Travel Guide to Disneyland with a Toddler.
LBB getting her first hug from Minnie Mouse, in DCA. (melt)
“Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy" The quote you see on a plaque walking into Disneyland. It gives me chills everytime. Such a sweet sentiment to kick off your experience at the most Magical Place on Earth. Coming to Disney for the first time with your little one can be nerve racking, and exciting all at once. I was torn on what age would be the best to introduce this wonderland to LBB. I had started to hear murmurs from friends that 2 was the best. However, I was still so sceptical… How would she do on the rides? Would she even qualify to ride very many based on height restrictions? Would we get our money’s worth with having to take a nap break everyday? Is she going to throw a tantrum in every line? Would she even be interested in it, considering she hadn’t even seen any Disney movie’s at this point in her short existence? All of these questions swirled around my mind when embarking on planning our first family Disney trip. But… I’m here to say, 2 was an amazing time to introduce Disneyland, AND all of the above questions melted away as soon as we stepped foot in the parks. It was so fun! So here’s all my tips and tricks to optimizing your next Disney Trip with your fam.
So… you’re considering Disney but don’t know where to start? First, decide how many days you would like to dedicate, and how many parks you’re interested in experiencing. We opted initially for a 2 day, one park per day pass. But promptly changed it after the first day at Disneyland, to a 3 day, one park per day pass once we knew we couldn’t possibly leave without going back one more time to finish off some of the rides and experiences we missed day one. It also is a money saver believe it or not. The more days you stay, the more you save per day. Also, fun tip, children under 3 are free, so we only have to pay for 2 tickets. We decided to do two days at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure. This ended up being the perfect split for us, because Disneyland offered more rides and experiences for LBB to enjoy for her age. California Adventure, although amazing, is geared towards a little older child who is more interested in thrill rides. But still worth experiencing with a toddler!
Ok, tickets check, now where to stay you ask? We stayed off property at the Marriott, Fairfield Inn just a 5 minute walk to the park entrance. I could not recommend this location enough. I actually stayed here for my BFF’s bachelorette party years ago, so I knew it was very convenient. It’s barebones, nothing fancy, but the best location for the money IMHO. Plus, it is nextdoor to both Panera and McDonalds. Which is priiiimoooo for breakfast on your way into the parks every morning. Saves you a pretty penny, and a wait in the longest Starbucks line of all time since there is no Mobile Order & Pay in the parks for Starbs. We teetered about staying on property at the Disneyland Hotel. However, it is very expensive, and it was under renovation when we were visiting. So we knew it could be a risk to have constant noise when all you would want is peace and quiet after a long morning at the park. The Grand Californian was sold out when we looked at booking so it wasn’t even an option for us, although a perk of this hotel is that it has it’s own entrance into DCA. But, it is ultra bougie, and ultra expensive. We decided against, knowing we were already spending an arm and a leg on tickets and food. But if the ultimate convenience for you and your fam is to walk 2 steps out of your hotel and you’re in the parks by having your own dedicated entrance; could be worth the extra bump in price point to enjoy this hotel. There are plenty of other accommodation options in the surrounding neighborhoods, including VRBOs and Airbnb’s to consider, but I would always look at how much time it will take you to walk back and forth from the park entrances to your crash pad, knowing that you’ll more than likely go back at least a few times for a solid nap during the day. Saving time in travel is a game changer, and it saves your legs, since you’ll be pulling in 20,000 step days without a doubt.
