How To Do Disneyland With A Toddler
I am a huge Disneyland fan. I was born and raised in LA and went several times as a child then become a season pass holder in my early twenties for three years. I have been eagerly waiting to take my children to Disneyland, but wanted to wait until it was worth it, but I also wanted to go while my children are free (under 3) But I questioned, what can my toddler do at Disney other than watch the shows?
I decided to find out. On our most recent trip back to LA, we decided to take our niece to Disneyland for her fifth birthday and Krish got to come because he was free. We decided to leave our daughter, Kareena (9 months) with her grandparents so we could make the most of our time.
We only had one day for Disneyland so we did not get the park hopper passes for California Adventure. If you have more than one day for Disneyland (highly recommended because we couldn't even finish one park in one day) then opt for the 2-3 day park hopper passes.
A couple days before we left for LA, I made a list of all the possible attractions (Disneyland only has one actual "ride" [Mr. Toad's Wild Ride] and everything else is called an attraction) Krish could go on. Krish is 2 (nearly 25 months during the trip) and communicates fairly well. He isn't very tall so I was happy to learn that there are several attractions that had no height limit! (I checked the rides we went on-- we ended up having to skip a lot of the darker rides because our niece found them scary-- our 2 year old didn't mind them at all though) This mama was pretty bummed to miss pirates when the line was only 15 minutes!!
Disneyland Attractions with no height limits
Fantasy Land (which I kept referring to as fairy tale land lol)
Alice in Wonderland
Casey's Junior Circus Train
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
It's a Small World
King Arthur Carousol
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Peter Pan's Flight
The Many Adventures of Winnie Pooh
Pinocchio’s Daring Journey
Snow White’s Scary Adventure
Story Book Land Canal Boats
Tomorrow Land
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters
Astro Orbitor (this was under construction)
Frontier Land
Mark Twain Riverboat
Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island
Toon Town*
Rodger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
New Orleans Square
Haunted Mansion (not recommended for a 2 year old)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Disney Railroad (you can catch this from any land)
Adventureland
Tiki Room
Jungle Cruise
*Toon Town is a great place to go to meet all of Mickey and his friends! Meeting Mickey is intimate and he's always there at his house!
We got to the parking lot around 9 30 and into the park by 10. My plan was to be there much earlier, but we had to drop off Kareena on the way and the drive itself was already over an hour from where we were staying. I highly recommend staying near the park in Anaheim so you can make the most of your day! We made a bee-line for fantasy land since a majority of the rides are there. This was my first time doing Disney with kids that I was the responsible adult for. You have to really pace yourself. We parked our stroller near Alice in Wonderland and used these wrist links to keep the kids near us. It was so helpful that they couldn't run from us and took a lot of the anxiety out while in a line or walking from ride to ride.
Three rides in and it was lunch time. The vote was for pizza so we headed to TomorrowLand for Alien Pizza (They have salad and pasta options too) We grabbed our pizzas, ate and then went on Autopia and Finding Nemo. If your 2 year old is potty trained, it's good to know where the bathrooms are and to check if they need to go BEFORE you get in line. My niece decided to tell me right before we got onto Nemo that she had to go so I had to ask if I could run out of line and to the bathroom. Luckily, we got walked onto that ride by my cousin's daughter, so it wasn't a big deal.
After Nemo, the kids were tired and took stroller naps. I couldn't have done Disneyland without my Uppababy Vista as a double -- LIFE SAVER! We decided to have our own fun and went on Matterhorn as single riders which took a total of 15 minutes. You can also do this on Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain.
We left the park after the 6 pm parade to eat dinner and go home. Our toddler crashed the moment we walked out of the park and couldn't even wake up to eat.
You'll see the majority of our day on the vlog, but overall it was a very positive, enjoyable experience than I cannot wait to do again.
What To Take with a Toddler
Water bottles -- at least one for him and two for you. You can refill water bottles at the Mexican restaurant near New Orleans square--Rancho de Zocalo Restaurant. You can also refill at the pizza place in tomorrow land.
Snacks - my child wanted a snack non stop and I was so glad I packed several. Last thing you want to do is continuously get in line to buy a snack (also that gets expensive when they end up dropping half of it on the floor). Bring snacks for yourself too!
a sweater even if it's a hot day -- California can get warm during the day, but temperatures drop quickly at night. Throw in a breeze and it can get chilly in your summer clothes.
A change of clothes for the kiddo just in case.
I took Krish's small goofy and donald toys with me so we didn't have a frantic tantrum at the store, but we ended up getting him a big Goofy any how. (our choice...not his lol)
sunscreen
hats (lines can get hot when not shaded)
Powerbank for your phone -- i cannot stress this enough. We brought our charger and it was difficult to find an outlet. It also takes time away from your day to sit there and charge. Disneyland sells refillable powerbanks for $30, which they allow you to exchange throughout the day (I don't know if this extends to multiple days if you have a mutiple day pass) but if you have one already, bring it
If you're questioning taking your toddler to Disneyland, DON'T! Just go!! They are honestly going to love it and so are you. There is nothing more memorable than Disney through the eyes of a kid!
