Disneyland Travel Advice

You could say we are Disney freaks. We have three rooms in our house completely dedicated to Disney characters, including one bathroom that is painted red, black, and white in honor of Mickey. Thus it should come as no surprise that we travel to DisneyLand a lot (we have annual passes and we live in Texas). Since our first child was born three years ago, we have made six trips to DisneyLand with children, and therefore consider ourselves experts at navigating the happiest place on earth with now two toddlers. Here are some of the lessons we've learned.

Getting There

If you are going to be flying, you have your choice of flying into LAX or Orange County airports. My personal preference is to fly into Orange County simply because it is smaller and easier to navigate, and is closer to DisneyLand. Regardless of which airport you fly into, you can take the DisneyLand Express to your hotel. Not only is it cheaper and easier than renting a car (or having a car service pick you up), but you do not need car seats. Not having to wag two car seats through two airports has already increased my fun potential by tenfold.

Where to Stay

I strongly recommend staying on Disney property if at all possible. Yes, it is more expensive, but I promise the benefits far outweigh the added cost. There are three Disney hotels to choose from: Grand Californian, DisneyLand Hotel, and Paradise Pier. My personal favorite is the DisneyLand Hotel. It was the original hotel and has retained most of its nostalgic charm. It is also slightly closer to Downtown Disney and the parks than Paradise Pier, and much less expensive than the Grand Californian (DisneyLand's newest and most luxurious hotel). And the DisneyLand Express only drops off at the DisneyLand Hotel, so if you choose to stay at one of the other hotels you will have to hoof it over to them with all of your luggage. Of course, you can reserve the hotel yourself, or you can have your friendly travel agent do it for you. If you don't have a travel agent, I strongly recommend Small World Vacations. They are Disney experts and I have found that they are often able to get better deals on hotel rooms than I am able to get myself.

There are other benefits of staying on property too. Guests of the Disney hotels can have anything they buy sent to their hotel. And who wants to haul all that stuff around anyway? All of the Disney hotels are within a five to ten minute walk to the parks, which is crucial for toddlers who desperately need a nap (and mommies and daddies who desperately need their toddlers to take a nap). We usually head back to the hotel right after lunch, take a short nap, relax in the pool a little while, then head back to the parks in the early evening when it is starting to cool off again and the crowds are beginning to thin.

The best benefit of staying on property though is early entry. Hotel guests are allowed into the parks an hour early on select days. This is HUGE! The most frustrating part of DisneyLand is waiting in line, but with early entry this problem is virtually eliminated. You can knock out all of Fantasy Land in that single hour with time to spare, often riding your child's favorite rides multiple times.

Navigating the Parks

The DisneyLand Resort has two parks - the original DisneyLand Park and California Adventure - as well as Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is located between the entrances to the parks and the Disneyland Hotel. It is primarily a restaurant and shopping district and does not require admission. The entrances to the parks are directly across from each other, making it easy to go back and forth between them. Both parks have fun things for you and your little ones, although Disneyland Park seems to have more that we enjoy. We usually plan to spend two days at DisneyLand and one day at Grand Californian. Don't go into the parks without a plan! Look at the maps beforehand and make note of the rides that are must ride, would like to ride, and don't care to ride. Also check the times guide and note the times of any shows or parades you would like to see.

If you have toddlers, bring your own stroller. Yes, Disney has strollers you can rent, but you cannot take them out of the park. So if you are going between parks you have to check it back in and then check another one out when you get into the other park. You also cannot take them back to the hotel, and toddlers get mighty heavy on that seven minute hike back to the hotel at naptime. When we do Disney, we take two bags - a backpack diaper bag that holds diapering essentials and another bag with our cameras and other valuables. The reason for taking two bags is that we leave the diaper bag on the stroller while we're on the rides and take the smaller bag with the valuables with us. Personally, I carry a fanny or waist pack as our ?other? bag. I realize this is not fashionable, but DisneyLand is not about being fashionable, its about being happy and I'm happy when I don't have sore shoulders from lugging around a backpack all day.

