A Comprehensive Guide to Disneyland Resort
You're planning a trip to Disneyland? That's so exciting! Let me help you have an amazing time.
All photos are my own and protected by copyright.
Disneyland. There's something about visiting the beginning of something so quintessential Americana. I'd describe Disneyland as having charm and a quaintness that is missing from every other Disney park, while being filled to the brim with rides, and focused more on locals than tourists, making it significantly more enjoyable than WDW. There’s also just an attention to detail and maintenance just lacking at other Disney parks. There’s a concerted effort to have everything working on every ride and you’ll never see things like chipped paint.
Disneyland Park itself is infinitely better than Magic Kingdom with around twice as much to do. The park itself is easily the best or second best in the world (after Tokyo DisneySea) depending on what you enjoy most in parks.
Disneyland Resort’s park hours are also typically much longer than other Disney resorts around the world and with lower crowds.
I'd also like to add, for me, that most of the fun at theme parks is just the vibe, the feeling, that you can't quite capture anywhere else. I love just hanging out with friends at the resort and messing around and enjoying the park together. I think that's the best approach to the parks and to stay until park closing most days.
I would say Disneyland in the parks is night and day better than Walt Disney World. However, things outside of the parks (except for the affordable hotels at Disneyland Resort) is better in Orlando.
What to Ride
Height requirements are denoted after each ride.
How I'd describe Disneyland Park to a first-timer: imagine if every 20 feet there's a ride. Every attraction is on top of one another which leads to Disneyland Park having far and away the greatest ride line-up of any theme park on Earth. That isn't an exaggeration.
On top of that, everything is updated. Nothing feels stuck in the past like Orlando.
California Adventure by comparison feels more like a normal park. With a great selection of rides and more depth in the scale of them than say Hollywood Studios in Orlando, it's still excellent due to its expansions over the last decade.
Altogether, this makes Disneyland Resort as a whole feel like 3 parks given their proximity.
Disneyland Park
These are the undisputed top 3 rides at the park.
The rest of the park's top rides alone still make for a better line-up than the Magic Kingdom.
Disneyland has an exceptional assortment of updated dark rides that Magic Kingdom simply does not have. They're perfect fillers between big rides since they generally have short waits. These are the ones I recommend:
An honorable mention goes to Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes. It's pretty wild that you can actually canoe in the Rivers of America.
Also, hop onto Submarine Voyage (unique to Disneyland) & Autopia 32” (a significantly improved version of the Tomorrowland Speedway) if you get the chance. They're both worth doing at least once if you're there for multiple days.
There are more rides than this (from Winnie the Pooh to Dumbo), but I thought I’d mention the best ones!
Disneyland Park physically cannot be done in 1-day even if you are there from park opening to close given the sheer quantity of things to do.
One thing I haven’t mentioned is to be sure to explore the park thoroughly beyond just rides! The shops at New Orleans Square and Galaxy’s Edge just to browse through are an attraction unto themselves!
Disney California Adventure
Ride highlights:
These are the undisputed top 2 rides at the park.
There are quite a few secondary rides at California Adventure to flesh out your day. They're perfect fillers between big rides since they generally have short waits. These are the ones I recommend:
Do NOT miss Cars Land. It is the undisputed reason to go to the park, and in my opinion, the best land in the United States. I will add that Pixar Pier is arguably the most vibrant of any theme park land at night!
Evening Entertainment
California Adventure's
Because of Disneyland Parks's perfection, it not only has a firework show but a superior version of Fantasmic! on weekends.
There is presently no night parade, but oftentimes Disneyland will have the Main Street Electrical Parade and California Adventure will have Paint the Night. Both are exceptional and must-dos when they are running.
The afternoon parade is "Magic Happens" at Disneyland.
Finally, I would like to mention, something cool about Disneyland is people will typically sit on the ground while waiting until they are forced to stand around 15 minutes before nighttime spectaculars. It’s nice because who doesn’t like to rest for a few minutes after a long day? Alongside that, you really don’t have to camp out for hours to get a great spot, 30 minutes will suffice for all 3 major evening shows for most of the year.
Dining
I'd argue that quick-service is your way to go for almost every meal. Disneyland has significantly better and consistently good options over WDW.
Quick-Service
Disneyland Park's quick-service and snack game is on point. Pretty much any place you eat outside Tomorrowland will be solid.
California Adventure, like Disneyland, has the same great corn dogs at
The Food & Wine Festival happens annually from March to May at DCA. It may not be as extensive as EPCOT's, but the food offerings are good.
Downtown Disney has historically had plenty of solid choices. Though the parks do have good offerings, so it's not necessary to venture out for food.
The Resorts
To be completely honest, I make it a point at least once per trip to venture out after California Adventure closes and going over to the Disneyland Hotel for food:
I might add, try In-N-Out near Disneyland if you don't have any back home; I go there at least once after the park closing per trip as they stay open until at least 1 AM. It's a treat!
And by the way, take advantage of Mobile Order to skip the lines!
Table-Service
At Disneyland Park
At California Adventure
The Resorts also have you covered:
As a bonus tip, I recommend table-service during peak afternoon hours when lines are the longest as a reprieve from the longest queues of the day, but that's true for any theme park.
It’s again worth noting that Disneyland does actually have great quick-service, so table-service dining really isn’t necessary, and that’s especially true if you know where to eat.
Reservations for restaurants open up 60 days in advance. Most places lose availability fast, so booking them as soon as you can is the best strategy. For a 5-day stay, I usually eat at only two table-service restaurants since the quick-service options are generally worthwhile. One tip is that the day before, reservations pop up as people cancel!
