One of life’s greatest joys is to see magic in a child's eyes!
Our trip to Disneyland was more than just Magical! It was more than just perfect! It was true joy! Truthfully, it’s hard to put into words the kind of joy and happiness that both Ethan and I felt. I had promised Ethan a solo Mother and Son trip for his Kindergarten graduation and he held me to that. I hadn’t told him where we were going until the day before we left. In fact, I hadn’t even told him that his big surprise was a trip. He was screaming with joy when I revealed to him that we were going to Disneyland! He has been once before when he was 2.5 years old but doesn’t remember too much of it. Now that he’s 5.5, this was the perfect age! He is old enough to go on most of the rides and I’m hoping he forever remembers all the fun we had!
Ethan has always been a great traveler so flying was exactly how I suspected it to be. Easy! We boarded our flight around 9am from YVR and prior to having a little breakfast date the Airport restaurant! We flew right into Orange County rather than LA so our commute to our hotel was only 15 minutes! More on our hotel details later!
We headed straight to Downtown Disneyland after dropping our stuff off as I wanted Ethan to get a feel for what he was about to experience. We had 3 day park hopper tickets which started the day after we arrived so walking around Downtown Disney for a few hours was so fun. I love that there are so many shops and restaurants. You can easily spend a day here walking around and buying your favorite souvenirs.
After a few hours of walking around, Ethan was getting tired so we grabbed some Pizza from Neapoli and ate on the patio. The weather was just perfect! We headed back to our hotel for a good night's rest so we could wake up super early and head to Disneyland Park.
We took an uber to Disneyland and we were soo excited to finally get on some rides! We had a Character breakfast booked for 10am so we had about 2 hours to explore. One thing we did was get the Disneyland Genie+ App. It was $20 per day which was worth every single penny! This service was so worth it and came in so handy!
Some features of the Genie+ Service that we loved:
Pre order food so it’s ready for you when you arrive at the restaurant! This was a game changer as we didn’t wait in any line ups for meals which meant we had more time to have fun on the rides.
Map: The app has a Map which shows you were all the rides are and which ones are closest to you.
Photo pass: When you take professional photos during the day with one of the Disney Photographers, the photos will automatically sync to your app!
Pre booking lightening lanes for rides which meant that we could skip the line to get on rides that had larger line ups! This was also a game changer as Ethan didn’t want to stand in any line ups plus it maximized our time!
Tip Board and My day itinerary which suggestions on what to do based on your preferences! This was such a great feature as it gave us insight into what else was new to Disney!
There is so much more to the app but those were my favorite and most used features!
After checking out It’s a small world and the castle, we headed over to our Character breakfast at Plaza Inn. This was probably my favorite part of the trip! We took photos with so many characters and I love the fact that this saved us time during the day so we didn’t need to stand in longer line ups to get autographs.
Ethan had his autograph book with him so he was able to meet soo many Characters. He also was able to spend more than a couple of minutes with each of them which was such a bonus. They took photos with him and seeing him smile from ear to ear was so beautiful to watch! You also get a buffet breakfast with all the fixings! There are even Minnie and Mickey pancakes which Ethan loved.
We spent almost 2 hours here and it was seriously so great! I would highly recommend booking a Character breakfast ahead of time as they get booked up fast! The kids get to meet Characters and parents get a break and enjoy some delicious food! It’s a win win situation!
We then went on more rides! Ethans favorites: Buzz Lightyear, Start Tours, Winnie the Pooh and tea cups! We used the lightening lane feature to skip some lineups which totally maximized our time. We had a late lunch in New Orleans and it was soo yummy! One thing I have to say is that all of the restaurants we ate at were soo good!
Ethan said his feet were hurting so I went to guest services right outside the entrance and rented an all day single stroller for $18 per day! I should have just purchased this in the morning as it was soo handy for me too! I could hang my bag on it and there is so much stroller parking by almost each ride. The great thing about the stroller rental is that you can leave the park and go rest at your hotel and come back and get another stroller as long as you keep your receipt. I highly recommend renting a stroller if you have young kids. Their little feet hurt from walking so much and this will maximize your time!
We had been at the park all day and around 5pm we decided to call it a day and rest. We had really done so much and wanted to start our next day fresh!
We woke up super early the next day to get to Disneyland Park right when it opened so we could get on even more rides. We rented the stroller first thing in the morning and we were lucky enough to be one of the first in line to meet Mickey Mouse! Ethan was sooo happy and told him that he was looking for him all day yesterday!
Look at Ethan’s little face in his photos with Mickey!! I can’t!!
We went straight to Dumbo as this was one ride that lines up super fast. I remember when I took Ethan at 2.5 years old and to see him so grown on this ride made my mama heart happy and sad at the same time! We ate lunch at Planet Pizza which was one of the restaurants that we used our Genie+ App for to pre order food. When we arrived, there was at least 100 people in line but we got our food within 5 minutes since we pre ordered!
