Best Disneyland Tips
Sometimes you just need to go back to basics. We did this with Disney World here already if you missed it. Here are some of my best tips you should know before heading to Disneyland:
Tickets are not issued until 4 days prior to your trip. Don’t fret! Your eTickets will be emailed to you prior to your trip. If you want a paper ticket, you can go to Guest Services at the front gates when you arrive to get them. If you’re using MagicBand+, you can connect your eTickets to your MagicBand+ once they are emailed to you.
There are only 3 Disney resorts on-site, but there are many off-site Good Neighbor Hotels that are walkable to the parks to choose from as well.
Rope Drop is not as hectic at Disneyland as it is at Disney World. It is still a great way to hit a lot of attractions early with low waits or avoid a long line at one of the most in-demand attractions. Don’t just sleep in. You can still skip a lot of lines by rope dropping.
I always recommend park hopping at Disneyland. The parks are steps from each other. It’s incredibly easy to go between the parks, that I always recommend getting the park hopper add on for your tickets. It adds an incredible amount of flexibility.
Mobile order quick service food first thing in the morning. Consider what you’re doing that day and where you’ll be. Put in your mobile order before you even leave your hotel room. You aren’t charged until you are in your return window and hit “Prepare My Order”. You can always cancel or modify later if your day changes, but this gives you the most amount of choice when it comes to ordering. Don’t wait until your whole family is hangry to start looking for mobile order availability. Return windows can be pushed out pretty far at peak meal times (ex. noon & 5pm).
Pay attention to the park hours and days and times for the nighttime shows. Park hours can be affected by after hour events, special ticketed events, and other happenings. Opening and closing times are available in the Disneyland app. The nighttime shows are not necessarily every night and the times can change as well. Be sure to review these in the app before your trip and daily to ensure that you don’t miss out or face the unwelcome surprise of being ushered out of the park early.
Reservations for dining officially open up at 6am PT 60 days in advance. This is the same for those staying on-site and off-site. You can’t search for your whole trip in one go. Start searching before 6am PT though (yes, that’s 9am ET). Many times, these reservations appear earlier in the morning. I always start searching around 5:30am PT. It’s not always the case, but I do see reservations released earlier than 6am. Also, don’t panic if you don’t get them on the first day. Due to cancelations or even late releases, you can still find reservations later. When you book with me, I will continue looking until the start of your trip, but you can use services like Mouse Dining or Mouse Watchers to get alerts about reservations.
If you have kids and don’t normally use a stroller, you may want to consider one. Disneyland requires a lot of walking that wears out those little legs. Strollers not only allow for those little legs to get a break, but also provide a place for them to take naps and a location to store extra bags, snacks, water bottles, etc. You can rent a stroller from Disney directly, but then you can’t bring that stroller out of the parks. I recommend booking from a service that gives you access to the stroller for your entire trip - ScooterBug.
Choose your resort and room based on your REAL PRIORITIES. Many guests will choose the least expensive room possible at a Good Neighbor Hotel, but then realize once they are on the trip that they really would have preferred a room that was closer to the parks to cut down on the walking. The furthest Good Neighbor Hotels are over a mile from the parks. That’s a LONG walk, or an added expense for parking or a rideshare. Others (especially those with multiple children) found that they would have preferred more space for their family. Really think about what your REAL PRIORITIES are. If you or someone in your group would really do better with a conveniently located room, look at one of Disney’s resorts on-site or one of the hotels across from the park entrances. If you really want to rope drop daily, staying at a resort closer to the parks where you can walk will make a difference in your “commuting” time.
Now you know everything you need, right? …yeah right!
These are just a few of the many tips that I use on my own trips as well as what I recommend to my clients when planning their trips. Your trip is and should be unique to your own group’s wants and needs. Always feel free to reach out and ask questions. I’m here to help you make your family’s Disney dreams come true!
And don’t forget, you can book your 2024 Disneyland trip now! It only takes $200 to deposit on your room and ticket package. Request your quote today.
