Your first day at the park may seem a little overwhelming but don't even worry about it! You will have the best time! Here are my tips to help your day run smoothly!
BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE HOTEL
Before leaving the hotel, make sure kids (and you!) are sunscreened and that your phone numbers are written on your kids’ arms in sharpie**. Check what you’ve packed and TAKE YOUR KIDS TO THE BATHROOM!
**the safest way to protect your kids in case they get lost is to write your phone number on their arm (yes, their skin!) in sharpie. Don’t write their name or your name, just the phone number. Names give too much information to abductors (sorry not trying to freak anyone out, just can’t be too careful!), a phone number is enough information for a worker or other adult to find you and reunite you if they get lost. I always tell my kids to either find a worker or a grandma.
ARRIVING TO THE PARK
Something you need to know is that there is ALWAYS a line to get into the park. It can get super long so i recommend getting there about about forty minutes before the park opens (or if you have a magic morning, a half hour before that starts). Kids can run around with one parent while the other one waits in line, there’s a big open area where the lines are. They let you in about 20 min before opening time and then rope you off at the castle, so everyone waits on Main Street until they announce it’s time to go in. This is the time to get your power walk on. Beeline for the rides that typically have big lines and no FastPass options. The longest line with no FastPass, for whatever reason, is Peter Pan. Many blogs will tell you to go to Peter Pan first thing in your day, but this is ONLY applicable if you get to the park right when it opens. If you’re there any later than that, the line will be between 30-45 min in the off season to over an hour on crowded days. I have no idea why but that’s the jam. It’s a fun ride, but NOT WORTH 45 MINUTES OF KEEPING SMALL KIDS IN CHECK! If you get there late, skip it and come earlier next time, or try during a parade or popular mealtime. Dumbo and Alice in Wonderland (not the teacup one) are some other ones that can get long, so maybe hit them up next before doing anything else.
While you’re in your first line, snag your first FastPasses on your phone. If you don’t have a MaxPass, send someone in your party to grab a FastPass. Radiator Springs, Guardians of the Galaxy, the Incredicoaster and Soarin over the World are usually the first ones to get slammed, so maybe grab those first. The first ones on the Disneyland (not CA Adventure) side to go are often Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and the Matterhorn. You can only have one FastPass booked at first, then once you’ve entered the time slot for that FastPass, you can book your next one, even if you haven’t redeemed it yet. You also need a FastPass for World of Color (CA Adventure’s version of “fireworks”) if you want someplace to sit or stand close enough to see, and those are usually gone by the afternoon too.
DURING THE DAY
-FASTPASSES: It makes the most sense to frame your rides around your next FastPass. So if you have a FastPass for Star Tours for example, knock out Tomorrowland for a bit.
Fantasyland doesn’t do FastPasses, so if you have a lull in FastPasses, hit up Fantasyland for a little while. The waits for the little retro rides (Snow White etc) are typically pretty short and it’s fun to go through them with your little tinies. In CA Adventure, the Pier has several short lined rides that the kids can ride over and over if you’re between fast passes as well. Bugs’ Land is closed now to be replaced by Marvel’s “Stark Industries”, so basically the only big area for kids to have some open space is the Pier.
-FOOD: When you’re ready to eat, I strongly recommend using the mobile food ordering feature on the app. Just select what you want, choose a time window when you want to pick it up, and walk up and grab your food. Easy peasy. Not all places do it, so if there’s something specific you want, you may have to wait a minute, but the treats are typically worth your wait if you have a strong desire to try them. I also recommend making at least one dinner reservation while you’re at the park. Experiencing a sit-down dinner at Disney is a fun experience. Kids’ meals for these are usually $8-$15 and adults are around $18-$35.
-RESTS AND BREAKS: Some people will tell you to take a break in the middle of the day and go back to the hotel so your kids can nap. If you think your kids will ACTUALLY sleep, you can do that, but in my opinion, a more efficient use of your time is to hop on the Disneyland Railroad or the Monorail (you can bring your stroller on the monorail!) And just loop around a few times. It’s a nice break, and kids can sleep in the stroller if they’ve already fallen asleep, or can just take a nice quiet minute to rest from the bustle of the park. And you can rest your dog-tired legs! I didn’t know this my first time, but the DL railroad actually has some tunnels with exhibits you can chug past! There’s a dinosaur exhibit that the kids LOVE!
