We took Lucy to Disneyland for the first time last November. (She went to Disney World when she was only 3 months old!) Even though it POURED rain the first day of our trip, it didn’t stop us from having a great time. Lucy had such a great time and it was so fun to see the magic of Disney through a two-year-old’s eyes. Today I’m going to be sharing Lucy’s favorite rides at Disneyland and at California Adventure.

Favorite Rides in Disneyland

King Arthur Carousel

During our trip, Lucy’s favorite ride at Disneyland was the King Arthur Carousel. It seemed kind of silly to us that we brought her all the way to Disneyland and the carousel was her favorite ride, but it was. Luckly there is hardly ever a line for the carousel so it is always a great option for kids since there isn’t usually a wait and it is right in the middle of the park.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Lucy LOVED this ride and it was probably her second most requested ride at Disneyland. This is a fun, easy ride that takes you through the many adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It is located next to Splash Mountain so it is a great option if you have older people in your group who want to ride Splash Mountain.

Peter Pan’s Flight

This was the first ride we took Lucy on for our Disneyland trip. It is our tradition to always go on this ride first and it was a great introduction to the magic of Disneyland! We had watched Peter Pan before going on our trip and we had dressed up as characters from Peter Pan for our Halloween costumes so Lucy was already pretty familiar with the story. This is our favorite ride in Disneyland and it is a lot of other people’s favorites too! The line can be super long which is why we always go first thing in the morning when the line is usually the shortest it will be all day.

Tiki Room

Lucy still sings this song all the time! While it isn’t actually a ride (it’s more of a show), Lucy really enjoyed getting a few minutes to sit and relax. It probably also helped that we ate a Dole Whip while we watched.

Dumbo

Every kid loves the Dumbo ride at Disneyland! Whenever Lucy sees an elephant, she always talks about how she rode the flying elephants at Disneyland. She also rode this ride in Disney World, but since she was only 3 months old, she definitely doesn’t remember it. The line can often be long for this ride since it is such a Disney classic so if you see a short wait time for it make sure to hop on over.

“it’s a small world”

Another classic for any age! Lucy especially loved looking for Disney characters that she knew as we went throughout this ride. We rode this one a couple of times during our trip. Now whenever Lucy hears this song she always talks about how we rode it at Disneyland. We also found two books at our library that Lucy has really liked that go along with this ride. The first is called Pocket Full of Colors and it talks about Mary Blair who was one of the first artists at Disney and one of the only females! It talks about how she loved colors and had a unique flair to her art that lots of people at Disney didn’t appreciate, but when it came time to design “it’s a small world” Walt Disney knew she was the one for the job. The other book is called Disney: It’s a Small World and basically just goes through the song but the pictures are beautiful and really fun to look at.

Storybook Land Canal Boats

This is another one of our favorite rides in Disneyland. Since we were there a day when it was really rainy, this ride was closed for most of the day. But when we went back to the park that evening there was a brief respite from the rain and it was open! Lucy loved seeing the homes of some of her favorite characters and was so excited to see them. This is a fun ride any time of the day, but it is especially magical at sunset and at night when the lights on the little villages turn on.

Favorite Rides in California Adventure

Golden Zephyr

Lucy absolutely LOVED this ride. Ben wouldn’t take her on it but she and I went on it quite a few times and it was so fun. It was especially magical because we rode it as the sun was setting and a few times in the dark. Lucy loved feeling the wind blowing her hair and seeing the park from so high in the air.

Jessie’s Critter Carousel

Just like Lucy loved the King Arthur Carousel in Disneyland, she equally loved Jessie’s Critter Carousel in California Adventure. Since there are a lot more bigger people rides in California Adventure, Ben took Lucy a lot of our day there so I could ride some of the roller coasters. He and Lucy spent a LOT of time on this carousel and just like in Disneyland, there usually isn’t a line for this one so it is a good way to kill some time.

The Little Mermaid

Whenever Ariel is brought up or Lucy plays with her Little People Ariel toy, she always talks about going on the Ariel ride in California Adventure. This is a simple cart/track ride but is extra fun because to get to ride in shells, go backwards to go “underwater” and you get to hear all of the fun songs from the movie as you travel around to the different scenes from the story. This is another ride that moves really quick and doesn’t usually have too long of a line.

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree

Lucy really liked getting swung around in Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. We rode this one together as a family and Ben and I each took her on it by ourselves while the other parent rode another ride. It is definitely a fun one, especially when there is a big weight imbalance!

Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters

Lucy also loved riding the “dancing cars” ride. Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters is another fun, family-friendly ride. Fun music is played and the cars seem to dance in unison to the music and make quite the performance. The line can be long for this ride but you get to see the inside of Luigi’s tire shop and watch quite a few “performances” of the cars.

Other 2 Year Old Favorites

Meeting Characters

This will totally depend on your child, but Lucy really liked meeting some of her favorite characters at Disneyland and at California Adventure. I would suggest taking your kids to meet some characters they know but maybe aren’t their favorite characters first. That way they kind of know what is going on and what to expect when they then go meet their favorites. Lucy started out meeting some princesses (including Cinderella who is one of her favorites!) and later our first day we went to Toon Town and met Mickey, Minnie and Donald. She was a little nervous at some of them but still talks about meeting the characters to this day. On our second day of the trip she met Anna and Elsa and she was so brave and talked to them and would stand by them by herself (which wasn’t the case the day before!). She was so excited to meet them and it definitely seemed to be a highlight of her two years of life!

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

Lucy really loved seeing Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. While she wasn’t a fan of walking inside the castle, she loved seeing the outside of the castle. We watched Sleeping Beauty before our trip so she would know about Princess Aurora and whose castle she would be seeing.

Planning Your Next Trip

If you’re wanting to plan your next trip to Disneyland, definitely do it! If you have a two year old, they are the perfect age to go. They can have a lot of fun, are old enough to kind of know what is going on, and they don’t have to have a ticket to go! But for your tickets, make sure to use Get Away Today for the best deals on tickets, hotels and vacation packages. They also have great layaway programs and other deals. Use our link to save money on tickets and you can use the code YellowVan get an extra $10 off any 2-night or longer Southern California package (hotel and 2 ticket minimum). For more info on using Get Away Today, check out our post here.

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