Tips for having the BEST Disneyland Day ever!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we traveled to Southern California to celebrate with my in-laws. We arrived a few days early and decided to spend a day at the happiest place on earth–Disneyland! I was a bit worried that the boys were too young and might not last all day, but with a bit of planning and strategy we had an amazing day!

1. ARRIVAL: Arrive early. We parked by 7:20 am and by the time we took the escalator, got through security, took the tram to the front gates, and figured out the max passes, we arrived right when the gates opened! We enjoyed the morning with very low crowds and minimal wait times (we walked right into Pirates of the Caribbean for our first ride!), but by 2 pm it was very crowded.

2. MAX PASS: Purchase the Max Passes for your group. I was on the fence about this, because you can use the Fast Pass for free and, well, I am cheap. I don’t want to pay for something if with a little extra work I can get it for free, BUT we were there for one day only and have little kids. The Max Pass allows you to reserve a time slot for one ride at a time and all you do is scan your phone or ticket when you get to the ride. We waited less than five minutes on every ride that we used the Max Pass. You can run ahead and grab a Fast Pass in person from the ride and then return during the appropriate time slot, but with little kids it is so much easier to check in via the app. I recommend exploring the app before your Disneyland day. You can create different sub-groups and reserve rides for multiple people (My husband, oldest son, and brother and sister-in-law were one group for the big rides and I was my own group for the toddler friendly rides.)

3. STRATEGY: Stick to one park. We decided to focus on Disneyland due to the variety of rides, parades, and entertainment. Bouncing between the two parks with toddlers seemed overwhelming and a recipe for meltdowns, so we decided to focus on Disneyland. It was a good call.

4. FOOD: Bring snacks and refillable water bottles. Food is expensive in the park, so we only purchased lunch inside and had lots of snacks for when we walked around. And water bottles ensure kids stay hydrated! My favorite water bottles are the Contigo Kids Autospout because they don’t spill and are quite durable! You can find them here.

5. SOUVENIRS: Purchase souvenirs from the Target or Walmart nearby (and actually I do this wherever we travel as they all have a souvenir section with customized items based on the location. I bought a cool trolley toy from a shop in San Francisco and then saw the exact same item CHEAPER in a SF Target. Never again.) I purchased Pluto and Donald Duck stuffed animals and Disneyland wallets for a fraction of the cost inside the park. We did buy a few unique souvenirs inside the park, but the more generic ones we bought from Walmart.

6. PHOTOPASS: When you purchase the Max Pass, you can download photos from your rides and the PhotoPass photographers for free! Use the app to find out where the photographers are and visit them on your way to your next ride! It is a great way to get the entire family in the photos (actually, they are the ONLY photos of our whole family in Disneyland). One photographer took our photo in front of the giant Christmas tree on Main Street, and we used it for our holiday card.

7. PARADES: Make sure you see a parade! Check the app to see where and when they occur (twice daily) and get there a bit early to grab a seat! We all LOVED watching the parade! If you can plan to watch the parade closer to the next ride you have planned, even better!

8. CHARACTERS: Again, the Disneyland app makes it easy to find the characters too! You probably will find them when walking, but if there is a specific character your child wants to see you can pinpoint the location on the app. Sometimes there is even a PhotoPass photographer with the character!

9. STROLLER: Maybe this is obvious, but if you have a small child, bring your stroller. We debated bringing a double stroller, but it’s honestly so cumbersome that I dreaded navigating it through the crowds. Instead, we packed a compact umbrella stroller with a sunshade (not our expensive stroller as I was paranoid someone would walk off with it). We used our Chicco stroller like this one here. Our four year old walked a lot, so the two year old rode in the stroller mostly. However, it was easy to carry our two year old and push the older one when he got a bit tired.

10. BATTERY: Make sure your camera battery and phone battery are 100% charged when you leave your car!!! If your phone runs down its battery quickly, place it either in airplane mode or low power mode. You can use your phone to reserve your next ride, then put it back in airplane mode and use your physical ticket when you arrive at the gate of the ride. My husband uses a Mophie like this to keep his phone well charged. I am happy to say neither of our phones died during our Disneyland day! When I got to the car (after 12+ hours) my phone had just reached 20%!!

We are already plotting our next trip to Disneyland. Hopefully these tips will help make your next trip to Disneyland the best ever!!! Do you have any additional tips for me?

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