Awhile ago we planned to meet B’s uncles for a Disneyland trip since it was “halfway” between Fresno and Palm Springs. Disneyland did not disappoint! I’m not sure if it ever does. We loved going with a toddler and four adults total. Here’s my breakdown:
Friday
B and I took the whole day off to make sure we had plenty of time to leave Fresno and get to our hotel in Anaheim. During that time, we managed to eat at Zankou Chicken in Santa Clarita and stop at a weirdly well remodeled bathroom in Traver. We had just left home when Ro realized he needed to use the bathroom and then needed to use the bathroom again another three times. I’m not sure how normal it is for a toddler, but I don’t usually mind it because a) I like visiting random places and b) I always like an excuse to stop somewhere for coffee. ☕️ We made it in record time (seven hours with all of the stops), Ro didn’t have a nap, and we had a chance to take Ro to Downtown Disney. We told him it was Disneyland and he was cool with that. We had a hard time finding a restaurant to eat at and settled for snack foods at a cart because we weren’t too hungry. We had fun watching the fireworks while walking back to the hotel.
Saturday
B woke up early as usual, I slept in, and somehow we made it out of the room around 7am. We went to McDonalds for breakfast on the way to walking to Disneyland. B had already eaten at Starbucks, and so Ro and I had to brave the lines and wait to get our food. As soon as I saw the long line, I used the app to order food and got a good deal. We also managed to get ahead of a lot of people still using the kiosk to order. After a long wait with angry people (Ro and I weren’t really that angry), we mad e it to the park entrance super early. B found out his uncles were running late and still needed to check into their own hotel, park, and meet us.
While B watched Ro and I eat our McDonalds meals, B’s uncles Rob and Jon managed to sneak by us and get through security! We met them past security and entered the park. The first thing we did was buy Ro a pair of mouse ears, and he chose the BB-8 ears (my nerdy self was proud). The ears were a little too big, but I bought a BB-8 pin so Ro wouldn’t mind the straps getting shortened. The rest of the day went by really quickly. We started with Pirates of the Caribbean, which might have been fine if I hadn’t started the ride by telling Ro that everything was real. We then We at at the Red Rose Tavern for lunch. Ro was very impressed by his food and ate almost all of it. After we all rode Space Mountain, Ro fell asleep in the carrier and we all got to ride the Haunted Mansion. Rob amped Ro up for the Dumbo ride and Ro’s retort during and after was, “I’ve been waiting for this ride all day!” We had another hard time finding a restaurant free for dinner. Ro was also very tired and starting to throw tantrums. We ended up having dinner at Napolini, and Ro was placated with a balloon sword. We said good-bye to the uncles soon afterwards, and watched the fireworks while walking back to the hotel.
Sunday
We got gas at a Costco, fueled ourselves with Starbucks, and had a minor incident of Ro spilling hot chocolate in the car before we were finally able to leave. We had a few hiccups with Ro needing to use the bathroom on the way out, but he did go strong until we made it to the Outlets at Tejon. We stopped for lunch and, of course, Ro didn’t want the pizza we bought and opted for Chinese food. He then was strong until we reached the exit on 99N for Lerdo Highway. Everyone should stop there at one time or another because the gas station attendant is super happy, efficient, and makes everyone feel appreciated. We managed to get home in the early afternoon.
A few thoughts:
I booked two rooms at Hotel 415 which is about a mile away from the Disneyland park entrance. This hotel was basically a remodeled Motel 6, which I hadn’t planned on because the pictures online looked really good. There was no breakfast (okay for us because McDonalds was on the way to disney), but I had decided to book this place because they said they had an area shuttle. For the record: THERE IS NO SHUTTLE. There is a shuttle stop outside of the Four Seasons hotel down the street. All in all though, it was cheap, clean, only families were staying at the hotel.
I’m sure you’re wondering how we moved Ro around the park — we took the Ergobaby carrier! Yes, he still fits. No, he wasn’t too heavy. Yes, B and I took turns even though it was still mostly me. It worked in the crowds much better than a stroller. We didn’t buy a lot of stuff and Ro brought his little backpack with an extra set of clothes, which were used.
I downloaded the Disneyland app and we were able to maximize our time in the park by gauging wait times and Fastpass availablility. I did not bother paying for the MaxPass for all of us because there was no way our wait times would have gone any better. We were also able to take advantage of the rider switch policy during that time to maximize our time. So, we got FASSPASSes for Space Mountain first, waited in line and rode Pirates of the Caribbean, waited and rode It’s a Small World, rode Space Mountain, got FASTPASSes for Matterhorn, waited and rode Haunted Mansion, rider switched Indiana Jones, waited and rode Jungle Cruise, rode Matterhorn, and finally rode Dumbo the Flying Elephant. For example, we all got FASTPASSes for the Matterhorn and we did a rider switch pass for the Indiana Jones ride. B’s uncles waited in line and rode the ride first. B, Ro, and I waited in line and rode on the Jungle Cruise while the uncles waited for their ride. The uncles finished the ride and took Ro to get a snack. B and I got into the FASTPASS line without having gotten FASTPASSes for that time and rode the ride. Then our FASTPASSes were in effect to ride the Matterhorn, and we all were able to have super short waits with switches. For the rides we got FASTPASSes, I got an extra one for Ro so b could go with his uncles when we switched. My only regret about the whole thing was that I should have brought an extra powerbank for my phone because my battery was completely zapped by the end.
