Our Disney Family Vacation is in less than 40 sleeps (as per Sofia)!
As always, I like to keep everyone in the loop of our Disneyland Family Vacation plans. It’s something I’ve always done. Specifically because I get asked so many questions on social media. And because I love talking about them. I answer as much as I can through comments and private messages and then I hope that these posts can fill in the gaps.
Furthermore, can I just say how incredible it is that so many of your travel with young kids?! I get sad when I hear that people put travel on hold with young children. Don’t get me wrong, I was there once. We didn’t travel as a family for the first 3 years with Sofia as we were terrified. Looking back, I wished we had just gone and lived in the moment versus worrying so much about what might or could’ve happened.
With so many options in making traveling with kids less daunting, I’m hoping these posts will inspire you to take a leap of faith and travel with your babies. Make those memories and look back regretting nothing.
For example, with a plethora of incredible Airbnb options for families who travel, to grocery delivery, and baby gear rentals, I swear a Disney Family Vacation is just around the corner for you all. That is is Disneyland is your JAM!
Here is how our annual Disneyland Family Vacation is unfolding this year:
This October, Sammy, Sofia, Stella, myself and my parents are all headed on our annual family vacation to the happiest place on earth. We will spend 10 days in California of which 4 or 5 will be spent in the Disney Parks. Staying at one of the ever so gorgeous homes owned by Twelve Springs, I can say without reservation that we’re all a little excited for this trip.
DISNEY TICKETS
This will be our first time visiting Disneyland in the Fall. Bring on all things PUMPKIN. Between seasonal parties like Mickey’s Halloween Party and the American Holiday, we may only be able to get in the park for 4 days. We still went ahead and bought the 5-day park pass as the cost difference is so small. We’re just holding hope we can squeeze another day in our families happy place.
We bought our tickets just last week thanks to Disney offering a deal to Canadian residents. And ontop of that we booked through Flight Center and saved another little bit. This will be the 4th time buying from Ash at Flight Center and I don’t know what it is but he always manages to save us another $35 or so ontop of any price online. Either way I’ll take… means at least 1 more Candy Corn Churros, a added Dole Whip and a Pumpkin Spice Funnel Cake Fries in our tummies.
If you want to reach out to Ash, you can reach him at ash.chandler-pease@flightcentre.ca, let him know I say hi!
We won’t be buying tickets to Mickey’s Halloween Party for a few reasons, but absolutly NOT because I don’t want to. For one, Stella will be 2 and doesn’t do late nights. Even when on vacation we stick to a schedule for naps and bedtimes as much as we can. But more importantly, Sofia doesn’t do scary. Not even a little. We told her about it, showed her youtube video’s of parties past and she made the choice of not going this trip. I’m okay with that.
ACCOMODATIONS
As you know all our Disney Family Vacations have always been with a home rental company. We absolutly love the little luxuries that come from staying in a home versus a hotel. Since we always travel as a big family to California, we have the option of splitting the costs of a home which make them just as afforable as a hotel. I do miss room service and not having to make my bed each day. But all things considered, they do not sway me enough.
This time were staying with a company called Twelve Springs. And between the images on there website and the 5 star reviews of the many guests before us, I’m pretty certain this trip is going to TOP all the previous. Tell me these homes don’t look incredible?
LITTLE ABOUT TWELVE SPRINGS// Full-service vacation home rental; Twelve Springs will give you a whole new vacation expereince. Crafting their homes down to the smallest detail, their stylish design and convenient functionality will win you over. Their guest services team is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer your questions and assist with your needs. There to make your stay even better, use them as much or as little as you like.
DEAL ALERT// Twelve Springs is offering readers of Little Miss Mama a discount! Call in and inquire about a home and let them know I sent you. They will take good care of you!
So many have shown concerns with Home Rentals in Anaheim. Due to all the new regulations and the city trying to ban short-term home rentals. In any event, know a lot of these bigger companies like Twelve Springs are working with the city and have recieved extensions on their lisense. Happy to announce that Twelve Springs is one of them who’s been granted rental right until at least August 2019.
BABY GEAR RENTALS
This time around we won’t need a lot as far as baby gear rentals go. Stella will need a mini crib and a stroller. We will be bringing our own car seat, and purchased this car seat travel bag yesterday (US/CAN). While Sofia can use her mifold (US/CAN) which we will be bringing with us. I’m between renting a stroller or a wagon right now, just trying to source out a company.
Wagons are apparently allowed in the Disney parks as long as you can push them like a stroller. This makes the VEER Cruiser a good option, as well as the KEENZ Wagon. I’m going to source out some comparables to purchase and see what’s out best option. I can see us using a wagon in our everyday lives so now might be a good time to invest. We will keep you posted on what we find.
CAR RENTAL
In the past we’ve rented mini vans, and when the group was larger a luxury passenger van. THAT vehicle was huge. It felt very “kate plus 8” touring around the city, but we loved that all 10 of us were together. LA traffic can be horrible at the best of times, being together made it less stressful.
This time our group is a bit smaller, only 6 of us with only 1 needing a bulky car seat. We just firmed up our rental last night and we ended up going through Expedia as the deal was the best we had seen. For the 10 days in California, with pick up at the airport and unlimited milage we got it for $322 Canadian. We felt that was a HUGE score and are so happy with that rate.
Our family is beyond excited about this years Disney Family Vacation. The countdown has started and each morning I’m greeted with a “how many sleep now mama?”. Just as always, we plan on documenting and sharing our travels here in hopes to make a Disneyland Vacation less daunting for families.
We will also be vlogging our vacation, so make sure you’re subscribed to our YouTube Channel. I have plans on getting into many other things on this trip. We won’t just be Disney focused. California has a lot to offer families and I want to make sure everyone sees this.
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