I'm sure the person who first uttered the phrase, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" was actually a mom on a road trip with her family! We planned for this trip like a military campaign but it was 13 hours to Vegas and then 5 more to make it to our first So. Cal. hotel. We were a bit crowded and all of us are tall and needed way more leg room but at least we were on our way! 
We took off from CO to CA for 10 days with our grown son (almost 20), grown daughter (almost 25) and her daughter, Savanna, who will be 4 this August. Some good friends drove out with us in their car with their two daughters and some friends and family met us at Disneyland so it was crazy!
When my kids and I live in So. Cal. we always had AP's, my dh and I went 4 times last year since I was living there for 6 months, but this was a first trip for our granddaughter and it was special. Our whole focus was to share this experience with her so she'd really feel the magic but we had to get there first. She had to eat popcorn from a collectable bucket, have a Mickey cookie, visit with characters and see Harold the Yeti on the Matterhorn. I knew she wanted to sing along with Small World and Tiki Room and ride the teacups too. We had so many fun things in mind when we left and we did them all!
Preparing for the road trip I had lists of things to take and do but our biggest challenge was loading the Durango so we could use the 3rd row of seats, have access to the ice chest and snacks, set up the little TV/DVD player so Savanna could watch a (Disney) movie if she wanted to, keep the car seat in the safest place possible (middle of the second seat) and still fit the 4 adults who needed seats! Just keep the pedal to the metal and pass the caffenated beverages! I'm a Dr. Pepper drinker, my dd is Pepsi, ds is Coke and none for Savanna!
Our trip included a stop-over in Vegas to visit family, a night in a hotel near Malibu, 2 nights in San Diego and then 4 nights in Ahaheim so I had lots of opportunities to perfect my auto packing! Savanna was great - no crying or whining and she really only watched the TV twice on the way there and after that I packed it up in the very back and didn't use it again.
She's been visiting this site with me and viewing photos and visiting the Disneyland sites to pick out rides to go on and she's watched 'Day at Disneyland' videos since she was small so she was already prepared to love the park. Although she's tall for her age, 41", and could go on most rides we kept her off of some due to her age, like Tower of Terror. We tried to make good choices and except for Space Mountain she liked most of the rides and loved many of them!
Here are some of my tips and tricks to travel with a toddler:
DO - pre-buy some Disney and Disneyland items (I got mine at the Disney outlet and dollar stores) and have them stashed in your vehicle. When Savanna got restless, I'd get something out for her to play with and they were all Disney-related. We started with Shrek characters and I had princess toys, a little princess battery-operated fan, coloring book and crayons, and other amusements.
DON'T - pack too many sweets. Most of us never give our kids candy all of the time but by the time we came home we were in full non-reality vacation mode. We made the mistake of letting Savanna pick out candy at our rest stops on the way home and she got a sugar buzz and was manic and loud for several miles! She did much better with some cheese crackers, string cheese, chips and fruit that we had on the way out. We didn't re-stock these things on the way home and just picked up things at gas stations and that wasn't as successful.
DO - pre-make your autograph book so you can personalize it for the characters. I made ours and will attach photos later, and we had click sharpies for the characters to use when they signed. It was fun and the princesses always thanked Savanna for having a page just for them. On the pages where I had stickers and didn't get a signature I'll just use them as a frame for a disney photo when I scrapbook my pictures. I'll post photos of some of the great princess signatures in the next update.
DON'T - try to have a rigid schedule. I'm sure Ridemax is awesome but I learned first-hand that toddler time rules. Once we started taking Savanna on rides she started requesting a fast ride or slow ride or some of her favorites again. She had no interest in riding on the Fantasyland rides and we gave her several opportunities. In Fantasyland she only liked Dumbo, the carousel, the teacups and Alice. We took turns taking her around and by the third day she had her favorite rides she wanted to ride again. We took time for parades and fireworks and enjoying the songs and shows since this trip was mainly for her to enjoy and learn to love the parks.
