5 Tips for a Magical Disneyland Honeymoon | Utah Wedding Photographers

It’s no secret that we both love Disney. We love going to Disneyland together as a couple and we recently got back from our first ever trip to Disney World! Years ago we thought that going as two adults to Disneyland would be a boring way to spend a vacation, but we were so wrong! There is so much you can do when you go to a Disney park as an adult. If you went to Disneyland as a kid, going as an adult is a completely different experience, and going as a couple is a ton of fun! We’ve compiled our top five things we’d recommend doing to have a magical Disneyland honeymoon!

 

1. Pin Trading isn’t just for collecting pretty pins

Before we first went to Disneyland together as a couple, we were told by some friends to look into Disney Pin Trading. We thought it seemed interesting and decided to buy a pack of starter pins when we got to the park. We quickly found out that there was a whole lot more to pin trading that just collecting pins! One of our favorite aspects of pin trading is that it gives you a good excuse and opportunity to talk to the cast members (Disneyland workers, not the characters in costume). Cast members that pin trade will either be wearing a lanyard, or have a square pin trading pouch that they carry around with them filled with different pins. Don’t be afraid to ask cast members for recommendations, to answer any questions you have, or if they have any Disney secrets they can share with you about the parks. The cast members that choose to pin trade are so much fun and make the trip more memorable! If a cast member has a pin that you want to trade for they are obligated to take the pin that you choose to trade them in exchange.

Also, when you are pin trading you should be on the look-out for pin boards at different locations in the parks. For example, in Frontierland, they have a giant wagon wheel that they bring out a few times during the day that is filled with different pins. Pin trading is almost like a giant scavenger hunt that adds an extra element of something a little different to a Disney vacation.

2. Always get the park hopper pass

At Disneyland, the Park Hopper Pass is a must if you are going to be at the parks for more than one day. When you get the Park Hopper, you can go back and forth from Disneyland to California Adventure as many times as you want in a single day. We learned that if you use your Disneyland app to watch the crowds and wait times, you can figure out where most people are and go to the opposite park. For whatever reason, crowds seem to follow each other, so it’s really nice to just do the opposite!

When you get the Hopper Pass, it allows you to take advantage of one of our biggest tips for making the most of your Disneyland honeymoon vacation, which is to take your time and slow down. Disney is known for paying attention to the smallest of details in their parks, and when you take the time to notice the little things, your love for the parks and Disney brand grows. Before you go, or while you are at the park taking it all in, take a minute and Google some of the history of certain areas, or for secrets that you can look for. It’s a ton of fun and much more memorable when you just slow it down.

3. Gotta get your buttons!

When you first enter the park, go to Disneyland City Hall to pick up your free buttons! Here’s some you could get if you are visiting on your honeymoon.

• Happily Ever After button: If you are at the park celebrating your anniversary, or on your Disneyland honeymoon you definitely need to pick up a Happily Ever After button. This one is one of our favorite buttons! When we visited Disney World and got this button, we were greeted EVERYWHERE we went in the parks with shouts of “congratulations!” from cast members. They would then ask questions about what we were celebrating and how long we had been married. It was a lot of fun! The extra bonus is that sometimes you might even be surprised with freebies at different places in the parks because a cast member sees that you are celebrating! This doesn’t always happen, so when it does happen, it’s something special!
• First Visit button: If it is your first visit, definitely pick up a first visit button. From our experiences it isn’t quite as fun as the Happily Ever After button, but it’s a great souvenir to take home with you!
• Honorary Citizen of Disneyland: This isn’t a button that cast members will just give out willy-nilly. To get this special button, when you go up to city hall ask what you need to do to get the button and they should give you a Disney trivia test. If you get three of the questions correct, you will be granted your Honorary Citizen of Disneyland button! It’s pretty cool, because most average guests don’t know about it.

4. Get some food at the parks

We recommend eating in the parks at least once a day while you are visiting on your Disneyland honeymoon. The prices can be higher on some items because it is Disneyland, but there are a few things we definitely recommend you try out.

• The Monte Cristo: This sandwich’s recipe must be straight from heaven! What’s this heavenly creation you may ask? Well it’s sliced turkey, ham and Swiss cheese fried in a batter and dusted with powdered sugar. Remember it’s Disneyland, and calories don’t count because you are walking 20 miles a day! J You can each order one Monte Cristo for yourselves or order one and split it (and these are HUGE, so there is plenty for you to share). We love getting the Monte Cristo from Café Orleans because it’s a bit cheaper than the one at the Blue Bayou.  The other amazing food at Café Orleans, is the Pommes Frites that you could totally split between the two of you. So pair that with the Monte Cristo and BAM! Magic!
• The other food we HAVE to get at least once while at Disneyland is a churro. These things are WAY better than any other churro out there. They cook them right in front of you at the churro carts, so they are super fresh. The original churro flavor is by far the best, but if you’ve tried the others and have a favorite let us know!

5. Choose what time of year to go

If you can choose what time of year to go on your Disneyland honeymoon by waiting a few weeks after your wedding, we’d definitely recommend it. We actually waited and went on our honeymoon to San Diego about a month after our wedding. It was so nice because we weren’t stressed from the wedding planning anymore! Disneyland has its busy times of the year and slower times of the year. We’ve heard from different sources that crowd calendars aren’t always reliable to follow to find specific dates to go to Disneyland, but they still can show you what times of year are the most crowded or least crowded.

Whether you go during the slow season or crowded season, make sure that you use the Disneyland FastPasses like crazy!  This help you have fewer lines to wait in. We’ve heard only amazing things about the new MaxPass that they just released as well. The MaxPass allows you to get FastPasses on your phone, rather than running from ride to ride to get them. It costs $15 per day and also allows you to download all of your PhotoPass pictures. Seems like a great deal to us!

In conclusion

Disneyland is so much fun as an adult.  If you are planning one, we are jealous!  We want to know what you are planning on doing.  We can’t wait for Star Wars Land to open, as well as the many other changes coming to both Disneyland and Disney World.  If you have any other tips about vacationing to Disneyland as a couple or on your honeymoon, let us know! We’d love to hear some new tips!

 

Looking for more Disneyland planning tips? Click here to read about the 3 best kept secrets to experience on your Disneyland honeymoon!

If you’re planning a trip to Disney World, this post is filled with our tips for Florida!