Happiest Place on Earth is the place for me!! You might already know by the title, I’m finally getting up my disneyland guide!! Okay, to be honest this might be my favorite lifestyle post EVER! I’ve been wanting to do posts like this for a while but I just didn’t know how everyone feel about it so I would love your feed back!
I want to start off by saying I don’t really realize sometimes how blessed I am to live SO close to Disneyland, I’ve always lived less than 20 minutes away and grew up coming multiple times a year. I’ve loved Disney ever since I was a little girl. When I was in Junior High, my family got passes for the first time and I just fell in love with being able to go whenever I wanted. Literally felt like a VIP 😉 Ever since then I have had a pass almost every year! I started off going with my parents and brother, then it started to become my friends, and eventually turned into dates for me and my hubby while we were dating. P.S. I got him SOOO hooked on this place and all things Disney hehe. One thing I love about him is that he isn’t the typical guy that HATES going and has as much fun as me when we are there!
This is getting WAY too long so I want to start explaining my complete guide to the best possible Disney experience which also includes the outfit. From visting so many times I’ve learned what to wear, what to bring, and etc. Before getting into it here are a few pictures from within the park!
To begin, I think it’s really important to some what plan the Disney day before actually going. By this I mean figure out when it opens and what time you want to be in the park. Keep in mind there is now security checkpoints so it could take some time to do that, park, and take the tram.
If you really want to get a lot out of the day I would go around 9 or 10, so that it’s not too early and you can stay later. Make sure you go on a day that it closes at 10 or 12 because the day just flies by!
Also, it is a great idea to get your tickets online ahead of time because you skip a HUGE line to just buy your tickets.
Another important thing to do is download the Disneyland App! This thing is amazing, it tells you everything you need to know about the park! You can see the map, get wait times, see times for different events around the park, it shows you restaurants, and it even shows the nearest restroom. Make sure to look at the map a day before and kind of plan out the rides you want to go on. I like to do this even now because it saves time from walking aimlessly around the park.
Make sure you have your camera!! There are so many picture perfect moments here and you won’t want to miss that! They also have a package that you can buy for like $40 and you get ALL the professional pictures from the cast members so you don’t have to worry about quality or getting the whole group in the photo.
Other things I recommend for those long days is backpack. My husband usually carries the backpack and I have a small satchel. I think it is important to have both as weird as it sounds. My purse carries things I want to pull out quickly throughout the day such as the passes or tickets, camera, phone, etc. The backpack is useful for larger items like drinks, food, jackets, etc.
Now I mentioned food and drinks, yes you can bring them in the park. We like to bring water bottles because no one wants to buy $4 water right!??
Other random items to bring: Brush (yes brush… some of the rides can make your hair go wild) rubber band, makeup for touchup, sunscreen, lip balm, sunnies, and anything else you really use on a daily basis.
Now for my go to Disney outfit! I tend to go for more basic/causal look when I go. I like to be comfy but still cute! I’ve made many wardrobe mistakes in the many years I’ve been going. One of them is not wearing the proper shoes! If your going for 3, 5, or 10 hour day it doesn’t matter. You will be walking A LOT!! My go to shoes for Disneyland are definitely sneakers. I will alternate them depending on the outfit but they are usually Converse, Adidas, or whatever is trending at the time.
Cali is usually hot or warm but on certain occasions it will get cold or cool at night so I dress light for the day and bring a cardi or jacket for later! That is exactly what I did this day. OMG this tee though, it is only $17 and my current favorite because of how comfy and soft it is! I also like the raw hem and the v-neck detail. I’ll then add some denim (distressed if it is warmer), a watch, and some arm candy and I’m good to go! So basic and comfy but still super cute for pictures.