So now you’ve purchased your tickets, solidified your lodging, and you’re wondering how to structure your day at the park with your little? So, here we gooooo! We had our first day of our tickets at Disneyland. We knew this had to be the first stop since it is so iconic and magical for LBB; or so we hoped. My first tip is download the Disney App before you go and get the lay of the land at least the night before. It is SO incredibly helpful and easy to navigate. You can do everything from booking fastpasses for your rides, to mobile order Dole Whip, or even identifying character sitings & download your professional photos taken at the parks. We also opted for the Genie Plus package for all of us, which is an additional $20 per ticket, per person. But worth every penny again… Disney had updated their FastPass process since the last time Aymeric and I had gone together pre LBB and pandemic, so this Genie Pass was the new way to get through lines quicker and allows you to maximize your day. I will say, it takes a minor education to understand how the new fastpass process works. You have the Genie Pass lines, as well as Lightening Lanes. Not all rides are created equal when it comes to optimizing. Some rides don’t even have an option for Genie Fast Pass, so you can choose to pay… yes, I said.. PAY, to skip the line at a designated time with Lightening Lanes. Which is an add on above and beyond what you paid for your ticket to include the Genie Plus Pass. We only did this once for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Ride in ToonTown. It was a newer ride, and there was no Genie Fast Pass available, so instead of waiting 45 minutes with a toddler, we paid $20 per person and skipped the line. It felt worth it at the time, but afterwards I could feel the wallet burn. Outside of that the Genie Plus Pass works fairly similarly to the old school Fast Pass program. You can only use one Genie Fast Pass per 2 hour time slot, and you have to pick what rides are available with time slots via the Disney app. I basically just left this all up to Aymeric. His personal specialty is maximization, and he was the App king. I would recommend this to any family traveling. Link up your tickets when you arrive and just designate one family member to run the show on the phone. This way you can at least have one person engaged with the toddler, while the other is planning next steps for either food pick up or pass acquisition. We managed to hit 9 rides on the first day because of Aymeric’s planning skills. That’s basically as many as you would do if you had a concierge service that you can pay for in Disney World. So needless to say, we were pleased with ourselves. Another hot tip, try to plan out just a tiny bit the night before you head into the parks the next morning what rides you can’t live without. This will help you in your journey day of when picking out your path and getting Fast Passes.
Dumbo Lucky Number 7!
So.. the day structure. We started at rope drop. I would most definitely recommend this with a toddler. You’re already up at the crack of dawn, so why not put it to good use?! You want to get as many hours in the park as you can before nap time hits. Plus, the early morning time is usually when the lines are shortest, so run to some of the more popular rides, so you don’t have to wait more than 10-15 minutes. We started with a classic Dumbo in Fantasyland. LBB lost her bananas. She absolutely loved it! It was so precious to see her little face light up as we spun around in a purple elephant. An added bonus, we could all 3 fit in one Dumbo car. Once we completed the inaugural ride, and we knew LBB was game to continue. We bounced from one ride to the next throughout Fantasyland. This is really the core ride center for littles other than ToonTown. I had read that you should ease your way into ‘dark rides’, since you don’t know how your tiny tot may react to the dark. So we did King Arthur Carrousel, before dipping our toe into Peter Pan’s Flight. I remember before having LBB, seeing the line for Peter Pan’s Flight always filled with dad’s and their littles while the mom’s waited to save a space in line to see Elsa across the way. It always made me giggle, but I love this ride so much. It makes me nostalgic for childhood. So we crossed our fingers that LBB would not only survive but thrive in the ‘dark rides’, I mean the kid sleeps in a slumberpod constantly, so I figure she knows a thing or two about pitch black right?! And low and behold…. she LOVED IT! So we knew we were clear to tackle all the dark rides we could muster up in one day. This left us some time to project plan while waiting in line for Casey Junior’s Circus Train, which LBB also adored. So the long and the short of it is this. Day structure is however you choose to plan it, just plan it with a nap. LBB is notorious for not napping in the stroller. So we knew we would have to march back to the hotel during the day to achieve optimal nap times. We generally were in the park from about 8am-1pm and then went back for nap at the hotel. When we re-emerged from our slumber around 4pm, we could be in the park until around 7:30 or 8pm before we called it quits for the day and headed home. Quick tip for families, if you have an adult in your party that needs to get their adult wiggles out by hitting some of the thrill rides, nap time is a great chance to let them run around the park to do that on their own. Just note, you won’t get the ultimate family nap in, which can lead to tired tantrums later, for both adults and toddlers ;). We only did this once for Aymeric to go back and do Indiana Jones (my personal favorite Disneyland Ride for adults). But he even said he missed his mid-day snooze. It really does help you recharge after pounding the pavement in the parks all morning.
