2024 Disneyland Planning Guide
Our Disneyland vacation planning guide covers what’s new & next in 2024, when to visit to avoid crowds, best restaurants, hotels in Anaheim, money-saving ticket tips, Halloween & Christmas in the parks, and more. It’s a great resource for first-timers to Southern California or lifelong WDW fans. (Updated May 1, 2024.)
Let’s start with all of the latest update, which is that a couple of seasonal events are now underway with Star Wars Season of the Force running through June 2 at Disneyland and Pixar Fest continuing until August 4, 2024 at both parks. Of the two events, Pixar Fest is definitely bigger, with a new daytime parade at DCA, refreshed fireworks at Disneyland, plus dance parties and character meet & greets in both parks.
Disney has also shared that Halloween 2024 at Disneyland will start early (August 23), which likely means Oogie Boogie Bash Party dates beginning earlier. Conversely, Christmas 2024 at Disneyland will start later than normal (November 15), which is unexpected given the popularity of the holiday season. Those are the big things for the 2024 calendar at Disneyland, but there’s a ton more to cover…
From a planning perspective, the big newish thing is Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, which are essentially paid FastPass, for those who were familiar with that. It’s important to understand how this works and whether you should buy Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes before you visit Disneyland.
Everything you need to know, including ride priorities, where it’s NOT necessary to buy Genie+ or Lightning Lanes, and much more is covered in our Guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Disneyland and DCA. That’s regularly updated to include the latest price increases and additions to the Lightning Lane ride roster–both of which have changed in the last few months.
We’ve used Genie+ and Lightning Lanes many times, and cover our experiences and strategy there. If you’re a Walt Disney World regular, the good news is that Genie+ is much easier to use at Disneyland. We’d recommend definitely recommend that guide to get a sense for how to use it and priorities–and would also advise having savvy strategy for Early Entry (if eligible) and rope drop plans. Other than that, you don’t need to overthink things. Genie+ makes visiting Disneyland and DCA so much easier.
Regardless of whether you end up buying the Genie+ paid line-skipping, you’ll want to make the decision ahead of time, and plan your strategy accordingly to either get the most mileage out of Genie+ or have an efficient itinerary that finds alternatives for beating the crowds. (Our strong recommendation is to purchase Genie+ for at least one day. If cost is an issue, trim the ‘fat’ from your vacation budget somewhere else.)
Disneyland has been relatively busy in the last couple of years, which is precisely why we recommend buying the Genie+ service to save time waiting in line. It hasn’t been all bad–and it does appear that “revenge travel” is starting to exhaust itself. However, not nearly to the same degree as Walt Disney World. It’s still varying degrees of busy–just slightly less busy than last year.
Our expectation is that pent-up demand continues to die down in 2024. Following spring break season, the parks were definitely quieter in April, but it wasn’t consistent every single day–or even within days. For example, we were in the parks every day from April 27-30. Every single day during that stretch, wait times were low and crowds were slow in the morning.
The big difference is that there were massive evening rushes on a couple of days, to the point that one night DCA felt every bit as busy as during spring break. On another two days, even the nighttime hours were peaceful (at least comparatively speaking). It doesn’t help that Magic Key sales are now wide open, ticket deals are back, and park reservations are frequently fully booked (only to open more availability last minute). All of this can make crowds less predictable and more scattershot.
It feels like Disneyland is on the precipice of returning to a pre-2020 level of normal crowd dynamics, but we’ve thought this before only to have things get crazy again. Choosing less busy dates is important and that’ll continue to be the case even if pent-up demand fizzles out, but to the above points, you only have so much control. Trying to completely avoid crowds can be a fool’s errand, as they’re impossible to perfectly predict.
This is something we even admit in our totally free 2024 Disneyland Crowd Calendars. Those offer day by day guides as to when the parks will be least busy and busiest. These crowd calendars are influenced by a variety of factors, including marketing, discounts, park hours, new attraction openings, special events, Anaheim Convention Center events, and even weather (good or bad). We strive to keep our Disneyland crowd calendars updated to reflect changes in attendance trends.
We’re able to keep on top of all the changing crowd patterns and additions because we are Magic Key Passholders who reside in Southern California. Typically, we visit Disneyland and DCA at least once per week to refine this guide and provide you the best info.
In addition to park visits, we do frequent hotel stays, lots of eating, and field testing of Genie+ and Lightning Lanes as well as other itineraries and strategy for beating lines at the parks. Emphasis on typically since this past year has been a bit atypical and slower-paced for us as we our family grew in size.
But enough about us. Suffice to say, we’re at Disneyland and DCA frequently, and have planning updates and news to share on a regular basis. If you want to receive updates when discounts are released, new things are announced, etc., sign up to receive our free Disney email newsletter, which covers Disneyland plus Walt Disney World and the international parks.
