It’s been a while since Joe’s whole family has been together in one place. His brother’s family lives in Korea, and for a while, we were in California before we moved to join his parents in Chicago. So when the rare opportunity came for us to finally be together, we took advantage of it. We decided to head out to Disneyland for a first-ever family vacation and spent ONE JAM PACKED DAY at the happiest place on earth!
The trip was short, due to everyone’s busy schedules, so we made the most of it. This was not Joe’s or my first time there, since we lived practically NEXT DOOR to Disneyland, but it still had been a while since we got to enjoy the park. And it was even more fun to experience it this time through the fresh eyes of our 5 year old niece.
The day started out bright and early, right when the park opened. We grabbed beignets and coffee in Downtown Disney and ran to the admission gates. Then we got to hang out with Mickey, Minnie, and Matt Damon… wait what? Don’t worry, we explain it and show it all in our VLOG below:
WATCH OUR FAMILY TRIP TO DISNEYLAND VLOG HERE:
I have a confession to make. We actually shot this vlog last summer but then got too busy to edit it until now. So yeah, it’s about a year late, but the memories are still fresh. I can honestly say that everyone had the best time and it was totally worth the trip.
HERE ARE SOME OF MY DISNEYLAND TAKEAWAY TIPS:
1. If you’re staying in one of the Disney hotels and want to avoid the crowds, there’s certain days where hotel guests have priority access to enjoy the parks (either Disneyland or California Adventures one full hour earlier than everyone else). This is useful especially if you want to ride the more popular rides.
2. Utilize the fast pass as much as possible. Once the parks open, run to the fast pass lane of the top ride of your choice with your admission tickets and print out your fast passes. Especially during the busy summer months, some rides will have you waiting in lines for HOURS. We had 1 family member do this for all of us, while the rest of us stood in line for another ride. We found this system to be the most efficient.
3. Consider doing the Photo Pass Plus. It gives you access to photographers stationed throughout the park, who will take your treasured family photos for you at different iconic landmarks. You get a CD of all the images at the end and you can order prints. And if you have kids, they try to give you a magical experience, like photoshopping an image of them holding Tinker Bell in their hand and things like that. The benefit of this is that especially when the park is crowded, everyone tries to have their picture taken at the same spots. With the Photo Pass Plus, the photographer will make sure you get that shot in front of the castle, or with the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey without photo bombers.
4. It’s totally worth it to stand in that long line at Mickey’s house in Toon Town to meet Mickey one on one and take pictures. I have no idea why but you can totally feel the magic when you do that.
5. Especially if you’re staying in a Disney hotel, it’s a good idea to leave the park once to get some rest, put your feet up, and re-energize yourself before the night festivities, such as the fireworks by the castle, and the Fantasmic show. Disney in one day is tiring and you don’t want to be hot and cranky, especially if you’re with young kids. Our whole family went back and took naps…well, except for me, because I had to prepare for a work event at Youtube Space LA, but that’s for tomorrow’s blog entry.
6. Food items that Disneyland is known for: The corn dogs at this one red wagon food stand, Dole whips (and Dole whip floats), and Fried chicken at the Plaza Inn. The beignets and coffee at The Jazz Kitchen Express in Downtown Disney are pretty good too! It’s a nice cheap and quick breakfast on the run. Oh and the Earl of Sandwich also located in Downtown Disney is actually pretty tasty! We got that as a midday snack.
7. If you have young kids, consider doing at least one character dining experience. We did Goofy’s kitchen located in Downtown Disney. Not only was the buffet food there surprisingly good, but almost all the characters were there and they come around your table to sign autographs and take pictures with you. It’s a fun experience. Just make sure to bring / buy your own autograph book.
What would you do if you only had one day in Disneyland? Let me know in the comments. Maybe we’ll do something new the next time!
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