Disneyland Advise

disneyworld was great with my 5 and 6 year old. many of the attractions are the same at disneyland and disneyworld.

I would absolutely go.. have fun.. it is a great place.

http://allears.net Best website for info for CA and FL locations

Mousesavers.com!!!
Never been to Disney in CA but you'll have a great time! If you go in March or April, just try to avoid Spring Breakers. Your son is the PERFECT age to go-have fun!!

3 days is perfect. If you're going to do fast passes, you have to get them early. We were there in November, people got fast passes when the park opened and they would run out early in the day. Seemed to defeat the purpose. (Previously they could be gotten all day.)

In CA adventure, make sure to go to toy story. That is awesome but usually quite the wait and no fast pass so have some snacks or entertainment at the ready. Same goes for cars. There is a cute bugs life show but it can be scary, depending on your kid. It's dark and loud at some points plus they have "bugs" (air) that touch your feet and your back. There is a cute kid-sized roller coaster that's pretty good. The playground there is fun too and no lines. The carnival swing merry-go-round is fun too. Soarin made me a little nauseous :P. the muppet show is fun and the visit with crush is cute for the younger crowd and a nice break from walking around.

For Disney, there's a lot more to see of course. If you're interested in going in nemo's voyage, get that one out of the way early. Honestly it's not that great, they play movie clips out of the windows of the sub, but if your kid wants to go on it, get there before it gets crowded

For us, the character breakfast in goofus kitchen was a bust. Kids don't eat enough to be worth it and my younger daughter was freaked out by the characters.

If your kids tire easily, get them a stroller and save yourself some whining! I made the mistake of not putting them to bed at their regular time, thinking they could stay up for the fireworks. They were unbearable the next day!

Eat what you can outside the park. Take food inside when you can unless you want to pay $3 for a banana! There are grocery stores a short ride down the street. Totally worth it

Skip the shuttle ride from the airport and just get a taxi. It was about the same price by the time you pay for 4 shuttle tickets and you don't have to wait for everyone else to be delivered to their hotel.

Have a magical time!

P.S. if you can, go in the middle of the week. Tue-th is so much less crowded. Also check the LA school district website to see if the schools are on vacation. It makes a difference!

p.p.s. we always fly to john wayne airport. not as busy there.

If you have an iPhone or Android I highly recommend the free app called "Mousewait". It is a fantastic resource! People in the park enter wait times for attractions so it's real time and very accurate. It includes food reviews and all sorts of tips and tricks. The lounge is filled with wonderful people with so much information. Make sure to read the FAQ before going into the lounge and take time to look around in the lounge to get the "feel" of it. You don't ever have to post if you don't want to, just use it to read.
3 days is pretty good. One day for Disneyland, one day for California Adventure (where Carsland is) and one day to pick up anything you missed, want to do again etc. Downtown Disney is also a nice place with things to do as well but it's not as exciting because, in the end it is a shopping mall of sorts.
Make sure you get Fastpasses for attractions with longer lines to help. The fast passes for Radiator Springs Racer in Carsland goes the fastest, they are often gone in 20 mins or less of the park opening , so I recommend you do that ASAP. The wait times on that ride can be hit or miss, but it regularly hits 3 hours if not worse. It also breaks down a lot which is where Mousewait can really come in handy. Carsland by itself is not an all day thing.
Practical tips are, buy things like ponchos before you get there if you can. You can get seriously wet on things like Splash Mountain, it can make your day miserable after that. There is a Target a few blocks down the street that you can go to buy odds and ends if you have transportation. You can bring in your own snacks and drinks. There are lockers to rent or if you are staying on grounds you can take a break to resupply, change into something a little warmer in the evening. It does get a little chilly at night, even in the summer so a hoodie or something is a good idea.
We have had annual passes for years now and have been going since our kids were young.
The best advice I can give is don't rush around. I see people there all the time that are trying to run from attraction to attraction and not really enjoying their time there. I know it's tempting to try to get everything in when you're paying for a trip there but, honestly, some of the best magic has been where we least expected it. When we let the kids stop and look at the ducks or dance to the music. Sometimes you'll get a character come join you if you're lucky. The little moments have always meant more to me than getting on to every ride.

He is a wonderful age to come to Disneyland for the first time. My son is 5.5 and LOVES going to Disneyland. The whole year he was four we had season passes and he was so excited every time we went. Three days is a good amount of time. Spend two of them at Disneyland and one at CA Adventure. Or, buy three day park hoppers that let you move back and forth as you want. You can also spend some time walking around Downtown Disney if you need a little break from all the excitement of the park. He will probably enjoy the Disney Jr show at CA Adventure, featuring characters from Disney shows - Jake & The Neverland Pirates, Mickey & friends and a few others.

You will have a blast!

If you want a great site for all things Disney, check out disboards.com

You can fly Alaska Airlines from PDX to LAX, BUR or SNA to get to Disneyland. Use their low fare calendar to compare prices. You can see the exact fare on any given day and adjust your itinerary accordingly.