DO - take your own stroller. What a lifesaver this turned out to be for us. Although the hotel is right across the street, when she fell asleep at night it would have seemed like miles if we had to carry her, our packages, cooler, purse and whatever back to our room. Our little umbrella stroller moved easily through the crowds, was easy to find in the row of Disney strollers, we didn't have to wait in line to get it and the only problem was if Savanna got out to go on a ride before I took my purse and packages off of the handles then the whole stroller tipped over backwards!
DON'T - forget the extra clothes! Savanna had to change twice and we had spare clothes with us for her when she got wet on a ride and when she had an accident (didn't want to take a minute to go to the bathroom on Day 1). We had clothes in the lockers and some large ziplock bags to hold the wet clothes and we rinsed them out at night. I also had sweat pants and her new Princess hoody stored for cool nights.
DO - schedule a character meal. Our lunch at Ariel's Grotto was so fun for Savanna and really a highlight of her trip. We just had the girls attend so 5 of us sat in a large shell-shaped booth and they take such good care of you from the minute you arrive. Savanna got to pick out a costume at the princess shop in Fantasyland and she picked her favorite princess costume, Ariel. When we were greeted by the Ariel at the restaurant, she spent several minutes talking to her, signing her book, posing with her and really made her feel special. We made sure we arrived about 30 - 40 minutes early so we were the second family in and had plenty of time with Ariel. They gave each of the girls at our table a pin from the restaurant, had a good selection of food items and if it wasn't gourmet, it was good and we had excellent service. The Royal Page comes out and announces the princesses and they arrive and begin circulating to each table. There isn't any crowding or pushing and the kids stay seated at their own tables while each princess took her time in speaking to the two girls, signing their books and posing for photos. They stayed in character and Savanna was thrilled to meet them.
I used my AAA card for 10% off but my meal was only $20 and Savanna was $13 or $14 and with drinks and dessert and appetizer/salad included I thought it was fine.
DON'T - restrict your visit to just rides and characters and rush through too quickly. Take the time to explore little areas of the park that a toddler would enjoy. We watched the ducks with their babies in the water and little sparrows hopping through the tables. We played with our water bottle fan and squirted each other while hanging out on main street, we pet the black horse who pulls the trolley and we explored the props and scenery in the Hollywood pictures section of CA. She glowed at experiencing this all first hand and played in the water, listened for bugs in Bugs Land, and took our shoes off (against the rules as it turns out) to stomp in puddles of water in the Bugs Land water feature. I looked for ways to get her involved and she got to dance with Mary Poppins and Bert and got a Perly Band pin. They also have a band by Grizzly Rapids where your child can play an instrument and sing along.
She loved Bug's Land and did a happy woo-hoo each time she was tall enough for a ride. We went over there right after she was an inch too short for Grizzly Rapids so it was a nice change to be tall enough for each of those rides. We had no lines over there and just walked on to each ride and played with the other kids and their families.
We're still unpacking and sorting out our souveniers and reliving our best moments so this concludes the first installment of our visit chronacles. Here, finally, are some photos from Day 1:
Savanna had her first official Disneyland photo with Mickey wearing her Libby Lu sunglasses!
Her second photo was with Donald Duck - she was disappointed that we didn't see Daisy anywhere.
Our first ride was Pirates and Haunted Mansion was next. Savanna is in this photo with her mom and her Uncle Nick.
In this photo Savanna just heard that there will be crocodiles on the Jungle Cruise!
Savanna was chosen to dance with Mary Poppins but she wasn't quite sure what to do at first!
Savanna finally learns how to be a chimney sweep and "flap like a birdie".
Savanna and her great-grandmother take time out to pet the lovely horse.
She loves the carousel and rode this one twice and the King Triton carousel 3 times!
Monsters, Inc. was one of her favorite rides, along with Dumbo and Soarin' so we had to snap a few photos out front. When I look at these photos I can almost smell the popcorn and feel the magic all over again!
