046 Disneyland Planning Tips

Kim is just back from a trip to Disneyland and this week with chat with Carissa Houston from All Day Mom, who visits Disneyland nearly every month, and get their tips for planning a trip to Disneyland.   ON THE PODCAST 00:38 - Kim’s recent trip to Disneyland 02:06 - Tips for using the Disney Magical Express 05:35 - Disneyland Hotels 07:46 - Parks that Kim visited 13:33 - About Carissa Houston 15:20 - Trips to Disney 16:24 - Carissa’s planning process 19:07 - Food in Disneyland compared to Disney World 21:43 - To buy packages or not 24:12 - Tips on saving money 28:44 - Staying on site vs. off 34:58 - Recommended length of stay 38:37 - Refurbishment list 40:02 - FastPass (MaxPass) 43:28 - Meal package deals 45:49 - Final Tips 50:46 - Favorite Travel Gear 53:22 - Tip of the Week ABOUT CARISSA HOUSTON Carissa Houston is a Disney loving, homeschooling, clean eating mom of two. She is a spontaneous traveler and a procrastinating writer; when Carissa finally sits down to write already you can find her travel tales on All Day Mom and Amazon. TIPS FOR PLANNING A TRIP TO DISNEYLAND The Magical Express is a greyhound bus wrapped in a Disney design. Don’t be fooled by the small white vans that hold up signs saying Disneyland Resort Express! The Express in an extra charge not included with hotel reservations or ticket purchases. You can often get better deals on the onsite hotels closer to your trip. Depending on the time of year you are going they will make deals for cheaper prices just to fill their rooms. Three days in Disneyland is a good amount of time to spend at the parks, but you can longer and also go visit other places in California. Tips for the pools at the Disneyland resorts. If you are staying at one of the hotels that has their pool and/or slide down for refurbishment. The hotel will give you access to the other hotel pools. You can find a refurbishment list of the rides to see what rides will be closed. This is especially helpful in the off-season when rides are more likely to be closed for work. If the park closes at 8 PM and you are in a line at say 7:57 PM. You will still be able to ride, even if the line is has a wait. They do NOT just close the gates at 8 PM! FAVORITE TRAVEL GEAR Carissa’s loves to wear her Reef flip flops and Disney Vans. They are perfectly comfortable to wear all day long. And of course she has a lot of Disney shirts! TIP OF THE WEEK Security lines for the bag checks have changed some in Disneyland. Instead of being by the turnstiles of the two parks, they are now outside of downtown Disney. This makes Downtown Disney a more secure area. MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST Ultimate Visual Guide! Disneyland Jedi Training Academy Disneyland on a Budget $5 Challenge Get Away Today Costco Travel Is it Packed! Disneyland Travel Tips with Leslie Harvey FOLLOW US AND SPREAD THE WORD! If you liked this show, please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play and leave us a review! Have a question or comment? Send us an email or leave us a voicemail at +1.641.715.3900, ext. 926035# You can also follow our travels on Stuffed Suitcase and We3Travel, or follow the Vacation Mavens on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for listening!