So...has anyone else had a good or bad experience with taking the kids to Disneyland?
Friday
B and I took the whole day off to make sure we had plenty of time to leave Fresno and get to our hotel in Anaheim. During that time, we managed to eat at Zankou Chicken in Santa Clarita and stop at a weirdly well remodeled bathroom in Traver. We had just left home when Ro realized he needed to use the bathroom and then needed to use the bathroom again another three times. I’m not sure how normal it is for a toddler, but I don’t usually mind it because a) I like visiting random places and b) I always like an excuse to stop somewhere for coffee. ☕️ We made it in record time (seven hours with all of the stops), Ro didn’t have a nap, and we had a chance to take Ro to Downtown Disney. We told him it was Disneyland and he was cool with that. We had a hard time finding a restaurant to eat at and settled for snack foods at a cart because we weren’t too hungry. We had fun watching the fireworks while walking back to the hotel.
Saturday
B woke up early as usual, I slept in, and somehow we made it out of the room around 7am. We went to McDonalds for breakfast on the way to walking to Disneyland. B had already eaten at Starbucks, and so Ro and I had to brave the lines and wait to get our food. As soon as I saw the long line, I used the app to order food and got a good deal. We also managed to get ahead of a lot of people still using the kiosk to order. After a long wait with angry people (Ro and I weren’t really that angry), we mad e it to the park entrance super early. B found out his uncles were running late and still needed to check into their own hotel, park, and meet us.
While B watched Ro and I eat our McDonalds meals, B’s uncles Rob and Jon managed to sneak by us and get through security! We met them past security and entered the park. The first thing we did was buy Ro a pair of mouse ears, and he chose the BB-8 ears (my nerdy self was proud). The ears were a little too big, but I bought a BB-8 pin so Ro wouldn’t mind the straps getting shortened. The rest of the day went by really quickly. We started with Pirates of the Caribbean, which might have been fine if I hadn’t started the ride by telling Ro that everything was real. We then We at at the Red Rose Tavern for lunch. Ro was very impressed by his food and ate almost all of it. After we all rode Space Mountain, Ro fell asleep in the carrier and we all got to ride the Haunted Mansion. Rob amped Ro up for the Dumbo ride and Ro’s retort during and after was, “I’ve been waiting for this ride all day!” We had another hard time finding a restaurant free for dinner. Ro was also very tired and starting to throw tantrums. We ended up having dinner at Napolini, and Ro was placated with a balloon sword. We said good-bye to the uncles soon afterwards, and watched the fireworks while walking back to the hotel.
Sunday
We got gas at a Costco, fueled ourselves with Starbucks, and had a minor incident of Ro spilling hot chocolate in the car before we were finally able to leave. We had a few hiccups with Ro needing to use the bathroom on the way out, but he did go strong until we made it to the Outlets at Tejon. We stopped for lunch and, of course, Ro didn’t want the pizza we bought and opted for Chinese food. He then was strong until we reached the exit on 99N for Lerdo Highway. Everyone should stop there at one time or another because the gas station attendant is super happy, efficient, and makes everyone feel appreciated. We managed to get home in the early afternoon.
A few thoughts:
I booked two rooms at Hotel 415 which is about a mile away from the Disneyland park entrance. This hotel was basically a remodeled Motel 6, which I hadn’t planned on because the pictures online looked really good. There was no breakfast (okay for us because McDonalds was on the way to disney), but I had decided to book this place because they said they had an area shuttle. For the record: THERE IS NO SHUTTLE. There is a shuttle stop outside of the Four Seasons hotel down the street. All in all though, it was cheap, clean, only families were staying at the hotel.
I’m sure you’re wondering how we moved Ro around the park — we took the Ergobaby carrier! Yes, he still fits. No, he wasn’t too heavy. Yes, B and I took turns even though it was still mostly me. It worked in the crowds much better than a stroller. We didn’t buy a lot of stuff and Ro brought his little backpack with an extra set of clothes, which were used.
I downloaded the Disneyland app and we were able to maximize our time in the park by gauging wait times and Fastpass availablility. I did not bother paying for the MaxPass for all of us because there was no way our wait times would have gone any better. We were also able to take advantage of the rider switch policy during that time to maximize our time. So, we got FASSPASSes for Space Mountain first, waited in line and rode Pirates of the Caribbean, waited and rode It’s a Small World, rode Space Mountain, got FASTPASSes for Matterhorn, waited and rode Haunted Mansion, rider switched Indiana Jones, waited and rode Jungle Cruise, rode Matterhorn, and finally rode Dumbo the Flying Elephant. For example, we all got FASTPASSes for the Matterhorn and we did a rider switch pass for the Indiana Jones ride. B’s uncles waited in line and rode the ride first. B, Ro, and I waited in line and rode on the Jungle Cruise while the uncles waited for their ride. The uncles finished the ride and took Ro to get a snack. B and I got into the FASTPASS line without having gotten FASTPASSes for that time and rode the ride. Then our FASTPASSes were in effect to ride the Matterhorn, and we all were able to have super short waits with switches. For the rides we got FASTPASSes, I got an extra one for Ro so b could go with his uncles when we switched. My only regret about the whole thing was that I should have brought an extra powerbank for my phone because my battery was completely zapped by the end.
So...has anyone else had a good or bad experience with taking the kids to Disneyland?
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