Disneyland ? Vacation tips for Moms, by Moms!
Disneyland is so close for us Arizonans! Many of our Mama’s make it an annual (and sometimes more frequent) road trip. Here are some tips and tricks from our Disneyland visiting veteran Mama’s!
Where to get tickets: Our Moms have been lucky with good ticket prices at AAA, Costco, Park Savers and grocery store tickets. Since the parks are pretty close together, Moms of older kids recommend getting the park hopper pass which allows you to “hop” between parks throughout the day. It tends to be a little much for the little ones so, if you are with children 6 and under, you may be better off sticking to one park for the day.
What to bring with you: Get your pins and lanyards ahead of time to save yourself some time and money. You’ll need them once you arrive at the park. Make sure you get the official pins as those are the only ones that the cast members will trade.
Get your autograph books and costumes ahead of time as well. You’ll be glad you did when your little one is joining in on all the fun without you having to brave the lines and squeeze the wallet for these items. Age 14 and under are permitted to wear costumes to the park!
Head to Walmart, at 440 N Euclid St, Anaheim, CA 92801, for the rest of your Disneyland gear for a fraction of the cost and the wait at the park. You’ll find hats, t-shirts, headbands, water bottles and a small cooler that you can throw in a locker at the park. It can be expensive to eat all meals at the park so we recommend at least bringing a lunch.
Grab sunscreen, wet wipes, and hand sanitizer. We HIGHLY recommend grabbing a disposable poncho, for rain and for the water rides, a water proof pouch for your phone and a light toy…one of those toys that light up at night. You’ll see those start to come out at night and there’s nothing worse than getting close to bedtime at the end of a long day and enduring your toddler’s sudden temper tantrum as he vehemently demands that he have one immediately.
Where to stay within walking distance to the park: The Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier, Best Western Anaheim, Howard Johnson Anaheim, Castle Inn and Suites, Candy Cane Inn, Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites and Grand Legacy at the Park.
Enjoy! ❤
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We bring a bunch of penny’s and quarters for the penny smash machines. They even have little display books to store them. My kids love showing them off.
Also we buy Disney gift cards at target and use the red card and save 5%. It’s not alot but with how expensive it is a Little can go somewhere else. Good budgeting tool as well.
Fast passes are a lifesaver on busy days (which realistically is almost always!), and take advantage of the ride-swap if you have a little one that’s not old enough for a ride, so you both can ride with your bigger one!
For parents: CA Adventure serves beer/wine/other alcohol (and there’s a sort of secret-hidden almost-never-busy beer garden behind Grizzly Rapids, across from the pier). You’re welcome!
I grew up in OC and had an annual pass to Disneyland the last few years I lived there – so fun!
If you ride the monorail you can ride up front with the driver. So cool!
Since we have Frys grocery stores here, we get 2x to 4x fuel points for purchasing the park tickets. I’ll sometimes but the tickets there depending on how many days we plan on going, but I always set a budget for the parks by getting the prepaid disney gift cards to rack up fuel points.
If you have a young child that cannot ride a certain ride, there is a rider switch pass, where one adult can ride with the group and/or child, and once they get off, the person who stayed back can switch and get on with the child that is able to ride! Also, grab fast passes for the big rides first! You can have multiple fast passes at a time, but only can grab one at a time, until the time noted on the bottom (example you have a Space Mountain fast pass, and want to get another since that one is for 330-430, there is a time at the bottom of the fastpass where you are aloud to get another fastpass and so on). Your fastpass can be used ANYTIME until closing after the noted time given on the ticket. Bring lots of snacks, and you can even pack lunches, or bring in outside food from restaurants. Grab a map when you first get in, and it tells you all the parade times, fireworks, shows.
Plan out your day before you go. There are tons of blogs that give you sample Disneyland/Cal Adventure schedules – and use the Disney app to let you know ride wait times. With small children it is worth it to stay within walking distance of the park. Take a good stroller with plenty of storage – I even have a stroller for my kids up to age 5 or 6 – they’ll get tired. Take a change of clothes for each child and a jacket and blanket (for sitting on the ground for parades). It gets cold at night even in the summer. Bring a lot of snacks and a water bottle to refill at the park. Wear sunscreen and a hat – all year long. We give our kids a budget and only let them by a souvenir the last day. So they can make sure to get the very best thing for their budget. We stop at Downtown Disney at the huge Disney store – it has everything they have in the park. The CVS and Target right by Disneyland has a lot of great Disney things for a much better price. Last thing – it sounds funny, but wear a fanny pack (or small backpack). It was the best thing to be able to not worry about taking a bag on the rides. I left my diaper bag on the stroller and had all valuables in my fanny pack. I also took bubbles, snacks, and a few games for my kids to play in line. I even had my older kids wear one – It had emergency contact info, water, snacks, autograph books, and a pen inside. Have fun, enjoy every Disney moment.
Don’t forget that the Fantasmic show and other similar attractions are almost impossible to see without a Fastpass ticket, so be sure to plan accordingly.