We took off from CO to CA for 10 days with our grown son (almost 20), grown daughter (almost 25) and her daughter, Savanna, who will be 4 this August. Some good friends drove out with us in their car with their two daughters and some friends and family met us at Disneyland so it was crazy!
When my kids and I live in So. Cal. we always had AP's, my dh and I went 4 times last year since I was living there for 6 months, but this was a first trip for our granddaughter and it was special. Our whole focus was to share this experience with her so she'd really feel the magic but we had to get there first. She had to eat popcorn from a collectable bucket, have a Mickey cookie, visit with characters and see Harold the Yeti on the Matterhorn. I knew she wanted to sing along with Small World and Tiki Room and ride the teacups too. We had so many fun things in mind when we left and we did them all!
Preparing for the road trip I had lists of things to take and do but our biggest challenge was loading the Durango so we could use the 3rd row of seats, have access to the ice chest and snacks, set up the little TV/DVD player so Savanna could watch a (Disney) movie if she wanted to, keep the car seat in the safest place possible (middle of the second seat) and still fit the 4 adults who needed seats! Just keep the pedal to the metal and pass the caffenated beverages! I'm a Dr. Pepper drinker, my dd is Pepsi, ds is Coke and none for Savanna!
Our trip included a stop-over in Vegas to visit family, a night in a hotel near Malibu, 2 nights in San Diego and then 4 nights in Ahaheim so I had lots of opportunities to perfect my auto packing! Savanna was great - no crying or whining and she really only watched the TV twice on the way there and after that I packed it up in the very back and didn't use it again.
She's been visiting this site with me and viewing photos and visiting the Disneyland sites to pick out rides to go on and she's watched 'Day at Disneyland' videos since she was small so she was already prepared to love the park. Although she's tall for her age, 41", and could go on most rides we kept her off of some due to her age, like Tower of Terror. We tried to make good choices and except for Space Mountain she liked most of the rides and loved many of them!
Here are some of my tips and tricks to travel with a toddler:
DO - pre-buy some Disney and Disneyland items (I got mine at the Disney outlet and dollar stores) and have them stashed in your vehicle. When Savanna got restless, I'd get something out for her to play with and they were all Disney-related. We started with Shrek characters and I had princess toys, a little princess battery-operated fan, coloring book and crayons, and other amusements.
DON'T - pack too many sweets. Most of us never give our kids candy all of the time but by the time we came home we were in full non-reality vacation mode. We made the mistake of letting Savanna pick out candy at our rest stops on the way home and she got a sugar buzz and was manic and loud for several miles! She did much better with some cheese crackers, string cheese, chips and fruit that we had on the way out. We didn't re-stock these things on the way home and just picked up things at gas stations and that wasn't as successful.
DO - pre-make your autograph book so you can personalize it for the characters. I made ours and will attach photos later, and we had click sharpies for the characters to use when they signed. It was fun and the princesses always thanked Savanna for having a page just for them. On the pages where I had stickers and didn't get a signature I'll just use them as a frame for a disney photo when I scrapbook my pictures. I'll post photos of some of the great princess signatures in the next update.
DON'T - try to have a rigid schedule. I'm sure Ridemax is awesome but I learned first-hand that toddler time rules. Once we started taking Savanna on rides she started requesting a fast ride or slow ride or some of her favorites again. She had no interest in riding on the Fantasyland rides and we gave her several opportunities. In Fantasyland she only liked Dumbo, the carousel, the teacups and Alice. We took turns taking her around and by the third day she had her favorite rides she wanted to ride again. We took time for parades and fireworks and enjoying the songs and shows since this trip was mainly for her to enjoy and learn to love the parks.
DO - take your own stroller. What a lifesaver this turned out to be for us. Although the hotel is right across the street, when she fell asleep at night it would have seemed like miles if we had to carry her, our packages, cooler, purse and whatever back to our room. Our little umbrella stroller moved easily through the crowds, was easy to find in the row of Disney strollers, we didn't have to wait in line to get it and the only problem was if Savanna got out to go on a ride before I took my purse and packages off of the handles then the whole stroller tipped over backwards!
