Paul Hiffmeyer/Disneyland

My husband, son and I are planning our first visit to the Disneyland Resort (DLR)! I’m very excited and a little overwhelmed. Overwhelmed? Me? About Disney? My family has been extremely fortunate and we visited the Walt Disney World (WDW) Resort many times, on an annual basis (at least). I consider myself a bit of an expert when it comes to planning a trip there. MagicBands, Fastpass+, 180+10 day window for dining reservations are all very familiar and using My Disney Experience has become part of the process.

Our visit to Disneyland has none of these as part of the planning process! I have to admit that I struggled a bit before jumping in. Luckily we have amazing writers here at Magical DIStractions and I’ve poured over their articles. I was able to get reservations at Disney’s Grand Californian using our Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points. I have my fingers crossed hoping that pixie dust will fly and we will get a park view villa. I’m told that some of the rooms overlook Disney’s California Adventure.

View of Mickey’s Fun Wheel / Photo by Karen Luster

I can’t wait to see the “original”! I’m hoping to do the “Walk in Walt’s Footsteps” tour and seeing where it all began. So as I plan, here are the big differences that I noticed in the pre-trip process:

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I cannot wait for this trip. Do you have any advice for this Disneyland novice?