I’m one who constantly needs a vacation to look forward to.  As soon as we return from a vacation, I’m usually trying to plan the next one.  But Disney is one that needs a lot of planning and research.  Planning is what will be the difference between a magical Disney vacation or a “what the hell were we thinking vacation.”  You know that quote, “Failing to plan is planning to fail”?  Well that should be the motto for all parents planning Disney vacations.

Our trip to Disneyland was pretty dang easy in my opinion.   I’m not one of those expert Disney moms.  I don’t have a whole blog dedicated to Disney.  I hadn’t been to Disney in years.  I’m just a normal mom who did her research and loves to travel.  Here are some tips to help make your Disney vacation one that you remember as nothing but magical.

Consider your Options:  Disneyland or Disney World

At first, I was willing to choose whichever location I found cheaper flights for.  But as I thought on it more, Disneyland won out for multiple reasons.

Our daughter was 5 and our son was 15 months at the time of our trip. Traveling anywhere with kids this young brings a different dynamic. For young tikes, they’re just as excited about Disneyland as Disney World.  So if you think bigger is always better, think again.

The size of Disneyland and the proximity of the two parks makes Disneyland the much smarter choice for young kids in my own personal opinion.  The parks are easily walkable and you can reach a hotel within 5 minutes. If you’re planning a first time Disney vacay with young kids, I wholeheartedly believe to experience Disneyland first and wait on Disney World until they’re older.

Research your hotels and book close

This vacation didn’t have a budget for staying at one of the Disneyland Resort hotels.  I still don’t know that I’ll ever be able to justify spending what these hotels charge per night.  Sure it’s pretty enticing to walk out of your hotel door and into California Adventure park.  Most average family budgets don’t allow for that though.  Luckily, Anaheim has tons of hotels located next to the parks.

I researched close to every good neighbor hotel. Some offered free shuttles to Disneyland. Some were a great bargain and “only a 15 minute walk to the parks”.  They almost get you at first and you think a 15 minute walk is nothing.  But it’s everything. It’s the difference between taking an afternoon rest in your hotel room and being burnt out by the end of a day.

In my experience I’ve now learned it’s all about convenience with kids.  I chose the closest hotel you could get to Disneyland (Best Western Park Place & Mini Suites). One, I had a co-worker that stayed there and recommended it. Two, it was literally right across the street and we made it to the main gate within 5 minutes.  Three, it was one of the few hotels that offered free breakfast.  There aren’t any convenient grocery stores in that area so you’d be spending lots of extra money eating at Denny’s.  (One tip….get to breakfast right away when it opens.  It fills up fast right before the park opens and it’s difficult to find a table.  Take my word for it and be one of the first people there in the morning.)

Price wise, it wasn’t the cheapest hotel or the most expensive – right in the middle for about $200/night.  That’s at least half the price of what I was finding for a standard room at a Disneyland Resort hotel.

The pool wasn’t anything fancy (especially compared to some of those Disneyland Resort hotels). But you have to remember that when traveling with young kids, any swimming pool is exciting to them!  In fact, my daughter actually told someone that her favorite part of the Disneyland trip was swimming.  So there you go folks, young kids really do have low expectations 😉   And when you’re barely at the hotel and spending time and money at Disney, you might as well save a bit where you can.

Think about the Time of Year

I’m a person who hates crowds.  My husband isn’t a fan either. I also know that crowds and young kiddos don’t mix. So I knew there was no way in hell I’d ever book a Disney vacation during peak travel times.  The whole purpose of our trip was to celebrate our daughter’s golden birthday (the big 5). She has a February birthday and luckily this is one of their slowest times of the year.

In general the Disneyland website will tell you their peak times.  But you can also google crowd calendars to drill down a little more. The benefit to going in the “off-season” truly is less crowds and shorter wait times.  The cons…some attractions have limited hours and are under maintenance/repair.   When we were there Main Street USA was under construction so we missed the experience of the daily parades.  But if that means there’s less people and we can walk while feeling like we can breathe, then that’s a win.

These are the times in general when attendance is lower at Disneyland.

• mid-September through mid-November
• mid-January through mid-March
• mid-April through mid-May

The other thing to realize with Disneyland is that it’s not only a vacation destination, but a local hangout as well.  So avoid weekends.  And you might even want to check local school districts to make sure you don’t go on a day when there’s no school.

Get to the Park Before they Open

I’d been to both Disneyland and Disney World before, but not since high school.  To get to Downtown Disney and the park entrance, you have to go through security. I didn’t realize how many people line up early to get into the parks and how long the security line gets.  My visits were also all prior to 9/11, so I don’t think I ever had to experience security like that at Disney before this trip.

If you get there early, the security line is much quicker to get through!   If you get there at park opening time or later, the line is much longer.

We arrived about an hour early each day and just meandered around Downtown Disney before the park opened. This gave me time to grab a coffee, let the kids explore or shop, and then get in the park entrance line about 15 minutes before opening.

Give Yourself a Break between Park Days

We flew in on a Sunday and left on Saturday.  I knew that Disneyland was going to be a sensory overload in many regards with the potential for lots of meltdowns. And the meltdowns did happen. But I was intentional in spacing out our time at the parks to give us enough rest and downtime.

We did the parks on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This gave us a day in between to just chill and re-center ourselves.  That left Tuesday for a pool day and Thursday as an exploring day. We rented a car, headed to Laguna Beach and let the kiddos see the Pacific Ocean.