I like to fly into BUR if I'm renting a car. Alamo has the best rental prices, especially thru Costco, and the lot is just a few steps outside the exit. And the traffic around Burbank is lighter than around LAX. I got stuck in LAX traffic once - 2 hours to go 20 miles, rush hour not even an accident. Plan your trip to avoid the morning and evening commute. Or fly in and drive on a weekend. Freeways are better on Sundays. SNA is the nicest airport of the three and closest to DL, but the fares can be a little more expensive.

April is a good time for Disney. SoCal schools stagger their Spring breaks, so later in April should be less crowded than late March/early April. Best food, Blue Bayou - expensive but you get to sit down away from the crowds, and Rancho del Zocalo - fresh food, also cafeteria style with lots of room to sit.

Since travel is tiring, if you can take an extra day or two in California and spend a day at the beach or just by the pool resting, you will have more energy for Disneyland on the days you go.

My boys loved Medieval Times in Buena Park, not far from Disneyland, an easy activity for a day off. If your son is into Legos, consider a day at Legoland, about an hour and a half south. It's less crowded, more laid back than Disney. My boys preferred it and I enjoyed walking through Legoland, too. The Brickolini Pizza place has really good brick oven pizza.

Last fall, my husband and I took our 3 year old twins to Disneyland. We purchased 3 day park hopper tickets and ended up spending one day in California Adventure and 2 days at Disneyland. With the tickets we bought, we were able to get into Disneyland 1 hour earlier (with a number of other people), but it was for a specific day of the week. So if you do get one that includes an early hour, check which day(s) you can go. Note that even though you can get in an hour early, people line up even earlier to be the first ones in. Also, not all the rides were open for the first hour. But it can be useful for some of the longer line rides.

Also, Cars Land looks pretty neat when it gets dark or even at dusk. They light everything up.

We flew into John Wayne airport and took a disneyland shuttle bus to our hotel. The bus was nice but had one inconvenience in that we had to do a quick (and easy) transfer to another bus for our return trip. It dropped us off at our hotel which was within walking (10 min or so) distance to the park. We had the kids in strollers though since they were 3 and didn't want to carry them when they got tired.

The shuttle bus was nice in that it allowed us to not have to rent a car. If you plan on going other places in the evening (for dinner as an example), then it might not work for you.

The hotel we stayed at was Candy Cane Inn. We chose the Premium Suite because it was bigger and had free in-room breakfast. Breakfast was cereal, oatmeal, toast/bagel/muffin type of breakfast, but it saved us from having to worry about getting a meal in before we headed out.

If you want to do a character meal, book in advance. We did Goofy's kitchen and the kids enjoyed it. One of my kids has food allergies so the chef came out, took us to the buffet, and told us all the stuff that was safe to eat. Then he made my kid a special pizza to ensure that it was safe.

Note: We did 3 days in park with a travel day before and after. We did our character meal as a dinner the night we arrived. Some character meals do not require a park pass so you need to check into that. Also, I believe you can go into Downtown Disney and look around without a ticket as well so that is something else you can do on a travel day.

Most of the hotels that are located near to the park (including the one we stayed out) have shuttles to and from the park so that is an option if you don't want to walk. If you do rent a car, check if the hotel charges for parking. It seems like a number of them do.

If you end up flying into LAX, they should have some Disneyland shuttles as well. It just will be a longer ride from the airport than John Wayne airport.

5 is a great age for Disneyland! You guys will have a blast! So much to see and do! My only advice would get companion tickets to California Adventure so you guys can go back and forth, CA adventure has a great 'Lil' Kids' section too!

Don't skip the 'It's a small world' ride, it's a classic and a must see, along with the tea cups! Being a boy he will appreciate the train that goes around the whole park, so utilize it to get around!

Have fun! What a great b-day gift...as well as 1st family vacation! Make sure you all wear your comfiest kicks or best walking shoes!

~FWIW, it's not *that* far of a drive...but this is coming from a CA girl who has family all up and down the whole west coast so driving from WA state to the bottom (OK, kinda the bottom: Riverside) of CA is something I have done my whole life! The drive is really pretty too if you take the PCH all the way down! Just something to consider if you could tack on more time to your vacation...b/c the journey thru OR (which is SO pretty) and down the coast of CA is BEAUTIFUL!

-----> I Google Mapped the driving directions.... and from where you are at to DisneyLand is only 15 hrs...totally doable, IMHO! You could get up and on the road by 4-5am and get there before midnight...that's with allowing 5 extra hours (which is plenty of time) for stops along the way!:)
Sorry, I am a LOVER of Family Road Trips!!!

Actually, my (now adult) son and I both preferred other theme parks over Disneyland but I took him at about age 8 just for the pictures and experience.

We went last year and used the John Wayne airport (from Seattle). It's smaller and not too far from Disneyland. Cars wasn't opened yet and we didn't bring any kids so can't help you there. Take lots of pictures and have fun!

April is spring break time and its the busy season. Honestly if you can swing the off season (January, Feb, march), you won't see so many crowds. Granted its not beach weather either.