Disneyland basics

[nellgirl]

Hi,
We’re looking to take our daughter to Disneyland for the first time in the next year or so. She’s nearly 3 right now. Both my husband and I have been, but as kids.
I’m looking for a website or something that could walk me through the process. It seems super complicated with the meals, passes, etc. I have no idea where to begin, where to stay, etc. We’re not looking to pack in everything since she’ll be 3 or 4, but we want to capture the magic, you know? Is 3/4 even a good age for DL?
Does anyone know of a simple, step-by-step site that explains it? We’re in Canada if that matters/changes anything!

[jaycee]

The best thing I did in the planning process for our trip to WDW was to get a guide book.  I recommend Birnbaums.  I wrote all over it, added post its.  I found Birnbaums to be the most simple guide and it has colored pictures, which many guide books do not.  It was fun to show my kids the pics when we were talking about it.  Once I had a good idea of what we wanted to see then I looked at touring plans.  Birnbaums has one, but touringplans.com online has them too.  Once I figured out how many days we needed/wanted, then I looked at hotels.  Ask lots of questions here, too!

[kittycatlove]

If you're planning Disneyland, there isn't a whole lot that needs to be planned in advance like WDW. alleinesein is our resident Disneyland expert and I'm sure she can offer lots of tips.

We just went this past summer. We booked our hotel (we stayed offsite and booked about 4 months in advance) and a dinner package (which can't be done until 60 days out) for Fantasmic, and that's about all we did. All fastpasses are day of so no pre-planning like at Disneyworld.

If you have any specific questions ask, there is lots of knowledge on the board!

ETA:

We took our DS for the first time when he was 2.5 and had a blast! It was our first time to any Disney park and are now hooked and go about once a year

[Deleted]

Disneyland is much easier than WDW! We preferred the hotels across to street to the east of DL. You don’t get the early access of the Disney hotels but ours was about half the price, had free breakfast, and was a shorter walk that 2 of the 3 Disney hotels.

My son was almost 3 when we went and he loved Disneyland! He just made the 40” rides at the time and loved Soarin and Radiator Springs.

We enjoyed getting MaxPass but only did it for 1 day. You can book their fast passes on it (only certain rides have fast passes) and get free character photos. All their fast passes are day of booking only.

[Zoly]

We went to DL earlier this year with our (then) 4 year old and had a lot of fun. He had recently reached 40" which meant he could ride a lot more rides. We stayed at the Disneyland hotel and I thought it was really nice. All in all, it was a good time and I enjoyed not having to do as much planning like we do when we go to DW.

[alleinesein]

Ugh.....i had a ton of info typed out and the power just went out! I'll be back later with all sorts of info.

[alleinesein]

Disneyland likes Canadians and has some nice ticket discounts that you can take advantage of. The super discounted tickets have to be purchased by April 2019 and used by May 2019 but the regular discounted tickets are good until the end of 2019.disneyland.disney.go.com/offers-discounts/multi-day-tickets/

They may also have discounted vacation packages if you want to stay on property.

Disneyland requires very little planning. Dining can be booked 60 days out and guided tours can be booked 30 days out. Fast passes are done the day of once you are in the park. Very few rides have fast passes and they are mainly on the big rides that have height requirements.

MaxPass would be a waste of $ for your little one. It is worth it for the photo pass downloads so if you plan on lots of character meet and greets, buy it for one person.

Advantages of staying on property
-You can take advantage of EMH every day. If you stay off property, you will only be able to do one EMH morning at Disneyland if you have a 3, 4, or 5-day park hopper. EMH at Disneyland is needed if you want to hit up a lot of stuff in Fantasyland. It is normal for Peter Pan and Alice to have wait times of 45-60 minutes all day. Being able to get into the park an hour early allows you to hit up those rides with minimal wait time
-You can charge stuff to your room and have purchases sent to your hotel.

Dining:
-We do not have a lot of full service, sit down restaurants in the parks. 99% of the time, you will need to have a reservation if you want to dine at one of them. Walk ups do not happen that often.
-The 3 resort hotels and Disneyland park have character breakfasts. Each one has its own advantages/disadvantages and they all have different characters. I like Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland hotel the best; it has the most food options. Breakfast with Minnie at the Plaza Inn is a good choice on an EMH day; grab a reservation time after 9:30 am so that you have some time for rides before you eat. A lot of people lose valuable park time by insisting on eating breakfast right after the park opens.
-Dining packages. Our dining packages are for parades and nighttime entertainment shows. They can be a good way to kill 2 birds with 1 stone; chances are you need to eat while in the park and you might as well get a reserved viewing area for a parade or an evening show at the same time. There are plenty of options to fit all budgets. Fantasmic and World of Color are the normal evening shows but they can sometimes be dark so definitely check the website to see what is being offered when you visit. disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/disneyland/fantasmic-dinner-packages/ disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/disney-california-adventure/world-of-color-dining/
-We have mobile ordering at some quick service locations. It offers the advantage of being able to find a table, look over the menu, order and then have one parent go grab the food.