I don't know that I have any helpful advice, but maybe this bump will help you find someone who does. We were there just this past week and flew from Texas, so we had a two hour time difference. Our girls are four and two and they handled it without any problem at all. With the flight and the off-schedule snacks and meals and the sheer excitement of being in Disneyland, I think your body just loses track of what time it's supposed to be. Just get to bed whenever everyone is tired that first night, and I bet you'll be on California time by morning. Granted, I'm talking off-season so we weren't having to get up at 6:00am. But we did get to the gates at 8:30 for early entry with no problem. And both of my girls typically sleep until 8:00am. They were up with the sun this trip!
Thank you. I should mention that we are planning to go in March and my older DD will have to go back to school a few days after the trip. We would come home on a Friday so she could rest over the weekend and maybe do some homework she missed.
ADisneyQueen,
We generally don't plan anything later than 8pm the first night.
I think I have more trouble than my DS, though. He seems to be able to sleep better. I typically wake up at 4am in the morning the next day. (It's great for taking advantage of early entry) The whole family appreciates taking a break in the afternoon so that we can stay up for the fireworks and later evening shows. We just gradually stay up later in the evenings.