Disneyland

August 2018

PLEASE NOTE: THIS REVIEW IS INTENDED TO PROMOTE SALES AS A TRAVEL ADVISOR, I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS IF YOU DECIDE THIS VACATION IS FOR YOU.

My husband & I do not have kids, but we have some amazing Godkids!  Our Goddaughter was celebrating her Golden 8th birthday this year in July, so we thought "let's take her to Disneyland for her birthday gift"...she was completely surprised and excited.  Then a couple of days later, a conversation with her mother revealed that her older sister was a bit envious that her sister was going to Disneyland.  Well, she had a sweet 16 birthday coming up and teens can be so tough to buy gifts for, so we invited her as well for an early birthday gift, she was thrilled.  The trip could not have worked out any better.   Four people at an amusement park is much better than three for sure!  We were able to divide and conquer, make both kids happy.  We were happy that they were happy and we had big sister to help do little sister's hair every morning!  Perfect, because our Goddaughter has some serious curls!

We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel for 2 nights and went to the parks for 3 days.  We definitely did everything we wanted to do, the parks were not very crowded for mid-week in August, the weather was perfect.  We made lots of memories.   Our Goddaughter does not like scary rides, so she & my husband went on all of the "kiddie" rides together while her sister & I went on all the big rides together.  We all had a great time!  We saw parades, we ate yummy treats, we had a few nice meals out together and we were all exhausted when we got home!

The day we arrived, we had a nice dinner at the Steakhouse 55 after we checked into the hotel.  We were all hungry & tired, so once we were done with dinner we were all ready for bed and a good night's sleep so we could attack the park in the morning.  We were able to take advantage of the Early Morning hours and spent a good portion of the day at Disneyland.  About midday we ventured over to California Adventure because we had dinner reservations at the Trattoria so that we'd have preferred seating for the Paint the Night Parade.  That was definitely worth the price we paid to have a good spot to see the parade, and we weren't too far away from the wine vendor!  

Our second day, we started at California Adventure and did all we wanted to do there, my niece & I were able to ride all of the big kid rides several times and by 3pm, we were all DONE!  We went back to the hotel, relaxed and waited for our ride to the airport.  We had two crazy, fun days of non-stop Disney fun. 

This trip was my first experience using the MAX PASS.  This is worth it's price over and over again.  For $15/day per person you are able to navigate your Fast Passes on the Disneyland App.  You do not have to run all over the parks to secure these, you can see the wait times and determine which ride would be best on the Fast Pass.  The other HUGE perk is that you get all of your photos!  The ones that Disney Cast Members take of you (posed) but also those ride photos that get you screaming, smiling, etc. Considering one of those photos is easily more than the cost of the max pass, you MUST make sure you get the max pass.  As a Certified Disney Destination travel planner, I can be sure those are added to your park hopper tickets when we book your package!   Please note:  the Max Passes do not work until you are IN the park each day.  Unlike Disney World, you cannot secure your fast passes months in advance.  Disneyland is still "the day of" and you select them once you've entered the park.

You know the trip was a success, when this is what you see on the airplane ride home!!!  It should be noted that both girls took two naps at restaurants during the two days- we ran them ragged & apparantly my husband too! (sorry honey, I'm sure this picture won't get nearly as much exposure vs. Facebook or InstaGram!)

TO SEE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS FROM OUR TRIP- YOU CAN CLICK HERE:  DISNEYLAND AUGUST 2018 PHOTOS