Hey, howdy, hey, Laura! Thanks for coming to planDisney with your question. I have teenage daughters and seeing them become more independent tugs at my mama bear heart strings while also making me very proud!
The good news is,
Disneyland Resort is so easily accessible by foot. The entrances to the two theme parks are very close – in fact, we timed ourselves out of curiosity and it took us less than two minutes gate to gate.
There are two ways to reach the theme parks by foot, depending on which direction they will be coming from.
We have stayed at many
Good Neighbor Hotels on Harbor Boulevard that are walking distance to the parks. There is a street called “East Shuttle Area” that intersects with Harbor Boulevard which has a walking path to the main entrances of the parks. (You can most easily spot this intersection by looking for IHOP across the street.) This is going to offer the closest walk to the park entrances.
You can also reach the main entrances by walking through the
Downtown Disney District. If walking in from Disneyland Drive, they can follow signs to the entrance of the Downtown Disney District, next to the Disneyland Hotel.
Laura, on another planning note, so your kids can be more independent throughout their day – they can each create a Disneyland account with a valid email address, and by logging in to their account from the
Disneyland mobile app, they can access most of the functionality (they can't link a credit card, but there's a workaround, read more below.) Each of you can link the tickets for your party in the app, so all of you have everyone's tickets. This is a nice feature of the app.
Here is what I have done with my daughters:
~ I gave them each a Disney Gift Card which they could use towards purchasing
Disney Genie+ service for the day (currently priced at $20/Guest per day.) Genie+ can be added once you enter the parks (if you didn’t add it already at time of ticket purchase.) Then, through the app, they can manage their own Genie+ Lightning Lane selections throughout the day. They can also check wait times for attractions, access
Disney PhotoPass (which is complimentary with Genie+), access the interactive park maps, and more.
~ They also used the Disney Gift Card for
mobile food orders through the app, as well as in-person food and merchandise purchases. You can purchase Disney Gift Cards in person at the parks, or online in advance, and they can save the online version of the Disney Gift Card in their Apple Wallet for instance.
By giving them a Disney Gift Card, it can help them be more independent AND give them a budget to work within!
I hope this information is helpful for your visit. Have a magical time making special memories with your family!
Kamini