https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 26 Apr 2026 10:08:14 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/day-trip-to-disneyland#post-2885034 Mon, 20 May 2019 10:08:08 +0000 poppygirl15 2885034@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just an FYI about max/fast passes, only certain rides are max/fast pass compatible. I think the only young-kid friendly ride that has max/fast pass is "It's a Small World" (and Haunted Mansion depending on your kid). So, they're useful depending on the rides you want to go on. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/day-trip-to-disneyland#post-2885032 Mon, 20 May 2019 09:54:58 +0000 Tionn3 2885032@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hey, we're going around the same time as you guys are. June 8-10. My son is going to be 16 months old, and we're also taking my nephew who will be almost 3. I hear that they have 2 baby care centers that are pretty nice. There is one in Disneyland on main street and one in California Adventure. They have lots of changing tables, nursing rooms, a microwave, a tv area, and a feeding area with high chairs and tables. They even have teeny tiny potties for if you are toilet training. It's free to use! Definitely stop by one when you first enter the park so you know where it is. I plan to use them for sure. Good news, the castle will be open and newly refurbished. Pretty sure you'll be able to see it! Star Wars Land is by reservation only so I don't think it will affect the crowds that much. All the reservations are booked up too. definitely buy your tickets ahead of time online. Download the Disney app! You can check wait times form your phone! If you pay $15 extra you can get a max pass and book fast passes on your phone. I think this is what we might do. </p> <p>I'd say just go with the flow. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/day-trip-to-disneyland#post-2884970 Sat, 18 May 2019 23:26:52 +0000 poppygirl15 2884970@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes, it's going to be madness at that time, so definitely buy your tickets in advance.<br /> If princesses are really your main goal (they were when I took my DD for her first visit at age 4!) then I would say as soon as you see the castle, go over to the Royal Hall in Fantasyland where you get to meet three princesses in a row (usually Cinderella, Snow White &amp; Ariel, but sometimes they mix it up). There are other princesses just outside the Royal Hall throughout the day, too (we've met Elena, Jasmine &amp; Rapunzel there). By staying in once place, you can meet up to four princesses! :wink: Oh, and download the DL app. It will tell you which characters are out where so you can go searching for them. :) It also tells you wait times for rides.<br /> Good luck &amp; have a magical day! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/day-trip-to-disneyland#post-2884969 Sat, 18 May 2019 23:22:52 +0000 Corduroy 2884969@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The one time we went to Disneyland we did a day trip on a sell out day (weekend in February). It was crowded but certainly not unbearable.<br /> During the second week in June Star Wars Land is still accessible by (free and sold out) reservation only so it might not impact you as much as you're thinking. Meaning, it won't be extra sold out. It would probably sell out in June anyway.</p> <p>Your priorities seem super achievable. Here's some info about seeing princesses. <a href="https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/meeting-princesses-at-disneyland/" rel="nofollow">https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/meeting-princesses-at-disneyland/</a></p> <p>On the day we went I think we were too focused on beating the crowd everywhere we went (we were with seasoned Disney fanatics). I wish we had slowed down and let DD absorb/discover more Disney magic on her own. Like sitting in a spot and letting her notice something rather than us running up to it and shout "look at that", snap a pic, and hurry on to the next thing.</p> <p>Have fun! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/day-trip-to-disneyland#post-2884968 Sat, 18 May 2019 22:43:03 +0000 sckim 2884968@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaBear87: oops you are totally right! its at disneyland not california</p> <p>I think my best tip is to go early then. Be at the gates 30 minutes before the park opens, they let you in before the actual opening time. If you are driving, allow at least 30 minutes for parking/security/tram. If you are staying at the disney hotels, there is also magic mornings. i get the most done in the first 2 hours of opening. