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Disneyland with Two Kids under Three

Disneyland with two kids under three was definitely no walk in the park.   However, I'd still totally recommend it!  We took McKinlee to Disneyland when she was 11 months old, and we had so much fun even though we only made it on about seven or eight rides.  We decided we wanted to go again before McKinlee turned three (I guess we're cheap and didn't want to pay for her ticket!) and before the summer started.  We picked the end of May, which was actually not a great time to go.  The weather was perfect, but we didn't realize that it was high school graduation time.  SO.MANY.LINES. and the park is full of teenagers!   So, do some research on the best times to go.  This blog has some super helpful tips!  Here are our tips for traveling to Disneyland with toddlers!

Disneyland travel tips

Traveling

Traveling with two was really not bad at all.  Ok, this is also coming from the person that had two EXTRA adults with us (my mom and aunt).  We traveled with our Uppa Baby Vista, which I of course highly recommend.  We didn't get the travel bag and the airlines treated it just great on both flights.  No scratches to be found!  McKinlee had her own suitcase which we brought on the plane with us.  She would not let go of that thing and wanted to drag it all over the airport with her.  Cutest thing ever!  Madison took her nap on me on the flight (glorious!) and McKinlee played with coloring books/stickers and had a little iPad time.  Luckily for us, the flight is not quite 2 hours long.  We checked both of our car seats at check in and used the plastic bags provided by the airlines.

Disneyland travel tips

Anxiously awaiting our flight 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

Heaven! 

Disneyland travel tips

We made it to SNA!  Definitely fly into SNA if you can.  Way easier to get in and out of than LAX. 

Where to Stay

We decided to rent a VRBO, and I am so glad we did.  The house was in the cutest little neighborhood that was really quiet and family friendly.  There were three master suites (all with their own bathrooms) and two kids rooms with bunk beds.  They were fully equipped with high chairs, booster chairs, pack and plays, an umbrella stroller, a double stroller, toys, etc.  There was also a gorgeous pool!  They had tons of pool toys and puddle jumpers (we didn't need to bring our own which would have saved quite a bit of suitcase space!).

The property is technically within walking distance, however you are really not going to want to walk back and forth after spending time in Disney.  We rented a car so we were able to go to the grocery store to buy food and drinks to help save some money.  We would come home each afternoon for pool and nap time.  The only pain was having to park in the parking garage, wait in line to go through security, wait in line for the tram, and then wait in line to get in the park.  It was probably a 30 minute process total.  Overall, I think it was better than staying in the Disney hotels just because of the extra space and the ability to cook your own meals.  They even had a washer/dryer so we could do some laundry.  Let me know if you'd like the link!

Disneyland travel tips

Amazing pool! 

Disneyland Travel Tips

Our darling house for the week 

Disneyland travel tips

 

In the Park 

We spent three days in the parks total.  We did Disneyland on the first day, California Adventure on the second day and then Disneyland again on the third day.  I would recommend not getting the park hopper tickets when you have little ones.  There is definitely enough to do at each park in one day!  Some of McKinlee's favorite rides were Dumbo, the roller coaster in Toon Town, Little Mermaid in California Adventure, and the merry go rounds in both parks.  Madison seemed to love Small World!

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

One of the many stroller naps 

Disneyland Travel tips

Waiting for the tram

DIsneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

Minnie Ears 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Dining

For dining, we ended up eating breakfast and lunch at our house and we mostly ate dinner out.  We made reservations through Disney Dining (which I'd highly recommend) at Cafe Orleans.  You have to get the Pomme Frites!   You also obviously have to eat about 12,000,000 churros, chocolate mickey ice cream bars, and dole whip (the lines were too long and we didn't get any this trip!).

Since we were able to grocery shop, we bought a lot of snacks to bring in with us and water bottles which was great!  We also got Inn and Out on our way back to the house one day for lunch, obviously.

Disneyland travel tips

So many churros 

Disneyland travel tips

 

Magic Morning

When you purchase a 3 day ticket, you have access to one Magic Morning day which I would recommend taking advantage of.  The lines are way shorter and the park is pretty empty!  Also for those early birds, you can actually get to the park before it opens and hang out at the shops/Starbucks on Mainstreet and then be almost in the park at park opening.  We didn't realize this until our Magic Morning day when they had the park roped off.  Also, make sure to take advantage of Fast Pass.  We didn't do this at all on our first day (dummies!) and totally missed out.  I think we waited in line for the Matterhorn a total of 5 minutes when everyone else had a wait time of an hour.

 

The Beach

We booked a late flight out on Sunday so we could spend the day at the beach.  We decided to go to the Montage Laguna Beach and hang out at the beach there.  The property is gorgeous and they have a huge ramp which is great for strollers.  Laguna is such a cute town and I'd highly recommend spending some time there if you can.  I've stayed at the Pacific Edge hotel and it's so cute!  There are some super fun little shops and it's a sweet little artsy town.

Disneyland travel tips

 

Disneyland travel tips

 Please let me know if you have any questions at all!  I'd love to help!

XO-Chelsee

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