Recommend:
- BRING a stroller if you have kids under 6. Tommy who is 5 and a great walker, rode most of the time on the front of the stroller. You can definitely rent strollers there, but you have to keep them in the parks and if you are staying on property, you have a ways to walk before you get to your hotel. So if you want to carry your kids that far, it is fine, but just be prepared.
- If you are staying at the Disneyland Hotel, get a suite if you can. We had a two bedroom suite in the Disneyland Hotel. We could have gotten away with just a one bedroom suite (because there was a bed in the couch and a Murphy bed in the TV cabinet in the living room), but it was nice to have the two bathrooms. The concierge lounge - which you have access to when you have a suite - was key to not spending a ton of money on breakfast, beverages and quick pick up items (potato chips, etc).
- If you don't want to listen to whiny kids asking you for things the entire time you are there, make sure your kids know that you are only getting ONE souvenir before you leave for the trip. That way you can remind them of that when they are asking for things and they quickly remember and don't whine all that much. Disneyland has stuff for sale EVERYWHERE!
- Be prepared for all sorts of weather. It was 105 degrees when we were there. It was October. Bring tank tops and rain jackets...you just never know what it is going to be like.
- Reusable water bottles from home were great to have because then you weren't having to buy them all over the place.
- Having a plan was great for us...we used http://touringplans.com/ to just give us a starting point. We did not necessarily follow the plans, but they gave us an idea of what we wanted to do.
- If you want to visit a busy attraction, use the Fast Pass system or go right when the park opens. We had great success with both of those tactics. Also you can get a switch pass if you are waiting with a younger kid while a parent/older kid go on a ride. The parent just asks for a switch pass and then the parent who had been waiting, just takes that pass and goes in the Fast Pass lane.
- Make reservations for dinner out and a character breakfast once you book your trip. You can always cancel those reservations, but it is handy to have them.
- If you want to see World of Color, get reserved viewing...World of Color Dining We went to the Wine Country Trattoria dinner and then had the "Preferred Viewing" tickets.
- Go to Napa Rose for dinner. It is amazing!
- Get some sort of "line wait" application for your phone, so you can have "real-time" estimates of how long lines are going to take.
- If you have a kid that is into Star Wars, take them to the Jedi Training Academy. If they want to be in the performance, sit in front, have a sign and make sure they are yelling, jumping up and down and really excited to be in the performance.
- If you care about meeting characters, do a character breakfast. It is the best way to meet the characters, without having to stand in line.
- If it is your first time there, make that known...if you need something from the Disney staff members, ask...they are all overly helpful!
- Watch a parade. It is magical!
Not Recommended:
- Don't plan on doing everything, just know that there are lines, people and craziness all over.
- If you are planning on being at the Disneyland Hotel, it might be under construction. The first floor and pool complex were under construction while we were there. So just be prepared for that possibility.
- Don't assume October will be a "quiet" time...it was super busy when we were there. I have heard end of August/beginning of September is a pretty quiet time to go.
- Stressing out...get done what you can and then know you have something to see on your next trip, if you don't get to it.
Cheers to Disneyland and all the planning that goes with it!
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