Disneyland For Kids - Tips for Bringing Kids to Disneyland

While Disneyland is intended to be for the entire family, there’s no denying that Disneyland has a certain magic that makes it so special to kids all around the world. Disneyland, and the Disney Parks in general, are probably the most kid-friendly theme parks in the world (or at least tied with Legoland). There’s so many things to do at Disneyland for kids, and hopefully this guide can be useful if you’re planning on visiting Disneyland with your kids.

I’ve been going to Disney theme parks since I was nine. I’ve experienced them as a kid and I’ve experienced them as an adult. Believe me when I say that Disneyland goes out of their way to make visits special for kids. From specially designed areas to perks and discounts, Disney does everything it can to make sure that every kid’s experience at Disneyland is a memorable one.

Every kid dreams of one day being able to go to Disneyland, so I decided to write this guide to help parents ensure that their kids have a good time at Disneyland. It’ll cover everything from park tickets to dining to facilities in the park that can help you with your visit. So without further ado, let’s get right to it!

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Background of Disneyland

Disneyland is the first Disney Park to be built. Opening way back in 1955, it was the only Disney Park Walt Disney ever stepped foot in. Its cultural impact cannot be overstated, and every year millions of people walk through its gates making it the second most visited theme park in the world, only after Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Disneyland is made up of 9 themed lands, with California Adventure being made up of 7 themed lands. Disneyland has the most number of attractions of any Disney Park in the world with over 35 rides in its lineup. DCA was added in 2001, transforming Disneyland into the Disneyland Resort, consisting of two parks, 3 hotels, and a shopping and dining district called Downtown Disney.

From gentle dark rides like Alice in Wonderland and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, to thrilling experiences like Incredicoaster and Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission BREAKOUT, there’s something for everyone at Disneyland. That’s the beauty of Disneyland: anyone can experience magic. It doesn’t matter whether you’re aged 2 or 92, Disneyland is for everyone.

While I never visited the Disneyland Resort as a kid, I have visited it as a teenager, and in my opinion I think it’s one of the best places in the US, and maybe even the world, for kids. Let me explain why.

Why Disneyland and California Adventure are Perfect for Kids

There’s a couple of reasons why I think Disneyland and California Adventure are perfect for kids. I will enumerate on all of them below:

Specially Priced Offerings for Kids

I’ll go into this more when I get to the tickets and dining sections, but Disneyland usually offers special discounted prices for kids aged 3-9. This includes discounts on tickets, which are usually pretty significant. Kids also get discounts on certain dining experiences, like character dining experiences and packages like the World of Color Dessert Party or the Fantasmic Dining Package. They also offer kids meals at most restaurants that are a lot cheaper than regular meals.

If you’re worried about your expenses when planning a trip to Disneyland with your kids, it’s worth checking out the ticket deals that may be on offer for your kids if they fall within the specified age bracket. Unlike the Asian Disney Parks, Disneyland (and by extension Walt Disney World), only consider those aged under 10 years old kids. It’s a narrow window, but for families with kids in that range it means saving a lot of money.

Areas Designed for Kids

Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have multiple areas that were designed specifically for children. The most notable area has to be Mickey’s Toontown. Full of playgrounds, interactive elements, and attractions designed with kids in mind, Toontown is the place to go if your kids want to blow off some steam or just get lost in the colorful and immersive theming.

Another good place for kids to blow off some steam is Tom Sawyer Island. Filled with nooks and crannies built for kids to explore, Tom Sawyer Island is a fun area of the park that your kids are sure to love. In DCA, the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is an area with ropes courses, playgrounds, and different activities that kids can do if they want a break from the hustle and bustle of the parks. These areas are fun for adults too, and I would highly recommend anyone visit these areas.

Attractions Catered to Kids

Finally, there are a bunch of different attractions scattered throughout both parks that are perfect for kids. While a lot of the headliner Disneyland and DCA attractions have height requirements that might mean kids won’t be able to ride them, there’s still a plethora of other attractions that kids can enjoy. I’ll go into detail on which rides and attractions I think are catered to kids in a later section, but just know that even if your kids are young and don’t meet the height requirements, they can still do a lot of the attractions at the park.

Now we’re going into the detailed guide portion of this post! Let’s start with tickets!

Park Tickets for Kids

1-Day child tickets generally sell for around $154-$196 depending on the specific tier assigned to a given day. Disneyland also regularly does special offers aimed towards kids that will drastically reduce the price of a ticket.

For example, in summer 2026 they released a 1, 2, and 3-day park hopper ticket for $50 a day for kids. That’s a lot of savings for families who have kids within that age range! Other third-party websites like Getaway Today or Undercover Tourist also usually have promotional offers for kids. I would do some research before buying tickets for your kids as you never know what offers are out there right now.