Before we get to the nuts and bolts of Disneyland vacation planning, let’s start with quick background. Disneyland is “Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom.” It’s the castle park that debuted in 1955 and paved the way for other such theme parks around the globe. Disneyland is the only park that Walt Disney himself set foot in and had an active role developing. Beyond its historical legacy that makes it a California institution, Disneyland is incredibly attraction-dense, with enough rides to fill two full days or more (if you’re so inclined).
Directly across from Disneyland is Disney California Adventure (DCA), the second gate of Disneyland Resort. DCA is ostensibly inspired by the Golden State, but is more just a catch-all park with some attractions having a vague California connection and others being driven by Marvel, Pixar, and other Disney franchises.
In addition to the Disneyland and Disney California Adventure theme parks, Disneyland Resort is home to Downtown Disney and three official hotels. Downtown Disney is a shopping, dining and entertainment district just outside the two parks. The aforementioned resorts are Pixar Place Hotel, Disneyland Hotel, and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel–which is directly connected to DCA. The entirety of Disneyland Resort is walkable, with no transportation aside from your feet needed to get anywhere within the property.
Now let’s dig into planning, starting with what’s new and next at Disneyland Resort…
What’s New & Next at Disneyland
Beyond the aforementioned substantive additions, there are smaller ‘experience improvements’ at Disneyland. Specifically, the start of Park Hopping has been moved forward to 11 am; this makes it easier to switch parks for lunch.
There are also a handful of new on-site perks for hotel guests, the best of which is Early Entry. See our Guide to Early Entry at Disneyland for what you need to know about this pre-park opening access to Disneyland and DCA. (Note that Early Entry is now every other day for each park as of 2024; it was previously in both parks every day of the week.)
Additionally, PhotoPass digital photo downloads of on-ride photos are now free for all guests on the Disneyland app. This includes attraction photos captured on Radiator Springs Racers, Space Mountain, Incredicoaster, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, and more.
The Magic Happens daytime parade is back, and not to be missed. We recommend catching the parade’s first performance from the end of Main Street on the back side of the flagpole. Alternatively, the west side of Main Street will offer shade; welcome reprieve from the sun and heat during the summer months.
Then there are the nighttime shows. As of Summer 2024, Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular has returned for Pixar Fest. This is a fun show with new music and added scenes from Turning Red, Onward, Soul, and other movies that have come out in the last 4 years.
Also coming back from another year-plus hiatus is Fantasmic, which will be presented in modified form on the Rivers of America once again. See the 2024 Disneyland Entertainment Schedule for the dates of what’s returning and what’s missing.
Two of the biggest additions for 2024 at Disneyland are at the hotels. Late last year, the brand-new Discovery Tower opened at Disneyland Hotel. This is the new Disney Vacation Club wing, which can also be booked by cash-paying guests. Although they’re all technically part of the same resort, there’s a night-and-day difference between the DVC and hotel towers. See our Photo Tour of the Villas at Disneyland Hotel for more on the new tower.
In early 2024, Disney Imagineers overhauled Paradise Pier Hotel into Pixar Place Hotel. So here, it’s a matter of the same “bones” of the hotel, but with a fresh coat of paint (and much more). This project was truly transformative, breathing new life into the aging tower hotel. See our Pixar Place Hotel Review for more.
In terms of new rides, the biggest relatively recent addition is Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and its two attractions, Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. The latter is Disneyland’s biggest blockbuster addition since 1995, a modern masterpiece of Imagineering that is immensely popular and well-worth the multi-hour waits.
Over at Disney California Adventure, the most recent expansion is the Avengers Campus Marvel Land. This features one ride, one restaurant, meet & greets, and shopping. It’ll also showcases a Stuntronics Spider-Man, which is a sight to behold.
The next big attraction on the horizon is Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which opens at Disneyland in late 2024. Our expectation–based on visible progress as compared to the version of the same ride at Walt Disney World (which opens this summer)–is that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will debut at Disneyland between mid-October and Thanksgiving 2024.
Looking even further down the road, at some point sometime before 2030 (maybe?), an Avatar experience is coming to Disneyland. This is part of the nebulous DisneylandForward proposal, which is on the precipice of being fully-approved by the Anaheim City Council in May 2024. More details are expected at the D23 Expo in August.
If you’re curious about the specifics of other additions on the horizon, consult our What’s New & Next for Disneyland in 2024. This gives you an idea of when you might want to visit if you’re still choosing dates, trying to find the best time in terms of special events, new rides, and more.
More is coming in 2024 and beyond, but those are the main things to know. Now, let’s get down to business: what you need to plan a Disneyland vacation…
When to Visit Disneyland
The single most important part of planning a trip to Disneyland is determining when to visit. As mentioned above, crowds are a big component of this, but should not be the sole determining factor. Weather, seasonal events, pricing, and other variables are all important.
