Since returning home from Disneyland a few weeks ago, I don’t think a day has passed where we all haven’t wished we were still back at the happiest place on Earth!
There’s something about Disneyland… and Las Vegas, too… where everything is so exciting and there’s so much to take in visually, that I continue to process all the magical things we experienced for weeks after returning home.
Here are five things that stood out that I’d make sure to do again on our next Disney trip.
Disneyland Tips – 5 Things We’d Do Again
1. Stay Until Midnight
How do you do Disney – do you start nice and early or stay until close?
While there’s a lot to gain from entering the park early, if you’re a natural night owl, I’d suggest staying right until close!
For our family, staying late worked incredible – between 10pm and midnight, we were able to walk on tons of rides – like Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – that had intense wait times during the day. The trade-off is that we let the kids sleep in, so we entered the park between 10:30 am and noon each day – but they were living their best lives, running through a very quiet park in the cool evening air.
While I do love early mornings in the park, it’s really incredible experiencing Disney at night. There’s nothing quite like having all the bright lights of Toontown to yourself. And rides like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean feel even more magical when followed by a walk around an eerily quiet New Orleans Square.
2. Buy Genie+
Call me Aladdin because I’m alllll about Genie+. Though the added cost of $25 per person, per day zings a bit, having access to the Lightning Lanes is so worth it. During our 4 days at the park, we went on at minimum 20 attractions daily and the longest line we stood in was 25 minutes for Peter Pan’s Flight.
We also enjoyed having access to the roaming photographers.
There are photographers at multiple locations throughout both parks, making it a great opportunity to get high-quality family and couples photos that are uploaded right onto the Disney App so you can download them onto your phone.
And some of the photo spots came with an added surprise – like this one in New Orleans Square.
3. Do A Character Dining Experience
A character dining experience is a great way to get a filling meal in while enjoying some up-close-and-personal time with your kids’ favourite characters (and some photos and autographs too).
We’ve done both Goofy’s Kitchen and Storyteller’s Café and our personal fave is Storytellers for brunch.
We’ve also always found lines pretty reasonable at Paradise Gardens in California Adventure Park (where we met Mirabel) and had great luck this trip at Pixie Hollow in Disneyland (where we met Peter Pan and Tinkerbell).
4. Stay Nearby (We Loved HOJO Anaheim)
Staying at a hotel in walking distance and not having to worry about shuttles at the end of the night is such a game changer, especially with little ones. This trip we stayed at HOJO Anaheim, just a 7 minute walk from the gates, and plan to stay here again.
Built in 1965, it has the charm of a historied property but is currently undergoing renovations – our newly renovated Deluxe Pool View Room in Building 2 was amazing. Plus, they have a pirate-themed water playground for kids and an intimate garden pool.
If you’d also like to stay here, I have a code for you to get 15% of your stay! Simply click here and use code 1000022077 to get the discount!
5. Order Food and Drinks on the Disney App
We were last at Disney when Elle was 2 and since then they’ve introduced a mobile app that allows you to order and pay for food and beverages in advance in both parks.
It’s so convenient and a great way to save time standing in lines when buying quick bites to eat (or a beer)!
Disneyland Tips: A Snapshot Of Our Trip
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What are your Disneyland tips? I’d love to hear in the comments!
Xo Holly Hunka
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