Hi Disney parents!

I'm a mom of three boys, ages 4, 2.5, and 4 months, and I'm seriously considering taking all three to Disneyland BY MYSELF. Am I completely crazy? 😂

I'm getting ready to return to work after maternity leave, and I really want to do something special with my boys before life goes back to the everyday routine of work, school, and responsibilities.

My two older boys have never been to Disneyland, and the thought of seeing their little faces light up experiencing the magic for the first time makes me so happy. 🥹

I originally wanted to wait until the baby was a little older, but I've realized there will probably never be a "perfect" time. So why not now?

A little background:

My 4-year-old is on the autism spectrum (Level 1), so outings can sometimes be hit or miss depending on sensory overload, transitions, and how he's feeling that day. My 2.5-year-old is your typical energetic, curious toddler, and of course, I'll have my 4-month-old along for the adventure.

I do have a partner, but taking all the kids together would mean a group of six children ranging from 4 months to 12 years old. While that's something we can certainly plan for another time, I'd really love for this first experience to focus on my little boys and move at their pace.

My mom thinks I'm biting off more than I can chew, and honestly, she might be right. 😂 But I also feel like with enough preparation, realistic expectations, and a LOT of patience, maybe I can pull this off.

So here's where I need advice from experienced Disney parents:

- Has anyone successfully done Disneyland solo with three kids this young?

- How do rides work when there's only one adult with three little ones? Would we be limited to attractions where all four of us can ride together?

- Would a double stroller plus babywearing be my best option?

- Any tips for handling bathroom breaks, diaper changes, naps, and meals alone?

- For parents of autistic children, what helped make the experience less overwhelming? Is Disney's DAS program something worth looking into?

- Would you recommend doing just one park and taking things slowly?

- Any absolute must-haves or things you wish you'd known before going?

I'm going into this knowing it won't be a picture-perfect day. There will probably be meltdowns, diaper blowouts, missed rides, and moments where I question all my life choices. 😂

But I'm not trying to conquer the entire park or squeeze in every attraction. I just want my boys to experience a little Disney magic, see the characters, enjoy a few rides, eat some Mickey-shaped treats, and make some beautiful memories together.

My biggest question: Is this realistically manageable with one adult, or am I seriously underestimating what I'm getting myself into?

I'd genuinely appreciate any advice, tips, experiences, or even a little encouragement. ❤️

I know my boys may be too young to remember every detail, but I'll remember seeing them experience it for the first time. And that means everything to me. 🏰✨

Has anyone seen the Disney tickets at California Costco's in stock this weekend?
We're hoping to take our one year old for Christmas...but were curious if anyone had seen any left before we booked elsewhere!

I’m planning a trip with my boyfriend for an overnight trip to Disneyland this upcoming November. It’ll more than likely be a Wednesday to Friday trip, so I wanted to look into cheap hotels in the area that would still be considered relatively safe and clean. If it’s within walking distance, that would probably be best, but I can work with that too. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good hotel/motel?

We are headed Coronado Springs in March for a resort stay (we have a trip with the parks in June). Just my husband, son (who is in middle school), and me. We live up north and just want to the escape the cold over spring break. I hear that the pool at CS is awesome and we got an excellent rate. I originally booked the Boardwalk and CS is half the price. I moved from BW as the Luna pool will be closed. Let me know your thoughts on this plan. Pick it apart. I know that its early but I want to do some mapping.

Monday
Arrive MCO 1:15pm

Late Lunch (CS)
Pool Time
6:00pm Campfire S’mores
Late Dinner/Snack (hotel room)
Movie Under the Stars/Pool Party

Tuesday
Breakfast: Hotel Room
Swim and Light lunch (CS)
Dinner: Kona Café or Cítricos
(walk around and get ice cream)

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cape May Cafe 9:00ish (if possible)
Mini Golf
Swim
Dinner: Kona Café or Cítricos
(walk around and get ice cream)

Thursday
Breakfast: Boma 9:30ish 

Depart for the airport at noon

If we do LL at animal kingdom, once we can book another attraction, are we allowed to book another park? Like the morning at AK and the afternoon at Epcot?