To that point, our we also have the Best & Worst Months to Visit Disneyland list, which ranks every month of the year. Even more to the point, this covers our 3 favorite weeks of the year to take a Disneyland trip. That’s more qualitative, and thus can more useful than crowd calendars for many Disneyland planners.
Again, our crowd calendars and month by month ranking resources have been updated to take into account changing attendance patterns brought on by Magic Keys, make-up travel, discounted SoCal tickets, returning entertainment, and more. Crowds have already changed, and we will continue to monitor and update accordingly in the future. Just be warned that crowd calendars are less reliable right now due to pent-up demand, capacity limits, and everything else.
As for seasonal events, we have two favorite times to do Disneyland. We highly recommend Halloween, which is our #2 time of the year at Disneyland. Check out our Ultimate Guide to Disneyland at Halloween for reasons why, and assistance planning a trip during that specific timeframe.
We’re already looking forward to the return of Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party, which will be back for Fall 2024 (and probably late summer!). That’s a hard ticket event, meaning that tickets to it cost extra; you do not need to attend Oogie Boogie Bash to have a great time during the Halloween season at Disneyland, but we recommend it to anyone who is willing and able to splurge–especially fans of rare characters (and villains!).
Our favorite time of year at Disneyland–by a wide margin–is the holiday season. Unlike Halloween, there is no Christmas hard ticket event, meaning that everything is included with the price of regular admission. This means holiday fireworks, special parades, decorations, attraction overlays, entertainment, and so much more.
You could literally spend multiple full days focused exclusively on the seasonal offerings at Disneyland during the holiday season. Read our Ultimate Guide to Disneyland at Christmas to learn more about what makes this time of year so special–and see photos of the parks in all of their Christmas glory!
Finally, before solidifying your travel dates, you’ll also want to check out our 2024 Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar to make sure any must-do attractions won’t be closed for renovations during your visit.
We typically do not recommend relying heavily on the refurbishment calendar. While Disneyland provides advance notice of most major multi-month closures, that’s not always the case. Some are scheduled last minute for necessary repairs or preventative maintenance. Short projects are sometimes scheduled at the last minute, and unannounced downtime (due to breakdowns or other issues) can also impact attractions.
Our biggest piece of advice with regard to refurbishments is not to visit in January or February if a high number of ride closures will negatively impact your trip. Winter is typically Disneyland’s refurbishment season, with many attractions going down for annual maintenance after the holidays.
Where to Stay
There are a ton of options in terms of where to stay near Disneyland: Good Neighbor Hotels, official Disney resorts, nearby hotels within driving distance, sprawling resorts in nearby beach towns, and more. In Best Hotels Near Disneyland, we cover our top 10 picks for hotels within walking distance of the parks, with 5 family-friendly budget options, 3 luxury resorts, and 2 Disney-owned hotels. That’s a concise resource if you don’t want to comb through our more comprehensive hotel info.
For most vacation planners, the decision comes down to choosing among Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (our favorite!), Disneyland Hotel (second favorite), and Pixar Place Hotel, or one of the cheaper hotels on Harbor Boulevard. We cover the pros and cons of each choice in our Where to Stay at Disneyland: Off-Site v. On-Site Hotels post.
If you’re looking for something more thorough, we’ve stayed at every on-site Disneyland hotel and most of the Good Neighbor Disneyland hotels and other off-site hotels within walking distance of the Disneyland Esplanade.
All of these are covered in our Rankings & Reviews of the Best & Worst Hotels Near Disneyland. This post ranks ~60 hotels near Disneyland at which we have stayed, along with room photos, pros & cons, and other useful information. That also details how to score a good deal on a hotel that’s close to Disneyland.
Fair warning: those comprehensive rankings can be overwhelming. We do a lot of hotel stays in Anaheim and report on them; most of that’s overkill for planners–you just need to know which ones are the ‘hotel hell’ options (bottom of the list) to avoid at all costs and the best ones to book (top of the list). If you’ve already booked accommodations, you might also want to search the list to see where your selected hotel ranks!
Park Tickets
Our Money-Saving Guide to Disneyland Tickets is a huge resource with recommendations on what type of Disneyland tickets you should buy, including how many days, whether you should get Park Hopper, and where you can buy Disneyland tickets to save some money.
There are some great offers right now–we recommend bundling park tickets and your hotel stay to save even more, especially with the 3rd and 4th night free specials at hotels near Disneyland. These package deals can save you a lot of money.
For the vast majority of guests visiting Disneyland, we recommend the Park Hopper ticket option. This allows you to bounce back and forth between the two parks throughout the day, which is easy to do given that their about a football field apart.
