"Disneyland, Home of Anaheim" Anaheim by DueSer

The above saying is a common joke around these parts (SoCal). Anaheim is just a regular city with this huge tourist attraction in one little section of it. It's a bit of an odd arrangement.

If you're thinking about visiting The Mouse, though, here are a few tips.

1) There are a lot of hotels and motels in the area surrounding the park and the quality of each varies wildly from one to the next so do your research quite thoroughly before choosing.

2) There is a shuttle that will take you to the park from just about anywhere in the SoCal area.

3) Often times Disney offers a special discount to get into the park to SoCal residents only. So if you know someone who lives in the area, ask them if that discount is currently being offered and if so, would they pleasepleaseplease go with you so you can get the discount.

4) Downtown Disney is pretty nice so check it out if you can. They have a House of Blues there (although the sound isn't as good as the one on Sunset), there's a good selection of shops, and, you don't have to pay to get into Disneyland to go to Downtown Disney. It is a separate, free place. Parking isn't free though.

If you're in town for The Mouse, here are some other places you might want to visit while you're nearby. Bear in mind this is about all that there is to see & do right in Anaheim so if you're thinking of making it your home base for exploring SoCal, I wouldn't do it. The traffic around there is usually a bear. A better home base might be one of the beach cities. For more on where to stay, check out my General Tip.

1) Edison Field - home of the Angels, the local pro baseball team. See my sports tips.

2) The Honda Center. This is home to the local hockey team, The Ducks. This used to be called The Pond but, yeah, that's a little too cutesy even for me who hates corporate sponorship names for stadiums. They also host a variety of other events here, like concerts.

3) The Grove (not to be confused with the other Grove, up in LA), this is home to concerts too but in a more intimate setting.

4) Knott's Berry Farm - although not in Anaheim, it's not far away. It's not as much fun as Disneyland but the food is MUCH better. Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant should NOT be missed.

5)Downtown Fullerton - also not in Anaheim, Fullerton is a city just north of Anaheim on Harbor Blvd, that has a great historic downtown with quaint shops, a little museum, good restaurants, and the train station (again, for more on that check out the General Tips section.

• Pros:Disneyland
• Cons:Disneyland
• In a nutshell:It's a classic and definitely worth a visit - especially if you've never been.