San Diego + Disneyland Trip Report: Part 2

Day 4: Disneyland Continued (LOTS of TIPS!!!) Once we had all taken care of our travel arrangements, we met at the main entrance of Disneyland. Everyone was excited, but we were especially excited to see my nephew’s reaction because it was his very first visit.

Before we could fully take in that moment, I needed to make sure everyone was scanned into the park so I could grab our first return times.

I’ll come back to some of the strategy with that, but first I have to say that my nephew’s grand entrance into Disneyland is exactly why Disneyland is so special. He immediately saw Goofy and could not believe that he was “real.”

Since he had never been to Disneyland before, it was important to start with a ride he could see from the outside and slowly introduce him to the theme park experience. We chose Dumbo, and it went over so well.

From there, we rode several rides in Fantasyland before heading to Toontown. This was strategic because we wanted to get to Toontown early and take advantage of the lower waits. I also knew I did not want to use a return time on those rides right away, just in case the family wanted to ride them again later.

And they did.

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway ended up being a hit for everyone.

While we were enjoying rides in Fantasyland and Toontown, I was also actively grabbing return times and modifying them for later in the day.

My goal was to stack our afternoon return times land by land, so once the crowds rolled in after lunch, we could keep moving without long waits or crisscrossing the park. The reason I knew who wanted to ride what was because we had looked through the planning guides I created for my clients ahead of time. These guides help families identify ride priorities before they ever get to the park. You can download them here.

Because we had talked through everyone’s priorities ahead of time, I knew exactly who to include when booking each return time. I also made sure there was always a nearby option for anyone who was not riding.

That was the biggest thing that made our multigenerational group work: we stayed in the same land as much as possible. If some of us were riding a bigger ride, the rest of the group had something nearby to do, and then we could easily meet back up for the things everyone wanted to experience together.

Meal times were handled the same way: about an hour before we planned to eat, I sent screenshots of one or two restaurant menus that were close to where we would be next. Everyone texted me their orders, and I placed one mobile order for the group during a time slot that matched our plan.

I highly recommend using mobile order, whether you are traveling with a big group or a small one. It saves so much time and makes meals feel less chaotic.

Just remember to hit “I’m here” when you are actually headed to the restaurant so they start preparing your food. And if your plans change, you can usually modify your pick-up time or cancel the order.

Between the kid-friendly rides, the thrill-seeker options, and the shows and snacks mixed in between, we collectively rode 22 rides that day. And that is what a good plan gets you.

For our group, the biggest standouts were Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, The Tiki Room, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Rise of the Resistance, and, of course, the beignets.

Although my husband, daughter, and I would go on to stay several more days, everyone else was headed back to the rental home in San Diego that night. The drive back for them was brutal.

In the future, I would absolutely have them switch over to an Anaheim hotel for the Disneyland portion of the trip instead of driving back to San Diego after a full park day. I would also plan for them to have two park days so they could enjoy California Adventure too.

My only real regret from the day was not getting a full family picture.

So here is your big tip: force the picture early. Take it at the park entrance or in front of the castle before everyone is tired, sweaty, wet from Tiana’s, or too distracted by the next thing on the plan.