The practical upsides of this is starting at the park that opens first and ending your night at the park open later (Disneyland is often open 2 hours later than Disney California Adventure). You can also eat in the park with the dining options you prefer, grab a beer in DCA (there’s no alcohol in Disneyland outside of Oga’s Cantina in Star Wars Land), and enjoy the nighttime spectaculars in both parks.
If you’re a local or just a big diehard Disney fan planning to make multiple trips in a single year, Magic Key Annual Passes are also an option. See our Guide to Magic Keys at Disneyland: 2024 Prices, Perks, Blockout Dates & Discounts for more details.
Prior to moving to California, we were Disneyland AP holders while living in Indianapolis, Indiana followed by Orlando, Florida. We’d make several long weekend trips out to Disneyland each year, and the APs more than paid for themselves.
With that said, Annual Passes were much cheaper when we lived in the Midwest–a fraction of the current price–and we blogged about Disney by the time we moved to Central Florida. So our circumstances are a bit unique. Nevertheless, if you live in Nevada, Utah, or even Northern California…and can do a few long weekends each year, Magic Keys might make sense for you, too!
Disneyland Strategy & Itineraries
There are over 75 attractions between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. On a normal day, the average guest will only experience 10-11 of those. It would thus take you at least 6 days to experience everything in the two theme parks, assuming you didn’t want to re-ride anything. Obviously, not many people are devoting over a week to their Disneyland vacation.
As such, we’ve developed a few step-by-step Disneyland touring plans, each of which will enable you to efficiently experience the parks, while also enjoying their leisurely offerings and atmosphere. More to the point, you’ll be able to do 20+ rides per day–and skip the ones not worth your time.
Here are our best and recommended itineraries:
- Disneyland 1-Day Itinerary – Only have one day to visit Disneyland? This is a step-by-step plan of attack for which attractions you should do, where you should eat, what to see, and more. This covers all of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, including Rise of the Resistance.
- Disneyland 2-Day Itinerary – Same idea, but spread over two days. We recommend most guests allocate two full days to Disneyland.
- Disney California Adventure 1-Day Itinerary – Unlike Disneyland, DCA is easier to fully experience in a single day. This touring plan includes strategy for beating the crowds at Radiator Springs Racers, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, Web Slingers Spider-Man Adventure, and more!
We are currently working on additional multi-day itineraries for trips of 4+ days at Disneyland Resort. For now, if you plan on spending more time at DCA, consult our Disney California Adventure Ride Reviews & Guide. The article reviews every attraction at Disneyland, giving each a numerical score out of 10, plus highlights key attractions that we consider the best ones, which should be prioritized if you have limited time.
Our Disneyland Ride Reviews & Guide does the same thing for the castle park, in case you want to spend 3+ days there. (Which you totally could, especially now that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is open!)
Dining at Disneyland
Food is half the fun at Disneyland. Both parks have great restaurants, iconic snacks, decadent desserts, and great drinks. We typically go all-out when visiting the parks, doing breakfast at one of the hotels (or sometimes in the park), followed by a mid-morning snack, counter service lunch, and table service dinner.
The stereotype that all Disney food is unhealthy food like burgers and hot dogs is entirely false. Disneyland has inexpensive unique dining options as well as expensive fine dining. Good dining can help define a trip! To that end, we highly recommend checking out our List of the 23 Best Restaurants at Disneyland. Those are the places we dine the most, and recommend to friends visiting the parks. You’ll find several hidden gems on there, as well as explanations for why we’ve snubbed several hotspots.
If you want advice, food photos, and more about all restaurants, see our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. (Honestly, we think that’s probably overkill for 95% of you. The ‘best of’ list above covers where you should do meals, and there are more lists below for bars, snacks, and desserts.)
Beyond full meals, we have a few resources that can help you plan memorable meals at Disneyland. If you have kids, we highly recommend consulting our Disneyland Character Dining Guide, which covers the best character buffets in the hotels and parks.
Looking for the best quick meals? Our Top 10 Disneyland Counter Service Restaurants list ranks the best meals in the castle park, while our Top 10 Disney California Adventure Counter Service Restaurants list offers the same for DCA.
Want to have fun with your food at Disneyland? Our Top 10 Delicious Desserts at Disneyland covers delicious treats, including some hidden gems, plus brand new items and recently-added restaurants in Downtown Disney!
If you’re into drinking, we also have posts about a few of our favorite lounges: Trader Sam’s, Lamplight Lounge, GCH Craftsman Bar, and Carthay Circle Restaurant. The last one is particularly noteworthy because–in addition to the lounge downstairs–the restaurant upstairs is the best in-park restaurant in either park.
