Disneyland is by far more magical with kids than I ever expected. Sure I’ve been to Disneyland with my nephews and friends kids. But introducing my own kids to all of the Magic was the best. Sawyer is at the perfect age where she believes everything is real. We road the Jungle Cruise and I definitely think she believed the animals and village people were legit. We partied pretty hard and stayed late at the park each night. Most nights we didn’t get to bed until 11pm. Totally worth it.
My favorite thing about this trip was Sawyer meeting all of her favorite princesses. Pro Tip: look on the Disneyland app for locations and times the characters will be out and about. Sawyer loved watching the fireworks and sang along to all of her favorite songs. Talk about heart melting.
Disclaimer* about half way through writing this blog I realized there is a lot to cover about Disneyland and toddlers so I’ll be writing a separate blog about what we brought / packed. Now moving on...
Sawyer is 2 1/2 and is still pretty short. So all the rides she road had to have no height requirements. You’d think that would limit us a lot but she actually got to go on a ton of rides we love as well. We were at the park for two days and had a lot of ground to cover. We tried getting in as many rides but also taking on account we had two small kids with us and they needed to take breaks. This trip was pretty special and we got to go with Aaron’s cousin Andrew, Stacey, and her kiddos. Most magical thing of the trip... Andrew proposed to Stacey in front of the castle on the first morning.
Rides both Sawyer and Moses got to enjoy:
King Arthur Carousel
Dumbo
Snow Whites Scary Adventures
It’s a Small World
Tea Cups
Alice in Wonderland
Pirates of the Caribbean
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Winnie the Pooh
Tarzan’s Tree House
Little Mermaid
Monsters Inc
Toy Story Mania
Shows and Character interactions:
Fireworks
Main Street Electrical Parade
World of Color
Royal Hall: Snow White, Ariel, Cinderella
Animation Studio: Anna , Elsa
Disneyland with two kids under the age of three is a whole new ball game. Long gone are the days of getting to just bring my small “Disneyland” purse and Minnie Mouse ears. It takes a lot of prep if you’re coming from out of town.
Tips for Disneyland with Toddlers / Babies:
Snacks- Bring lots of them. You’ll not only save money on brining your own snacks. But you’ll avoid a lot of meltdowns if you let them snack while waiting in line for a ride
Double stroller- Even if you don’t use a double stroller regularly at home. You’ll want one in the park. Disneyland comes with a lot of walk and they’re legs will get tired. But you can also move a lot quicker if you can push them where you need to go.
Take a break- Both days we left the park after lunch time and let the kids nap (or not nap in Moses case). The refresh was worth it. I used this time to shower, repack snacks if needed, and grab a sweatshirt for when we watch fireworks/ or a parade.
Free water.- Bottles of water in the park are priced so high. Every restaurant will. Give you free iced water.
Baby Care Centers- There are one in each park. They are so handy. They have things like diapers or anything you forgot or ran out of. They also have chairs to breastfeed in and high chairs with trays to feed your baby.
Go with another family or adults. Having extra adults around helps with the kids but also makes it possible for you to sneak away to enjoy a big kid ride while the kids nap in the stroller or enjoy another ride
Meals- Disneyland offers a lot of “window” food buying options but I think the kids and us enjoyed our time more when we actually sat down to eat.
Mobile order food- Download the Disneyland app prior to your trip. You can mobile order food and it saves so much time. While walking over from your ride or while waiting in line,’order what you want from a nearby restaurant. Once you have arrived select “I’m here” on the app and they’ll get your food out in minutes.