Magic Key for Kids

Unfortunately, Disneyland doesn’t offer discounts on Magic Keys for kids. That means that if you plan on getting one for your child, it’ll cost you the same amount to get a Magic Key for a child as it’ll cost you for an adult.

Before you commit to buying a Magic Key, I always recommend doing the math and seeing if you’re really going to save money by buying a Magic Key instead of regular tickets. If you plan on going to the resort twice in a year, then it might be worth it. If not, regular tickets should be cheaper for you.

Best Disney Hotel for Kids

Among the three onsite Disney hotels, I would say that the Pixar Place Hotel and the Disneyland Hotel are the two that are kid-friendly in theme and design. The Grand Californian definitely skews more adult with its design and amenities. That being said, these hotels are all great options for your family, even if they are quite pricey. I’ll go through each hotel’s amenities for kids below.

Disneyland Hotel

Read my review of the Disneyland Hotel.

The Disneyland Hotel has homey and comfortable rooms, each with distinctly Disneyland touches, such as the light up headboard that showcases a picture of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Because The Disneyland Hotel is also a DVC resort, they also have a variety of suites available if you have a larger family.

The Disneyland Hotel also has the best pools of any resort on property. The E-ticket and D-ticket pools are large and the hotel also features the Monorail slides, along with a water play area for kids. There are also two jacuzzis available near the pools, and pool cabanas are also available.

In terms of dining, the Disneyland Hotel has Goofy’s Kitchen, a character dining experience open for Breakfast, Brunch, and Dinner. During the meal you’ll get the chance to meet some Disney characters and take photos with them as they go up to your table. It’s a great experience that I think every kid should get the chance to do at least once.

Pixar Place Hotel

The Pixar Place Hotel, on the other hand, also has great rooms with a lot of Pixar touches that kids are sure to love. The hotel also has suites for larger families and also has club level rooms if that’s the kind of added experience that you need.

The Pixar Place hotel also has a large pool, as well as a splash pad themed to finding nemo that includes interactive water fountains and a slide. Pool cabanas are also available. The hotel also has a unique game area called the Pixar Shorts Court, where guests can play games like bean bag toss and shuffleboard themed to Pixar shorts like Bao and La Luna.

Additionally, the hotel offers fireworks viewing on the pool deck every night when fireworks are scheduled. They’ll even pump in the music so you get to hear the show as you would from the park. That being said, unlike the other two hotels, do note that the Pixar Place Hotel does not have a character dining experience.

Grand Californian Hotel

Finally, The Grand Californian, while having nice rooms, has vibes that definitely skew more adult. The rustic atmosphere of the hotel gives off the feeling of being more sophisticated than fun. The rooms are also the most outdated among the three hotels, so that’s something to keep in mind when deciding what hotel to stay at. The hotel does offer suites that can fit up to 10 people.

The Grand Californian, however, has the most pools of any hotel on property. It has 3 different pools, the Fountain, Redwood, and Mariposa pools, with the Redwood pool having a slide that goes around, you guessed it, a redwood tree. Whirlpool hot tubs are also available, as well as a kids pool and poolside cabanas that you can rent.

The Grand Californian actually has not one, but two character dining experiences. The first is the Disney Princess Breakfast Adventure, which takes place at the Napa Rose Restaurant and, as the name implies, features Disney Princesses. There’s also a character breakfast, brunch, and dinner at Storytellers Cafe. This experience features Mickey and Friends and Donald and Friends.

Best Non-Disney Hotel for Kids

If you weren’t aware, there are multiple third-party hotels surrounding Disneyland. These hotels, while not as upscale as the Disneyland Resort Hotels, are way cheaper, with some of them costing around $150 a night for four people. In general, Disneyland is the only Disney destination where I would recommend staying in third party hotels. This is mainly due to the fact that there are barely any benefits to staying at a Disneyland hotel anymore. Couple that with the insanely high cost and it just makes more sense to stay in a third party hotel.

There are over 50 “good neighbor” hotels located near Disneyland, so it might be overwhelming to choose which hotel to stay at. My top 3 recommendations would be the Howard Johnson, the Courtyard by Marriott, and the Grand Legacy. All three are conveniently located near the entrance to DCA and Disneyland, their rooms are great, and they all have nice pools, with the Howard Johnson and Marriott even having splash pads designed specifically for kids.

If you don’t really need a splash pad or pool and just want a decent place to rest at the end of the day, and you’re fine with staying a bit farther away from the parks, then the Castle Inn and Suites, Alpine Inn, and Candy Cane Inn are great alternatives.

The cool part with staying off site too is that you don’t have to eat meals in Disneyland. Disneyland food can be expensive, but there are a plethora of options for food outside Disneyland on Harbor or Katella that are a lot cheaper than the food prices inside Disneyland. Just something to keep in mind as you plan your trip.

