Our Trip to Disneyland at Halloweentime

Hey friends! I am so excited to finally get a moment to get our first trip to Disneyland up on the blog!

If you aren’t already familiar, we are a huge Disney family, and we typically take at least one trip to Walt Disney World or on Disney Cruiseline annually. We made a permanent change of station, or PCS, with the Army this past June, and decided is was time to wet our feet at Disneyland. We have been so fortunate this year, as we were able to visit Disney World this Spring, and now we have this trip under our belt. Truly a dream come true. It was made extra special by my in-laws coming in from Georgia, and my sister-in-law from Texas. I can’t say enough how beautiful it was to be making memories with our extended family.

Head over to my Disneyland highlights on Instagram for a fun recap of our trip. Before we left, I made the kids Disney Halloween themed Boo Baskets full of fun items to kick off Spooky Szn and to get them pumped for our upcoming trip. Have a closer look at the fun things we curated and took with us on my Boo Baskets 2021 post.

In addition, here are a few planning details and frequently asked questions that I’ll answer:

Where did we stay?

We stayed on property at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa. This came at a personal recommendation from a good friend of ours. Not only did she recommend the hotel as a beautiful resort, but that the proximity Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure and Downtown Disney was unmatched. She was BEYOND correct. The Grand California did not disappoint.

There is an entrance from the hotel directly into Downtown Disney AND and a special entrance into Disney California Adventure (note: you do not have to be a hotel guest to use this entrance, and the line is usually shorter). This for me was a game changer. I am used to staying on property at Walt Disney World and the Shades of Green Resort, and still having to catch the monorail or walk over to Magic Kingdom. Getting to the park’s entrance in a quick 5-10 minute walk from my hotel door was the absolute best. It made midday rests or needing to grab something from the hotel a breeze.

The hotel itself is also gorgeous. I love the woodland theme throughout. It reminded me of being in the middle of a Redwoods forest. I also loved all of the adorable Disney forest touches like Chip and Dale subtly painted on the room walls. I didn’t grab photos but there are little hidden Mickeys in the bathroom wallpaper. I really loved that we were at a Disney resort without it feeling tacky or overdone. It was both magical and tasteful.

We booked our room by calling the Disney Reservations line HERE. We booked about 2 months in advance and were able to get a great military rate standard room. We had a view of Bear Mountain in Disney California Adventure, and we paid an additional fee to have Club Level access. Club Level comes with some great benefits that you can read about here, but I especially loved the Veranda Lounge which gave us access to delicious small bites, snacks, coffee and drinks throughout our stay.

Our first night we dubbed a “pool day” and the Grand Californian didn’t disappoint with the pools. There was tons of space, a hot tub, two water slides and the most comfy lounge chairs EVER! I also loved that the bar and restaurant were so close. We ordered hot pizzas poolside!

I also want to mention that when you add Club Level access to your stay, you can watch the full Disneyland fireworks show from the Veranda deck. They stream in the music from the fireworks show as well, and this was one of my favorite parts of our stay. We relaxed after a day of traveling, enjoyed a glass or two of wine, and took in the magic.

They also had a MASSIVE Oogie Boogie installation in the lobby that was completely edible. SO cool!

What did we pack?

One of my favorite parts about preparing for our Disney trips is all of the fun outfits and accessories! I love a good family matching tee set, fun pajamas, and cute ears. You can find the links for most of the clothing and accessories we packed in my Disneyland Instagram highlights HERE. Check out some of my favorite small shops for Disney merch below (simply click on the highlighted shop name)

• Giddy Up and Grow (ears and bows)
• Moon and Stone (custom gemstone bracelets)
• ZoZu Co USE CODE: SHAKIRA (bows, clips and pins)
• Nora Madison Designs (apparel/fun jammies)
• The Magic Box (apparel/bags)
• Modern Birch Co (acrylic tags)
• Chalk Designs by Me (hand lettered tags)
• The Ever Co (apparel)
• Layna x Love (bows)
• Bibbidi Bobbidi Bedina (masks)
• Frost Your Cookie (cookie pops)
• Kiss You Co (handcrafted wands)

I also have a super helpful Amazon list in my storefront that has a bunch of the items that we regularly take to the parks like mini fans (with ears of course), themed road trip travel trays and my favorite Mickey diaper bag. Check it out HERE.

