OH, Disney….what I really mean is WOW DISNEY!

I literally came home with a zero balance in my bank account…because Disney took all my money!! Haha no, seriously, they did!! We needed a full day’s rest after our recent trip to Disneyland. Ever since Disneyland park has opened its door on April 30th with 35% capacity, people have rushed towards their favorite place. But many people still hesitate to go to their favorite Disneyland park in 2021. Read till the end and find out the best Disneyland tips you’ll need to make your trip memorable.

Okay! We’re not crazy about Disneyland, but we wanted to take advantage of the fact that Disneyland park is only allowing 35% of its capacity – that’s great for us because fewer people means fewer lines and less craziness! So obviously we decided to book our online tickets for Disneyland park when tickets went on sale….and yes, holy sh*T I was by my computer for 7 hours, literally almost peed my pants, because I didn’t want to miss my place in line. It was that intense! So today I’m going to tell you about my experience, tips, and tricks on what I learned in the most natural, unbiased, and unfiltered way. Make sure to check out my 9 things you must pack for Disney and the free Disneypackinglist. Let’s dive into my top 7 Disneyland tips for 2021.

Hotel – Courtyard by Marriott Anaheim theme park entrance

Choosing the right hotel is essential for a successful Disneyland trip. We booked our hotel at the Courtyard Marriott at Anaheim and we absolutely loved our stay! It’s literally 1 block away from Disneyland which meant no rental car needed or parking fees. It only took us 7 mins to walk to Disneyland and if we wanted, we could have easily walked back to the hotel for the kids’ nap.

The most amazing thing about this hotel is they had a wonderful waterpark for the kids. It is perfect for kids ages 2 and above. Since I have three amazing kids of 2, 3, and 5 years old, this was a wonderful experience for me to just watch them play in the water park and not have to worry about them accidentally falling into the pool. The hotel had a reservation system so it wasn’t crowded at all. In fact, the kids had so much fun at the water park, we went there twice. The staff at the hotel was also super nice and helpful. I would definitely go back there the next time we go to Disneyland park. Also, the bonus is definitely the price. The average hotel fare per night was around $280. Since we had points, we used points for one night and paid for 2 nights.

Time to get there

The park opens at 9 am and our friendly uber driver gave us one of the best Disneyland tips and that was “don’t go too early because you don’t want to wait in that long line before they let people in”. Since they don’t have magic hour anymore, we left the hotel around 8:15 and got in the park at 8:45 am. We waited about 30 mins which is not too bad if the end result is great as Disneyland parks!

Food

Food was definitely different than pre-covid. It was hard for us to find little stands for snacks and most of the restaurants needed online orders from your phone. The third one in the Disneyland tips is to make sure to download the Disney app and order your food in advance. If you’re visiting California adventure make sure to get your online spot for the Avenger’s campus, if not don’t worry the lines start disappearing around 2-3 pm. I wouldn’t waste my time standing in line.

• Disneyland: French Quarters had the best roast chicken! Seriously, if you’re tired of eating fried junk food all day, I would definitely recommend giving the roast chicken at the French Quarters a try. And while you’re there, make sure to grab the mickey mouse beignets. Make sure to order that in advance so you can just pick it up from the restaurant.
• Frontierland: Most of the restaurants in Frontierland were open. But since most of the restaurants are open, it was quite crazy there. We had to stand in line for a turkey leg for about 30 mins.
• California Adventure: Poultry Palace had the best turkey legs I’ve ever had. Since my sister, Christine is so crazy about turkey legs we were literally on a mission to find the best turkey leg in Disneyland park. So if you’re into it like my crazy sister, make sure to go to the Poultry Palace right in front of Jesse’s Critter Carousel.

 

Where to get booze?

• Disneyland: Also…no booze at Disneyland when we went. If you really need some booze…Among my other Disneyland tips, I would recommend you to head to Downtown Disney for a break in between. But I did hear that the Blue Bayou Restaurant located with the Pirates of the Caribbean ride will be selling wine and beer. Also, Oga’s Cantina in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be offering booze too. But they were both closed when we went. But make sure you check on them if they are open or not!
• California Adventure: There’s booze in the avenger campus, Smokejumpers Grill, Carthay Circle Lounge, Hollywood Lounge, Cozy Cone 3, ok you get the point. There are tons of places in California Adventure that actually offer booze. So, if you need one…it won’t be hard to find them.

 

Things to bring

The fifth of my list of Disneyland tips includes the top 5 things you should bring to Disneyland park. The top 5 things I would bring to Disneyland park will definitely be a water canteen, hand sanitizer, masks, sunblock, and wipes. You can also check out my post about 9 things to pack for Disney.

Rides

Since all my kids are under 5, ride options for us were limited. Most of them are around 40″ tall so there were a good number of rides I could take them on. We couldn’t stand in line for anything over 1 hour since my kid’s patience will wear off. I’m going to share the top 3 Disneyland park rides that my kids loved. Make sure to check out my post on 11 Best Disneyland rides for toddlers.

Restaurants to visit

• Brodard Vietnamese restaurant: We picked this up right after our flight, and the spring rolls and the pork chop over rice were so delicious. Not to mention we had to get the Vietnamese coffee to help recharge our batteries.
• Cham Soot Gol Korean BBQ Restaurant: The food was so good $27.99 for all you can eat. We didn’t have to wait that long and the restaurant was super busy. The people there were so nice and the food was great.

I’m not going to lie, not having the fireworks and parade is definitely not as magical as I remembered. But in general, we all had so much fun and we got so .. so.. so tired and beat. Thank you, Disney, for the amazing time. We’ll see you again soon!

Please comment below if you guys visited Disneyland park in 2021 this summer and let me know your experience! If you want to see how much fun we had on our trip check out our video on youtube!

Have fun and stay safe!

Take care!

Love,

Tiffany