Dining at Disneyland for Kids

Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have many dining options for kids. If you have picky eaters, many restaurants offer meals like pizza or chicken tenders. Each restaurant also has unique meals made specifically for kids. Be sure to ask for the kids menu at each restaurant to see what options they have for kids meals. Kids meals are also normally cheaper than regular adult meals, but they also have smaller portion sizes so just keep that in mind.

Character Dining at Disneyland for Kids

Disneyland has one character dining experience and it takes place every breakfast at Plaza Inn. You can enjoy a buffet breakfast while Disney characters approach your table and interact with you. If you’d like to experience this or any of the other character dining experiences at the hotels, you can do so by booking online at the Disneyland Resort website. Reservations can be made 60 days in advance. This is a great experience that is sure to be fun for your kids so I’d highly recommend doing it at least once.

Baby Care Center

Baby Care Centers, located in both Disneyland park and Disney California Adventure park, are facilities that offer services to help you with caring for your baby while you’re at the parks. They are fully staffed, are open from park open to park close, and are complimentary for all guests. At Disneyland, the Baby Care Center is located next to First Aid near the Little Red Wagon on Main Street, while at DCA it’s located across The Bakery Tour in San Fransokyo Square.

These are the features, amenities, and services offered by the Baby Care Centers:

Nursing room with chairs
Changing room with tables
Toddler-size toilets (for Guests under 42” tall)
Feeding area with highchairs
Kitchen with sink, bottle warmers and microwave (select use only)
Vending machine offering formula, baby food, juice, diapers, wipes, sunscreen, pacifiers and over-the-counter medication—all available for purchase with a credit card

In addition to the Baby Care Centers, changing tables are located in most bathrooms at the Disneyland Resort.

Lost Children

Children can sometimes get separated from their parents while at Disneyland, DCA, or Downtown Disney. With Disneyland having large crowds all the time, you need to prepare your kids in case you lose them. My first tip would be to tell your kids that, if they can’t find you, to approach the nearest cast member. They can identify cast members by their nametags.

I would also give them a card that they can show to the cast member that has all your information on it, particularly your phone number. Lost Children, if their parents can’t be found, are brought to the Lost Children facility inside the Baby Care Center. If your child is lost, don’t panic and approach the nearest cast member so they can assist you in finding your child.

Stroller Rental

If you’re thinking of renting a stroller, you have two options: renting from Disney or renting from a third party provider. I highly recommend renting from a third party. The Disney strollers are fine but the downside is you have to surrender them at the end of the day, meaning you have to take a tired toddler, along with all of your belongings, out of the stroller and lug them all back to your hotel.

Third party providers will rent you strollers for the entire length of your stay and because they’re third party, you can take them all the way to your hotel. You can even have them drop it off and pick it up at your hotel as well. It’s a lot more seamless to rent via a third party, so I’d definitely recommend that.

But if you want to rent the strollers at Disneyland, do note that they are given on a first come first serve basis. The prices for stroller rental are: $18.00 per day for one stroller and $36.00 per day for a double stroller. You must return them at the end of the day and they can be rented from the stroller rental kiosk on the east side of the Disneyland entrance (outside the park).

Height Requirements

Some rides at the Disneyland Resort have height requirements in place for the safety of guests. This means that, if your kid isn’t tall enough, they will not be allowed to ride that specific ride. Do note that they check height requirements more than once throughout the queue, and even if they’re a fraction below the requirement, they will not be allowed to ride.

Here’s are the height requirements at Disneyland and DCA:

Disneyland Park

32″ (81 cm) or taller and accompanied by another rider 54″ or taller

Autopia

35″ (89 cm) or taller

Gadget’s Go Coaster

38″ (97 cm) or taller

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

40″ (102 cm) or taller

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Space Mountain
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Star Tours
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

42″ (107 cm) or taller

Matterhorn Bobsleds

46″ (117 cm) or taller

Indiana Jones Adventure

54″ (137 cm) or taller to ride alone

Autopia

Disney California Adventure Park

32″ (81 cm) or taller

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters

40″ (102 cm) or taller

Jumpin’ Jellyfish
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!
Radiator Springs Racers
Silly Symphony Swings (tandem swings only)
Soarin’ Around The World

42″ (107 cm) or taller

Goofy’s Sky School
Grizzly River Run
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail (rock wall and zip line only)

48″ (122 cm) or taller

Incredicoaster
Silly Symphony Swings (ride in single swing)

Rider Switch

Rider Switch is a service offered at rides that allows adults to take turns waiting with a child or other guest who cannot ride an attraction for whatever reason so that both adults can still experience the attraction without having to wait in line twice.

How this works is a group must go up to the cast member stationed at the front of the attraction and tell them they are interested in the rider switch service. The cast member will then ask the group to divide themselves into group A and B, with Group B having a max of 2 persons in the group.

