We just got back from a week-long family trip to the Happiest Place on the West Coast... Disneyland! We opted into a family trip for Christmas this year instead of knick knack presents... and it was SO worth it. I'm minorly in love with this idea from now until forever. It was the honest best idea we've had in a LONG time. Today I'm sharing some helpful tips for Disneyland. The magic is undeniable, but with a load of kids in tow it can be daunting and well exhausting... but I'm going to share with you how we manage it and a couple of secrets you may not know.
- Before you book- Check crowd Calendars. I can NOT stress this tip enough. I love to check Is It Packed, which is a SUPER helpful website. They factor in a number of variables including historical data, school calendars, etc. to let you know what to expect. If you can be flexible, it is definitely worth it to plan your trip on less busy, or "ghost town" days... if you hate crowds and lines. They even have a live crowd feed available that is updated by people currently in the park. This website forecasts crowds for a number of different places in the United States. So helpful.
- When you book- use Get Away Today. We have booked a number of vacations through Get Away Today and it is seriously SO great. It can be such a headache to hunt down hotels, buy tickets separately, on and on... I LOVE this website for a number of reasons, it's a one-stop-shop when you are planning your trip. You can EASILY bundle tickets into your hotel stay. Their website is SO clear and concise.. there are reviews of each hotel that I have found to be very honest and true. The part I like best is that you can book your trip in advance and then have the entire thing paid off before you go and LITERALLY you just show up. They send you a vacation package with all your tickets and hotel information in the mail before you go. I just love how simple it makes booking trips, it's kind of a modern travel agent with literally ZERO headaches. Following them on social media is really helpful too, they give out tips and tricks for traveling, but also... they do have sales and specials throughout the year which is what I love to keep my eye out for.
We personally stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton this time and had perhaps the most enjoyable experience yet. It's very close to the parks but most of all the hotel staff went ABOVE and beyond to make our stay enjoyable. We bought our littlest a light-up spinning toy (for pure bribery on our part) and after just a couple hours of (perhaps nonstop) use the batteries were dead, when we got back to our hotel the front desk staff, without a second thought, called down maintenance to unscrew the battery compartment, and replaced the batteries for us. Like I could not even believe it, but little things like that make a WORLD of difference when you're on a trip with kids and you GO GO GO the entire time. One of my friends took her family to Disney and she decided to use one of the many gorgeous holiday homes in Paris. She hired a car and then drove into the park every day. I think it's a great option if you'd rather not stay in a hotel! It might be even better than owning a timeshare like how they do in the US. When you consider the high maintenance fees, it is no wonder that many try to cancel diamond timeshare with the help of exit companies.
- Pack for your kids in OUTFITS- not just pieces. This seriously saved my life. We had all 3 kids with us and each morning getting everyone ready and our bag for the day packed was a LOT... plus you know I was like... tired from multiple days of partying in Disneyland. Before we went I decided that I really just needed to roll up OUTFITS for each kid for each day. All their layers, everything... it was amazing. My older kids could just grab a roll in the morning without asking me or me having to go to their suitcase and piece together an outfit for them. Which maybe doesn't seem like a lot... but they have opinions and planning out the outfits with them beforehand and having them ready just really really helped. Like even my husband could go get the baby dressed without me being involved... which if you're a mom... you get it. When packing your kids outfits, you do also need to find time to pack your own clothes. Disneyland does require a lot of walking around to ensure you see the whole park. If you've got younger kids, you might even want to consider getting a disneyland stroller so they don't have to be on their feet all day. It can get really tiring! Due to all of the walking, it might be better to pack some comfortable shoes that won't hurt your feet. However, if you still want your outfit to look nice and put together, you could consider finding some comfortable walking sandals. These usually compliment a lot of outfits, so it might be worth visiting Rank & Style to see which shoes they think are the most comfortable. If you're interested, you can check this out here. That should allow you to comfortably walk around Disneyland without your feet hurting. Those are the sort of things you do need to think about.
I have found that doing these couple things have made our Disneyland trips SO much more enjoyable and simple. I feel like there's SO much to think about when planning beastly trips like this but these things saved my life and sanity... totally allowed me to enjoy the moments more and got our family prepared for a week of joy and fun. I will have other posts coming about what to wear, and how to best use your time IN the park coming at'cha soon!
Sara Figueroa says
Love.this.post. I swear if you fail to plan for a Disney trip then you plan to have a bad time! The outfits idea: yes! For the youngest ones I brought kind of the same color palette for each day just in case they had a leaky diaper or spilled food, they still looked cute! And Get Away Today is also seriously the best!!! Takes the stress out of planning a trip AND their customer service is ????????????.