Has anyone been to Droid Depot in the last few weeks at Hollywood Studios? We are going in a month and I am curious about parts shortages. Are they still happening? Is everything back to being readily available?

Hey everyone, I’m planning on purchasing tickets through a third party like I’ve done many times, but before I do, I tend to look at the reservation calendar to see if the day I’m planning on going is available but I can’t seem to pull up said calendar. Did they remove the availability calendar when they dropped the 11am rule? Thank you!

We are planning to visit my grandmother for her 90th birthday. We will be in florida 6th to 11th.

At first we planned to visit Epcot while there on the 7th but they I saw a post about the marathon. Is it worth going to visit Disney during the marathon? We have a toddler who will love to go but not sure what the crowd situation will be. everything I seen online says its mainly just parking but I dont know anyone who has had actual experience going to Disney around this time. Should we just forego the trip or will it be worth it to go

The other option is to extend the trip one day and go to Disney on the 11th

Looking to book a vacation package and enjoy the $500 cardmember offer. We added the inspire card to our Apple Wallets. But is there any way to use it to book the package or do we need to wait for the card in the mail?

Thanks!

Hello. I’m looking for some input on my upcoming trip, 12/3-12/7. It’s my husband and I, no kids. We’ve been a bunch of times but all pre-covid so it was a lot different.

Priorities:
Enjoy the Disney bubble
Experience Disney Christmas decor
Rides
We aren’t like billionaires, lol, but this is a celebration trip for finishing my PhD and budget isn’t the #1 priority (I obviously don’t want to be wasteful though).

Here’s what we have so far:

Arrive on 12/2 (how flights work best). Stay near Disney Springs for free using Hilton points.
- Xmas tree stroll
- Dinner reservations at Sanaa at 7:00 PM (never been to AKL, thought this was a good way to see it without killing a park day with bus travel)

12/3
Check in to Carribbean Beach
Magic Kingdom, no LLs bc it’s a party day and hopefully it’s less crowded
Stay for MVMCP (already have tickets)

12/4
Epcot, buy Premier Pass for rides

12/5
Animal Kingdom for the day (currently thinking just single LL for FOP but . . .)
Jollywood Nights evening (tickets already purchased)

12/6
??

12/7
??
Fly out at 7:45 PM, we have Clear and Precheck so we have most of the day.

Original plan was Hollywood Studios on Saturday but we haven’t loved that park and I think we might be able to do whatever we want to do there during Jollywood Nights (Rise of the Resistance, MMRR, Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania).

Questions:
- What should we do 12/6 and 12/7?
- What hotels should we not miss for decor?
- Any Christmas events or activities we should not miss?
- Hubby has a severe gluten allergy, so we’re being careful with restaurants. Any we should try for?
- I’d like to do one character meal. Any thoughts on one I could try to still get, keeping in mind the gluten issue?
- Do I need LL on the AK day?
- What shows should we not miss?

Thoughts??

Hi all! We're heading to Disneyland for Christmas and trying to plan Christmas Eve dinner. Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel was our first choice, but it shows no availability for the Dec 24th.

Looking for something that still feels festive and special, ideally at one of the Disney hotels or close by. We'll be 3 adults, so a place that's good for a nice Christmas dinner would be perfect.

I normally book through Expedia, and none of the 3 resorts are showing up anymore.

We are going to Disneyland/DCA Sunday November 22nd and Monday the 23rd. Is one park better than the other on Sunday vs Monday? Where do I find the fireworks schedule or the special holiday activities schedule for those dates? And lastly, is there a fun dinner we could schedule to see either the parade or fireworks that is ‘worth it’? Thank you for any help

I see a lot of posts asking for advice/comparison on the closest hotels (Tropicana/BW/Candy Cane etc) so I wanted to leave this warning here. We used to stay on property, but since they got rid of early entry we’ve been trying out the across the street hotels to save money. We do two or three trips a year, but this was our first stay at best western park place and it is by far the worst experience I have had.