Teacups!
King Arthur’s Carrousel. (melt).
Now that you get the general parameters of how we structured our day…you may be wondering how we filled it? I was a little worried initially that LBB wouldn’t qualify for many rides given that at the time she was 37” tall. However, I was really misguided on this notion. There almost wasn’t a ride in Disneyland that she couldn’t go on. Which was amazing. So here are the list of rides we tackled day one, in case you need some planning inspiration for your next trip.
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
King Arthur’s Carrousel
Peter Pan’s Flight
Casey Jr.’s Circus Train
Mad Tea Party (teacups)
Alice in Wonderland
Storybook Land Boats
It’s a Small World
Majority of these rides are in Fantasyland, so it’s very easy to hop from one ride to the next. Added bonus there are several restaurants nearby as well, so you can mobile order your lunch while waiting in line. I can’t recommend this enough for families, it just avoids the chaos and meltdowns of lunchtime when it’s delayed by waiting in line to order. It really makes the experience of Disneyland quite smooth and enjoyable. Another tip I’d read about prior to the trip was how to manage the stroller while on property. It’s an obvious requirement if you have a little under 5 really. Their legs just get too tired to make it through a full day at the park. But you can’t wait in line with them, so it can be a delicate balance as to what to do. So the tip I’d gathered is pop your little in the stroller to ride between ‘lands’, then find your favorite place to park and let your little one roam within each land. This was a game changer for us. LBB can be agitated when in the stroller for any extended period of time, she’s a free spirit, so she was quite pleased when she realized she wasn’t going to be strapped in for hours at a time while wondering Disney. She didn’t even put up a fuss when we plunked her in most times. Stroller parking at both parks is clearly marked and there are generally stroller parking attendants around to help guide you if you have any questions. We of course brought our own stroller (Babyzen Yoyo) but you can rent a stroller at either park if you prefer to not bring one in tow. Just be prepared to shell out per day. I just didn’t think that was worth it, knowing we have our packing system with the yoyo down pat. At any rate, having a stroller at the parks is a necessary evil to make your experience seamless and manageable. Your arms will thank me, I promise. ;)
More Turns around the Carrousel.
Waiting for the river raft to Tom Sawyer’s Island.
So… what else did we manage to do the second day we went to Disneyland? Since we had hit so many rides on the first day, we still surprisingly had several more stops we wanted to make on day two. Here’s a running list to keep your ideas flowing for planning purposes.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin
Goofy’s How-to-Play Yard
Mnnie’s House
Disneyland Railroad
Autotopia
Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters
Jungle Cruise
Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Tiki Room
The Disneyland Parade
Royal Hall (Princess Character Sightings)
All of these rides were great for LBB. Some were on the cusp of what I was comfortable with for her age, considering the high stimulus and noise, but it all worked out in the end.
The one…the only…Bourriquet. I mean Eeyore.
So now, what else comes along with Disneyland and toddlers…character sightings! I wasn’t completely convinced that LBB would dig this type of experience. She barely knew majority of the Disney characters considering I didn’t even introduce screens until she was 22 months old. So as far as she was concerned, big bears and princesses were just that. However, yet again was I surprised by how much she enjoyed it! We used the app to find the characters we assumed LBB would be most excited by, and found the spots to wait. It was a great activity to do if you need a bit of downtime, and a perfect pitstop for grabbing a snack while you wait. The one character that LBB did know intimately was Eeyore. Aymeric had a large Eeyore stuffy growing up, that he lovingly dubbed Carlos, and we kept it for LBB. She LOVES him. It’s darling. Every morning she gets up one of the first things she asks for is that big stuffy. We call him ‘Bourriquet’ which is Eeyore in French. So Eeyore has an identity crisis in our household, but nonetheless, LBB lost it when she met him. She even saved part of her snack to make sure she could feed Bourriquet. It was absolutely precious. Pooh was somewhat of an afterthought at this character sighting, but she still loved running up and hugging them both. I’d say whatever character sightings you can do that don’t take too much time to wait are well worth it. They can only stay out for 30 minutes at a time anyway, so you may not have to wait for too long. The cast members usually take count of the line and cut it off so you don’t have to wait and be disappointed when they leave and you didn’t get a chance to greet them. I will say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these photos with characters are possibly worth two thousand.