Transportation
Should you fly or drive to Disneyland? Rent a car or use public transportation? What about getting around Southern California? There are a ton of questions you might have, and our Guide to Disneyland Transportation covers everything you need to know, answering these questions for you based on our first-hand experiences visiting Anaheim as tourists and living nearby as locals.
If you’ve already decided on flying to California but aren’t sure of the pros & cons of each option, check out our Guide to Airports Near Disneyland. That covers the strengths and weaknesses of the 5 airports in Southern California that are relatively convenient to Disneyland.
In a nutshell, our strong recommendation would be flying into SNA (or even LGB) over LAX. Even if the flight is a little more expensive, it’s worth it. Not only is SNA closer to Disneyland, but LAX has tons of chaos, construction, and crowds.
We like LAX and its eclectic energy, but it’s more than a little overwhelming for a first-timer. If you’ve never been to Southern California or a large city like Los Angeles, it can be a bit much and start your trip off on the wrong foot. Meanwhile, SNA is laid back and quiet. If there were a list ranking the best airports for napping, it would be near the top and LAX would be near the bottom.
In addition to this, SNA is much closer to Disneyland than LAX, which makes it easier to simply take an Uber or Lyft from the airport to wherever you’re staying near Disneyland. In most cases, we’d recommend rideshare over renting a car at the airport, as the vast majority of hotels near Disneyland now charge for parking. So not only will you be paying to rent the car, but also to park it.
The vast majority of hotels near Disneyland are within walking distance, so you won’t need a vehicle during the theme park portion of your trip to Southern California. If you’re staying at one of the hotels we recommend in Anaheim, it’s literally counterproductive to drive to Disneyland since the parking structures are all farther away than most of the nearby hotels.
If you’re venturing beyond Disneyland to one of the destinations discussed below–and we strongly recommend that you do–while visiting Southern California, our advice would be to book a rental car in Anaheim. There are numerous rental car companies within walking distance of Disneyland, and most offer one-way rentals to the nearby airports. Walk over to one of those on your checkout morning, pick up your rental car, and continue your California adventure!
We do not recommend relying on rideshare if you’re heading to Los Angeles. However, if you’re doing Laguna Beach or another coastal community, a rental car may not be needed at all. Many coastal towns have free trolley service that is fantastic. Simply take an Uber or Lyft from Disneyland to wherever you’re staying in the beach cities.
Southern California BEYOND Disneyland
If you want to venture beyond theme parks, you’re in luck. Southern California is one of the best places in the world to visit! Thanks to Los Angeles, San Diego, and the beach cities in between, there’s a ton to do in the area.
In addition to this site, we have non-Disney blog: TravelCaffeine with resources for on an eclectic mix of the places where we’ve lived or visited extensively. California is one such emphasis, as we’ve spent a ton of time exploring our home state. If you’re planning on heading to LA after Disneyland, be sure to check out our Ultimate Guide to Los Angeles.
While LA is one of the greatest cities in the world, we’re particularly partial to Laguna Beach. It’s home to the best stretch of coast in California, has small-town charm and personality, and tons of things to do. To that point, see our Ultimate Guide to Laguna Beach, California for extensive advice. If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of visiting Los Angeles, then Laguna Beach is for you!
In addition to these planning resources, we also give away a free eBook, 101 Things to Do in Southern California over on TravelCaffeine, so be sure to download that totally free resource!
If you’re thinking of visiting other theme parks in Southern California, we also have guides to those…
Universal Studios Hollywood Trip Planning Guide – In just a few years, USH has transformed and improved dramatically. The opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was what really put the park on the map as a vacation destination, but many other additions have made this a great park in the last few years. Our favorite new attraction is Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash, a new family-friendly dark ride. (Read our review of it in Universal’s New Dark Ride Rivals Disney’s Best!)
The blockbuster new addition is Super Nintendo World. We love this land, and rate two of its biggest components in our Ride Review: Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge and our Review of Toadstool Cafe in Super Nintendo World. For practical planning advice, check out our comprehensive Strategy Guide for Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood. That offers tips & tricks, how to beat the crowds, and a ton of other advice for making the most of your time in this incredible new land.
Aside from that, the Studio Tour is our favorite attraction, which is a 45-minute plus tram tour through the working backlot of Universal’s studio. If you are only interested in this Studio Tour, you might broaden your potential options beyond just USH, and also consider the Warner Brothers Studio Tour and Sony Pictures Studio Tour as alternatives.
Guide to Knott’s Berry Farm – An Orange County institution that proudly proclaims itself as “America’s 1st Theme Park.” Really, Knott’s is a tale of two theme parks. It has modern roller coasters and other fare for thrill-seekers. Thematically, this leaves a lot to be desired.
