Disney is magical. I remember going as an adult without kids and felt all the feels seeing the castle for the first time. After my husband and I got engaged in 2011, we went to Disneyland. This was a special place for us. I was excited to take my kids (ages 6 & 2) there for their first time at Disneyland (DL) and at California Adventure (DCA). They have removed all mandatory mask requirements, but still require a park reservation. Reserve it here.
PRICE
Disney has gotten expensive. For 2 adults park-hopper tickets and 1 child (2 years old is free) park-hopper ticket, 3 Genie+ passes, and standard parking cost us $665 before even entering the park. We only had one day dedicated to Disneyland so we wanted to make it count. My daughters’ saved their birthday money they received as gifts to buy souvenirs. You can save money by bringing your own food and drinks and pre-buying souvenirs at Target or even on Amazon. Check out how we saved at Disney World last year here.
FOOD
We did not make any reservations at this visit. We did mobile order and found a nice spot to rest. We happened to be at California Adventure during the Food and Wine Festival so that was a pleasant surprise. While the kids napped, hubs and I ate, drank, and listened to a band for 2 hours. We ordered the brisket fries and Char Siu ribs from Paradise Garden Grill in DCA. In DL, we shared the egg bacon croissant with fruit, a cinnamon roll, and a raspberry rose Mickey macaron (huge!) at Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe. As far as snacks, I’m a sucker for anything Mickey-shaped: pretzels, ice cream, cookies, Rice Krispie treat. We also all had the Dole Whip because why not, it’s Disney! Since we were in DL, we had to have the churro. It was all delicious.
PACK
Overpacking with kids can easily be done. We had our smaller stroller so we had to be mindful what to bring. I brought for the kids an extra princess dress, diapers & wipes for our toddler, snacks, and refillable water bottles. Also, I packed everyone a light jacket for later on the night.
RIDES
We recently have been to Walt Disney World so we wanted to ride the rides that only were at Disneyland, but we did make it to a couple classics. In DL, we all loved Snow White’s Scary Adventure and Alice in the Wonderland. Both of these did not have height requirement so even our 2 year old could ride with us. In DCA, our favorite was Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. (Watch my daughter’s reaction during that ride here.)We were able to utilize Genie+ for Monsters, Inc., Autopia, Haunted Mansion, and Small World. We used Lightning Lane for Web-Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure. Genie+ is $15 a day per ticketed person (my 2 year old did not need one). Lightning Lane depends on how popular the ride is on that day and the price can vary from $12-$20 per person for one ride (limited 2 Lightning Lane pass per person, per day). If you’ve never ridden Rise of the Resistance, I highly recommend it. You don’t have to have Genie+ to purchase Lightning Lane.
Genie+ ATTRACTIONS WITH HEIGHT REQUIREMENT
- Goofy’s Sky School (my daughter loved this one!) – 42″
- Guardians of the Galaxy- Mission: BREAKOUT! – 40″
- Incredicoaster- 48″
- Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!- ANY HEIGHT
- Soarin’ Around the World- 40″
- Toy Story Midway Mania- ANY HEIGHT
- Autopia- 32″
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad- 40″
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters- ANY HEIGHT
- Haunted Mansion- ANY HEIGHT
- Indiana Jones Adventure- 46″
- “it’s a small world”- ANY
- Matterhorn Bobsleds- 42″
- Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run- 38″
- Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin- ANY HEIGHT
- Space Mountain- 40′
- Splash Mountain- 40″
- Star Tours: The Adventures Continue- ANY HEIGHT
LIGHTNING LANE
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance- 40″
- Radiator Springs Racers- 40″
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure- ANY HEIGHT
Is Genie+ worth it? For us, it was. Any time not wasted in line with 2 young kids is worth the price for us. Also since we were only there for 1 day, we were able ride the rides we wanted and rest while we waited for our time slot. TIP: Once you scan your Genie+, you can select another Genie+ while waiting in line. Another perk of Genie+ is that the photo pass is included! TIP: Ask the photographer for a magic shot. The downside of Genie+ is that you are constantly looking at your phone for the next Genie+ ride. To scan the photo pass, it is also on the app. At Walt Disney World, we had magic bands; I wonder when Disneyland will have that option… hmmm.
I hope these were helpful for you. Leave a comment below if you have any questions or anything you’d like to add.
Check out my Instagram highlights from Disneyland here.
Subscribe to my blog to not miss our next adventure!
mrsabbys
MRSABBYS 
Thanks for the tips, Abby!!! Taking notes for our trip next month. Already purchased the genie pass. Are the 3 pictures here taken by a Disney photographer?
Yes, those are. They took a lot pictures and even with just the kids. The magic shots are the ones they add after: the mickey cloud by the castle, Peter Pan flying above us. You get them soon after on your Disneyland app. Have so much fun!