OH! We almost forgot the most important part!! Minnie Mouse ears of course! I recommend you buy them in the park because they are SO cute and authentic. They have so many selections based on your personality or style. I have grown quite a little collection of ears and hats over the years and I alternate them (currently have my eyes on the Beauty and the Beast ears). I think this accessory will totally make a difference in the vibe of the day! (Linking my outfit at the bottom)
Moving onto the most exciting part of the park which are the RIDES! These truly run on magic and never get old no matter how many times you have been. First and foremost, I want to talk about fast passes (pictured above). These will take hours off of waiting in line! Some lines are as long as 70 minutes so NO ONE has time for that LOL. Specific rides (usually the ones with long wait times) have something called a fastpass which means you get a ticket and come back at a later time skipping the entire line to the front of ride. Boom, your on! You feel so special as you pass the people waiting but slightly bad for them haha.
I use fastpass for rides like Indiana Jones, Space (Hyperspace) Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc. I try to use it as much as I can because I HATE waiting in lines. Haunted Mansion and Rodger Rabbit also can get long so I’ll use it on there as well.
It is a good idea to have a mixture of fast/big rides and smaller/slower rides! The fast rides are just plain fun and gets your blood pumping. Not to mention you get a good laugh out of people screaming. But there is just something about the slower rides. Disneyland has SO much beauty and detail and the slower rides really highlight that! For example, I love the Story Book Canal ride for all the detail and imagination it has! On that ride you take a boat ride around a narrated river that has different Disney/fairytale houses in a miniature form!! This ride was built by Walt Disney himself and he put so much detail into all the tiny plants that look like trees and adding sound effects.
From a long day of walking miles and miles you will get hungry or in my case hangry LOL Not to mention Disney pumps vanilla and different scents to make you want to buy food (one of their many secrets)!! I LOVE Disneyland food, like seriously I go there just to eat sometimes. They have the most amazing amusement park food. This includes a variety of different food and price points. You can get an amazing bread bowl soup or enjoy fine dinning at the Blue Bayou which is inside of the Pirates of the Caribbean! It is such a fun experience and you have to go at least once!! Another favorite is the Plaza on Main Street, it is the restaurant with the pink umbrellas! They serve the best pasta and chicken!
After having one or two meals you most liking won’t stop eating. What I mean is, your going to snack like CRAZY!! I get like two or three snacks when I’m there because I have such a hard time deciding. They have things like cotton candy, churros (BEST CHURROS EVER), pickles, popcorn, pretzels, corn dogs, ice cream, and just anything you can imagine because they probably have it! I usually try to see if I’m in a salty or sweet mood and go off of that but many times I just end up with both… Seriously don’t judge me!
Disneyland is notorious for their fun, gorgeous and lovable movie characters! You can actually meet them throughout the Disneyland park, chat, and take pictures with them. If you have kids they would LOVE this!! And even if you don’t like kids you might enjoy meeting these cute characters!
A great place to see the Fab 5 characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy) is Toon Town! They have an adorable little cartoon town where each character has their house and you can meet them there. The picture above is Minnie’s house and I just die for all the pink and purple decor that she has (of course)! It is also a fun place to explore and take pictures!
Lastly, the shows are to die for!! The day may feel too packed to fit in a show or two but DO IT!! You won’t regret it! Disneyland puts a lot of time and effort into these and it shows! My favorites are Mickey and the Magical Map, the parades (dying to watch the electrical parade), and of course the fireworks!! If you think fourth of July is fun, Disneyland puts a light up the sky performance every single night! They add light projections, music, and even a live Tinkerbell flying through the air during their shows! Make sure you check the times so that you know where to be at what time because these shows can cause crowds.
If you made it through this whole post I want to reach through my computer and give you a hug!! No seriously!! This was something I worked and thought long and hard about and I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did taking pictures and writing about it. And yes my hubby and I took all the pictures ourselves on one of our Disney dates! I really hope you learned something new about the happiest place on earth!
P.S. I did not include California Adventure because that would be a whole other blog post. It also has many amazing attractions and things to do that I just couldn’t fit it all in! Maybe I’ll do one regarding that in the future.
Again, thank you SO much for stopping by and supporting my blog!
XO Andrea
Amanda says
Love all of your photographs in this post! I’ve been wanting to do a post on Disneyland forever & this totally inspires me!
Xo, Amanda
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