Then there are the quainter areas, reminiscent of Frontierland at Disneyland. We love these areas–and the park’s annual Boysenberry Festival. All things considered, we love both Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios Hollywood, and together with Disneyland Resort, these four gates make for a great theme park vacation in Southern California!
Other Disneyland Planning Resources
Now that we’ve covered the essentials to ensure you have a great trip to Disneyland, we have a bunch of other resources that will guide you through the planning process to make your visit to Disneyland more enjoyable, helping you save time and money. Armed with all of this knowledge, you will have a much better vacation.
What to Pack – Packing for Disneyland is comparable to packing for any vacation, but with a few twists. Here’s our list of “unordinary” items to pack that will help enhance your Disneyland trip!
Guide to Downtown Disney – We sort of gloss over it here, but Downtown Disney is a massive area within Disneyland Resort’s security perimeter. You can easily leave either park and get to one of these restaurants for a meal…or some of the best ice cream you’ll ever have…in under 10 minutes.
Our 101 Best Disneyland Tips – This is not nearly as structured as our other advice, but these tips offer great advice and sometimes obscure little things that will help you visit the parks like a local. This is more granular advice than what you’ll find in our other planning articles, but we’ve had a lot of positive feedback from readers who really got a lot more out of their trips because of those tips.
Renting DVC Points to Save Money on Accommodations – This is written from a WDW perspective, but there are also Disney Vacation Club villas at the Grand Californian. Booking there can be a challenge (it’s incredibly popular), but you can save a ton of money if your timing is right and you get lucky.
Best Credit Cards for Disney Travel – Leveraging credit card rewards can be a great way of getting free airfare or hotel rooms, and there are several options near Disneyland that you can book for free thanks to signup bonuses.
Tips for Buying Discount Disney Gift Cards – Want to save at least 5% on every single thing you buy at Disneyland? These hacks are for you. Some are relatively simple and straightforward (like using the Target RedCard) while others require a bit more effort.
In general, there are a variety of ways you can save money on a trip to Disneyland. If you’re looking for the best way to save on an entire vacation package, many of our favorite hotels near Disneyland can be booked via Get Away Today at a discount. If you bundle tickets into your hotel stay, you’ll get an even better deal. You can check package prices here.
Between this blog and TravelCaffeine.com, you should be totally covered with what you need to know if you’re thinking about visiting Disneyland Resort and Southern California sometime in 2024. We can’t encourage people enough to give Disneyland a try, especially Disney fans who are biased towards Walt Disney World as their “home” park. Disneyland is a totally different, much more relaxed experience. It’s intimate in both size and feel, and is oozing with history and incredible attractions.
I could go on for pages and pages about why I love Disneyland, and why everyone owes it to themselves to visit Disneyland, but hopefully this is a good-enough jumping off point. If you’ve never been to either Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort, it’s a good place to start as we attempt to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of each in an unbiased manner. If all of this is still overwhelming or you want personalized recommendations for Disneyland Resort, click here to get a vacation quote from a no fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.
Your Thoughts
Are you planning a Disneyland Resort visit in 2024? Debating between Halloween and Christmas? Have you already visited Galaxy’s Edge and done Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance? What about Avengers Campus? Are you excited for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway or the reimagined Toontown? Thoughts on Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, where to stay, best restaurants and snacks, or anything else covered here? Have you previously visited Disneyland? Have any tips of your own to add? Any questions you still have that this guide did not answer? We really appreciate reader feedback and your thoughts, so please share in the comments below! 🙂
Just a heads up, the Disneyland video has not been updated since before the 60th celebration and it references events and entertainment which is no longer relevant.
Disney has made worlds biggest theme park named Disneyland. If you take your kids to Disneyland it would be the biggest gift for them during vacations. Disneyland is a big place. Your child will get tired by walking. So make sure to take a stroller with you. So that you can carry your child easily.
Thanks so much for the useful information in your blog. I am visiting America with my family in a few months and, coming all the way from Australia, I want to have as much information to make it the best trip possible. Our first stop is DIsneyland and then we will be doing some Disney World parks later on in the trip. We are planning on doing the Disney Princess character dining. Can you please tell me if breakfast or lunch would be better for this? It will be my daughter’s birthday that day and we already have breakfast included with our accommodation but the window for lunch is much longer so I am worried the experience won’t be as good as it is for breakfast? Thanks
Hi Susan! Sounds like you have a fun trip planned. If you haven’t booked your character dining yet, I think lunch is a better time to do it. The morning is prime ride time, you can get a lot of rides in before the parks really fill up later in the day. That’s especially true in Fantasyland, which I’m betting your daughter will love.
When I visit with my two little girls we eat a small breakfast on our way to the park, do as many rides as we can, then stop for a big “brunch.” That usually keeps us full enough that we pick a fun park treat in the afternoon but don’t need another meal until dinner.
