What are the top 5 tips for winning the Disneyland game with toddlers? First, download the Disney app early. It's amazing! I usually try to avoid downloading anything where you have to have a profile, but all your admission tickets are housed here too. You can make and manage reservations right on here. There are so many hidden gems on here. This isn't a real tip, but the rest of my tips may refer to just how important this app is! 1. Character Dining - is it worth it? Yes - to us it was! We didn't feel stressed about trying to get the kids to character meet and greets in the park because we knew we had a character dining option. We did dining at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel and at the Plaza Inn inside Disneyland. I had a tough time getting reservations at the Plaza Inn for breakfast, but I eventually did (all on the app!). If you can't find reservations at first, keep trying on the app! Lots of reservations continue to pop up randomly as people cancel theirs. Also, I noticed a lot of people doing walk up requests and they were able to get seated right away, so it's worth a shot. We loved having the reservation so we knew when the kids would be eating! *TIP* For smaller children, you still want to include them in the number of people of the reservation. You don't have to pay for children under 3 to eat, but you'll want them on the reservation so you get a large enough table to include them! The food at the Plaza Inn was delicious! We weren't as impressed with Goofy's Kitchen, but the kids loved the characters walking around and the vibe of Goofy's Kitchen. 2. Visit Fantasyland Early and/or Monitor Wait Times on the Disneyland App Fantasyland clogs up quickly! It is small and congested but there are lots of rides packed into this little area. If you arrive at the park right when it opens, you usually want to head here first to avoid longer wait times later in the day. I'd also recommend constantly checking the Disney app for wait times on these rides. They seem to stay pretty busy throughout the entire day, but there are some fluctuations in wait times. You might get lucky and be able to visit them on a lull if you can't visit them in the morning. For whatever reason, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland seem to be the BUSIEST rides ALWAYS. Dumbo and Snow White get busy off and on during the day! 3. Bring a Portable Phone Charger You need access to the app for basically everything in the park - your tickets, your photo pass, wait times, Genie+. Make sure you pack one and make sure it's charged with the right connecting cords! 4. Genie+ - is it worth it? For us, it wasn't and here's why - the kids are little and they were not ready for the majority of rides on Genie+. I think we probably would have used it more in California Adventure than in Disneyland if we did purchase it, but I'd review the rides currently included on Genie+ before making that decision. If you all are going to ride those particular rides then it probably is worth it, but we ended up hardly riding any of the thrill rides included. 5. Game Plan - even the bathrooms!
The app has made life so much more convenient for planning out the day! Here are some ways to use the app to make your day run smoother:
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Packing for toddlers for Disneyland is tough, but it doesn't have to be. I had some main packing goals in mind (I know my weaknesses - overpacking):
Clothes - Obviously depending on the season you are visiting, the clothes are going to look different. However, I made 1 plastic bag outfit for each child and stuffed it into the stroller. This worked out PERFECTLY. Teddy spilled water all down the front of him at California Adventure. We grabbed the bag from the stroller and walked into the bathroom - no full diaper bag, no trip to a locker - and changed! I didn't have to repack spare clothes every day. I had these all pre-packaged from our initial packing and we were ready to go! Snacks - There is SO much to eat at Disney, but it's SO EXPENSIVE. Also - my kids don't ever eat the entire snack in one sitting. I carried on my love of the gallon ziploc bag. I made one gallon-sized bag for each kid for EACH day. I labeled them with their name and put the SAME snacks in every bag. Our snack bags had:
*TIP* - Bring plastic bags for unfinished snacks! We bought churros, but sometimes the kids wouldn't finish them or finish their Mickey Mouse shaped cooke, rice krispie treat, etc. Saving them in a nice zip plastic or REUSABLE zip bag helped make them last longer throughout the day! Also, make sure to pack their sippy cups. Teddy loves Simply Orange and Cal loves Simply Lemonade. I was very surprised to find that Disneyland sells these drinks at select locations! I always made sure to buy one to have on-hand when I saw one. I remember getting a Lemonade and pickle on a cart right outside the canoe line at Disneyland. We also got an orange juice at the coffee cart in California Adventure. You can also bring in bottled water which was great! ![]()
![]() *Update* I bought this shade cover to use for Cal since the umbrella stroller shade doesn't completely cover him when he naps. I give it a 5 out of 10 stars. It didn't come with directions, so we did our best to figure out how to tie it on. Half the time Cal was annoyed by it and half the time he didn't mind it (usually once he was completely asleep). Eh - I don't know that I'd recommend this specific one, but the sun is tough on that baby skin! I've held out for a long time on not going to Disneyland with the kids. Exhausting, right? I'm not even sure where to begin. I think it's time though. I can't wait any longer to see their little faces light up with excitement. Also, supposedly January/February are the least busy times, so it's now or in another year... so come on a journey with me as we break down the Disney barriers to understand how to EASILY plan a trip.
I'm lucky that I've been to Disneyland and understand enough about how the park works, but there's been so many changes in the past couple years that I also feel completely at a loss. Sooo here's to planning... Step 1: Check out the Disney crowd calendars. I just Googled different sites and was able to get a general sense of when it might be busy vs when it shouldn't be too busy. Sites like...Just be mindful if you are looking at Disneyland or DisneyWORLD. There seem to be A LOT more Disney World sites out there! Step 2: Visit the official Disneyland website. I know, it's simple but there's some great information I got on the website like hours of operation, ticket pricing, hotel information (we decided we wanted to stay on-site since Cal is so little yet), ride refurbishments (Boo! Haunted Mansion is closed!), dining reservations. Step 3: Once you have some general dates, get going on those dining reservations. Reservations open 60 days in advanced, so if you have less than 60 days until your trip, you'll want to make those reservations as soon as possible. They do take a credit card to make the reservations, but most of them you can cancel up to 24 hours before the reservation without getting a cancelation fee. I reserved any potential character dining that we might want to do. As I make more sense of the schedule, I can cancel these, but I wanted to snag what I could find. **PRO TIP** Keep checking! I was showing no availability for the Plaza Inn Dining for a couple days and I kept trying and was able to snag a morning spot for breakfast. Also! Even though young children won't necessarily need their own plate, keep them in your party count so you get seated at a large enough table to accommodate them! It took me FOREVER to find the answer on this one! Step 4: If you are ready to commit or even semi-ready to commit, go ahead and purchase your tickets. Disneyland now has a reservation system where you have to lock in which park you are visiting on which day. If the parks are at maximum capacity already that day, it won't let you visit, so if you are traveling during a busy time (like every day of the year) then get your tickets quickly! |
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