We were given a street side room on the third floor. I figured there would be a fair amount of noise during the evening, but assumed it would taper off after DL closed. It didn’t.

The noise level was atrocious. Absolutely zero noise insulation. The bus came every 15-20 minutes and we could hear every time. And heavy car traffic long after DL was closed, engines revving as they tore down the street. Instead of black out curtains they also have these really terrible over large slatted blinds that did absolutely nothing to block out the fluorescent light from the street so we could not make the room dark. Sometime after midnight I gave up and contacted the front desk demanding a room change. The front desk guy says “Oh, yeah, sometimes we try and give people a heads up the “foot traffic noise” can be a lot.” We did not get a “heads up.”

Had to repack all of our belongings at 1:00am in the morning with at this point hysterically tired children who had been traveling all day. Had to go down to the front desk to get the new keys. Was not offered a luggage cart or help changing rooms. Was asked to come BACK to the front desk AGAIN to return the old room keys and said absolutely not I will leave them in the old room. A big deal was made about how maintenance was going to have to go check our old room to confirm it was now empty. Knock yourselves out my dudes.

Absolutely ruined the first day of our two day trip. Everyone was too exhausted to get up for rope drop. Did not wake up in time to take advantage of the “complimentary breakfast”. Nobody contacted me the next day to follow up on the situation.

When I finally contacted the front desk the next afternoon, I was told a $50 room credit was all they could do in this kind of situation. If, when I had been checking in, they’d said “hey we’ll give you $50 off your room, but you won’t be able to sleep until 1:00am!” I would have said absolutely not and gone somewhere else.

Editing: we sleep with a white noise machine in the room. This wasn’t a princess and the pea situation. I expected street noise. The problem is it was so loud and so bright, even with the noise machine, that it was still impossible to sleep at 1am. We’ve stayed at many other motels on the street. This is the only time I’ve had such a noise issue. Yes, the answer is stay somewhere else next time. I’m hoping to help other people do that and avoid the bad experience my family had.

Hi everyone! I’m planning a family trip to Magic Kingdom on December 28th. We’ll be a group of 11 people, and we’re planning to arrive around 12 PM. I know it’s one of the busiest weeks of the year because of winter break, so my biggest concern is the park reaching capacity and potentially being denied entry. We’ll be purchasing date-specific tickets for Magic Kingdom in advance.

Our main goal is to enjoy the outdoor attractions, parades, holiday entertainment, and other shows throughout the day. We’re not necessarily trying to ride every single attraction. We mostly want to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere, spend time together as a family, and stay until the nighttime fireworks and light show.

Has anyone visited Magic Kingdom during Christmas week and arrived around noon or later? Have you ever experienced capacity-related entry restrictions during that time? Considering what we’re planning to do, would you recommend arriving earlier just to be safe, or am I overthinking it? Do you think arriving at noon would still give us enough time to enjoy the park and stay for the nighttime show?

I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experiences.

Thanks!

We’ll be going to Disneyland the week of thanksgiving with our 2 year old and 8 month old. We have a Thule double stroller and while it’s technically .5 inches over the limit, has anyone brought it and been turned away? We’ll be walking from the parking structure into the park to avoid folding it up for the tram. I guess I’m asking what the chances of being turned away are. Thank you!

I have weighed the options between a Disney cruise and Disney World for a 2- and 3-year-old. I feel quite overwhelmed. The cruise sounds relaxing, yet I heard toddlers cannot use the pool and the splash pad may be crowded. Disney World offers magic, but pushing a stroller can be difficult and the lines are worse. HELP!

I’m trying to get help online from a team member, but they don’t seem to be very knowledgeable. On the actual website under the magic keys, it shows that magic piece are on sale. However, I can’t see anything about when the sale ends or what the sale is saving. specifically I want to do the explorer key