I am going to disneyworld magic kingdom December 3 for mickey merry Christmas party magic kingdom
i would love to get a disney planning dvd or guide .
Thanks
Crystal Payne
Isn’t it true that While Disney World had more parks and square footage, DisneyLAND has more actual rides?
Disneyland is definitely a lot smaller seeing as there is only two parks however ,based off of my personal experience, it is a lot more enjoyable that Walt Disney World. The two parks have a multitude of fun and exciting rides. There’s Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Star Tours and plenty of others in Disneyland. Then right across the street (literally like 2 min. away walking) is Disney California Adventure which has plenty as well like Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout, California Screamin’, Soarin Over California, and Grizzly Bear River Rapids (though due to the drought it’s not always open). Walt Disney World has plenty of enjoyable rides but the problem is that they’re scattered across 4 parks. You definitely won’t go on as many rides in Florida in 1 park then you would in 1 park in California. However everyone has their preferences so it really does depend on the person and the experience they want.
I really enjoy your blog, my family goes to Disneyland yearly. We stay at the Staybridge. Highly recommend. They have a great full continental breakfast daily and a few nights a week do a snack night with things like nachos as well as wine and beer tastings for parents. I would love if you did a blog on vegetarian and vegan eats at the parks. Sometimes it can be hard to find those things.
Last summer vacation I took my kids to Disney land. It was densely crowded there. The line for the ticket was out of imagination. So we bought it by a mobile device. It’s an easy way to get the ticket. I don’t have to tell about the enjoyment because everybody knows it’s beyond description. Just want to give some advice to new visitors. Don’t make a plan to visit on vacations, Buy tickets from a mobile device(If crowded), never let your kids go out of sight, Use a stroller must for babies and last of all have lots of fun.
I haven’t been to Disneyland since around 1988. Now at 50 I’d like to take a couple of days off to stay at one of the hotels and see both Disneyland as well as make my first visit to California Adventure. I’ll be going by myself, and I live in L.A. so it will be a short trip. I’m uncertain how to time checkin/checkout days to make sure that I allow a reasonable amount of time to see both parks. For example I could come in on a Tuesday afternoon, check in and have the late afternoon and evening, then the whole day on Wednesday, checking out Thursday morning.
I would recommend allowing for two full days. I like to arrive in Anaheim in the afternoon, check in to my hotel and spend the rest of the day in Downtown Disney and exploring the Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel.
On my second day in Anaheim I get up early and get to the gate at least 30 minutes before the park opens. The parks are easier to navigate and attractions have much shorter lines when you’re among the first to arrive. This way I can get at least one ride on each of my favorite attractions before noon when the crowds start to get thick. Mid-day, when it’s hottest and the lines are longest, I get lunch, go back to the hotel for a quick nap, or have drinks over at DCA or Trader Sam’s.
Day three is basically a repeat of that itinerary, but I’ll start the day at the other park. We check out the following morning.
If you follow my usual routine you’ll end up paying for an additional night in a hotel, but, for me at least, I don’t think it’s worth the cost of admission to start your day in the park in the afternoon, when it’s busiest and most crowded. I also think being in the park for rope-drop is part of the experience, and if you show up in the afternoon you miss out on that.
We won a free trip to Disney land and will be going September 12! Can you tell me if Belle from Beauty and the beast is there and where to find her? My Granddaughters just love her!
Tom, any chance you could include a short post about the Fastpass system in DL? I’m clueless as an East Coaster..is it the same as the previous paper system at WDW? Would have to dive into the archives of my brain for that! Would love to hear your explanation of it/pointers.
I have several die-hard Disneyland friends who recently visited Disney World and they were really disappointed. I, being a die-hard Disneyland fan, have no desire to visit Disney World. I love the fact that Walt walked in Disneyland and was there from the beginning, it gives it a magical feel, my favorite place in the whole world!
