The Little Things?

[MilitaryMouse]

We haven’t been to DL since Sept 2019. I know a lot has changed, and I honestly wouldn’t even go except my husband is deploying for 8 months and requested this trip w/our kids so…

I’m wondering if there’s any little things we can do/look for. I have an almost 4YO and an almost 2YO. We used to have fun just wandering around looking for Hidden Mickey’s or other fun details. Making pressed pennies. Things like that made Disney magical for us. Do things like that still exist or have they been paved over by Avengers Campus? What characters are still appearing (socially distanced I assume)? Is pin trading still happening?

I guess I’m just looking for little things to wander around and explore. I know it’s crowded and we’re not trying to ride much. Trying to make this trip magical for my husband to the best of my ability

Also, does anyone know if the Grand Californian have bed rails?

Thank you!

 

[Aspencreek]

You should really check out the Disneyland Vlog videos from the "Alex the Historian" channel. He was apparently a CM for a number of years including doing the VIP tours I believe. Anyway, in a lot of his early vlog videos he goes around DL and points out some really cool features all over the park that are things you'd just never notice or know about. For example, in this video (

at 9:38 or so) he shows you this brick wall right next to the lockers entrance. He shows how the wall has 2 types of bricks on the left / right side and explains that it was an old test wall for the imagineers to try out different styles of brickwork which they could then use to decide how they would do other locations. Would never have noticed that, but after seeing it in the video and then later in person it was just a cool feature nobody knows about. Anyway, he does tons of stuff like that showing off neat little nooks-and-crannies and whats-behind-THIS-door, etc. I have no affiliation with him, just stumbled across channel and enjoyed it.

 

[dieumeye]

Hidden Mickeys are still a thing. There’s actually a book that’s available in the park that lists many of them, if you really want to get into it. I believe it’s also available as an app.

Pressed coins are still a thing. In fact, many of the machines have been upgraded to accept credit card and mobile payments so you don’t need to bring a giant bag of coins.

Have you ever seen the little man of Disneyland? That’s fun for kids to look for and find.

If you go before the end of October, there is a pumpkin scavenger hunt at downtown Disney that’s fun.

Pin trading is still happening. The pin shops are open, and there are pin boards around the resort.

There are still plenty of characters out, including a lot of superheroes making appearances at avengers campus. It’s just that the characters are behind some kind of barrier instead of out on the walkways like some were before.

Don’t forget that in addition to the parks, you can walk thru downtown Disney, the grand Californian, and visit the Tangaroa Terrace at Disneyland hotel.

There will be plenty to look at as you make your way through the resort. I love trips like that. Where you just walk around, enjoy the ambience, admire the details, and jump on a few rides here and there if it’s convenient.

 

[MilitaryMouse]

You should really check out the Disneyland Vlog videos from the "Alex the Historian" channel. He was apparently a CM for a number of years including doing the VIP tours I believe. Anyway, in a lot of his early vlog videos he goes around DL and points out some really cool features all over the park that are things you'd just never notice or know about. For example, in this video (

at 9:38 or so) he shows you this brick wall right next to the lockers entrance. He shows how the wall has 2 types of bricks on the left / right side and explains that it was an old test wall for the imagineers to try out different styles of brickwork which they could then use to decide how they would do other locations. Would never have noticed that, but after seeing it in the video and then later in person it was just a cool feature nobody knows about. Anyway, he does tons of stuff like that showing off neat little nooks-and-crannies and whats-behind-THIS-door, etc. I have no affiliation with him, just stumbled across channel and enjoyed it.

What a cool channel! Thanks for sharing, this is exactly the type of stuff we love learning about!

 

[MilitaryMouse]

Hidden Mickeys are still a thing. There’s actually a book that’s available in the park that lists many of them, if you really want to get into it. I believe it’s also available as an app.

Pressed coins are still a thing. In fact, many of the machines have been upgraded to accept credit card and mobile payments so you don’t need to bring a giant bag of coins.

Have you ever seen the little man of Disneyland? That’s fun for kids to look for and find.

If you go before the end of October, there is a pumpkin scavenger hunt at downtown Disney that’s fun.

Pin trading is still happening. The pin shops are open, and there are pin boards around the resort.

There are still plenty of characters out, including a lot of superheroes making appearances at avengers campus. It’s just that the characters are behind some kind of barrier instead of out on the walkways like some were before.

Don’t forget that in addition to the parks, you can walk thru downtown Disney, the grand Californian, and visit the Tangaroa Terrace at Disneyland hotel.

There will be plenty to look at as you make your way through the resort. I love trips like that. Where you just walk around, enjoy the ambience, admire the details, and jump on a few rides here and there if it’s convenient.

Thank you so much! This is awesome and exactly what I’m looking for. And I didn’t know about the pumpkin scavenger hunt! Do I buy this or start somewhere specifically?

What is the little man of Disneyland??

 

[MilitaryMouse]

And before I get gloriously distracted by YouTube videos , does anyone know if GCH has bed rails? Thanks!

