I was 18 when I went to Disneyland for the first time and even at that age it was magical. As I walked through the park, the attention to detail really captured my imagination. I kept thinking "when I have kids we are definitely going to vacation at Disneyland." I wanted to give my kids the Disney experience while they were young enough to still believe in fairytales and everything Disney has to offer young imaginations.When Natalie was about 3, she got wind of this place called Disneyland and asked if we could go. I'm sure she was thinking we could just get in our car and drive there in a few hours. I told her that when she turned 6 we would make a special trip to Disneyland. Well, she just turned 6 and I am excited to say we have booked our flight for spring break.
So to all you out there who have traveled to Disneyland with your children, could you PLEASE, please, please post your advice and suggestions on how to best make this a successful and memorable trip for our family. We are also planning to go to Seaworld. Thank you so much!
9 comments:
Take Leashes for the kids... I know that sounds funny but when we took our now 16 year old when she was 2 years old we were glad she had a leash on because she would take ahold of anyones hand that walked by! Have Fun!
I would recommend renting a stroller. It was a blessing when one of my kids got tired. Also, get a Birnbaum book on Disneyland available at the Disney store. It has all kinds of info and everything you will need to know!
Have fun!
Good information so far...keep the ideas coming. I will have to post the suggestions I get from Shannon once I call her. Thanks guys.
Oh Boy! We haven't taken our little ones yet either and I am really looking forward to reading this so....keep posting people!!
What I have heard though from other people is to definitely do a character breakfast, use their strollers, fast passes, take snacks with you. I will let you know if I hear any more information.
Well I haven't gone "with" kids unless I count? I barely pass the height limit on the rides. :D
Snacks are a definite. It's insane how much they charge you for snacks, and the health factor is pretty low on many of the snacks and foods around. Also check online ahead of time to see if any rides will be closed for "maintenance." That happened to me when I went and I was bummed not be able to go on all of the rides. I've heard it's worth the money to do a character breakfast or dinner - especially for Natalie if it's with a princess! :) I was just there in 03. Oh - make sure you hit the Alice in Wonderland ride, because they don't have it at DisneyWorld - can you believe that?! Just in case your next trip is there. If I think of anything else I'll post.
You will have soooooo much fun. The last time we went Taylor was in 1st grade and Taryn was in 3rd and it was right after 911. Scary-yes, but the park was empty..no lines. Make sure to get the fast pass. #1 unless you want to pay way too much money - bring a backpack with snacks and water bottles. When you purchase items from the stores you can have them sent to the front of the park for pick up when you leave..that way you are not trying to carry all the little things you purchase. Also, when you first get into the park purchase a autograph book - each time the kids get their photo taken with a character they will sign your book (which you can photo copy and add to their scrapbook with the photos. You can also check the website to see what rides are closed - they shut areas down for repairs and updates. For instance I told my kids all about the haunted mansion - only to have it closed to be decorated for Halloween. Character breakfast is the best - we did Goofy's kitchen - every type of food imagineable and kid friendly to the fullest...mickey shaped waffles, chicken nuggets, peanutbutter and jelly pizza, prime rib..the list goes on.
Diane
I was just looking online for those autograph books this afternoon. I am thinking about making one, but I'm not sure. Maybe I will just have index cards the characters can autograph then put it all together with photos when I get home...OR I can create the autograph book with enough space for autographs on one side and photos to be placed later on the other side. Hmmm...me gots some thinkin' to do. Any suggestions on this one? Anyone? ...Thanks in advance for the imput.
The books we got there at one of the stores right inside the front gate - they have disney characters on them of course.. The nice thing about them it's a hard cover so the pages stay nice. The girls still have them too! If you make your own make sure it has a hard backing on it - most of the characters have gloves or something on their hands..so it's a little tricky to write.
Thanks for the info Diane. I had heard the same thing about making sure the autograph book is 'character friendly." Big enough and sturdy enough to they can sign with those big gloves! Also, no thin pens cause they have trouble gripping them. I've also heard people bringing colored pens and matching the character to the pen color (ie Belle-yellow, Tigger-orange, Cinderella-blue) I may bring Disney shirts so the kids can have them signed too.
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