I’m also a Disneyland fan, but I went to DisneyWorld last year with my family. I found that for the first couple of days I really didn’t “get it”. I had planned a 2 week holiday at WDW as I was treating it as a once in a lifetime trip, and I was worried a few days in that I’d regret being there so long. But once I’d done each park once & started to get a little bit familiar with them, I forgot that initial feeling of “meh”. I am still a Disneyland girl – Love all the attractions in two parks, walkable to one another, & the history of the place, but I can appreciate WDW now. I will go back again, but certainly not as often as I will go to DL. I absolutely loved Disneyland Paris, and am keen to experience the 3 Asian parks as well. It’s worth opening yourself up to trying other parks – they all have something different to offer everyone. 🙂
Thanks for today’s update Tom! We were planning a family reunion, and July 4th became the time that everyone could make work. Unfortunately the reunion has fallen through, but we are still going because we’d booked flights already. Coming from Canada, I think it’ll be fun to see the 4th of July fireworks (from outside the park though, as we don’t want to go in to deal with the crowds that day). We hoped that in the days following the holiday crowds should lessen. That may be affected by the reopening of the Rivers of America attractions & shows if your estimated date of July 4th is correct, but we’ll be happy either way. If they are open for us, then that’s a bonus as we weren’t expecting them when we booked. We’re really looking forward to getting away for a week & playing in the parks. Just about to read your review of Mission Breakout… Very sad to see the Tower of Terror gone, as it was so well done & suited the park well. Fingers crossed for the new version of it, but ultimately I am of the mind that a new attraction for Guardians would have been MUCH preferable to replacing a fantastic & popular attraction. Anyway, thanks for the update. Really appreciate all your efforts! Cheers.
How about a list of Disney rides, parades, events and dates they will run this summer? It’s pretty confusing to chase down all the comments and innuendos. A list, even a wishful one, would be helpful. Our family cancelled this summer’s trip saying “all the rides in Disneyland” are going to be down this summer. I’m disappointed!
How many days would you recommend if taking two children (ages 5 and 8) who are not really interested in riding rides but would like to see more shows instead
THERE ARE NUMEROUS MENTIONS OF RIDES OPEN IN “SUMMER, 2017″, BUT CAN YOU GIVE ME YOUR DEFINITION OF ‘SUMMER?'”, LATE JUNE, ALL OF JULY AND AUGUST? OR EVEN BEFORE LABOR DAY IN SEPTEMBER. MANY THANKS. JUSTINE NUNAN, SAN BRUNO, CA
Hi !
First : Thank you so much for your work on this blog ! I live in France and thanks to your help I would be well prepared for my visit in Disneyland resort ( I am so excited ! )
I wondering myself concerning the characters.
I am hesitating visit the resort between the end of August OR on September ( Autumnal embellishment would be begin ) BUT I am not a so fan of disney vilains. I preferred so far meet princesses and heros ! ! So if I visit the park during Halloween do you think I will have less chances to meet characters such as ‘Jasmine and Alladdin’ or Pocahontas or Tiana ?
Furthermore , some of characters do “quick appearances” ( I downloaded the application ) on the park while others characters have their own spot during the day. Would I do expect wait for a long time to meet these characters ?
Thanks for your help !
Will you be attending the premiere party for Mission Breakout on May 26?
We are looking at going next year around Easter either the week before or after for 2 or 3 days just to the original park. So this can be done taking our time and during the weekdays which might be slower??? How busy are crowds typically during that time? I know it’s Spring Break, but I’m stuck to a schedule.
I meant Easter 2018. Sorry.
I have a subscription to Touring Plans Disneyland edition. I looked at the crowd levels from about the middle to March through Easter weekend – Easter Weekend had LESS than half the reported crowd levels compared to most of the preceding days. Another trend I saw was that all, if not most, Mondays were the busiest days – busier than the Saturday or Sunday before it. It is hard to predict though – Touring Plans predicted that Easter weekend would be MUCH busier than it actually was because prior Easter weekends were very busy. I have been to Disneyland 3 times (4 days each trip) this past year and everyday has been crowded though some days worse than others. Do what everyone says -get to the parks at rope drop and get fast passes whenever you can. Take a break in the afternoon if you can and then close the park – often crowds are a little lower the hour before closing. Another good site to check out if you haven’t is disneylanddaily.com. A note about Touring Plans for Disneyland – a few weeks ago they changed what their crowd levels indicated. For example if the crowd level last year was a 9 they changed that same crowd level to about a 6. This is because Disneyland has gotten MUCH busier in the last year or so.
Clarification: Touring plans has readjusted their crowd levels a couple of time in the last year, the last time was this past spring because they were still underestimating the crowds, so now their predictions match reality better now. Kind of a slight of hand maybe, but the new reality is that Disneyland is always crowded.
We are planning a trip not quite 2 weeks before Memorial Day in 2018. Would this be considered the slow season, and a good time to visit? I’m hoping it will be a decent time to visit since it will be after the Electrical Parade is over and before Star Wars Land opens.
Hi wanting some tips…. we are hoping to go to to Disneyland Anaheim on Halloween this year and it’s also my Grandsons 5th Birthday. Can you recommend a good restaurant/ cafe for dinner and also wanting to organise a cake. We are from Australia and our first visit all very excited!!!!
Tom what isthe site you use for last minute hotel bookings. Thank you in advance.
I’m not Tom, but he uses the HotelTonight app! 🙂
I’ve been using HotelTonight less and less. They still have really good prices in the off-season, but deals are not what they once were on there!