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Kim is just back from a trip to Disneyland and this week with chat with Carissa Houston from All Day Mom, who visits Disneyland nearly every month, and get their tips for planning a trip to Disneyland.
ON THE PODCAST
00:38 – Kim’s recent trip to Disneyland
02:06 – Tips for using the Disney Magical Express
05:35 – Disneyland Hotels
07:46 – Parks that Kim visited
13:33 – About Carissa Houston
15:20 – Trips to Disney
16:24 – Carissa’s planning process
19:07 – Food in Disneyland compared to Disney World
21:43 – To buy packages or not
24:12 – Tips on saving money
28:44 – Staying on site vs. off
34:58 – Recommended length of stay
38:37 – Refurbishment list
40:02 – FastPass (MaxPass)
43:28 – Meal package deals
45:49 – Final Tips
50:46 – Favorite Travel Gear
53:22 – Tip of the Week
ABOUT CARISSA HOUSTON
Carissa Houston is a Disney loving, homeschooling, clean eating mom of two. She is a spontaneous traveler and a procrastinating writer; when Carissa finally sits down to write already you can find her travel tales on All Day Mom and Amazon.
TIPS FOR PLANNING A TRIP TO DISNEYLAND
- The Magical Express is a greyhound bus wrapped in a Disney design. Don’t be fooled by the small white vans that hold up signs saying Disneyland Resort Express! The Express in an extra charge not included with hotel reservations or ticket purchases.
- You can often get better deals on the onsite hotels closer to your trip. Depending on the time of year you are going they will make deals for cheaper prices just to fill their rooms.
- Three days in Disneyland is a good amount of time to spend at the parks, but you can longer and also go visit other places in California.
- Tips for the pools at the Disneyland resorts. If you are staying at one of the hotels that has their pool and/or slide down for refurbishment. The hotel will give you access to the other hotel pools.
- You can find a refurbishment list of the rides to see what rides will be closed. This is especially helpful in the off-season when rides are more likely to be closed for work.
- If the park closes at 8 PM and you are in a line at say 7:57 PM. You will still be able to ride, even if the line is has a wait. They do NOT just close the gates at 8 PM!
FAVORITE TRAVEL GEAR
Carissa’s loves to wear her Reef flip flops and Disney Vans. They are perfectly comfortable to wear all day long. And of course she has a lot of Disney shirts!
TIP OF THE WEEK
Security lines for the bag checks have changed some in Disneyland. Instead of being by the turnstiles of the two parks, they are now outside of downtown Disney. This makes Downtown Disney a more secure area.
MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST
Ultimate Visual Guide! Disneyland Jedi Training Academy
Disneyland on a Budget $5 Challenge
Disneyland Travel Tips with Leslie Harvey
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What was the trick Kim alluded to at the beginning of the podcast?
Hi Rachel, Kim here. 🙂 I’ve personally never done it but my understanding is that you can get a reservation time slot at the Plaza Inn restaurant (character breakfast) that is 30 min or an hour before park opening. This means that you’re already through the turnstiles, there’s a special turnstile on the side that is for Character Breakfast entrance, so can save some time and be the first into ride lines if you can eat fast. I think the time slots go fast so it’s probably one of those things where you need to call when the reservations open for that day.