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/day-trip-to-disneyland#post-2884949 Sat, 18 May 2019 18:29:52 +0000 MamaBear87 2884949@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sckim: actually incorrect. Star wars land is at Disneyland. It's going into another park at Disney world. </p> <p>June is generally pretty busy as school is out. Since it's right after the new land opens I would assume sell out crowds. I'd make sure you buy tickets in advance (I think you can buy tickets for a certain day now). I would also plan to be there super early if you can. If your kids do ok in crowds I think you'll have a good time but prepare for lines </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/day-trip-to-disneyland#post-2884946 Sat, 18 May 2019 17:55:10 +0000 sckim 2884946@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Starwars land will be in california adventure park. with your kids ages, you will want to go to Disneyland so hopefully it won't be as nuts. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/day-trip-to-disneyland#post-2884940 Sat, 18 May 2019 14:02:57 +0000 helloperidot 2884940@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are joining DH on a work trip in LA and have room in our schedule for all of us to do one day at Disneyland. For reference, our kiddos are 4 and 18m, and this will be the first of many trips through the years. I haven't been to DL in twenty years and I'm sure a lot of things have changed. Legitimately our only goal is for our oldest to see the castle and meet a princess or two. Anything we can do above and beyond that will be icing on the cake.</p> <p>Here's the kicker-- we are slated to go the second week of June, about 10 days after Star Wars opens up. :shocked: </p> <p>Are we too crazy to attempt this? Any advice for making a one day trip magical? We would not attempt to enter the Star Wars area at all. Is it going to be an overwhelming amount of people throughout the whole park?</p> <p>Has anyone gone in early June, on a Monday or Tuesday? Tips, tricks, and insight all appreciated! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/offsite-disney-world-thread#post-2882422 Sun, 28 Apr 2019 22:14:54 +0000 MommySLP 2882422@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kpc324: thank you! This is our first time so there is so much to learn! We’re on the west coast so I think I’ll have to be up at 4am! I will need to book all FastPass one day at a time, right? My husbands only request is flight of passage...I told him that may not happen but fingers crossed we can get it. We’re planning end of jan/beginning of Feb so hopefully that’s a lower crowd time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/offsite-disney-world-thread#post-2882414 Sun, 28 Apr 2019 21:13:12 +0000 kpc324 2882414@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MommySLP: I was kind of a nut and woke up at 5am on our FP booking days, I’m not sure if that made a difference. Also, on the day of things change fast so refreshing the app (a lot) really helped avoid crazy lines. People staying on-site only get 3 fast passes too, and once you use those three you can start booking more through the app, so there is really not a ton of advantage to the 60 day window, I wouldn’t worry too much.</p> <p>We went through Costco for our car, I forget which company we ended up with, but I think it was about $250 for the week. No cost for parking at the Marriott, it was $25 to park at the parks, but with the cost savings on the hotel it wasn’t a big deal. We avoided Magic Hour days, and on our Magic Kingdom day we booked an 8:15 Be Our Guest reservation so we were inside the park ready to go on rides before the crowds got there...it really was a good hour or so before the crowds really started filling in. Getting to the Magic Kingdom had multiple steps, but going super early took the stress of crowds out. Definitely rope drop for all of the parks, and get to the parking lot 30-45 minutes before the park opens.</p> <p> The hotel is awesome, we really loved our rest days, I honestly think we could have done 7 days at the hotel without even going to the parks and our girls would have been just as thrilled!! It was also a nice serene break from the park craziness. We didn’t do much outside of the hotel aside from the parks, so no greats tips there. Don’t hesitate to ask anything else, we had a great trip and hope to do it again soon!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/offsite-disney-world-thread#post-2882386 Sun, 28 Apr 2019 16:15:54 +0000 MommySLP 2882386@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kpc324: what perfect timing this is! We are just looking to book my in laws timeshare and Marriott Grande Vista is top of our list. I was trying not to be bummed about not having the 60 day booking window so I’m so glad to hear your experience! We plan on renting a car. Who did you go through? Does it cost to park at the Marriott? Any other tips about getting to the parks? Did you try to schedule opposite from the Magic mornings? Anything near the Marriott that was great and we should look into? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/offsite-disney-world-thread#post-2882382 Sun, 28 Apr 2019 15:31:54 +0000 kpc324 2882382@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just wanted to report back on our spring break offsite trip. We stayed at Marriott Grande Vista in a 2br and it was great! If anyone is debating on-site vs off here is our experience-</p> <p>The drive to the parks wasn’t bad at all. We did rope drop for our park days which may have helped. Rental cars were also crazy cheap!!