Places to Stay
I overwhelmingly recommend off-property hotels. Unlike WDW, there is an abundance of non-Disney hotels within walking distance from the gates of both parks, so there is no need to shell out 5x more for a 'Disney-branded hotel.’ However, if you have the money, both the Disneyland Hotel, and The Grand Californian are wonderful, but frankly, they’re genuinely not worth it.
I highly recommend
Again, save your money and stay off-site; there are over a dozen hotels within walking distance from the parks. Disneyland Resort’s park hours are also typically much longer than Walt Disney World’s (due to it being a local's park more so than a tourist-based one), so the minor perk of Disney’s 3 hotels letting you enter the parks 30 minutes before park opening in the morning is negligible. Either save the difference or put a fraction of it towards Genie+. I've stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, and while it was wonderful I wouldn’t do it again due to the price almost seeming like price gauging.
I do however 100% recommend checking out the resort grounds of the Disneyland Hotel with a stop at the iconic Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar and the beautiful lobby of the Grand Californian.
Skip-The-Lines with Genie+ & Individual Lightning Lanes.
Fastpass is now a paid service called Genie+. Starting when the park opens, it allows you to select an attraction you want to ride and get a return time (for example, 3 hours from now) for a participating attraction on the app (as supply allows) and go into a faster, separate queue called Lightning Lane. You can get another return time as soon as you used your last one. Disney says it promises 3 return times per day, but you can get more especially at Disneyland Park given the sheer quantity of rides offered. There are excellent strategies that I won't delve into, but this is a good one.
However, the top two rides in each park do not participate and instead require a separate fee to enter the Lightning Lane queue per ride. These attractions include Rise of the Resistance and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway at Disneyland and Radiator Springs Racers and WEB Slingers at California Adventure.
Genie+ is absolutely worth it for your first days at either park. If visiting them more than once (ie. 2 days at California Adventure), it isn’t as necessary for that second day, but get it at least one day for each park.
However, I don't see the value in paying for Individual Lightning Lane, but that would be your call to make. While it does have variable pricing, peaking at $35 per person per day, Genie+ definitely will make sense for most people.
As soon as you scan into a queue with your return time, immediately go in the Disneyland app and select another ride.
How are the Crowds?
Disneyland Resort caters to locals, as it's very dependent on the SoCal area, and the crowd patterns reflect the school calenders there. People seem to just be happier than Orlando, from Cast Members to the guests, so crowds feel more pleasant.
Christmas Break, March, July, and the month of October are the busiest.
There is more of an off-season than Disney World has given it being less touristy, but weekdays year-round have become busier as a result of the lower tier annual passes having blackout dates during weekends. Crowds are far more unpredictable than Walt Disney World, though.
While crowds can and do get large, you NEVER see wait times reaching peak WDW levels by virtue of how many rides there are at Disneyland Park.
Does it being a "local's park" actually have that much of an impact?
Absolutely! Given the unique local-heavy nature of the resort, the clientele is much better than WDW, in that people don't feel like they have to do literally everything and most are familiar with the parks, making the resort feel more relaxed overall. That in turn provides a better experience overall.
Because of that, I have nothing but positive things to say about both the guests at Disneyland Resort as well as the exceptional Cast Members (which are arguably a step-up as well due to the resort’s proximity to Hollywood)! I recommend taking that to heart as well and taking in the parks as a local would, appreciating all the details the parks have to offer.
I think people from SoCal are some of the most genuine, kindest, and relaxed people I’ve ever met!
Refurbishment Calendar & New Rides
Maintenance and refurbishments are an important part of keeping the parks in tip-top shape, but having major rides closed when visiting isn't ideal.
At Disneyland:
At California Adventure:
How many days should I plan to visit?
Disneyland Park requires at least 2 full days (were talking spending 14+ hours at the park) to really do everything that’s worth it. California Adventure requires at least 1 full day.
Ideally 3 full days at Disneyland Park and 1.5 days at California Adventure will provide the best vacation.
It’s worth noting that a 5th day is practically free, park ticket-wise. For some context, a 5-day ticket is about $150 cheaper than 5 days at Walt Disney World.
Avoiding paying for park hoppers, flying on budget airlines, and especially skipping fancy hotels (when they effectively offer zero value over cheaper alternatives) are some of the simplest ways to save money without sacrificing anything in your vacation. Remember, Disneyland nails the park experience: focus on that.
Is there anything else I should do in LA?
Absolutely!
Universal Studios Hollywood has come a long way and includes the exceptional hour-long Studio Tour of the actual Universal Studios film studio. The recently opened Super Nintendo World containing one of the best rides in the world: Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is equally fantastic.
Knott's Berry Farm, 15 minutes away from Disneyland Resort, is terrific and has rides that inspired Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
The Warner Bros. Studio tour is a lot of fun, and while harder to get into, Walt Disney Studios in Burbank is worth checking out for Disney fans. Both are excellent.
Otherwise, LA has a lot to offer from Beverly Hills to the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I'm personally not a big fan of LA, the city, itself (I much prefer San Francisco and San Diego), but there’s some terrific things to do outside the city itself. Obviously Disneyland in Anaheim, but also Venice Beach. There is also of course a world-class arts and culinary scene that anyone could come back to time and time again.
Everything Else
The usual combination of "bring good walking shoes" (preferably comfortable closed-toe sneakers), "check the weather before your trip," and have fun. It also shouldn't go without stating the obvious but the Disneyland App is an indispensable tool for wait times, making reservations, using Genie+, and more, but just remember not to always be on your phone. Enjoy your time at the parks!
Are the Halloween/Christmas parties worth it?
What is the Disney100 Anniversary Celebration?
How is the weather at Disneyland?
How do I get there?
Is PhotoPass worth it?
How much history is at Disneyland?
Is Club 33 real?
Are MagicBands or MagicMobile at Disneyland?
Feel free to ask any questions! Have a magical vacation!
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