- Hi, my name is Hannah Cody and I'm a Travel Advisor
here at Legacy Travel.
I am going to talk to you about my trip
that I just took to Disneyland and Maui, Hawaii.
On this trip I took my husband
and my twin boys, who are five and a half.
So what we decided to do on this trip
since my kids are five and a half
and probably can't handle a nine hour flight
is we spent three nights at
Disney's Grand Californian at Disneyland.
We enjoyed the parks for two days
and then we flew from LAX to Maui
and we spent five nights in Maui at the Grand Wailea
and then we flew back to LAX,
stayed at the airport for the night
at a hotel and then we flew back home the next day.
So this was our third trip to Disneyland
and having gone three years in a row
we really had an idea of what the kids liked,
what they didn't like.
So what we did this year is we actually
got to Disney around one o'clock the first day
and we spent half that first day at Disneyland.
This year we just did one park per day tickets,
instead of the Park Hopper like we usually do
because we kinda have an idea of the rides
the kids like and don't like.
One of the things that we really liked
that I always recommend to my clients
and that we will forever do is download the Disney app,
load our tickets on the app and
then we always purchase the max pass.
The max pass is $10 per person per day
which might seem like a lot and it certainly can add up,
but the really cool thing about that is
the second that you step into the park
you can begin making your Fastpass reservations.
Now at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure
there are only five to eight rides
where you can actually create a Fastpass,
so the nice thing about that is
unlike the massive crowds of people
that are going to get in the Fastpass line
you don't actually have to go to
one of the kiosks at the rides to get the Fastpass,
you can just get it on your mobile app
and it's like its own ticket.
You just scan it when you get to the Fastpass line
and you're through.
So we were able to do that on all of our favorite rides
which really made it a faster process, hence Fastpass.
The other thing we did this year
that we had not taken advantage of before
was we did the extra magic hour each morning.
The reason this was our first year
is because the kids were a little bit older,
they could stay out for longer periods of time
and we went to bed earlier this year.
We only watched the fireworks one day.
So the cool thing about that especially
if you're staying at the Grand Californian
is that morning you can wake up,
go through the bottom entry that's from your hotel,
enter the park and you have access to the entire park,
whereas even though let's say the
Disneyland Hotel guests can get in the park at seven
they don't get to ride any of the rides until eight.
So we had free reign of the park.
We got the do the Cars ride, we were the first people
in line that was a really cool experience.
One of the things I really like
about Disney's Grand Californian
is the private park entry,
it's just for hotel guests you can enter
at 8AM on regular days, 7AM during the magic hour
and it's just for hotel guests.
So you go in, instead of entering
in the regular park entrance you go into the
Grizzly Peak area which is neat
and it's cool because when you go in
you're the only ones there,
so you're not competing with a lot of people
and like I said it's really really cool
cause for a whole hour only
Disney's Grand Californian guests
have access to that whole park
when it's their time for the magic hour.
The last time my husband and I were on Maui
was for our honeymoon, it was just the two of us
and we actually stayed for eight nights, nine days.
So we knew that we didn't want to stay
that long with two five year olds
and we've traveled a lot every summer
with our kids and we like traveling with them.
We really enjoy it, but as they're getting older
you know sometimes they will get frustrated
that we're not going somewhere fast enough.
So for us the thing with Maui that we enjoyed most
was just relaxing and the pool and the beach
and the reason that we choose Grand Wailea
was because of their pools,
they have one of the best pools in Maui.
They have a ton of water slides
that even the little kids could enjoy.
So we were going up and down the stairs
everyday hitting all of the water slides.
They really loved that.
They have pool waiter service which was really neat
that was something that was cool
because you can't always as a parent
you know you can't leave your kid
and go order food, one parent would have to stay
with the kids, so you can avoid that
juggling back and forth and just order
through the waiter that's coming by.
So we really liked that.
It was really cool because with the kiddos
one of us was able to enjoy snorkeling on the beach.
So we still got to do the adult things
that we wanted to do without having to go
off of the resort property.
So I think that was one of the biggest
benefits to the Grand Wailea.
One of my favorite things about Maui
since I have been is how much it has changed.
What we normally like to do is we'll get
you know our drinks and some snacks
and stuff that we want for the week
when we first get there, that way
we aren't having to buy everything
that's overpriced at the hotel.
So this year when we landed there was a Target
and we were really excited to see that
and honestly the prices at Target
were the exact same as you would pay
here in Dallas.
So I thought that was really awesome.
We didn't overspend on food so we were able
to stock up on like some Lunchables
and Poptarts and drinks and things
that we could enjoy while we were there.
Maui has just grown so much in the last eight years.
They've added more new restaurants,
more services like Uber is there now
it was really I was shocked at how much
more reasonably priced things had gotten.
If you're ever looking at planning a trip to Maui
or taking the kids to Disneyland,
I would love to help.
I'm a Hawaii travel expert and actually
part of the inaugural program for Signature Travel Network
and I am an expert in Hawaii.
I would love to help you plan your vacation.
(upbeat music)