Disneyland! With a toddler!
i asked for tips and tricks for disneyland with a toddler and someone told me not to go because it’s not fun until they’re older and i’m happy to report they were wrong. so! heres some tips/thoughts on my trip to disney with lil F who’s 19 months old.
why i made the decision to go to disney with her so young
i grew up in southern california, only about 25 minutes from disneyland, so i went a ton growing up. back in the day when it only cost $100 for a year pass 😭 (shoutout to the socal select pass). so disneyland was a huge part of my childhood, i want to share that with fran, and i also knew it wouldn’t be our last time there - we’ll probably go every couple of years or so tbh! even though ticket prices are not cheap, it felt doable with just getting a one day pass to one park, fran gets in free, i stayed at my bestie’s house nearby, my bestie has a pass so she gets 50% off parking and 10% off all food. so honestly it wasn’t a bonkers amount of money to go. the only souvenir i bought was a classic mickey ear hat for fran for $25.
also since i’ve gone a lot, i knew i wouldn’t be bummed if we didn’t get to ride everything. i was okay having low expectations with what we could get on & experience because i knew we weren’t going to spend the whole day there. honestly, i am happy just walking around and seeing the sights!
how it went
it honestly went a lot better than i was expecting! maybe because i had low expectations, but we ended up getting to ride about 10 rides and we were there from 9-6. fran had a blast on every ride we went on, and the only time she was getting squirrelly was when she was tired and wanting her nap. she hasn’t fallen asleep in a stroller since she was like 6 months old, so i brought my tula carrier and thought she would probably fall asleep in there even though we haven’t used it in ages either. and sure enough, i put her on my back with it and she fell asleep in about 5 minutes. so easy thankfully! i was even able to swap her to my front in the carrier without waking her up and rode a whole ride (runaway train) with her asleep!
we started in fantasyland with dumbo and the carousel. i recommend starting with the rides you care about that tend to get long lines - this is like dumbo, peter pan, casey jr, storybook boats. we didn’t end up riding any of the “dark” inside rides like peter pan, snow white, pinocchio, because i didn’t really care to and also a lot of people told me they were scary for their toddlers so we just skipped them for time reasons. we did do pirates of the Caribbean as maybe our only dark ride, and she was fine with it so maybe she would’ve been okay on those others but again, they aren’t my faves anyway.
we did have lightening lanes ($35/person), which i think was worth it because we had quite a few adults with us - it ended up being me, cassidy, my dad, two of my best friends, one of their dads, and we had two toddlers. what i didn’t realize was that not every ride has lightening lanes, so check the list before you decide. there’s not a ton of the small kids rides, but there’s a few like it’s a small world, autopilot, and mickey and minnie’s runaway train. we used it to go on bigger rides where 2 of us went, 2 of us stayed w fran and then swapped.
also, if you have just two adults + kids, instead of getting lightening lanes, you can ask an attendant for a rider switch pass if you want to take turns going on a big ride, like star wars or space mountain. it lets one person wait in line and then you hand the second rider the pass and they get to cut the line essentially so you don’t have to each wait a full line! plus it’s free!
here’s the rides we did in order:
carousel
dumbo
storybook boats
teacups
goofys play yard (toon town)
mickey and minnie’s runaway train
pirates of the caribbean
indiana jones (fran didn’t ride)
millennium falcon (fran didn’t ride)
casey jr
rise of the resistance (fran didn’t ride)
i really wanted to do it’s a small world and autopia but we ran out of time. i would add those to your list if you can!!
some tips and tricks:
definitely stop at guest services right off main street when you arrive for a “first time” button for your kiddo (it’s free). the people working there were so sweet and friendly and fran still loves the button she got from them.
bring bubbles for the lines! fran thankfully did just fine in the lines but the bubbles definitely were fun if she was extra bored or squirmy.
bring lots of snacks! fran is a decent eater but she doesn’t always love eating when we’re in a new place/lots of new things around, so she pretty much lived off pouches and veggie straws we brought. and of course we brought her a water bottle. snacks can help pre occupy in the lines as well.
put an airtag on your stroller! we didn’t have an issue with our stroller being moved but occasionally the staff will move your stroller if it’s not in the correct spot. this happened to my friend while we were there. alternatively buy a balloon upon arriving and attach it to your stroller!
main street has a baby care center that has microwaves, nice changing stations, baby supplies, nursing area, etc. we didn’t end up using this because i just changed fran in the regular bathrooms (all have changing spots), but i’ve heard it’s super nice and comfy in there! would have definitely used if fran was younger. definitely bring a changing pad though because the changing stations in the bathroom didn’t have any liners or anything and were mostly just counter spaces.
nap spots - thankfully fran had no issues falling asleep but some quieter areas are: in the far edge of toon town, near the submarine ride, in between thunder and fantasy land.
make a plan what merch you want to buy ahead of time. i knew i just wanted to get fran an embroidered classic mickey ears hat, and i stuck to that. otherwise i brought toys from home!
go on a weekday if you can - preferably a tuesday or wednesday. we went on a monday and it was busier than i expected!
pack light if you can. i brought a small toddler backpack with snacks, bubbles, toys, and change of clothes, water bottles, and a portable changing pad. you have to fold up your stroller to get on the tram from parking, so don’t bring a ton of stuff because it makes that part a pain!
vegan food
disneyland has sooooo much vegan stuff now compared to the last time i went in 2018. the disney app lists the options under plant-based and those meals come default vegan which is so nice. you can also check out this website, happiest vegan on earth, for a very in depth overview of all options.
we didn’t bother with restaurants that required reservations which i prefer so we aren’t super stressed about timing, so here’s some things i would recommend. also all of these are available on mobile order, so you can order ahead of time and just pick it up from a window. no waiting!
some highlights are:
breakfast burrito (galactic grill, tomorrowland)
soyrizo papa taco, Rancho del zocalo (frontierland)
rontoless wrap, ronto roasters (star wars land)
corn ribs plate, Hungry bear (bayou near splash mtn)
lentil chili in bread bowl (new orleans)
treats - popcorn, frozen banana, dole whip, milk stand in star wars land
hope this helps! don’t overthink it! have fun 🐭
