My niece turned 3 this week and what better way to celebrate her than to take her to the happiest place on Earth! She’s gotten to an age where she is obsessed with Mickey and Minnie Mouse as well as all the Disney princesses so it was a perfect place to take her. We decided to make it a girls’ trip and it was my mom, sisters, niece, and I. The only boy that tagged along was my one year old. Needless to say, we had our hands full with the 2 kids and lugging around the strollers, diaper bags, etc.
Since we live in the Bay Area and Anaheim was only 5ish hours away, we decided to road trip there and back. It wasn’t as horrible as it sounds so we left late Friday night so both kids were sound asleep the whole way and there was little to no traffic. If you’re thinking about doing that and don’t mind driving at night I would advise you to do the same because the way back was a little more hectic since it was in the middle of the day and the little ones were going a little stir crazy in the car. Remember to pack lots of snacks and water for the drive for the kids and honestly the adults too. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Orange County and I would definitely recommend it! It was a short drive to the parks even though we decided to shuttle there and back just because it was way less of a hassle and you can easily buy shuttle tickets in the lobby. It had a cute restaurant and a Starbucks as well. The rooms were spacious and clean. Most importantly, it had a great floor length mirror for my daily outfit pics!
Our time in the parks were super fun but also super hectic and I think anyone going with young kids would say the same. My advice on that would just be to go with the flow as much as you can and don’t let the little things get to you. We were going to celebrate my niece and I can’t tell you how many times she cried about something no matter how small and then a second later, she would be perfectly happy again. My sister, her mom, was so worried that she would remember herself crying during her birthday celebrations but if we’re being honest with ourselves, who really remembers their 3rd birthday?! So don’t stress about kids having a bad moment when they’re supposed to be making good memories because I promise you they will only remember the fact that they actually went to Disneyland in the first place!
I made sure to pack practical yet cute outfits for both park days and I couldn’t forget to pack some Minnie Ears as well! The weather was nice when the sun was out but got super chilly at night so I got a coat that I stuffed in the bottom of the stroller during the day so it was really convenient. I’ll put a shortlist of things we brought with us to the park and also add a couple that I wish we would’ve. I also linked my outfits below and put a couple pics of what I wore.
Things to bring with you to the parks:
Strollers (we obviously needed to get one for Adam since he doesn’t walk yet but we also got one for Sofia incase she got tired or took a nap)
Diaper bag filled with the normal essentials (add LOTS of snacks and water)
Baby carrier (I didn’t think of this since I had my stroller but you can’t take the stroller in any of the lines for the rides so I got stuck carrying Adam for a lot of the day and it got super tiring)
Water bottles (everything is incredibly expensive at the parks so make sure to at least get a water bottle you can fill up at the water fountains)
Belt bag (having your hands free is super important so I wouldn’t get a super nice bag with you that day)
Portable Charger
Food Reccomendations:
Monte Cristo or Shrimp and Grits at Cafe Orleans (I will be DREAMING of that meal for months)
Quesabirria tacos at Cocina Cucamonga
Num Num cookie at the cookie stand right by the Incredicoaster
Mickey cake pop/peanut butter square/chocolate cupcake at Candy Palace
Churros from stands around the park
Hope you enjoyed this post!