We headed straight to the new Star Wars land and wow let me tell you that this was something else! It felt like something out of a movie! Totally unreal and so well done. Ethan is his Father’s son and became obsessed. We spent the majority of the day here going on the rides and exploring! If you come to Disneyland, this is a must! The rides are so well done and 5 is the perfect age to go on them.
It was really hot this day but we decided that we would head over to California Adventure Park to see the 2pm Disney Junior Dance Party. When we entered, Ethan met Goofy. I mean he chased him down but you get the meaning!
We also saw Spiderman on our way to the dance party as well as Iron Man! We had a quick cotton candy and fries because why not! We then headed into the Junior Disney Dance Party show. I remember us seeing this when Ethan was 2.5 and I knew he would love it even more now. He danced the whole time and it was such a fun show to watch.
It was actually super hot this day and around 4pm, we decided that we wanted to head back to our hotel for a nap and rest as we wanted to return later for the Fireworks and Disney Electric Parade! This was such a perfect schedule for us as we maximized our time during the day and to be able to re-enter later on made perfect sense for us! If you have young kids, you know that they get tired fast from the heat so this option was great!
We ate Dinner at Pizza Planet again as this is what Ethan wanted and then headed over to a few rides before the Parade started. We had a prime spot right by the entrance to Disneyland which was great as we knew that leaving after the Parade and Fireworks would be super busy. Watching Ethan’s face light up during the Parade was pure joy. He was clapping and dancing along and this made my heart so happy! After the fireworks, we decided to quickly leave and grab our uber back to the hotel!
The next day was our last day at Disneyland and we knew that we wanted to stick to the same kind of schedule of early morning and return in the evening! It was even hotter this day so we got to the park right when it opened. This time he met Donald Duck first for photos before heading over to a bunch of different rides. I actually let Ethan lead this whole trip on what he wanted to do even if it meant that we did some things twice. I mean after all it was his trip. He also loved being in charge so that was cute to see!
We went straight to Star Wars land as we had made reservations for the new Rise of the Resistance ride. This was something that I have never experienced before and worth all the hype! We spent a ton of time here and Ethan bought himself tons of souvenirs.
He met some characters, we took photos and just people watched. Around 3pm we decided to head back to the hotel to rest and nap before returning in the evening. We both actually slept for a while which felt nice! When we returned, the Park was busier as it was a weekend so we took advantage of our lightning lanes and went back to Star Wars land. We then did a boat tour, it’s a small world and had dinner at Red Rose Tavern. The food was SO good here! Something about going on the rides in the evening is so magical. It also cooled down so we were so relaxed.
This evening we tried to stay out as late as possible as we were sad that the last few days went by so fast. We were having so much fun and didn’t want to leave. We caught the parade again before heading back to grab our Uber. As we were leaving, the fireworks had started and it was so magical to watch them on our way out! We came back to our hotel and speaking of our hotel, we stayed at the beautiful Radisson Blu Anaheim! This hotel is basically brand new with a 5 minute drive to Disneyland! The hotel offers a great Disney feel with unique Disney art throughout the hotel! It even has a gift shop in the lobby offering all Disney themed merchandise at great prices.
Our favorite feature was the Bunk Beds in the room! Ethan was soo excited to sleep in them. The room had a fridge, safe, and a beautiful view of Disneyland Park which was such a bonus to wake up too! We loved that it only took us 5 minutes to get to Disneyland by Uber or you can take a ART shuttle that picks you up directly in front of the hotel. This is such a great feature. The hotel is priced so well that even with paying the $10 uber ride each way to Disneyland, you still save so much money!
We had breakfast at the FireLake Grillhouse one morning and everything was delicious! Ethan had the pancakes and loved them! We also had dinner at the onsite Blu Skybar and the views were amazing. Ethan was obsessed with how high we were.
The hotel also offers two pools. One of which is an adult pool which I wasn’t able to check out but the family pool was so wonderful. There were enough cabanas for everyone and tons of shade for a hot day! The water was super warm to swim in and they even had a splash pad.
I would definitely stay at The Radisson Blu Anaheim again when visiting Disneyland as the hotel had all that we needed and more! The staff were so friendly and the service was amazing.
On our last day, we had an afternoon flight and decided to hang out at the pool! It was so relaxing and exactly what our feet needed from walking around Disneyland!
A few highlights and tips for Disneyland:
Get the Disneyland Genie+ App. This is a must!
Pre order your food so you maximize your time.
Get to the Park super early around 7:30am to get on lots of rides before line ups.
Book a Character breakfast. This is also a must!
Rent the stroller or bring one! It will save your littles feet.
Bring comfortable clothing and shoes!
Let your children decide what they want to do and see! This makes for a great experience.
We had the most magical trip and something that I will never forget! To be able to experience this with my big little love filled my cup and was exactly what my soul needed. I truly believe our children are our biggest gifts and spending time with them one on one is so important. If you are debating booking the trip, just do it! I promise you will have SO much fun and it’s something that you will always remember.
As always, feel free to send me an email or DM me on Instagram if you have any questions!
This blog post was written in partnership with Disneyland and Radisson Blu Anaheim. All opinions are my own.