-INDOOR SHOWS: Another nice break to take are some of the indoor shows like Turtle Talk with Crush. There are also some more upbeat indoor shows; my kids love the Disney Jr Dance Party! The Frozen show is essentially Frozen on Broadway and is a fun thing to do at least once. It’s LONG though. Beware.
-BATHROOMS: Don’t forget frequent potty breaks! The bathrooms we end up by the most were the ones by Alice in Wonderland, Space Mountain, the Plaza restaurant, and Winnie the Pooh in Disney, and in CA adventure, the ones by Flo’s Diner. Random I know, but I always feel like it’s good to know where bathrooms are generally! Even if you know it’s on the map!
-PARADES: Parades are typically around 3:30pm and 6pm. They rope off areas for people to sit, and behind that are walkways. You’re not even allowed to stand in a walkway for like more than 2 seconds, so if you want to watch a parade, you’ll need to stake out a spot for a hot minute. The roped off parts run all along the parade route and are about 2 strollers deep (maybe slightly smaller). People start blocking their spots out about 1/2 hr-1hr before the parade. Unless you REALLY LOVE PARADES, I wouldn’t hang around at a spot for more than 25-35 minutes, not worth it.
-FIREWORKS: Fireworks also require some spot-staking. Should your children make it all the way to 8:30/9, you will be able to catch some fireworks! The places to watch these are main street and the area just around the castle. If you want a speedy exit right after fireworks, hang back a bit toward the middle of main street. If you don’t care about shuffling through a mob on the way out (to each their own! some people really want that front row seat!), you’ll need to stake out your spot by the castle for like 45 min+. Being on main street is fun because they do projector shows of movie clips and stuff on the walls while the fireworks and music show are going. You’ll need to hold your spot on main street between 15-30 min, depending on how good of a spot you want. The park closes pretty soon after the fireworks show, and a lot of people leave the second they're done, so be prepared for a mob.
-CHARACTERS: You can meet princesses at the Royal Hall, have character dining experiences, meet star wars characters at the launch bay, meet Tinkerbell at Pixie Hollow, meet Winnie the Pooh characters by the Pooh ride, or use the app to see character appearance times throughout the park. The app can tell you where a character will be and what time they will be there. Our kids only really cared about meeting characters the first time we were there (ages 4 and 2). The 2 subsequent years they wanted to say hi to a few, but it wasn’t something we sought out especially. If you happen across a character with no line TAKE ADVANTAGE! They will usually let you stop them for a quick second, unless they are really on a tight schedule. Sometimes though if you’re lucky they’ll take your kid’s hand and walk with you until they have to split up with you! If there is a line to see a character, you can expect to wait 5-20 minutes, and then they will block off the line and lead the character back to another route or back to their dressing room.
Last but not least: HAVE FUN AT DISNEYLAND!
Don’t overplan and over-itinerarize. Allow for some flexibility and go with the flow. Our first day ever on our first ever trip to Disneyland, the first ride we went on (Peter Pan, but we were late so the line was soooo long. don’t be like me.) broke 1 minute in, we were stuck for a half hour, and they had to turn on all the lights and drag us through the ride with a pole. It was the worst and so un-magical and i let it ruin the whole first half of my day. It seriously made me so upset. Part of the reason I was so upset was that it wasn’t in my “plan”. It threw a huge wrench in my “plan”. Make loosey goosey plans. Not “let’s go on ride A B and C and then get lunch at D and then do this ride and that.” More like “Let’s hang in fantasyland for a while, and if the lines get long, go do something chill like the tiki room or something, then go to adventureland for a minute”. Make a general schedule but don’t micromanage every last minute, or you will certainly get thrown off by a ride inevitably stalling or a line being too long to be enjoyable and it will hurt your experience.
I hope these tips in some way enhance your time at Disney and help you feel a little more prepared and relaxed for your trip! Don’t stress! It’s Disney, not the MCAT or the Bar! Have FUN!!!!!!!
