The Happiest Place On Earth
In June of this year (2021) my mom and I set out to plan a little family vacation. It seemed COVID was slowing down (at least the initial variant), the world was opening back up, and we, like most everyone else were in serious need of a view other than the 4 walls of our house. My mom and I have always loved everything Disney, the parks, the movies, we love it all. So it comes to no surprise that when I heard Disneyland was opening up to residence outside of California we would choose to go there!
We flew Southwest Airlines (they are honestly my favorite) with a direct flight to LAX. Now if you can, I recommend avoiding LAX at all costs! On another recent trip we flew into the John Wayne Airport and I would recommend that 100 times over! It is a little pricier than flying into LAX, and I couldn’t find a direct flight but OMG it was worth it! But I digress. From LAX we used Karmel Shuttle Service to get to our hotel. It was fine on the way going, but on the way back the driver never showed up and we ended up having to take a $100 taxi ride to the airport and were almost late, when the trip ended I had to go back and forth with the company to ensure I got my money back since it was prepaid.
We stayed at Disney’s Paradise Pier and it was so cute, within walking distance of the parks and Downtown Disney by way of Disney’s Grand Californian and Door Dash and Uber Eats can deliver there! We ate at Downtown Disney’s Black Tap Craft Burgers and the food was great! We did some shopping at Disney’s Word of Disney and then we went back to our hotel to swim and rest up for the next day!
We spent a magical day at the park, my little one (1 at the time) loved every second he was there! We rode everything from Dumbo to my all time favorite Pirates of the Caribbean and then took a walk to Toon Town for Leo to meet his idol……the man, the myth, the legend himself MICKEY MOUSE! Could I get Leo to turn around to take a picture of him and Mickey together? Absolutely not. Did I snap a million pictures to commemorate the moment? Of course I did. Did seeing Leo meet Mickey even if from a distance make me get choked up and cry a little? You know it.
Disneyland made everything easy when it came to picking up food, we mobile ordered what we wanted and Leo was even able to nap in his stroller while in the park. We brought home a Mickey Mouse bubble wand, a new set of ears and a million memories. Before our trip Leo was never interested in watching any sort of movie, now he is a Disney addict and I can’t wait to take him back.
When we were there masks were not required anywhere, I have been back since and you only need a mask while on rides, indoors and in lines that are inside. We felt completely at easy and enjoyed our time and can’t wait to get back!
Takeaways:
Invest in a lightweight stroller and car seat if you plan on flying the two I have are linked
If you can gate check your car seat
Wear comfy shoes
Take sun block
Snacks your little ones like
Hats
Portable fan
Change of clothes
Have the best time
The Anaheim is another affordable hotel option within walking distance
