Disneyland with littles: only the beginning

First off, you can bring water bottles and snacks in the park, do it! You can refill your water bottles for free at a couple different places and other locations will give you a cup of ice to put in your water bottles! You'll probably want to do at least one meal in the park, but they are pretty pricey so take advantage of bringing snacks in to the park!

Use the FASTPASS system! The fast pass lets you skip waiting in line for the super long lines and jump pretty close to the front of certain rides! You can get a new fast pass per park ticket every two hours.

Download the free app for the Disneyland wait times. This will tell you which rides you should get fast passes for and which ones to just wait in the regular line for.  The longer the wait time in line, the more you'll want to get a fast pass for that ride.

Also, if you want to ride on a ride that your kids don't want to or can't (40 inches is the height requirement for the bigger rides except Indiana Jones), use the switch pass! Ask the worker at the beginning of each line about a switch pass. It's basically a fast pass for the people who have to wait with younger kids. There are tons of rides that have no height requirement. Or another option is the single rider lines!

You will want to see the electrical parade at night! There are two times they do it, one around 8 and one around 10:45. The map for the park will show you the route. We discovered that if you watch the parade back by the "it's a small world" ride, it's a little less crowded than it is on Main Street or next to the castle. The one around 8 starts at the "it's a small world" ride and the one at 10:45 the parade ends at "it's a small world".  Also the parade at 10:45 has a tendency to be a little less crowded.

Go to Peter Pan first, that ride doesn't have fast passes so the line gets long fast.

The fireworks show is fun because they play clips of Disney movies on the castle while fireworks are going, but if you want a good spot you should probably start looking for one at least an hour before the show starts.

Also, look in to the photo pass! They have photographers at the most popular photo spots in the park so you can get all of those pictures professionally taken plus you get all the pictures that are taken on rides (individually the ride pictures are like $40). I've only done this at Disney world, but it's worth looking in to at Disneyland too.

If you do California adventure, go straight to cars land and get a fast pass for the main cars ride because the line can get up to, on average, a 90 minute wait and fast passes are gone in about the first two hours the park is open. I'm not as well versed in that park, but it's still a blast! Also, if you want to see the World of Color show, you need to grab a fast pass as soon as possible in order to have a place at all to watch. World of Color does not begin until after the park closes and you can have that fast pass all day with out it interrupting your other passes!  

Good news! The Toy Story Mania ride has recently started doing fast passes so you don't have to wait in the 50+ minute wait time. California adventure has the Pixar rides, shows, and characters in it and it closes an hour or two earlier than Disneyland. This park has a few less rides with no height limit than Disneyland does too.

I think it's worth getting to the park right when it opens and then when your kids need to rest or take a nap that's when you go grab lunch or sit for a snack!

A stroller is totally worth taking into the park if you think you might have to carry anyone. There is stroller parking next to every ride so it's pretty convenient! I also use my Tula carrier most of the time as well! My Standard Tula baby carrier has been my life saver! It is literally the only way I have been able to do Disneyland by myself. Even if I did have a double stroller, standing in lines holding a baby is hard work! That doesn't include the work it is to entertain a three year old and hold a baby!

And above all else, enjoy the magic that is Disneyland!!