I highly suggest bringing a stroller if you have one. If you don’t, they have them to rent at guest services right before you enter the park. Not only does it make it easier to tote around tired kiddos, there’s plenty of space for bags, jackets, water bottles and any gear you pickup while in the parks. We’ve had a BOB jogging stroller since Raegan was a baby. I highly recommend it for the agility and ease of use alone. We also loved our Double BOB stroller, and it is one of the few doubles that is still permitted in the parks.

How much were tickets?

We purchased 4-Day Military Park Hopper tickets ($260) for everyone except Xander, who is free until he turns three. We got these tickets on the naval base in town through the leisure and travel office. We have always purchased our military tickets on our nearest military installation. Mark brought his military ID to the gate, and showed it when we activated our tickets on the first day. Read more about the Military Park Hopper tickets HERE.

What was the Oogie Boogie Bash that you all went to?

The Oogie Boogie Bash was a separate ticketed event happening at Disney California Adventure for Halloween. We purchased tickets for this nighttime Disney Halloween party seperately. They shut DCA down at 6PM that day to everyone except the people attending the party. Check out more of the specifics behind the event HERE.

The kids were able to trick-or-treat at several treat trails during our time there…most were themed around a Disney villain. We saw Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog, Sid from Toy Story, Cinderella’s Evil Step Sisters and a ton of other memorable faces. It was incredibly fun and our first time being able to see an actual parade since before the pandemic.

What did you eat?

EVERYTHING we could! Haha! Honestly, we always try to budget quite a bit for food during our Disney trips. Getting all of the yummy treats inside the park is part of the experience for us. With that being said, you are allowed to bring in your own food and drinks, and that would be a huge time saver. I once saw a woman at Walt Disney World who handed our individual salad bowls to all of her kids and I was so impressed haha!

Dining at Disney can be a bit tricky. Most sit down dining is made by reservation only, and that is done through the mobile app. You can make dining reservations as soon as 60 days out, and my suggestion is to try as soon as you possibly can, as things fill up insanely quick. I try to make at least one dining reservation per day (so that we have some structure and guaranteed grub), and when I went into my app at the 60 day mark, there weren’t a ton of options. I checked back almost every single day, and thanks to you all sending me reminders on Instagram, I was able to snag a couple of time slots.

I really wanted to do a character breakfast, as they’re a fun (and guaranteed) opportunity to see the characters up close. Due to COVID restrictions, you still aren’t able to get up and touch/hug them, but they come right up to the tables to say hello and take selfies! Learn more about character dining and where they are available HERE.

Our first character breakfast was Storytellers Cafe inside of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel. That was insanely convenient for us as hotel guests. The food was buffet style and DELISH! The girls’ favorite menu item are the Mickey Waffles. Also, as a food allergy mama, I want to note how PHENOMENAL Disney is at taking care of my contamination concerns (this is across the board from our experience at WDW, DL and on Disney Cruiseline). They are very thorough, and will have the chef come out to speak with you about meal options for anyone in your party. Learn more about food allergy policies HERE.

Our second character dining experience was the Disney Princess Adventure Breakfast at Napa Rose, which is also inside of the Grand Californian. Y’all, this one blew me away. I was really hoping to get a slot for this experience as a surprise for my girls. I bought them the prettiest Disney Princess gowns to wear, and hid them in our luggage until the morning of. This particular breakfast is totally Princes themed and you get to meet them all. If you haven’t already, you MUST see the girls’ reactions on my Instagram reel of our experience HERE.

We had three courses (or “chapters” as our wonderful server called them): starters, mains (buffet style) and dessert. This meal ($125 per ticket) was amazing and my personal favorites were the steak, beignets, hot teas and the mimosa that was included for mama. The entire experience lasted about 2 hours and we ate, chatted, ate more, and got to meet, chat with, and take photos with all of the princesses. My girls are 6 and 4 and I think this was the perfect age for such a special breakfast.