 

[Kingtide]

Thank you so much! This is awesome and exactly what I’m looking for. And I didn’t know about the pumpkin scavenger hunt! Do I buy this or start somewhere specifically?

What is the little man of Disneyland??

there is a card & cup set you can purchase from a kiosk in downtown Disney for the pumpkin hunt

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thank you so much! This is awesome and exactly what I’m looking for. And I didn’t know about the pumpkin scavenger hunt! Do I buy this or start somewhere specifically?

What is the little man of Disneyland??

There is a Golden Book called, "The Little Man of Disneyland," and in 2015 his house was 'discovered.' It's near the Indiana Jones entrance at the base of a tree (sometimes the trash cans block it).

 

[Diana ZP]

There is a Golden Book called, "The Little Man of Disneyland," and in 2015 his house was 'discovered.' It's near the Indiana Jones entrance at the base of a tree (sometimes the trash cans block it).
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Oh that is so very cool! I will have to look for it!

 

[MilitaryMouse]

there is a card & cup set you can purchase from a kiosk in downtown Disney for the pumpkin hunt

Thank you!

 

[MilitaryMouse]

There is a Golden Book called, "The Little Man of Disneyland," and in 2015 his house was 'discovered.' It's near the Indiana Jones entrance at the base of a tree (sometimes the trash cans block it).
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That’s so cool! Definitely reading that book before our trip!

 

[miksicnarf]

My granddaughters are about the same age as your littles. We've been back to DL a couple times recently, and they really enjoyed seeing the characters (as others have said, it's from a bit of a distance, no contact). I don't know about bed rails at the GC, I would bet they have them if you call and request. If not, I'd put the mattress on the floor. We stayed on the DVC side and my girls were absolutely fascinated with the murphy bed! I told them we had a "secret bed" and their minds were blown! I halfway suspect if you asked them what they liked best about Disneyland they'd say the secret bed

 

[ktlm]

We saw a ton of characters last week. They were all over. Over outside the Royal Hall, and also in the tent where they used to have the Princess shows, we saw Rapunzel, Flynn, Belle, Gaston, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Anastasia, Mulan, Elena. Miguel from Coco was in Frontierland. Mickey and Marie were back in Toontown (you can't go in the houses right now). Around Town Square, we saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald Daisy. In the grassy area near the castle we saw Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore (at separate times). In Galaxy's Edge there are Storm Troopers, Kylo Ren, we saw Chewbacca working under the milenium Falcoln, and we saw Vi Moradi. At California Adventure on Buena Vista Street and around the fountain there, we saw Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Oswald, Clarabelle, Horace, Pluto, Anna and Elsa. In the Avenger's campus area for socially distanced pictures, we saw Spiderman, Ironman, Antman, Wasp. Not for Pictures we saw Black Panther, Black Widow, Thor, Dr. Strange, Captain America, Wakanda's Dora Milaje, and we caught a very brief glimpse of Loki. On Paradise Pier we saw Joy, Sadness, Woody, Jessie. On the wharf up on the building (not for pictures) we saw Max and Goofy. There are also character cavalcades. At CA we saw the green army men and the Incredibles. At Disneyland, one cavalcade had too many characters to list- another we saw was just Anna and Elsa and Olaf on their parade float.

Even though they are distanced the characters are very good at interacting. For most of them there is no line, you just walk up and find a spot. Spiderman and Iron man had lines.

My daughter has always adored the characters- when she was little she would rather have spent her whole day in meet and greets instead of riding rides. She and I were talking about how with her being older, we really liked the no line and a little distanced characters as they were very easy to get to and to interact with-- we thought it was great for older kids and adults, but she loved hugging them and getting autographs when she was little, so we are sorry for the littler kids that they can't do that right now. Of course, if the little ones haven't done it before, they probably don't know they are missing anything.

 

[ktlm]

Also-- we did see some pin trading. but not a lot The resort, some stores and other places had pin boards or other things with pins. There was not a lot, and we noticed that a couple of boards/ things, the pins didn't really change in the whole 5 days we were there. The pin shop in DTD did have a board that changed and had a couple good ones. We didn't see any cast members with lanyards trading right now.

 

[MilitaryMouse]

We saw a ton of characters last week. They were all over. Over outside the Royal Hall, and also in the tent where they used to have the Princess shows, we saw Rapunzel, Flynn, Belle, Gaston, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Anastasia, Mulan, Elena. Miguel from Coco was in Frontierland. Mickey and Marie were back in Toontown (you can't go in the houses right now). Around Town Square, we saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald Daisy. In the grassy area near the castle we saw Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore (at separate times). In Galaxy's Edge there are Storm Troopers, Kylo Ren, we saw Chewbacca working under the milenium Falcoln, and we saw Vi Moradi. At California Adventure on Buena Vista Street and around the fountain there, we saw Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Oswald, Clarabelle, Horace, Pluto, Anna and Elsa. In the Avenger's campus area for socially distanced pictures, we saw Spiderman, Ironman, Antman, Wasp. Not for Pictures we saw Black Panther, Black Widow, Thor, Dr. Strange, Captain America, Wakanda's Dora Milaje, and we caught a very brief glimpse of Loki. On Paradise Pier we saw Joy, Sadness, Woody, Jessie. On the wharf up on the building (not for pictures) we saw Max and Goofy. There are also character cavalcades. At CA we saw the green army men and the Incredibles. At Disneyland, one cavalcade had too many characters to list- another we saw was just Anna and Elsa and Olaf on their parade float.

