Disneyland Guide
We took the kids to Disneyland last month and it was SO MUCH FUN. Jas and I had just as much fun as them and after three days, we were spent but the happiest. I pulled together some tips and tricks in this Disneyland Guide for navigating Disney anything right now! Biggest takeaway though? It’s allllll worth it!
Our first stop when we got in was Downtown Disney! If you are in need of some last minute outfits like us, they have lots of options for kids adults, and all the mouse ears! But if you have time, you can save money ordering ears before hand!
We decided on a Monsters Inc theme for our day at California Adventure! Once we got our outfits finalized, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed back to the hotel to get ready for an early morning at Disney!
On our first official day we went to California Adventure! Summer woke up on her 7 month birthday the same day as Disneyland’s 66th birthday! We were decked out in all our Monsters Inc, including Jas in his accidental women’s cut off shirt purchase!🤣
Now to answer some of your questions:
Where did you stay?
We spent one night at an offsite hotel walking distance to the park, and the second two nights at Grand Californian. A few hotels I would recommend for Disney are:
-Courtyard by Marriott Anaheim Theme Park Entrance
-Disneyland Hotel
-Paradise Pier
Can you see any characters?
As of right now, you’re not able to walk up to characters and get autographs, but there are a lot standing around. And there are lots of spots where you can stand to take pictures with them from a distance!
How we did the rides with baby Summer?
BEST PARENT TIP WITH LITTLE KIDS! They have a thing called riders switch and it lets the whole family wait in line, then one parent stays back with the baby and when the rest of the fam gets off the ride, the other parent swaps on and you don’t have to wait at all! And they even let the kids go twice, which is a huge plus! This worked in both parks! You don’t need to sign up, just make sure to let them know you’re doing it when you get in line.
How were the rides and the park experiences overall?
It was so nice that both kids are tall enough to ride pretty much everything now! Like I said, we did the rider switch and that was a really nice option to have. This was Summer’s first time at Disney and she loved just looking around at everything. It was the best!
Make sure to catch the firework show if you’re kids can stay up late enough! Disney night shows always give me chills, they’re so good! I love seeing the kids watch them and feel the magic.
Jas who was able to get in the que for Rise of the Resistance out second day! It’s gone within seconds so you have to make sure to refresh your Disney app the exact minute! I believe it’s 7am and 12pm each day! It was such a cool ride!!
Galaxy’s Edge is just WOWWWW. So freaking cool! I am always amazed how much work and detail is in every single piece of Disneyland!! Smugglers Run is so intense and fun!! Sav and Hunt got to be the pilots!! And we got to meet Chewbacca! Rise of the Resistance is soooo cool!!
Favorite rides from the kids:
Thunder mountain for Savannah, Cars ride for Hunter!
The deal with the food:
It is actually fairly easy to get food! There’s a bunch of walk up options and mobile order is quick too! We were even able to get a reservation at a sit down restaurant last minute! You can check the app for last minute cancelations. We were even able to snag some treats like ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches. And Jason was able to get his favorite thing: a turkey leg. We also stopped at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo and we couldn’t decide on just one drink so we got three: the Cold Brew, the Moof Juice, and the Phattro.
How was it with the Covid precautions?
Everything felt pretty dang normal! Hoping it stays that way! As of June 15th the mask mandate was dropped, but you can get all the info on their website. Make sure when you buy tickets you reserve the exact days you are going since they are still trying to keep capacity under control.
Line wait times?
Wait times were all over the place, but I would say on average about 30-45 minutes. The longest being around 1.5 hours for the super popular ones. For example, we did have to wait 1.5 hours for the Cars ride.
Are there fast passes?
No fast passes right now so make sure to download the Disney app so you can check on current wait times for all the rides!
Can you still get into the park early if you are staying at a Disney hotel?
There is no magic hour happening right now. Usually when you stay at one of the Disneyland hotels you can get into the park an hour early before the rest of the guests but they haven’t put it in place yet. We wouldn’t have made it anyways haha. This might have changed since we’ve gone so make sure to check with the hotel!
Most recommended item to pack?
If you’re going in warmer months, bring a portable fan (or two!) It gets so hot waiting in line and walking around. And don’t forget comfortable shoes!
There are so many ways to do Disney! And I think any way you do it, it’s so fun! You just have to remind yourself that it’s not about checking boxes of how much you can get done, but just enjoying the moment with what you can comfortably make happen for yourselves. One of my biggest tips to you is make sure to download the free Disney app! It helps so much with seeing current wait times, and so much more!! And HAVE FUN!!
I’ve linked our outfits here and some other great Disney clothing options I love!
