Things to buy before you visit Disneyland

I am a huge Disney fanatic and love anything Disney related.  We have visited Disneyland Paris three times (also made it to Disneyland Hong Kong and Tokyo) but the cost of it all soon adds up.  One thing I hate at any attraction is when they have ridiculous costs for things to buy, I do like to buy the little adventurers a momento of our adventures but extortionate prices are not justifiable!  So below I have compiled a list of things to buy before you visit Disneyland

Disney dress up clothes

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If your kids love to dress up, this is a must.  When we visited in 2012, Maya had been poorly for several days before we travelled and we were in the process of moving so in our haste we left our Disney dress up clothes at home.  My little adventurers LOVE dressing up and they were soooo tempted by all the numerous stores with the outfits.  But at £60 an outfit, it was way beyond my budget of what I would buy for them.  You can easily buy a similar Disney Princess outfits/boys outfits for a fraction of the price at home, so I would recommend buying one and packing it as a surprise for your little ones when they arrive.

Glow in the Night swinging things

If you visit in the summer months or on special event days, the park have fantastic night attractions from the parade to the fireworks.  From dusk onwards, you will see lots of stalls selling the glow in the night toys and your children will WANT one, they will not know why they want one, or what they do, but they will need it.  I would either buy some from home or buy a little stash of glow sticks from the pound shop before you go!  They can have as many of their little hearts desire without breaking the bank.  Plus, if you are there for a few nights, we always ended up forgetting the night toy in the hotel room.

Autograph book

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If you are lucky enough, you will get the chance to meet some of the Disney characters during your time in the Parks and / or hotels.  If you have three adventurers like me, each one will need their own book to get the much sought after signature.  Instead of buying one of the extortionate ones from the park, I would make one from home.  It will be a great craft activity and it will personalised by your child and no money in the world can replace that.  All you need is a hardback book (one with a pen/pencil would be perfect as you will have a pen to hand when you need it), lots of stickers and colouring pencils and let them decorate it how they want.  It could be activity that you do on the plane/ferry journey over to Disneyland.  For older children it also doubles up as a journal and would make a great, personalised keepsake for your child.

Rain Ponchos

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We have visited in August and it was as boiling, we have visited in August and it was pouring.  Living in the UK you reliase that the weather cannot be guarenteed so a little preperation is great.  You can buy these from onsite but I just have a few in my changing bag now as it comes in useful on the water rides.  Wet bottoms and clothes make for cold and misreable adults and babies alike.  You can pick them up as cheap online, from places like Amazon selling them for as cheap as 70p.  This photo was taken at Thorpe Park (in August) when we had torrential downpour, its amazing what a difference a little bit of plastic can make!

Snacks

You will be spending a lot of time in queues, we visited at the end of September so it was the start of quiet season and it was still so busy.  Snacks are a good thing to pack staples such as raisins, small biscuits, small treats break up the long wait times.  We had a separate snack bag (it was a cloth shopper bag) and was great as the snacks were kept separate from all the other things that you have in your changing bags and they also have zips so nothing spills out.  In addition, the queues for food, snacks are often long so having a stash of your own always helps.  There is also a shop near the petrol station if you want to stock up.

Waterproof Phone cover

I saw this myself on facebook and after getting caught out in Thorpe Park, I thought it should be something that we should have had before.  Its basically a waterproof cover or your iphone, great for water rides.  There are loads of sellers out there and they are only a few pounds so a good investment.  Here’s a few examples on ebay.

You will have an amazing time, and your children (and the big children) will be mesmerised  by the Disney magic.  Mine loved it and we would love to take them again.   If you have any questions about visiting Disneyland, let us know we would love to help out!

 

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We would love to hear what you think of the above ideas and if you have any to add yourselves?

Nisbah

I am a traveller, mother and blogger. We love to go on adventures (big and small, near and far) and strive to show our children how amazing and beautiful the world is! I caught the travel bug many moons ago and despite having three little adventurers, I still suffer from "itchy" feet. We love the great outdoors and one another. Come and join the fun :)

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17 Responses

  1. rachel says:

    Great tips! thanks for sharing

  2. Wow great tips!! I must say that I am desperate to go to Disney now! I have NEVER been…I now, how bad is that?! I cannot wait to take Harry and Lottie one day, and I will be using these great tips when I do! Thanks for sharing on #sundaystars Jess x

    • Nisbah says:

      Jess, you will love it. My kids had a fab time, they were 3 and 1.5 years old at the time and they are always asking to return. I have been pricing it up for this year but with the school holidays its so expensive. I am doing another post on tips for whilst you are there 🙂

  3. These are really good tips, I really really want to go. Although wondering of we dive straight into Florida next year! #sundaystars

    • Nisbah says:

      We would love to go to Florida! Its always been on my list. I think it will be a whole summer trip once Zayn is about 7 or so. Doc is space fanatic so cape canaveral would be the top of the list!

  4. Dawn says:

    Brilliant advice, covered everything. Definetly the snacks, cost £8 dollars for two small bags of crisp in florida!!

    • Nisbah says:

      Hi Dawn

      thanks for reading, tell me about the costs for snacks! we had two little adventurers so the costs soon added up! thanks for reading and commenting x

  5. Kiri says:

    I love Disneyland – we went in February and I can’t wait to go back again once baby is a bit older. I love your idea of making your own autograph books – we will definitely be doing that next time!

    • Nisbah says:

      Hi Kiri, Disney is awesome. We last went in 2012 and have been thinking to go again now the youngest is 2. Its just so expensive now that we are restricted to term time only. I like the idea of having your personalised autograph book, my oldest is at then age where she loves to make scarp books so it would be a great way of her making something and getting some use out of it!

  6. Emily says:

    Great tips especially like the idea of packing a surprise dress up costume! x

  7. Ha! I love the rain poncho picture!! Some great tips here that could save you a fortune 😉

    Thanks for linking up to #TheList xx

  8. Sara Essop says:

    Thanks for the tips. I will bear them in mind when I go.

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