1st Time Disneyland
 

My husband and I have never been. We would like to take our 3 year old for a weekend trip from Honolulu. Would the summer just be way too crowded? Where should I start on the planning? Thanks.

If you have any flexibility try to plan your visit for a weekend when students are back in school. Summers are busy and weekends are worse than weekdays. The hours of operation are reduced during the off-season (generally non-summer timeframe).

I would recommend the Unoffical Guide to Disneyland. This travel guide offers great tips on strategies to maximize your time. It also explains the nature of the rides so that you will be able to avoid rides that are inappropriate for your 3 year old. Another great feature of this guide is a rating by age level for each ride, a very useful feature. Check your local library for a copy.

Enjoy your trip to Disneyland. It's a wonderful place for families. BTW the Disney website is also very helpful with info on hours of operation and even will tell you which rides will be closed for maintenance or renovation on particular dates. Check a search engine for Disneyland.

I would wait until your child is about 5 or 6. More enjoyable for you and the child.

Good luck,

MichelleY

If you can, plan the Disneyland visit for weekdays, preferably when kids are in school. Otherwise, you'll find yourself waiting in (sometimes very long) lines for almost anything you want to do (including buying an ice cream cone). And stay in one of the Disneyland Hotels so you'll have easy access in and out of the park via the monorail (though you'll sometimes have a long wait for that too).

I agree with Michelle that your child will probably appreciate Disneyland much more in 2 or 3 years. My aunt and uncle took my cousins ages 4 and 2 and they said it ended up being a great big hassle and no one really had fun. It was pretty much sensory overload for them.

At such a young age, children are usually frightened of the characters and loud noises. Plus the neat stuff you would like to do would be out of the question. Since you and your husband have never been, you two should go alone first. Or, take grandma along to baby sit in the evening so you two can go back to the park.

If you want to take your child to Disneyland, then go for it! We just returned from DL this weekend with our 3 yr old. (we go several times a year from San Diego)

I would definately wait until September or even October. The weather is splendid then, and the crowds are down. We go first thing in the morning then return to the room to rest after lunch. Our son doesn't nap, but we watch cartoons. Then head back around dinner time for the evening. You could also have a fun dinner at Downtown Disney at either Rainforest Cafe or ESPN Zone. Our son had a blast on the 'rides' at ESPN Zone. Try to see a parade also, our son loves the parades. We went to the Electrical Parade at California Adventure Sunday night, and it was fantastic.

There is lots of info on www.disboards.com , just go to the DisneyLand board (most of the site is for WDW Florida).

Happy planning & have a great vacation!