Let me start out by saying my husband and I never thought we’d be “Disney people.” We aren’t much into crowds or events with a lot of people and the thought of going to somewhere like Disneyland just seemed really stressful.
And then we decided to plan a trip to Disneyland anyway.
It was absolutely magic. Our kids are 5 and 7 and were the perfect ages to enjoy the park, ride the rides and find the characters enthralling. I started thinking about what made this trip so magical for us and while, of course, the magic of Disney had a lot to do with it, so did how we planned our trip. (Shout out to my mom who is the real travel expert in our family and helped put this all together!) Here are my 10 tips for easing your Disney vacation stress.
Know your travel style – generally we like the least fuss possible. We don’t like having to drive in new cities, we like to stay in one place, and we like to make as few decisions as possible. It is vacation after all! This is why we decided to stay at the Disneyland Hotel. This eliminated our need for a rental car. We also didn’t need to bring car seats with us since we could take the hotel bus. We were in walking distance of the park so once we were there, we didn’t have to go anywhere else! Check, check, and check! If you want to walk right out into the park you can stay at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.
Know your kids – Our son is all about the rides. Our daughter is all about the characters, princesses, and shows. This meant we split up. The boys did the rides they wanted and the girls saw all the princesses. It was perfect for all of us. We would meet up for rides we all wanted to do or get together for meals throughout the day. We tailored our trip to their styles and it was great! I know when my kids start to get hangry so we made sure we had those eating pitstops built into our mental plan for the day.
Don’t expect to do everything – There is so much to do and you can run yourself to the ground trying to do everything, or you can just love all the things you do. We didn’t worry about doing every single little thing, we just filled our days, had fun, rested when we needed to and let the rest go. Enjoy your days! Don’t stress about every little thing. We brushed up on everything with the “Unofficial Guide to Disneyland” so we had a list of MUST HAVES that we made sure we hit each day.
Rest – We built in purposeful rest times. Staying at the Disneyland Hotel made it easy for us to take an hour or two break when we needed to decompress. We enjoyed our time swimming at the hotel and lounging in the room. We even caught the fireworks one evening from our window! My daughter exclaimed, “This is the best night of my life!”
Save Longer – We would prefer to travel less often and have more of a budget to travel when we do. This allows us the options that make for a more stress-free vacation for us. Is it the absolute cheapest way to do Disneyland? No. It does, however, make the trip way more magical for us.
Get the MaxPass – This pass made our lives so much easier. I highly recommend it! The extra budget is worth it. Basically this pass gives you access to the FastPass and the PhotoPass each day. The FastPass allows you to reserve time for a specific ride, which is nice for those super busy rides. It also gives you unlimited photos from the Disney photographers walking around. We loved the snapshots we received from them. It is $15/per person per day. However, you may find you don’t need it for every single person with you, depending on the rides you will be going on. If only two people in your part will go on busy rides, then think through if you all need it.
An Example of a Disney Photographer Photo. SO FUN!
Use a travel company to book your visit. We booked our visit through AAA and that was amazing. They took care of all the booking details, found the best details and included a few free extras. It was great! I’ve also heard Costco offers great travel packages.
Park at the Airport. We parked at the airport and didn’t need to worry about a shuttle to a parking area outside of the airport. You can often find a Groupon or coupon to do this. Less travel time when we got to the airport and less travel time when we arrived home. (Note: Have a backup plan if airport parking is full!)
Snacks. I always had a ton of snacks in my bag for the kids. Granola bars are a life saver if you end up in a busy line and that hangry feeling starts coming on. Mom, you already know this. This is part of your daily routine already.
Don’t Complain About Expenses – Here is the deal. It’s expensive. It’s vacation. Plan for it and then don’t freak out about it. Save up to buy the Mickey Ears. Set aside money for food. Just know that you are going to spend money and then spend it in peace and have a blast!
Mickey ears are fun!
We can’t wait to save up for our next Disney adventure. We had such a great time. You may have a totally different vacation style than us, tailor the vacation to your family and it going to be amazing! Where are you headed on your next trip?
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