Disneyland & California Adventure
A guide of helpful tips & recommendations based off of our family’s latest vacation.
Hello Disneybounders! Our family took the leap and went on vacation to Disneyland in California. It is certainly a magical experience and for being 1st timers I feel like we did great. We made it through most of both parks and made everlasting memories. I’ll list a few tidbits about our trip that is relevant.
Family of 5, 2 adults 3 kids ages: 1, 8, 9 (tickets for us cost $998)
Attended the park during off peak season early November
Resided in the Holiday Inn on Manchester (9mins away from the park)
If your bank account and patience allows then I would definitely recommend 3 days for both parks. Although we made good head way we did not make it to every single ride but covered at least 90% of Disneyland and California Adventure. The parks opened at 9am, Disneyland closed at 9pm and ended with fireworks, California Adventure closed at 8 and ended with a World of Color water show. If we had one additional day we would of been able to go on every single ride.
Another thing we skipped out on was waiting in the long lines for photographs and autographs from the characters. Each character would have a line of at least 30mins+. We did meet Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse which was enough for the kids, they were more ride focused than on meeting the characters.
Keep in mind we were there during off peak season so there was a lesser crowd. It was extremely crowded but could’ve been worse for sure. Another plus of attending in November was the weather was not too hot and not too cold.
To save money on parking we took the city bus. The ticket lasts all day until 3am the next day. You may purchase the passes from most hotel front desks.
Strollers must be folded up and it can get a bit crowded but everyone else is probably going to Disneyland also and can relate to most experiences and emotions you are going through so it really wasn’t too bad since everyone has a silent mutual understanding.
Covering as much ground as we did was achieveable with the fastpass and a good system my hubby and I implemented was a 2 on 2 where he would go on a ride with one big kid while I waited with the other big kid and our littlest one and vice versa. There are usually family friendly rides near the larger attractions so we could go on that while the other 2 went on the bigger ride.
I had no idea what a fastpass was but I sure liked the sound of it! I downloaded the app in the morning on my phone and purchased the fastpass for $10 each person.
The 1st thing I recommend is linking your hard copy ticket to the app. If you lose your hard copy ticket then at least you have a back up on your phone (yes I lost ours, luckily we were able to have them reprinted at Townhall near the entrance).
Okay back to how fast passes work. Simplest way for me to can explain it is, the fastpass is a system that gives you a time where you can enter the ride and you then have a shorter wait time to the actual ride. So yes you do have to wait but certainly not as long as without one I definitely found it worth it’s value especially with our 2 on 2 system. You can only use the fastpass 1 ride at a time which is important to remember the system only allows for one ride at a time. Also good to know, the fastpass is not available for all rides just the bigger attractions.
Example: you enter the park at 9am and the 1st ride that your kids want to go on is Space Mountain. Open your app and scroll until you see the ride it gives you available time options of 10am-11am and you may redeem a new fastpass at 10:05am.
I have been told that fast passes can run out, when we attended the park it was not as crowded so I felt pretty lucky with our wait times.
Included with the fastpass is the Maxpass I still don’t fully understand what that means but a perk was the photographers in the park could take your picture then link the pictures on your app and you can save them directly onto your phone. That was a bang for our buck for sure since I thought we wouldn’t be able to get any family pictures. And the pictures were excellent quality.
You can also make reservations to different Disney restaurants which came in handy for my daughter’s birthday. We were able to do a late lunch early dinner at 4:20pm at Ariel’s Grotto. At dinner princesses do not make an apprearance so instead they showcase the Wolrd of Color water show.
The Disneyland app kills your phone life quickly. Once I downloaded it, the app quickly bstopped came a lifesaver for us. On our way st day my phone died and we scrambled to find a solution as I had left my portable charger back at the hotel. There are two options you can 1) charge your phone at a locker station which costs $2 an hour or 2) purchase a portable charger for $30 that is fully charged and may be used at other places such as airports.
Don’t forget a portable charger
Use Your Head to Save Your Feet
Walking through the parks is exhausting especially with a stroller where you are constantly having to look for parking and navigating through the crowds of other Disneybounders. Plan your day accordingly by studying the map. Our youngest son takes a nap in the morning and then around lunchtime. I would suggest going straight to the kid friendly area such as Toontown then working your way through Fantasyland that way your little one will be able to attend the rides and wear themselves out. And once you reach the middle you can go for lunch, which shouldn’t be too far away since you are back in the middle.
Look for water rides earlier in the day so you can dry off but if you don’t mind being wet later in the day then evening time is the perfect time for no lines as it does get chilly at night during November.
Before attending the parks check to see what rides are up and running. We were disappointed the Cars ride in California Adventure was under construction as well as Goofys ride. When we got back to Toontown the Roger Rabbit ride had broken down which was a bummer. But you can’t expect for everything to go perfectly.
Collect your pennies and quarters. At the exit of each attraction is a souvenir shop for that particular theme. The prices for toys, clothing, and whatever other goodie that is available is of course very expensive. A nice souvenir we collected was from a penny machine located in each shop. The cost of each imprinted penny is only 51 cents and the kids can make it themselves and choose their own design which engaged them to this activity even more.
The selection of expensive goods is overwhelming and hard to resist. Stay strong!!
The 1st day we did not bring snacks, that was a mistake I will never again make. Especially having a young one who happened to start teething at Disneyland (his top 2 teeth 😬). Food that does not need to be heated may enter the park without any problem.
A snack worth the indulgence I would suggest are the Mickey Mouse Beignets located in New Orlens at Mint Julep. They were actually not too pricey in my opinion compared to other foods within the park.
For beverages I brought in water bottles and juice boxes without an issue. I also purchased different flavors: Mio sweet tea and a box of Crush powder soda for the bigger kids. Drinks are at least $10 and no refills so that helped with some of the expense. There are water fountains located throughout the park if you bring a refillable water bottle.
To finalize this blog I just want to say attending Disneyland and California Adventure was an unforgettable family vacation. We are a pretty frugal family and lived pretty freely for the time we were in California. It’s not everyday we indulge but I can easily say it was worth the happiness we all felt.
I would be happy to answer anyadditional questions or clarify anything that may be confusing in this blog. I hope this helps anyone in the future if it does or you used it in any way I would love to hear feedback. Good or bad it’s all a learning experience since this is my 1st official blog. (This post may be edited in the future Incase newer information is added)
Hope you and your family have a magical time.
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