</p> <p>I was nervous about the whole 30 vs 60 day fast pass booking, but at 30 days I was happy with what we got (my kiddos are young though, so they had no expectations). We also were able to get both Avatar rides the day of by refreshing the app, and I saw some other “hard to get rides” (7 Dwarves, Enchanted Tales) come up day of, so I’m honestly not sure what the advantage of 60 day booking is. </p> <p>Next time I’d spend $60 on magic bands for the four of us.</p> <p>Food wise, we saved so much by staying offsite. We booked a few special meals (Be Our Guest, Sana’a, Chef Mickey, Tusker House) 180 days out, did a mix of packed sandwiches and Quick Service for lunches. I didn’t cook much at all, and really enjoyed simple patio breakfasts in our jammies on our rest days vs getting dressed and hauling everyone to a restaurant each morning.</p> <p>I can’t really compare the “Disney bubble” since we don’t have an on-site stay to compare, but I didn’t feel like we were missing out on anything. That said, if a 1br monorail resort with a fireworks view was in our budget, I’m sure we’d love it!! </p> <p>Price wise, I’m not sure we could ever justify staying onsite. An offsite 2br Marriott/Hilton/Sheraton seems to be comparable in price to the Pop Century/All Star motels. For a weeklong trip we really love having all the perks of a large condo resort. Plus the pools and activities at the Marriott were awesome (when you ask my 5 year old her favorite part of Disney, she will tell you the pool 🤪). All of those features seem to start at at least $400-$500 a night on-site, even when renting points. We actually may look into AirBnB next time, 2brs are like $100/night!</p> <p>Not sure if this will help anyone...but if you are debating on vs off, we had a blast offsite and would do it again in a heartbeat!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2877204 Tue, 19 Mar 2019 01:23:17 +0000 Calibee 2877204@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@misolee: Disneyland is so different from Magic Kingdom! Lots of overlap but so many things that are different. And it’s the original Disney Park. I wouldn’t pass it up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2877197 Mon, 18 Mar 2019 21:30:32 +0000 Miss Ariel 2877197@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@misolee: there definitely are rides a DL that aren’t at DW, the Matterhorn and Indiana Jones are the ones that definitely come to mind. There also are people who say some rides are better at one vs. the other, in my opinion Small World and Pirates are better at DL. There are also rides at DL that have closed at DW, Snow White, Mr. Toad, the submarines.</p> <p>Although I may stay away this summer, since Star Wars land is opening then and I imagine it will be crazy!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2877192 Mon, 18 Mar 2019 21:00:41 +0000 Raspberry 2877192@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@misolee: I've never been to DW but I understand that DL is what the Magic Kingdom is modelled after. So yeah, CA should be the way to go for you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2877040 Mon, 18 Mar 2019 07:46:02 +0000 misolee 2877040@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>sorry to thread jack but question:</p> <p>we live closerish to Disney World so have been couple of times with my oldest LO (the younger one prob doesn't remember) We're going to be in LA in the summer so was thinking of going to Disneyland. Should we only do CA? Arent the rides at Disneyland kind of the same as DisneyWorld? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2870496 Tue, 05 Feb 2019 10:56:11 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2870496@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Miss Ariel: what?! Crazy. That was my lo’s favorite place as a toddler. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2870478 Tue, 05 Feb 2019 10:02:01 +0000 Miss Ariel 2870478@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs Green Grass: Bugs life is no more! :sad: They got rid of it and are going to replace it with a Marvel themed land. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2870477 Tue, 05 Feb 2019 09:58:33 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2870477@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>CA adventure is better for little kids than Disney! If I could only do one I’d go there. There are tons of shows as well as cars land and bugs life area has all the tiny kid rides. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2870452 Tue, 05 Feb 2019 08:17:55 +0000 Raspberry 2870452@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At age 2, we could have skipped CA and done 2 days at DL. Going back at 3.5, DS definitely enjoyed CA a lot more. There is Carsland, the Disney Junior Dance Party, the live performance of Frozen and Turtle Talk with Crush, plus the Marvel superheroes for photos/autographs. He also really liked the Toy Story ride mentioned above. