Visiting Disneyland and California Adventure With Toddlers and Baby

I often hear people ask if it’s worth taking kids under 5 to Disneyland and the answer is absolutely! This precious time is when kids still fully believe in the magic of Disney. I have been taking Sofia since she was a year old. Now we have Cataleya and brought her for the first time at 9 months of age. She is still too little to understand what’s going on but when you don’t have a full time nanny you gotta do what you gotta do! Bringing babies to the parks doesn’t have to be challenging. So I’ve put together a list of things that made our visit very enjoyable even with the big crowds and crazy heat.

1. Bring a stroller. We have rented strollers from the park in the past but there are a few reasons why we brought our own. Their strollers don’t recline and with a baby you need a stroller that reclines for nap time. Also, our stroller has lots of room for storage and we needed plenty of it. I needed a double stroller and the park only offers single strollers.
2. Show up rested. We got the 1 day park hopper pass and we knew that we were going to stay there all day so we didn’t try to get there as soon as they open like we have done in the past. Being rested allowed us to stay there until Disneyland closed at midnight!
3. Bring a baby carrier. This was a MUST. I was able to keep Cataleya close to me and she was able to ride in the carrier in most rides.
4. Keep valuables in a small bag, preferably a fanny pack that you keep with you at all times.
5. Go to the rides with the shortest lines. This helped us SOO much, we didn’t try to go to the most popular rides, some of those the wait line was about 75 minutes! So we went to the rides that we knew the girls would enjoy and wouldn’t get anxious about waiting so long in line. We spent a good amount of time at toon town and just let them play.
6. Use the rider swap. With this only one person has to get in line while the other waits with the baby in case there’s a height requirement or baby is napping or eating.
7. Bring a blanket or two. We brought a couple of blankets to lay down and lay on the floor while we watched the parade. 
8. Take advantage of the Disney Baby Care Center. They have everything you need for babies in case you forgot or lost something.
9. Take breaks. Disney can be very stimulating and overwhelming for everyone not just the baby. So take advantage of the grass areas and the shaded places in the park. Also, for our longest break we went to Downtown Disney where it wasn’t as crowded. 
10. Stay cool! Fans are a must in the summer! It was 95 degrees when we visited the parks and thankfully we found a mister fan in the park. Best $20 dollars I spent that day! There are also many frozen treats you can purchase at the park that the kiddos will enjoy.
11. Don’t try to do everything in one day. This one is a tough one because if you have only one day it might be hard to pick and choose what you want to do but we were able to see a lot while listening to the kids needs.
12. HAVE FUN! I see so many parents get too stressed and overwhelmed and they forget to have fun. (There are plenty of adult beverage options at California Adventure and Downtown Disney to help you relax lol).

When we got to the parks the lines to get into Disney California Adventures were very long due to the Pixar Pier Fest. We decided to go to Disneyland for the first half of the day to try to avoid the big crowds and long lines. You’ll be surprised at the amount of rides that don’t have a height restriction at Disneyland. In fact, Cataleya’s first ride ever was Pirates of the Caribbean. She was scared but she survived lol.

We also wanted to make sure we were at California Adventure at night to see the ferris wheel and the pier lit up

and for the Paint The Night Parade, it was AMAZING, we all LOVED it. This is a MUST see, seriously I would go back again just to see this.

Both parks are filled with Pixar Fest food, souvenirs, meet and greets. So I highly recommend the park hopper if you are going to visit for one day. I’m surprised at the amount of things we did and visited with 4 kids including a toddler and a baby! Honestly, Cataleya was a trooper. She only napped once and she fully enjoyed all attractions and especially the food.

Hope this helps for your next visit to the parks!

love,

Karla Marquez