When my kids were 5- and 3-years old, my husband and I took them to San Diego for a week of fun in the sun. On the theory that “We’ll already be in California – why not drive up to Anaheim and check out Disneyland?” we did a little online research, picked up our first of several “Unofficial Guide to Disneyland” books and had an amazing day.

We followed the “Dumbo or Die in a Day” plan in the back of the Unofficial Guide and managed to get through a lot of attractions in 7 hours, before the kids fell asleep in the stroller.

Since then, we’ve racked up four Disneyland visits between 2012 and 2018. As my kids get older, they try things they were scared of or too small to ride on previous visits. Meanwhile my husband have fun every time – we buy into the Disney magic hook, line and sinker. Win, win!

Someday we’ll try out Walt Disney World. I went there with my family as a pre-teen, so I’m sure it’d be a head trip to see how things have changed and how some have stayed the same. But Disneyland is “our place” for practical and emotional reasons:

• Proximity: We live in Colorado and can score killer deals on direct flights to California, especially on Southwest (free bags = big savings for a family of 4!).
• Ease: Disneyland has two parks situated across from each other on a wide pedestrian plaza. You can literally (and we have done) walk between parks to use a Fastpass. Also, we generally don’t bother with a rental car for a Disneyland trip – we take a shuttle service from the airport to our hotel (Howard Johnson Anaheim has been the favorite though we may investigate the Courtyard by Marriott Anaheim for next time) and walk to the park in the morning. No waiting for shuttle buses!
• Family and Budget Friendlier: We love that we can thoroughly experience Disneyland/Disney California Adventure in 3 or 4 days. That’s about as long as we can handle having late nights to see the fireworks (or “Fantasmic!”) followed by bleary-eyed Magic Mornings. This is the blessing of two parks. Walt Disney World has four proper parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios) and two water parks – even typing that out my chest constricts as I wonder how we’d possibly get to EVERYTHING without making it a 5- or 6- or 7-day trip (insert sound of coins spilling here). Not everyone feels this way, but I don’t feel like I’ve “vacationed” if we’ve rushed around the whole time nor do I want to miss out on things! I am not ready for the scale of WDW yet.
• Bonus Features: I love knowing that Disneyland is the park that Walt Disney created himself, that he lived to experience it, and all of the fun history that took place there (the blacktop wasn’t cured yet by opening day and women’s heels were sinking into it!). I love that the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction is a longer ride at DL than WDW. I love Cars Land! I love the Indiana Jones ride! WDW doesn’t have them.

If you go…

Immediately order the latest copy of “The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland” and read it. I put stabs on the pages with restaurant reviews so we can flip to them quickly in the park depending on which area we find ourselves in when everyone gets hungry. The touring plans in the back are legit and will spare you some longer wait times. General tips and tricks are on point – for instance, in 2016 we figured our kids were old enough to walk the park but the Guide said, “rent a stroller as long as your kids will fit in it” and we were so glad we spent the $15/day.

Check out mousesavers.com for news and discount codes. We always buy our park tickets through a link on their site, and have prepaid for character meals that way too.

Character meals are a delight. We’ve done Goofy’s Kitchen twice and the kids had so much fun getting autographs from the characters and having their photos taken with them. On our latest trip we didn’t do a character meal and we all missed it!

Use the Disneyland app for wait times. Definitely get the MaxPass for scheduling your Fastpasses. (Bonus: the price includes daily downloads of your Photopass pics!)

Try not to go at peak times of the year. If you have any flexibility in your vacation schedule at all, try to go during times that the Unofficial Guide identifies as less busy. Also, if there’s a specific attraction you absolutely cannot miss on your Disneyland trip, check online for refurbishments/closures.

Try to work in a “down day” on your trip, if possible! We have not accomplished this yet, but on our last trip we all would have liked a morning in the midst of our park days to just sleep in and an afternoon for the kids to enjoy the hotel pool.