I took my 4yo and 1yo to Disneyland ALONE, and survived to tell the tale…

Yes, you read that headline right-

Now you may be saying to yourself, big deal people do it alone all the time- TRUE but most of those people live within close distance to the parks and can leave after a few hours.

Let me tell you the story.

It all started in June of 2022, it was my birthday week and my husband was going to be out of town for work- so he decided that rather than have me be alone at our house for that entire time, I could be doing something fun with the kids and my family in California!

Fast forward to the week of... he didn't end up going for that work job 🙃 BUT my flights and park tickets and hotel were already purchased so I braved it and went alone.

I flew from SLC to Long Beach airport alone. The most impossible and overwhelming part for me was trying to get a huge suitcase and stroller luggage and check my bags with a 1yo and a 4yo running and screaming-

Once this part was over- the flight itself was smooth sailing- flight attendants are beyond helpful and my daughter has been flying since she was 6months so she knows the drill. My son was MOSTLY fine and slept most of it- all I had to do was turn on Mary Poppins and feed him snacks and he was happy-

Fast forward to picking up our luggage at Long Beach- if you have ever flown into this airport you know how easy it is to get around- that being said, the luggage pick up is outside and can be a tad slow- thus I was wrangling my stir crazy 4yo and 1yo while trying to grab our luggage and then get it to the pick up point for family -

*TIP in hindsight I would have either asked for assistance OR made sure to pack as LIGHT AS POSSIBLE, instead of being so concerned with having all the things for my kids and bringing way too big of suitcase for a 4 day trip. Packing small is always the better decision.

Finally we were picked up by family and it was smooth sailing for the next couple of days, we went to the park and the beach and had the kids play with cousins.

Then came day 1 of being in the parks- some of my family were no longer pass holders and the other cousin couldn't get a park reservation for our Day in Disney's California Adventure (DCA)

We started with a 7am Character Breakfast at Storytellers Cafe and it was the best start... although a bit early, because we had to be up by 5am to pack a bag for our hotel that night and get the kids ready...(MISTAKE #1 was doing the character breakfast so early, you'll read why in a bit)

The breakfast was great and seeing my kids interact one on one was amazing! We were also able to check into DCA through the private Disney Hotel guest entrance, although I believe they were just being nice to me because, apparently, that is now closed off to general public and you have to show your room key to get in. So I think the cast members were just giving a frazzled mom some pixie dust 😅✨

Next we went straight to Webslingers the new Spider-Man ride in Marvel Campus... even early the wait time was already 50 minutes and my kids couldn't wait that long (*another mistake- I should have figured out how to keep them in that line because it only got longer and hotter throughout the day, and I have noticed this ride tends to break down a lot)

So we explored all the things we could! Which is significantly less with a 1yo

*Tip: If you are going with a child that meets zero height requirements ALONE I suggest choosing to maybe skip this park. I love this park and it's amazing but it has the most height requirements of the 2 parks and less for littles to do. By about 3 we had done everything we could do with zero height requirements

We did the Disney Junior Dance party and ate at Lamplight Lounge (which does not have a super kid friendly menu in my opinion, but they have amazing non-alcoholic drinks and great theming)

So we are getting into mid afternoon- my 4yo has been the absolute best trooper and my 1yo was surprisingly great at sleeping in the stroller- here is where it all goes down hill-

My daughter (4) loves Spider-Man and this was the one new ride we were desperate to get on- we got in line when the line was lower (posted at 30 minutes for Lightning Lane which I caved and purchased) and it broke down- we went over to pym test kitchen for dinner while we waited for the ride to be back up- we got our food -(NOTE: trying to carry a 1yo, food tray, and keep track of a 4yo is no easy task) and I could not find a single place to sit- the entire place was covered with people sitting and NOT eating- (I totally get the mentality of saving spots to eat while someone else gets you food, but when you're DONE eating, give the table to others)

At this point in the day I was getting super frazzled- my daughter had been awake since 5am- we hadn't been drinking enough water and our stroller was all the way over in the stroller parking which was a decent walk away from the restaurant- we walked around forever while I carried a 1yo, a backpack, food tray and had my 4yo holding onto my shirt. We never found anywhere to sit so we went to the curb and sat on the ground- my daughter starts eating- turns white and looks like she is going to be sick- it only got worse from here- 1yo is screaming for food and my 4yo doesn't want to eat and I realized she could probably have heat stroke from lack of water and it's June and humid. So I freaked out grabbed any food I could and threw it in our bag - walked to the stroller . At this point my daughter was swaying and didn't want to walk- we found a cast member that brought us the park nurse and security- we decided to forego the rest of the time at the park- get her some sleep and missed World of Color for the night.

*Tip: I should have brought a double stroller for them both to rest in- I should not have done the breakfast so early- I should have stayed in the park and just slowed down

The minute we were halfway to our hotel my daughter started acting completely normal and I started second guessing my decision 🫣🤪

BUT we had another day at the parks tomorrow (this time with family YAY!) and I decided it was better for them to get a good nights rest.

This did not happen 🤣🤪 the crib provided by the hotel was an old fashioned metal one and every time my son moved it squeaked HORRIBLY and woke him up- he was up almost all night, thus I was up all night. Daughter slept great because she has always been an amazing sleeper (bless her)

*TIP: Call your hotel prior to your stay to see what kind of crib/PakNPlay they have. so you know if you need to bring your own!

Then came the Disneyland Day- all in all this day went better- except it was my cousin and her 2 daughters (they had their own day full of trials trying to get into the park) and my other cousin with her 10month old, and me with my 2 kids- It was another day of being outnumbered by kids, babies and dealing with their tired emotions, as well as our own. Ha!

*TIP: It's important to remember that kids will feed off of your stress and emotions, if you are annoyed and stressed they will feel that and emulate that emotion as well. In hindsight, I can look back and realize that anytime I had a struggle it usually came from expecting too much of a 4yo and bad sleep.

Long story short- I know where I went wrong haha

I was a mom that was overzealous in my planning and what I thought I could get done and do- I was underprepared when it came to food for the night of the hotel and I let my stress and anxiety take over when my daughter was tired rather than just finding a relaxing place for her to rest and finish out our park day!

*TIP: I highly suggest having a grocery bag of essentials delivered. I could have used a half gallon of Milk, snacks, and breakfast food for my second day that I just didn't prepare for. I have used amazon prime in the past for WDW.

What do you think I should have done differently? Let me know in the comments!

PS. Luckily everyone was so exhausted on the flight home, they slept the whole way haha