I have written posts about how to do Disney with a baby, and our Disney style. But as I’ve begun preparations for our upcoming Disney trip in 2 weeks I thought I might as well share these too! I grew up in a family obsessed with Disneyland, and between me and my Disney freak brother-in-law Chris we have converted the entire Holdaway family into Disneyphiles as well. We’ve figured out a few things, and I’ve found a prep system that makes the trip and travel easier.

3-6 Months Before

• Book your hotel. Figure out how close you want to be to the park, if you’re gonna use the shuttle, if it’s free or paid, etc. Sometimes it’s worth it to be a little farther away and pay for the shuttle. It’s also good to consider things like continental breakfast, nearby restaurants & shops, and hotel parking.
• Decide if you’re gonna fly, drive, carpool or some combination. Personally my favorite way is to drive and break it up with a night in St. George or Las Vegas.
• Get your Disneyland tickets. You can get some good package deals – we’ve used GetAwayToday for hotel & Disneyland tickets before and we liked it!

2 Months Before

• Start looking for Disney outfits! I won’t rehash this a ton but my favorite places to find Disney stuff for me, Ryan, and Reese are H&M, Old Navy, Forever 21, and, surprisingly, Walmart. I just start looking casually when I happen to be at Walmart or the mall. I’ll add stuff to online carts and wait for a sale or discount code. And you know I love to coordinate our outfits, so once you find something cute for your kid you can look for something matching for yourself. Or if you’re a normal person you can just buy the stuff you like and not coordinate like this freak show.
• Follow some fun Disney instagram accounts! I like Magic_Kingdom_Mamas, DisneyDIYMom, DisneyHungry (all of the best Disney food!), DisneyStyle, and DisneySingleRider. I usually unfollow these if I don’t have an upcoming trip because they just make me want to up and run to Anaheim. But when you DO have an upcoming trip it just makes it so much more fun! Our family ends up tagging one another in the posts basically every single day until the trip. We have no chill.
• Decide on a savings goal for your Disney fund and create a budget to get you there. I’ve found 2 months to be the perfect time for this, because you have enough time to make some adjustments and actually save, but it also feels close enough for the sacrifice to have meaning. It’s so much easier to not eat out when you’re like “Hey. In a few weeks we could spend that Costa Vida money on Mickey ice cream and Dole Whips for the entire trip!”

1 Month Before

• Start training! I’m not joking. You may run marathons or bench press 200 lbs. But Disneyland days are a whole different workout. I think it’s a good idea to mimic the way your family will *do* Disney. The last two times we’ve gone I spent a lot of time pushing Reese in the stroller almost every day. I like to go to the park by my house that has a paved path and listen to the Criminal podcast. This time I am also adding in a Reese-on-a-leash component. Reese is too big to hold or carry/wrap/wear in lines, and she can walk, but I don’t want her to run for it every time she sees another kid or a seeing eye “To-to.” We got her a cute little panda bear backpack/leash and we’ve started practicing. So far she loves it! I’m glad we started practicing now because even when she’s cooperating it’s still MUCH SLOWER than I anticipated.
• Start a comprehensive packing list, with sections for each family member and bags you’ll be taking. I’ve found the earlier I start this the less likely I am to forget something.
• Walk through your day-to-day routine and think about how it will translate to Disneyland. Milk in bottles for breakfast? How many sippy cups of juice? Do they eat sandwiches for lunch? When/how long do your kids nap? Will they nap in the stroller or will they need to go back to the hotel? Early birds or night owls? Visualize your entire day, start to finish, and do it repeatedly over the month leading up to your trip. You’ll be surprised how many tiny little things you wouldn’t have thought about.
• Keep a running list of things you need to buy/borrow, and try to get them as soon as you identify them. You don’t want to be rushing around the night before you leave or feel obligated to run to a store when you get to Anaheim.
• Make a countdown! Because it’s more fun!!!
• Figure out plans for pets, mail, housesitting, etc.

2 Weeks Before

• Make plans for the work/school/callings/obligations you’re going to miss while you’re gone. For me that means getting ahead on all of my freelance projects so I don’t have to stay up late working the night before we leave, work at all on the trip, or work like crazy the day we get home.
• Try on your outfits (kids too!). The first time we took Reese to Disneyland I was so sad to realize that this pair of adorable coral scalloped shorts were too tight for her! I also planned what I *thought* was a cute outfit for myself – a Star Wars tee with a stretchy black pencil skirt – but when I put it on that morning I realized it actually looked sloppy and mismatched.
• Find your travel entertainment. Get an audiobook from the library or Audible (or email me and I’ll send you a link to all of the Harry Potters!!!). Make playlists. Check out some library books for you and the kids. If you have a DVD player in your car, maybe invest in an exciting new movie.

1 Week Before

• Start packing! PRO TIP: Do ALL of your laundry first. It just makes it easier. There’s a million packing hacks on Pinterest so go read a bunch and do what works for you and your family. I like to pack Reese’s stuff first, my clothes a few days away, and makeup etc. the day of.
• Review your packing, buying and to-do lists. I also like to look at the week after we return to see what you have coming up. I like to book my gym appointments before I leave to make sure I don’t fall off the exercise wagon. Stuff like that.
• Buy your remaining stuff, including snacks, fruits & veggies, sandwich stuff, etc., that you want to take with you.
• If driving get your car’s oil changed and clean it out. I always throw in a fresh portable scent thing from Bath & Body Works.
• Get your nails done or do it yourself – there’s tons of cute and easy Disney nail designs on Pinterest and Instagram!

Day Before

• Clean the house. This is the one at which I am the most terrible. It’s always on my list and I almost always put it off. Even though I HATE coming home to a cluttered, dirty house. But I will do it this time BY DARN.
• Do a final load or two of laundry. I like having plenty of clean clothes and underwear when we get home, and having the washer & dryer free for all of the vacation laundry.
• Pack bags, fill the car with gas, load up the car with what you can.
• Get “ready.” I do this before every trip so that I look my best and don’t have to do as much on vacation to look and feel good. You will be SO TIRED every night and SO EXCITED to get into the park every morning. Taking a little extra time the day before you leave makes it easier to get ready and look cute each day on vacation. This is my pre-vacation beauty plan:
  • Exfoliate
  • Shave
  • Wash hair
  • Moisturize
  • Give my hair a nice blowout – it’ll last through the trip with some dry shampoo! (and if I don’t get soaked on Splash Mountain or Grizzly Rapids)
  • Self-tanner
  • Clarisonic my face – helps prevent breakouts from sunscreen and sweat

We are beyond excited for our next trip, and hopefully you’ll get to plan one of  your own soon too! Disneyland is magic!