DON'T - forget the extra clothes! Savanna had to change twice and we had spare clothes with us for her when she got wet on a ride and when she had an accident (didn't want to take a minute to go to the bathroom on Day 1). We had clothes in the lockers and some large ziplock bags to hold the wet clothes and we rinsed them out at night. I also had sweat pants and her new Princess hoody stored for cool nights.
DO - schedule a character meal. Our lunch at Ariel's Grotto was so fun for Savanna and really a highlight of her trip. We just had the girls attend so 5 of us sat in a large shell-shaped booth and they take such good care of you from the minute you arrive. Savanna got to pick out a costume at the princess shop in Fantasyland and she picked her favorite princess costume, Ariel. When we were greeted by the Ariel at the restaurant, she spent several minutes talking to her, signing her book, posing with her and really made her feel special. We made sure we arrived about 30 - 40 minutes early so we were the second family in and had plenty of time with Ariel. They gave each of the girls at our table a pin from the restaurant, had a good selection of food items and if it wasn't gourmet, it was good and we had excellent service. The Royal Page comes out and announces the princesses and they arrive and begin circulating to each table. There isn't any crowding or pushing and the kids stay seated at their own tables while each princess took her time in speaking to the two girls, signing their books and posing for photos. They stayed in character and Savanna was thrilled to meet them.
I used my AAA card for 10% off but my meal was only $20 and Savanna was $13 or $14 and with drinks and dessert and appetizer/salad included I thought it was fine.DON'T - restrict your visit to just rides and characters and rush through too quickly. Take the time to explore little areas of the park that a toddler would enjoy. We watched the ducks with their babies in the water and little sparrows hopping through the tables. We played with our water bottle fan and squirted each other while hanging out on main street, we pet the black horse who pulls the trolley and we explored the props and scenery in the Hollywood pictures section of CA. She glowed at experiencing this all first hand and played in the water, listened for bugs in Bugs Land, and took our shoes off (against the rules as it turns out) to stomp in puddles of water in the Bugs Land water feature. I looked for ways to get her involved and she got to dance with Mary Poppins and Bert and got a Perly Band pin. They also have a band by Grizzly Rapids where your child can play an instrument and sing along.
She loved Bug's Land and did a happy woo-hoo each time she was tall enough for a ride. We went over there right after she was an inch too short for Grizzly Rapids so it was a nice change to be tall enough for each of those rides. We had no lines over there and just walked on to each ride and played with the other kids and their families.
We're still unpacking and sorting out our souveniers and reliving our best moments so this concludes the first installment of our visit chronacles. Here, finally, are some photos from Day 1:
Savanna had her first official Disneyland photo with Mickey wearing her Libby Lu sunglasses!
Her second photo was with Donald Duck - she was disappointed that we didn't see Daisy anywhere.
Our first ride was Pirates and Haunted Mansion was next. Savanna is in this photo with her mom and her Uncle Nick.
In this photo Savanna just heard that there will be crocodiles on the Jungle Cruise!
Savanna was chosen to dance with Mary Poppins but she wasn't quite sure what to do at first!
Savanna finally learns how to be a chimney sweep and "flap like a birdie".
Savanna and her great-grandmother take time out to pet the lovely horse.
She loves the carousel and rode this one twice and the King Triton carousel 3 times!
Monsters, Inc. was one of her favorite rides, along with Dumbo and Soarin' so we had to snap a few photos out front. When I look at these photos I can almost smell the popcorn and feel the magic all over again!
Sounds like a great trip. You are very brave. i have a 3.5 year old DD and I wouldn't consider a road trip yet. I'd go crazy!
Bummer. I switched back to my "Simple" brand flip-flops the next day and had no problems. 
The food was fine, and surrounded by girls dressed for 
Here are some photos from Ariel's Grotto - we were inside in a booth and it was very comfortable and not so close to the windows that the glare would ruin a shot. Keep that in mind if you go and try to get a table to the side where the booths are or outside.