Trust me, days off serve you well 🙂

Park Hopper Tickets vs. 1 Park per Day Tickets

This was the big debate for awhile. Park hopper tickets allow you access to both parks (Disneyland and California Adventure) within the same day.  The entrances to both of these parks are right across from each other so it truly can be valuable to have Park Hopper tickets at Disneyland compared to Disney World where each park is much more spread out.  BUT…..you pay more for them.

I would say the answer to which tickets are right for you depend on the age of your kids For us, our kids are really young. We weren’t going to be running from ride to ride trying to squeeze it all in.  So tickets for 1 park per day served us just perfectly.

Plus, I used it as an opportunity to have our daughter learn to make choices.  We did Disneyland the first day and California the second time.  She loved things about each park, but she got to choose the park for day 3.  In the end she chose California Adventure (which was our favorite too!).  I think it teaches them a little something about weighing the pros and cons.

If you have older kids that are on a mission and out to get on every favorite ride, then I would do the Park Hopper tickets.  The distance between the two is incredibly convenient and just makes sense.

Once you buy your tickets online there’s also an option to upgrade and get the MaxPass.  This gives you the option to download and save your Disney PhotoPass pictures to your phone and reserve FASTPASS selections from your phone.  One tip, you really only need one person to upgrade to this if you’re traveling with young kids.  I got the convenience of accessing the photos but we didn’t need the FASTPASS selections.  There were only two rides that we used FASTPASS for and we reserved our spots at an actual FASTPASS location by the ride.  Apparently there’s a whole strategy for using FASTPASS.  Visit one of those Disney mommy blogs if you’re curious. For young kiddos, you don’t need it.

Study the Park Maps and Research Attractions

I’m serious about the maps. Get these online before your trip and study them.  Try to get your bearings and know what attractions are where.  Print them. Mark them up. Memorize where your go-to attractions are.  The last you thing you want when you arrive is to try to navigate the parks like a fish out of water.  Even when you do study the maps or follow the map on the Disneyland app, it still gets confusing. So having a general knowledge ahead of time will save you time and stress.

You’ll also want to check out all of the attractions online ahead of time. Look at the age range for the rides and note which ones your little tikes will be interested in. Then of course, find them on your trusted map that you already have printed out 🙂

A student that I work with gave me a good tip before we went as she did the Disney College program and worked at Disneyland.  Our natural tendency when we’re out is to always go right. Go against the crowd and go left 🙂  You may luck out and experience less crowds this way!

Eating in the Park

One of the great things about Disneyland is that you can bring in snacks, food and drink. This can save you a lot of money if you’re smart about it.  I don’t know about your family, but dining out with kiddos isn’t what I would always call a relaxing and enjoyable experience. So for me, spending money to eat out for each meal feels like I’m throwing money down the drain.

We usually ate out for a sit-down meal once a day (and remember breakfast was covered at our hotel).  Then we packed lots of healthy and easy snacks to eat at other times of they day. We’d then then spend our money on special treats throughout the week (like the famous Dole Whip, Mickey shaped pretzels, or Haagen Dazs).  Disneyland also has a lot of convenient food options with their kid power packs (around $5-6).  They come with things like Dannon smoothies, goldfish, fruits/veggies, etc.  It’s a great alternative to spending money on an actual meal when you never know if they’ll like it or not.  I know with my kids, not all cheeseburgers are created equal. They’ll either like it or hate it.

If you do opt to eat out at all of the fun restaurant options, you may want to make reservations in advance.  They of course have all of the character meals, which for sure need a reservation. For me, I couldn’t justify spending the money when again you never know what their mood is going to be.    You also see so many characters throughout the parks, so I didn’t feel it was necessary to book an expensive meal with one.  Plus, I hate to be tied down to a schedule that requires me to be somewhere at a certain time.  I like to go with the flow and follow our own pace when traveling with young kids.

For one hot second, I had debated spending the money on a character meal for her birthday dinner. I sure am glad I didn’t. She ended up in tears shortly before our dinner over a balloon (proof that you never know what will spark a meltdown and when).  She ended up eating her birthday dinner in tears at one of the little walk-up restaurants in Disneyland.

So, do what’s right for your family. For some that may be character meals. For others, you may be like me and dining out isn’t the priority for your Disney experience.

Strollers are a Necessity

When we first booked the trip, I wasn’t sure that a stroller would be necessary for my 5 year old. We were planning to bring one just for our son.  Thank goodness a friend suggested that she might want one and we borrowed their double stroller.  It was a lifesaver and she used the stroller way more than I thought she would.

Plus, it made bedtime a breeze. We’d head back to the park each night before dinner and at the end of the night they’d both fall asleep in the stroller.

Pack Smart

Be smart about what you pack each day for the park.  A good backpack really is the best choice.  Make sure to bring all your basics (diapers, wipes, etc.).  But you also want a change of clothes for each kid too.  We went on a water ride and our daughter got soaked.  It was nice to have a change of clothes for her.

It’s also a pain to go through security as they look through all of your bags.  Have things packed away neatly and try to avoid multiple bags.

Water bottles are a great addition too as they have refillable fountains throughout the park.  Of course, I also mentioned food and snacks can be brought in. There are some restrictions to the size of a cooler. We didn’t mess with that.  It was mostly our water bottles and light snacks.

I’m sure there are a million more tips I could give you for a successful Disneyland vacation. But these were some the most basic that really helped to make our trip feel easy.

Looking back, it’s been one of my favorite trips and I’m already thinking about the next one.  Since my daughter spent her 5th birthday at Disneyland I feel it’s only fair to let our son spend his at Disney World.  Give me a few years and then I’ll report back on Disney World 🙂

Happy travels to you!