Even though they are distanced the characters are very good at interacting. For most of them there is no line, you just walk up and find a spot. Spiderman and Iron man had lines.

My daughter has always adored the characters- when she was little she would rather have spent her whole day in meet and greets instead of riding rides. She and I were talking about how with her being older, we really liked the no line and a little distanced characters as they were very easy to get to and to interact with-- we thought it was great for older kids and adults, but she loved hugging them and getting autographs when she was little, so we are sorry for the littler kids that they can't do that right now. Of course, if the little one haven't done it before, they don't know they probably don't know they are missing anything.

Also-- we did see some pin trading. but not a lot The resort, some stores and other places had pin boards or other things with pins. There was not a lot, and we noticed that a couple of boards/ things, the pins didn't really change in the whole 5 days we were there. The pin shop in DTD did have a board that changed and had a couple good ones. We didn't see any cast members with lanyards trading right now.

Wow, thank you, that’s an amazing amount of characters! One of the things we’ve always loved about Disneyland is randomly running into roaming characters. The distanced “meets” kinddddd of feel like that and I kind of like it! My little ones love seeing characters but actually prefer to be a bit farther. They get a little freaked when the characters came in for a huge So I think they’ll really enjoy just watching characters from a distance!

Good to know about the pins. It’ll be fun to do on our rest days.

 

[MilitaryMouse]

My granddaughters are about the same age as your littles. We've been back to DL a couple times recently, and they really enjoyed seeing the characters (as others have said, it's from a bit of a distance, no contact). I don't know about bed rails at the GC, I would bet they have them if you call and request. If not, I'd put the mattress on the floor. We stayed on the DVC side and my girls were absolutely fascinated with the murphy bed! I told them we had a "secret bed" and their minds were blown! I halfway suspect if you asked them what they liked best about Disneyland they'd say the secret bed

Thank you! I tried calling but the waits are crazy right now. I’ll try again later

That’s what I love about kids. It’s the little things that make them happy - be it Murphy beds or, in my kids case, opening and closing the sliding balcony door (while I silently freakout about rope drop ). Kind of takes the pressure off though and forces me to slow down! We all end up having a more enjoyable trip

 

[MilitaryMouse]

In case anyone had the same question, I finally got through the phone lines - no bed rails at GCH.

 

[ktlm]

In case anyone had the same question, I finally got through the phone lines - no bed rails at GCH.

That is surprising. I have never seen a Disney resort that did not have bed rails available. We used them at the WDW resorts all the time when DD was little.
I went back through my pictures, and wanted to add that we also saw Alice and the Cheshire Cat around the grassy area where we saw Tigger and Pooh. (I'm only giving you all the characters we saw during the regular day- not the OBB characters which were a ton as well). It definitely still had that feel you described of randomly running into characters--- they just weren't quite as "roaming", since they put most where people can't run up to them, but you can still see them "roam" as they walk back and forth to the spots.

 

[MilitaryMouse]

That is surprising. I have never seen a Disney resort that did not have bed rails available. We used them at the WDW resorts all the time when DD was little.
I went back through my pictures, and wanted to add that we also saw Alice and the Cheshire Cat around the grassy area where we saw Tigger and Pooh. (I'm only giving you all the characters we saw during the regular day- not the OBB characters which were a ton as well). It definitely still had that feel you described of randomly running into characters--- they just weren't quite as "roaming", since they put most where people can't run up to them, but you can still see them "roam" as they walk back and forth to the spots.

I was surprised too. I knew WDW had them so I assumed the DL hotels had them too. Obviously mistaken

Thank you for the character tips! I’m actually super excited to see them! I really think our family will enjoy the distanced “meets”! Especially the no waiting/lines part!

 

[sierrawine]

I bought portable bed bumpers for toddlers on Amazon before! I never used them (you inflate them and stick them under the sheets at the end/sides of the bed so they weren't HUGE but I was hoping for "better-than-nothing" - think big pool noodle) and I think I gave them away. I bought them specifically for hotel stays but never used them so I cannot comment on effectiveness but I know they had good reviews. When we stay at hotels we usually put pillows all along the side of the bed and tuck the blankets around/under them to keep the pillows from falling off. Kids usually get hung up on the pillows, LOL. And if there are enough pillows in the room I also line the floor with pillows off the edge of the bed in case they make it off.

I've seen people buy twin-sized inflatable mattresses for kids in hotels to prevent them from falling off beds. (At least not as far to the floor - I think GC has pretty high beds?) Amazon has toddler inflatable beds with great reviews if you want to consider those! (Look like little pools, actually!) Can you put the almost 2-year-old in a crib? That'd take care of one of them! I still worry about my almost seven-year-old falling off beds!