here to stay: I recommend staying
at The Grand Hotel, it is attached to California Adventure and super close to the entrance of Disney, sometimes you can purchase The Grand hotel package at Costco. If you are going in the winter I would not stay at the Disney Hotel (this is different than The Grand) , it is fairly far away to the park entrance, same distance as if you were to stay at the Marriott on the other side of the park to walk to. If you are going in the spring or summer, stay at the Disneyland Hotel they have way fun pools, and is worth it.
We stayed at the Marriott directly across the street from the park entrance this time, because we had a last min. change of plans. We were going to be spending this coming up weekend at Disney, but Hudson begged not to miss his gymnastics comp. so we changed our travel dates and by the time we rescheduled room rates were sky high. *Due to the Disney Candlelight Choir that was on Saturday and Sunday*
The Candlelight Choir was so powerful and emotional. Sunday was our last day at the park, after the most magical day of all! As we walked out of the park, the biggest choir I have ever seen and the most beautiful nativity story I have ever heard was triamphantly booming throughout the park. The Christmas spirit was strong and I couldn’t stop the tears. It was powerful! The whole time Dallin kept saying his mom would have loved to of seen this. And talking about how Walt himself was probably conducting the choir.
On Sunday we also did the Bippity-Boppity Boutique where Holland was turned into a real princess and Hudson was knighted a knight. You have to do this if you have littles. Here is the phone number if you want to schedule *it’s fairly hard to find online* 1 (714) 781-7895 book in advance as it fills up quickly!
Our young family does not do the hopper pass. We buy the three day park pass and spend 2 days in Disneyland and 1 day in California Adventure. I recommend this to all families, and play it by ear. You can always add more days to your pass at the discounted rate. For instance we almost went into the park for a 4th day and it would have only been an additional $25 a ticket. You can add more days to your pass within a 13 day window. You don’t have to commit up front to the full 5 day pass if you don’t wish to.
If you have early birds like me, I recommend starting your day at the park at 8 am or 9 am, taking a nap break, and then coming back to the park after naps so that the kids can see the fireworks. I am a hypocryte on this one. We ran the kids both morning and afternoon, so they fell asleep at 7:30pm every night. I would take the two littles home, and I would watch fireworks from my balcony, while Hudson and Dallin went on big rides. It worked out great, but I would have preferred all staying together and watching the fireworks as a family.
So many beautiful memories were made and a trip I want to remember forever.
If you have a child that is tall enough to ride rides along with smaller children who can’t, make sure to get the switch rider pass. Ask for this when you are about to enter onto a ride. That way your child can ride the ride twice in a row, once with each parent.
This is our first time having a child who was tall enough and this alone made our trip. Dallin and I were able to ride rides. Which is so fun for Dallin especially because he didn’t grow up going to Disneyland, being from NJ, so a lot of the rides were his and Hudson’s first time on them.
The best thing that we did this trip was take a “vacation from our vacation” a little “Disney Detox” if you will. We are staying in Newport for a few days and relaxing as a famiy, enjoying mid 60 degree weather before we go back to 8 degree weather…..brrrr…..
Jamie White
Marketing&Advertising Expert
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TRIP & TIPS
BY Shannon Bird of
The Beauty Battalion Magazine /January 2017 09
www.BirdalaMode.com
Did you know most family trips to Disneyland take place at the beginning of the New Year? We asked Lifestyle Blogger, Shannon Bird, to share her tips for making the most out of your family trip.