LBB hugging Disgust on Inside Out’s Emotional Whirlwind. xoxo Mindy.
LBB inspecting Luigi in Carsland.
Ok… so DCA. I’ll keep this portion relatively brief for a few reasons. We only went one day, and for context like I mentioned earlier, this park is geared towards the older child that is more interested in thrill rides. If you do get a 3 day, one park per day pass, I’d be of the notion to opt for 2 days at Disneyland and 1 day at DCA. This is not to say there isn’t a load of fun things to do as a family. Let’s be honest, this is the park where you can buy a glass of wine and a margarita… you can’t go wrong here. It’s a bit smaller than Disneyland, and more managable to do multiple rides several times if you’re interested in that type of thing. We also tended to split off as parents in this park way more often than in Disneyland. There is such a thing as a Rider Switch Pass. which basically allows one parent to bare the brunt of waiting in line for the two of you while the other is off playing with your little one. It was clutch. We typically did single rider lines more frequently however. Particularly for the Incredicoster, my favorite ride in DCA. We would have one parent take LBB on Jessie’s Critter Carousel, while the other went on the Incredicoaster. Then swapped. LBB was happy, and so were we. On Pixar Pier near the Incredicoaster is Toy Story Midway Mania, another hit in our family. I had read before coming to DCA that children under the age of 3 really shouldn’t look at 3D movies/screens. So we only did Toy Story Midway Mania once, and we didn’t have LBB wear the 3D eyewear. Personal parenting choice, to each their own. We love this ride, and I’m still high score cart champ two times running from two separate trips. So needless to say, we had to ride so I could continue to wear my high score crown with honor. Just in case you’re still guessing what to do with a toddler, here is a list of all of the other rides/experiences that we tackled at DCA.
Pixar Pal-A-Round Non-Swinging Faris Wheel
Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind
Golden Zephyr
The Little Mermaid - Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Turtle Talk with Crush!
Amazing Rainbow Mosaic in DCA. Near Mike & Sulley’s Ride. LBB was enamored.
There were several rides in this park that LBB wasn’t tall enough to ride as a side note, or frankly she wasn’t old enough in my opinion to patron. Here are a list of the rides not for children under 42” in DCA.
Silly Symphony Swings
Jumpin Jellyfish
Goofy’s Sky School
Radiator Springs Racers
Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!
Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure (This is for any height but just not in my comfort zone for LBB)
Incredicoaster
Grizzly River Run
Soarin’ Around the World
DCA has some really amazing restaurants and some delicious food options for all ages. We love to grab a drink and snag some food while eating outdoors at Pixar Pier. I’m going to write about all my favorite pit stops for food in another post, so I’ll save my tips for that, but just know that Dole Whips are a bit part of my life blood while in Disney.
Awkward closeup, but I had to… for LBB. IYKYK.
One of the last tidbits I’ll leave you with before I bore you all to death with Disney magic is…. please buy your shirts/accessories beforehand…Disney merch is no joke. I was absolutely stunned when I saw one of the long sleeve Disney classic shirts was $84.99. I’d see entire families walking around in matching shirts, and I could add up the cost as they walked by… majority of families would have spent somewhere around $400 just on these shirts. GAG! And let’s be honest… you won’t wear that at home. Trust me! So save your pennies and get your custom shirts prior to going to the parks. Then you still get the magic of the matching shirts, but your wallet will thank you. We bought these T’s from Amazon and had them customized. It was so cute to see LBB waltz around in her little Minnie eared shirt that said Bébé (melt). I also bought these Minnie Ears Hear Scrunchies on the ‘zon for LBB. They were like 8 bucks for a two pack, so cute! I did spring for the 100 year anniversary mouse ears while at the park. I still have them sitting at my desk in my room at home. Happy memories flood back every time I pass by them. One day I hope LBB can wear them herself next time we find ourselves in the most magical place on earth!
A family of stripes.
