General Tips for Disneyland

Earlier this week, Momma Jo shared her Disneyland tips for infants and toddlers.  Here are some general tips for your next trip to Disneyland.

Tips when Visiting Disneyland

1. Take advantage of the Fast Passes for the popular rides. Avoid the 1 hour+ wait times and get fast passes for your must not miss rides. You can find out which rides have fast passes and can head there as soon as you get to the park. Most popular rides with the longest lines in Disneyland are Space Mountain, Star Tours and Indiana Jones. In California Adventure, it’s Radiator Springs Racers (it’s always long! I’ve only ridden it once and I’ve been there 10+ times this year!), Soarin’ and now Tower of Terror.   Tower of Terro is closing in January 2017. Or give all of your tickets to the fastest walker (no running allowed in the park hehe) and have that person get all of the fast passes for your group.
2. If you have any must see shows or parades, make sure to check the schedule either on the website before you go or upon entry into the park on the entertainment schedule.  Plan your day around the showtimes.  If you plan on watching World of Color, they have fast passes for that show so that you don’t have to line up early.  The kiosk is at Grizzly Peak in California Adventure. You can also find fast passes for the new Frozen show at Hyperion Theater at California Adventure, but you must get there early to get a pass! We missed it last time because we got in late.If you want to splurge a bit, you can do a dining package and get preferred seating passes for both World of Color and Frozen. Check the website for details. Advance reservation is required and they are pricey.  It may be worth the price if you don’t want to wait for a spot or don’t want to go early. We’ve done it for World of Color during the 60^th anniversary and it was worth it! We only had to get there 15 minutes before showtime and the viewing spot was great. People without dining package or fast pass tickets claim their spots hours before World of Color, fireworks show and parades.If you’re park hopping, the fireworks show at Disneyland and World of Color show at California Adventure are at about the same time.  Keep that in mind if you want to watch both.  It’s better to watch them on separate days if you’re there for multiple.

3. Special parade tips- My son’s favorite things are the parades! So, we try to catch every parade, even the same parade multiple times in 1 day.  If there are 2 parade times, the first parade will start at Small World and end at Main St.  The second parade will be in reverse, with the parade ending at Small World. This is important to remember if you’re trying to get around the park during parade times. During parades and fireworks shows, Main St is usually super packed and best to avoid. The entrance through the castle from Main St may be packed and it is closed during the fireworks.  Keep in mind where the parade starts and ends if you want to catch it. For example, if you’re about to get on a ride in Tomorrowland at night and want to catch the 2^nd parade, you can still catch the entire parade by heading directly to Small World (not through Main St, but toward Matterhorn) since the parade will probably get there 10-15 mins after parade start.If you want a good spot on Main St, snag an outside table at the Plaza Inn restaurant and you can catch the parade as it comes up – or down –  Main St.  You’ll get a great view and can eat while enjoying Plaza Inn’s delicious fried chicken (must eat!).

4. If you need to purchase a ticket, don’t waste times at the ticket booths at the park. You can purchase your ticket ahead of time at any of the Disney resort or Disneyland Good Neighbor hotels. If your hotel front desk doesn’t sell them, call another nearby hotel and buy from them.

Meet the Princesses at Ariel’s Grotto

Have Disney tips to share?  Post them in our comments!