Non character dining restaurants we enjoyed and I recommend looking into: Cocina Cucamongo in DCA (go for the quesabirra), Cafe Orleans (the Monte Carlo and mint juleps were DIVINE), and Pyms Kitchen in the Avengers Campus inside DCA. The chicken sandwich at Pyms was my FAVORITE meal that trip–my mother-in-law and sister-in-law would agree!

If you’re not really wanting to do sit down dining, there are plenty of quick service options but most are encouraging mobile ordering…which can sometimes be tricky. My biggest suggestion is to put your order in as early as possible. If lunch isn’t for 2 more hours, go ahead and put in your order (you can choose the time) when you think about it. We have an incident where we waiting too long and the window to pick up our dinner seemed to take forever to open. Moral of the story, try and plan ahead as much as possible.

We also enjoyed plenty of treats like popcorn, pretzels, Mickey bars and churros. My favorite treats shop was Trolley Treats in DCA! While we were waiting on the parade, I went in there and grabbed Jack Skellington cake pops for all of the kids, a poison (candied) apple for Mark, and I snagged a Mickey cookie!

Favorite Rides?

Mark: Guardians of the Galaxy (DCA)
Shakira: Pirates of the Caribbean (DL)
Zarie: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (DL)
Raegan: Webslingers (DCA)
Xander: Dumbo (DL)

A lot of people asked how we did riding with having Xander (age 1) in tow. We were really lucky because my mother-in-law almost always graciously offered to sit or stroll with him while we rode the rides. When we go to the parks with just the five us, we take advantage of Rider Switch.

If a Guest doesn’t meet the boarding requirements or doesn’t wish to experience a particular attraction, it’s not a problem for family and friends who do!

With Rider Switch, one adult or supervising Guest (14 years or older) can wait with non-riders while the rest of the party enjoys the attraction. Then, they simply switch roles to allow the supervising Guest to experience the attraction without waiting in the regular queue again. Learn more about how to use Rider Switch here.

We are very much looking forward to returning to the parks and checking out more of the rides and attractions. It was pretty busy when we were there, and navigating the needs of 10 people means lots of compromise on when are where to allocate time in the parks. We got to do so much, and next time I am personally looking forward to trying out some of my classic favs next time like Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain…which I hear is a totally different experience at DL.

Which one is better between Walt Disney World and Disneyland?

Y’all. This isn’t as easy of a decision as I thought it may have been. There are certain things about each of these parks that I LOVE, and the magic is so good in both..but…I think Walt Disney World still has my heart. Why? Well first of all, I think your first Disney park will always hold a special place in your heart. WDW was the first place I went as a family. The first place I’ve taken all my babies. I know my way around, I know my favorite parts and rides, it feels like home. I also love the grandeur of WDW. Between the 4 parks there is just SO much to do and see. I’ve been several times and there are still so many things I want to experience there. I would suggest to anyone to go to WDW if you have a longer stay option.

I also LOVED how charming Disneyland was with it’s much smaller setting. It seems like it would be a lot less overwhelming for a first time parkgoer. I felt like it was a bit of a tight fit at times, but I think that is because I am used to the much more spacious WDW. I could also go on and on about how spectacular it was to walk from my hotel into the parks. You cannot beat that comfort and convienience. The fact that the entrance to Disneyland and Disneys California Adventure’s entrances are across from each other was DOPE! It made park hopping a breeze. Oh and the churros are better at Disneyland. I don’t know why, they just are. I swear.

I also REALLY liked DCA…it gave me Hollywood Studios vibes, which is my fav park at WDW. The new Avengers Campus was also crazy cool! The Halloween decor was a whole vibe, and I so loved seeing the parks all dressed up for the season. It makes me want to go at Christmastime even more.

All in all I am so thankful that Disneyland is down the street, and you bet we will be back, but Walt Disney World has my heart.

Okay, friends. I *think* that is it. I tried my best to answer as many of your questions as possible, while being as concise as possible. I am always happy to help if you have any additional questions. I am by no means a vacation planner, but I am happy to share the things our family likes.

Leave any questions you have on this post, and I’ll follow up ASAP!

xoxo,
Shakira

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