chill-Its. I will say there are probably better options out there, like Frog Togg Chilly Pads, which we've used in the past, but are bulkier and more costly. The Ergodyne was okay. I liked the price point more than anything. I would say they were better than having nothing, but they dried out quickly, which was unfortunate. The Chilly Pads last a lot longer, but they are bigger and harder to efficiently store if you're trying to minimize the bulk you travel with. Other than that, we drank tons and tons of water, kept up on the sunscreen every few hours, and tried to go back to our hotel during the hottest part of the day.
HOJO was a great hotel for kids. We had a 2 queen premium view in building 1, which we were able to book for 20% off with our annual pass (current discounts offered are only 10%, but it's still worth it). The cost for 2 nights was just under $500 for the hotel room and the view was worth it. Our room was on the top floor and had a beautiful view of the fireworks, if a bit obscured by a tree. Beds were comfortable, it was fairly quiet, and the staff were all very friendly. The best part, by far, in the summer heat, was the pirate-themed water play area for kids. My 5-year old enjoyed the water slides and play structure while my 18-month-old twins preferred the 1-foot deep pool. It was easy to watch the 5-year-old from the area where we were with our little ones and there was a lifeguard on hand for the big water slide to make sure everyone was taking turns and being safe. Overall, this has been the best offsite hotel I have stayed in within walking distance of Disneyland (and in some ways, better than the onsite ones, since it's not as expensive). The only issue I found was that the store asked ridiculous prices for food (almost $3 for a small easy mac cup and $1 for a can of soda). This is common of any hotel, so I can't really fault them in particular, but it was annoying. But, hey, to make up for it, it's one of the few hotels in the area with free parking and it was easy to find a parking spot.
Disneyland and California Adventure were both excessively crowded. Crowds weren't too bad from 8AM-11AM, but at that point, it was packed, though not any worse than it was when we went for June, July, Spring Break, or December. The real difference was in the heat and the type of guest. I've already described the heat. The guests this time of year are not what I am used to. Usually when I go, it's mostly locals or people from California, Arizona, and other places you can drive from. This time of year, it seems all the tourists from other countries and other parts of the United States come. We met a ton of people from Australia and also some from China, Pakistan, Canada, and many other places. Most people were very friendly and struck up conversations with me a lot or asked for directions/help while I was waiting for my older son and husband, who had gone off to ride while my toddlers napped. In some ways it was cool because we got to see a lot of diversity and different cultures. However, if you're spoiled as I am by the off-season crowd, there are some obvious challenges to going this time of year, as well because fewer people will know where they are going and standard United States amusement park etiquette. Overall, it was a great experience. I don't know that I'll choose to do August again simply because I don't do well in the heat and June tends to be much more pleasant, but if I could have cooled down the amusement parks by 20 degrees, it would have been perfect.
