Disneyland Tips (Especially during Halloween)

It was another fabulous trip to Disneyland. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, of course, and wanted to share some tips with you. Now, it’s not like we go to Disneyland all the time. So, for all the tips, ideas, clothing inspiration, seriously anything you need to know on how to do Disneyland, head over to my best friend’s blog here.

1. Just expect it to be busy. I had these high expectations this time that it wouldn’t be busy so when the Halloween Party was a crazy-hot-mess over at Toon Town, I almost threw a fit. So lower your expectations. It most likely will be busy, so just plan on being surrounded by tons of people. Then, when it’s not, it’s going to be even more incredible! That’s how it was on our final day over at California Adventure and it was so wonderful!
2. Bring in snacks and drinks! Last time I went I didn’t realize you could bring anything and everything (except glass and alcohol) into the park! This time Danica gave me all her amazing tips and told me to bring a soft cooler in the bottom of my stroller and fill it with drinks! It saved us a bunch of money and was so nice to be able to bring in all of Finn’s bottles.
3. Bring jackets and light blankets. If you are like us and end up wanting to stay until close each night, it always gets cool (especially this time of year) once the sun goes down. So bring jackets for you and your family and also blankets to put on them in the stroller. The blankets can also be used to save space at the parades/light show.
4. Maybe skip the Halloween party? I don’t know. TJ and I can’t decide on this one. We LOVED the parade, atmosphere, graphics on the castle and main street, all the other extra festivities at the Halloween party, but there were some parts of it that weren’t exactly worth it. So, I guess if we did it again, we wouldn’t trick or treat much at all, we would go to main street to see more of the villains, and definitely skip the pre-party over at Toon Town. So, okay… the Halloween party is fun, just do it right! And dress up! I was a little grumpy when I realized how many people were there but then as soon as I got my little beast into his costume and literally everyone was commenting on how adorable he was, it cheered me right up! Oh, so while everyone is trick-or-treating, go on the rides because you can pretty much walk onto everything!
5. Get fast passes for the World of Color show and stand on the bridge! We got there about 45 minutes before it started and had an amazing spot!
6. Depending on your group size, split up first thing in the morning and get fast passes to the Cars Ride, Tower of Terror, and Soaring. Then when you go in to the ride, go in separately and each get stroller passes! We seriously worked the system at California Adventure and literally didn’t have to wait for anything!
7. Get fast passes right away for the Frozen show (or whatever show is out). We planned on getting those around 2 but unfortunately they were already taken by that time!
8. Prep your kids by showing them Disney movies! It was so fun to have Eva know all the characters and be excited to see everyone from Woody to Sully to Tiana to Pluto.
9. Bring your stroller. After living in the city for a couple years, Eva became a stroller kid since it was our mode of transportation. She still enjoys being in one and I knew, even though she could walk the whole thing, it would be much better for her to have the option of sitting (especially when walking to and from the hotel each night). I was going to bring two strollers, but then my neighbor generously offered to let me borrow her amazing Bob double stroller and it was like gold! It made our trip so amazing! It steered so well through the crowds, was comfortable for the kids (Finn took many naps in it), and had great sun shades for the kids. So, I’d say at least until your kids are five years old, have a stroller for them!
10. Bring a baby carrier. I brought my ergo, and kept forgetting to use it, but the times I did, was glad I had it! Finn is heavy and gets so hard to carry!
11. Keep your wallet/phone/essentials in a small purse that you keep on you all the time. The other not-so-important stuff, keep in a backpack in the stroller. It was so nice to just get the kids out of the stroller and not have to worry about getting stuff in and out of the stroller.
12. Use the Disneyland app. The wait times weren’t always accurate but it did have tons of information about where characters would be or when the parades and shows would start.

Okay, that’s all I can think of for now! Just go with the flow, and if you go with kids, remember you are there for them. Take it at their pace!