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2870382 Mon, 04 Feb 2019 17:29:04 +0000 Jess1483 2870382@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Meso: My then-2.5 year old loved Toy Story Mania (I think that's what it's called.) Most of Pixar Pier was closed when we were there, but he still loved it. And Little Mermaid. BUT, if I were choosing for just two days, I'd just do DL. But my boys don't care much about Frozen ;) My then-5 year old loved Cars ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2870375 Mon, 04 Feb 2019 16:29:34 +0000 Meso 2870375@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Miss Ariel: oh! didn't know anna and elsa were at california adventure! i guess we're gonna go there just for that fact hahaha! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2870374 Mon, 04 Feb 2019 16:23:49 +0000 Miss Ariel 2870374@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Are they frozen fans? If so you’ll want to do CA adventures. That’s the only park you can meet Anna and Elsa. They don’t have a ton of kid rides (Monsters Inc and The Little Mermaid are the specific rides that come to mind), but different characters you can’t find at the other. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2870371 Mon, 04 Feb 2019 16:21:53 +0000 MamaBear87 2870371@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If your kids like the cars movies can adventure is definitely worth it. Cars land is pretty awesome. There's also some small rides that are fun for the littles and it is generally less crowded than Disneyland so I prefer it just for that.<br /> That said there is certainly more than enough to do Disneyland for 2 days if you go that route </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-california-adventure#post-2870370 Mon, 04 Feb 2019 16:14:52 +0000 Meso 2870370@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Planning on a Disney Trip with my 2 and 4.5 year old... we didn't buy park hopper tickets and were planning on doing one park a day, but looking at the rides/attractions, it doesn't look like there is much for my toddler/preschooler at California adventure, so maybe we should just do two days at Disneyland? I just don't want to "waste" a day at California adventure if there's not much for them there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-world-advice-needed#post-2841475 Thu, 23 Aug 2018 22:37:59 +0000 Hypatia 2841475@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@BadgerMom: Oops, I meant DS. I must be projecting because your trip sounds awesome. 😂 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-world-advice-needed#post-2841473 Thu, 23 Aug 2018 22:30:06 +0000 BadgerMom 2841473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hypatia: Thanks for the heads up! DS has decided he wants to be a tornado lol. So maybe we’ll have to pick out a special Disney costume that is easier to pack... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-world-advice-needed#post-2841457 Thu, 23 Aug 2018 21:13:26 +0000 Hypatia 2841457@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@BadgerMom: No problem! You can Google the Halloween party for more info, but you might want to have your DD bring her costume since a lot of other people wear theirs. Just be sure to Google the rules if you plan on going in costume too (afaik kids can wear anything, but adults can't wear masks, scary stuff, etc). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-world-advice-needed#post-2841450 Thu, 23 Aug 2018 20:45:12 +0000 BadgerMom 2841450@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SteelerGirl: Ha! That’s funny. Maybe we’ll be in line together and never know it!</p> <p>@Charm54: Thank you! Thanks good to know about the party day and the lack of crowds. That will make swallowing the $240 combined ticket a little easier. Boma would be a great idea for Monday so we can kill some time at the resort before our flight. </p> <p>@LindsayInNY: Will do! Glad to know things open up. </p> <p>@Hypatia: Thank you for pulling that for me, looks like we’ll have a pretty easy crowd day! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/disney-world-advice-needed#post-2841392 Thu, 23 Aug 2018 15:59:02 +0000 Hypatia 2841392@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@BadgerMom: Here's the crowd calender for that day. MK will be a lot less busy than other parks that day because of the Halloween party, which costs extra and is a ticketed event. But you should totally do it. You can stay until like midnight. </p> <p>There are no extra morning hours for MK that day, but considering you could be there from 9 am you midnight it's not a bit deal. That touring plan I linked emphasized get thing there super early and stuff, but if you do the party, there's absolutely no need. The park won't be that crowded during the day because other people will be going to other parks, and then only people with special tickets will be allowed in after 6 PM, so it will be so dead that you'll be able to ride whatever you want. </p> <p>Based on what I've read from how Touring Plans makes their predictions, I trust them more than other sites. I know that when we went two years ago, the TP predictions were spotted on but the other sites weren't (they overestimated the crowds). </p> [attach=8948/18/pdxmae.600x178.8C76965D-CE28-4A62-AC5D-8B0B28EB4C48.jpeg]