Disneyland in a Day

BabicurveMotherhoodStyleTravelUncategorized

Apr 6

When you wish upon a star you end up in the happiest place on earth with your hubby, 1 year old and my west coast family! I grew up in Bellflower, California which is only about 20 mins from Disneyland so you know I am pretty much a veteran! I've had many birthday parties and random trips to Downtown Disney for food and fun! This time was so different!For 1, I'm a parent, 2 I'm a parent of a very active toddler, you get the idea! However, it was as much fun or more fun than I remember in years past!With this post I wanted to share my experience and offer a few tips to mastering Disneyland in day! [showshopthepostwidget id="3090655"]Plan Your Day BEFORE You Get There!I knew that we should have planned the day out but I wanted to experience Disneyland the old school way. The days before pinterest started stressing us out with all of its "how to conquer disneyland", "how to do disneyland in a day", how to save on food at Disneyland", etc. Sometimes it's overwhelming and I want to go back to the way it used to be. Just go and have fun. But, with all that said, you can save time and money if you plan the day out. We did a lot of back and forth trying to find food and take pictures and stay with the group. I went with my family and there was about 15 of us. There is no way to plan with that many people so I didn't even try. But to make the most out of the day, head to pinterest and stress yourself out... which I will do next time :)Buy Your Tickets OnlineHonestly I haven't lived in California in 10 years so I haven't visited Disneyland in probably 12. I had my 18th birthday party at Disneyland and yes it was epic! For those of you who thought Creed's first birthday was something, it has nothing on the parties my parents would throw me! Back to the review... that was a rabbit trail. I was saying that back then we didn't have iPhones so buying tickets online was probably a foreign idea.In 2018 I would definitely suggest it. First of all, you don't have wait in the 30 minute line to purchase your tickets. Second, you save some money that way. The only catch is that you can not do it the day of. You have to purchase at least 24hrs in advance.Wear Comfortable ShoesI made the common mistake of wearing brand new shoes. The back of my ankles were rubbing before I even made it into the park! If you have to wear your brand new Gucci's at least bring a back up pair of shoes. I actually brought a back up pair but someone left them in the car and going back was not an option.Don't Wait to Take PicturesGet those epic photos (like mine with the balloons) early. If you wait you might miss the shot. I literally waited until sunset and had to run back to Main street from Adventureland and it was almost too dark by the time I got back. I then had to wait in line to take a picture with the balloons. You can't escape lines at this place.Be Ready to WaitFast Pass is a great tool to save you from waiting in line... although a lot of times you still have to wait in a fast pass line. In order to really take advantage of fast pass you do need to plan. There are fast pass strategies on pinterest as well.Download the Disneyland AppDownloading the app saved me so many times when I had no idea where I was. There is a virtual map that will tell you where you are. It also tells you where the characters are and how long lines are at various rides. All in all, a really good tool!