The cast member will then scan the tickets of those in Group B. Group A will then line up and experience the attraction while group B waits with the other people in the group who can’t ride the attraction. Once group A is done, Group B will return to the entrance of the attraction and will be brought through the rider switch entrance to experience the attraction with little to no wait.

Not a lot of people know about this and, in my opinion, it’s actually a good way for those adults who don’t like waiting in line to also skip the line. If you’re going with kids who don’t meet the height requirements, then this service is definitely for you.

Attractions and Entertainment for Kids

Here are the rides and entertainment options in Disneyland and DCA that I think kids below 8 will enjoy. I believe kids aged 8 and above can enjoy all rides at Disneyland, as long as they meet the height requirement. But if they’re below 8, some attractions might be too scary or intense for them. I would assess your kids’ readiness to ride these intense or scary rides before going to the park.

I also have Disneyland and DCA Ride and Entertainment Guides, as well Disneyland and DCA ride rankings if that interests you.

Disneyland

Main Street USA:

Disneyland Railroad
Daytime Parade
Nighttime Parade
Fireworks

Adventureland:

Jungle River Cruise
The Enchanted Tiki Room
Adventureland Treehouse

Frontierland:

Mark Twain
Sailing Ship Columbia
Tom Sawyer Island
Fantasmic

New Orleans Square

Pirates of the Caribbean

Bayou Country

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Fantasyland

Peter Pan’s Flight
Alice in Wonderland
Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
Pinocchio’s Daring Journey
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
King Arthur Carousel
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Mad Hatter Tea Cups
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Storybookland Canal Boats
It’s a Small World

Toontown

Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Chip and Dale’s Gadget Coaster

Tomorrowland

Autopia
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Astro Orbitor

Disney California Adventure

Hollywoodland

Show at Hyperion Theater
Monsters Inc: Mike and Sulley to the Rescue

Grizzly Peak

Soarin Around the World
Grizzly River Run

Avengers Campus

Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventutre

Cars Land

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
Luigi’s Rollickin Roadsters
Radiator Springs Racers

Paradise Gardens Park

The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
Jumpin Jellyfish
Golden Zephyr
Silly Symphony Swings
Goofy’s Sky School

Pixar Pier

Toy Story Midway Mania
Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind
Jessie’s Critter Carousel
Pixar Pal-A-Round

Park Touring Strategies and Tips for Kids

I would always recommend rope dropping the parks. If you don’t know what rope dropping is, it’s the practice of showing up before the parks open so that when they do open you can hit the biggest rides in the park with little to no wait. I would recommend doing this so you can avoid long waits, especially if you think your kids won’t do well with waiting in long lines for rides. I have rope drop guides for both Disneyland and DCA.

I would highly recommend rope dropping Fantasyland or Tomorrowland if you have kids below 8 with you. They probably won’t be interested in the more intense, scary rides so rope dropping the rides meant for kids of all ages, which are mainly found in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, would be ideal.

One thing I will caution you with though, is that unless you’re one of the first people to get there, I would not recommend rope dropping Peter Pan’s Flight. The line always balloons to 60 minutes within the first few minutes the park is open, which will cut into very valuable rope drop time. Plus if you have a stroller, you’d have to park it and THEN get in line, which might make you lose time as well. Ride the other rides in Fantasyland instead and save Peter Pan for later at night.

I would also recommend taking midday breaks if you’re touring the parks with kids. Go back to your hotel room or take a dip in the pool. Go explore Downtown Disney for a bit. Sit down at a restaurant for an hour. Have them play in Mickey’s Toontown for a bit. Your kids will probably get tired or antsy during the day and will need to take a break from the rides, so incorporate breaks into your schedule, especially if you’re spending multiple days at Disneyland.

Another thing I would do if your kids have the stamina for it is to stay until park closing. Usually rides will empty out 2 hours before the park closes until park close. It’s the second-best time to get on rides with low wait times after Rope Drop. If your kids can’t stay awake that late, however, I would highly recommend rope dropping the park instead.

In terms of using Lightning Lane, which is Disney’s paid skip-the-line service, I would only recommend it if you’re going during peak times or you’re going for 1-2 days only. If you have a longer trip, you can get everything done without it. Also keep in mind that the Lightning Lane fee is a PER PERSON fee and there is no discount for kids. You’ll be spending over $250 dollars on Lightning Lane for a family of four for your entire trip if you decide to purchase Lightning Lane. For a more in depth guide, visit my Lightning Lane guide.

Disneyland For Kids Conclusion

Disneyland is especially magical for kids, so I hope your trip is memorable for them. At the same time, remember, experiencing these moments with your kids is just as much for you as it is for them. So remember to live in the moment, for you and for them! If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out on my socials.

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