It is essential to get to the parks early in order to avoid the crowds. This means getting up early! I know - no one wants to get up early on vacation, except for my daughter who gets up at 7:00 am every morning (that's 5:00 am California time) - but you will save yourself countless hours standing in line. From opening until about 11:00 is the least crowded time of the day at DisneyLand.

If you have small children, I suggest you head directly for Dumbo or Peter Pan as soon as you get inside the gates. Both of these rides normally have incredibly long lines so it's best to get them out of the way early. Most children like to ride a ride several times. To solve this dilemma you can use the Chuck-Bubba-Relay. You get in line with your child. Your partner waits a little while then gets in line too. When you get off the ride with ?Bubba? chuck him to your partner and he can ride it again. For more information on this check out The Unofficial Guide to DisneyLand.

Children must be at least 42? inches tall to ride most of the more adult roller-coaster type rides. But just because you are traveling with a small child does not mean you cannot ride these rides. Just do the Rider Swap. You'll need to ask a Cast member exactly how to do this (as it differs on each ride), but the premise is that one adult gets in line and rides the ride while the other adult waits with the child, then they switch. On some attractions both adults get in line with the small child and then switch during the loading/unloading phase, or one rider will wait in line and then the other rider will enter through either the exit or the fast-pass line. You can find out more about this feature in The Unofficial Guide to DisneyLand too.

Meeting Characters

An important part of any Disney vacation is meeting the characters. Depending on the age of your children, they might be scared of the characters at first. If this is your first trip to Disney, explain to your children ahead of time that the characters are much larger than they appear on tv. Also, if the character is wearing a mask it will not talk (only the princesses and other characters that are actual people talk).

You can bet that if a character is present there will be a line of people waiting to meet it. We avoid this unnecessary line-waiting by taking advantage of character dining. Our family always has a character breakfast to start the day off, since that is the one meal we can be fairly certain that our children will actually eat. Character breakfasts are offered at all three of the Disney hotels, as well as the Plaza Inn in DisneyLand. The restaurants all serve an all-you-can eat buffet style breakfast with a vast array of food to choose from. The food is actually quite tasty too. While you eat, Disney characters rotate throughout the restaurant and stop by your table for a visit and a picture. This is a nice way to start the day off with a nutritious breakfast and get your family in the mood for some Disney fun. If you have a little princess in your group, be sure to have lunch or dinner at Ariel's Grotto. It is recommended that you make character dining, as well as any other table service restaurants, priority seating arrangements up to 60 days in advance. You can make your dining reservations by calling 714-781-DINE. You will still want to check the Times Guide to find out the location and times to meet some of your favorite characters throughout the parks as well.

Older children like to get the character's autographs. Of course, Disney sells autograph books for just this purpose, and they do make a nice (and somewhat inexpensive) keepsake for your child. My one recommendation is that you buy the pen from Disney as well. Many of the characters do not have fingers in their costumes (think about Winnie the Pooh's paws), making it very difficult for them to grip a small pen. The pens that Disney sells are large and easier for the characters to grip.

Other Miscellaneous Tips

Disney does allow you to bring food into the parks. Since my children seem to be hungry every couple of hours, I always pack some snacks for them. This has probably saved us several hundred dollars by now, since snacks are not cheap at DisneyLand.

You might consider getting a Disney Rewards Visa credit card too. You get discounts at several places in the parks, as well as special offers from Disney. And every dollar you spend earns you Disney Reward points, which you can redeem in the form of a Disney Rewards Card, which works much like a gift card. My family uses our Disney Rewards Visa for our everyday purchases and we have usually earned enough rewards points to pay for all of our souvenirs on our next trip.

Most importantly, remember that you are visiting the Happiest Place on Earth. This means that you should be happy! If your children are tired and whiney consider heading back to the hotel early one night instead of watching the fireworks show. I promise you will have plenty of happy memories to sustain your family until your next visit to DisneyLand.