Disneyland: The Best Tips and Tricks for an Epic Vacation

Disneyland is truly the happiest place on earth. I just walk in those main gates and find myself smiling all day long. It is a part that truly knows how to make magic happen. Everything is clean, well organized and enjoyable. The rides are fun for the entire family and are just done so well.

If you’re planning a visit to Disneyland, it’ll be important you’re aware of the crowds. Know that if you choose to go during a busy time– summer, spring break, major holidays, etc, you’ll be sure to have longer lines and more crowded walkways. If you’re more flexible with your trip, I’d suggest researching the best time to go. We like to go during the slow weeks, like right after Thanksgiving or Halloween. Winter months are also slower for the parks. Know they also close rides down for renovations more during this time, so you risk missing out on a few.

You’ll also want to see if Disneyland is having any special celebrations during the time you want to go. These events tent to draw in more people. They have special events around the Chinese Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, and a few years back, there was a huge summer-long celebration for Disney’s 60th celebration. We actually chose to go during a busy time so we could experience the big celebration!

Disney will often have special parades, shows and food during these times, so even though it may be busy, it can also be a fun time to go. You’ll have to decide what type of experience you are wanting. Do you want a special celebration with more people or Disney with less crowds.

Once you’ve decided on the dates, the most helpful and important trick to getting the most out of your time at Disneyland is to get the Disneyland App! If you go to the App store, type in Disneyland and look for the icon shown below. It’s free to download too. Using the app is pretty simple. I’d highly suggest trying to get familiar with it before you go so you aren’t trying to find things for the first time while you’re at the park.

You’ll notice that there’s an interactive park map if you click on the location icon. This will be super helpful if you aren’t very familiar with the park to help you get around. I mostly have my map set to attractions so I can regularly check wait times for rides. It helps me plan out my day better to get the most out of my time there. If you click the down arrow next to the word attractions at the top, you’ll find different categories.

It’s helpful because if you change it to restrooms, it’ll show you all the restrooms throughout Disneyland and California Adventure. You can click on characters and it’ll give you live updates of where all the characters are, as well as the wait time to visit with them. It’s such a helpful tool if you have a child (or you as an adult) wanting to see a specific character! This map works just like the map apps on your phone. You can zoom in and out and use your fingers to move to various parts of the park.

The plus sign in the center of the bottom bar will help you the most with orders and purchases. If you click on it, 5 icons will pop up where you can order you park tickets ahead of time, reserve dining, order food the day of, link you photo passes and get the FastPasses if you purchase MaxPass. Below I will discuss each of the categories in more depth.

Disneyland’s Fastpass With Maxpass

I’m sure you have heard of the term FastPass in relation to Disney, but if you haven’t, let me explain why it’s the best! Disneyland introduced FastPass in 1999 as a way to help with line wait times. Visitors can use their park tickets to reserve spots in line without having to wait in that line. Lets say you wanted to ride Space Mountain, but the line was 60 minutes. I definitely don’t want to wait 60 minutes for a ride!

You would then take your ticket to a kiosk just outside the ride, scan it and it would give you a FastPass ticket. That ticket would tell you a specific hour window you could return and skip the line. Not all rides have FastPass (usually just the kids rides), but a majority of them do now. Up until recently, you had to physically walk to the ride you wanted to reserve a spot in.

Disneyland now offers the option to add MaxPass to your ticket purchase. I’m a firm believer it’s worth every penny and I’ll tell you why! This add-on is an extra $20 to an already pricy day. The first year they introduced it, I was pretty hesitant to purchase it. I figured I might as well try it since we only had one day at the park that year. Well, it saved us so much time and walking!

You use the MaxPass on the Disney App to reserve you FastPasses rather than having to walk to the specific ride. So lets say you are in California Adventure but want to reserve a ride on Indiana Jones. If you don’t have MaxPass, you would have to physically walk back over to Disneyland to get your FastPass. If you are anything like us, you’ll be walking 10+ miles a day at Disneyland, so having a tool that can reduce the walking is huge.

It’s also nice because it gives you a virtual ticket rather than having one you have to physically hold on to, which you could easily lose. Is MaxPass a necessity for Disney, absolutely not! Will it save you time and energy, without a doubt. It’s the best convenience and something we will forever splurge on.

Disneyland Reservation Dining

If you do anything in advance of your trip, make sure you make reservations for specific places you want to eat at. The wait times during busy times can be an hour-plus without one. You can obviously bring your own food or eat off-site, but if you want a special dining package for the fireworks show or a nice night at the Blue Bayou, it can be difficult to find times as you get closer to the trip.

You can make a reservation up to 60 days out of your trip. Luckily the app makes it easy. You can scroll through all the restaurants’ menus and locations on the app to help you decide where to go. You will need to use a credit card to reserve your spot because if you don’t cancel and miss it, they will charge you.

How to Order Food

Recently Disney made a change to the app that allows you to order ahead of time at a select number of dining locations. I’ve only been twice with this new feature and I love it! The first time we went with it being introduced, I honestly forgot about it a few times.

There was one time we hopped in line to get lunch and it was moving really slow. I remembered I could order on the app and I was curious what the wait time was for our specific location. Well I placed the order while we were in line and within two minutes got confirmation our meal was ready at the pick up window! How crazy is that? We left the line and immediately got our food.

The second time we went with this feature in action I remembered to use it more. If I knew I wanted a quick snack on the way to Adventure Land, I could quickly open the app and see what dining options had mobile ordering on the way, look at their menu and place my order. So easy! Plus, it’s nice not having to worry about getting out you wallet. I’m always slightly worried I’ll accidentally leave it somewhere or drop it putting it away, so it’s nice that I could pay for things on my phone.

You just have to link the card you want to pay with to the app. Using this will be another way to save you time standing in line and get on more rides or have more experiences! Anything to spend less time waiting and more time enjoying is a win in my book.

Disneyland Link Photo Guide

If you decide to purchase the MaxPass (which you should!) you are given free downloads of all the pictures you have taken by cast members and on rides. If you click on this Link Photo button it will open up so you can either enter in the code (they’re found on the bottom of ride pictures) or show a QR code that the cast member will scan.

The pictures don’t instantly download to the app, but I’ve had them appear within an hour usually, sometimes quicker. Once the pictures are on the Disneyland App, you can choose to download them to your phone. They only remain on the app for a period of time, so I usually go through them before going to bed so I don’t forget.

If you’re there with family or small children, this feature is also nice because you don’t have to worry as much about getting a good photo. They’re set up at all the popular locations and you’ll quickly be able to spot them once you know what to look for. You’ll see cast members with cameras immediately after entering the park, in front of the castle and down Main Street. There’s usually a line for professional photos so we only do them if it’s a specific want or the line is short. Plus, in this day and age, my iPhone takes great quality photos!

How to Buy Disneyland Tickets

There are rows of ticket kiosks as you enter into the square where the Disneyland and California park entrances are. The lines can be slow because there are always those first timers who ask a thousand questions. Not to mention those people that can just talk a person’s ear off holding up the line. Well, you should definitely purchase your tickets ahead of time on the app! Plus, if you purchase them on the app, they will be linked to your app already.

You’ll need to have tickets, no matter how you purchase them, linked to the app in order to use the app for MaxPass. If you plan to go on the new Rise of The Resistance ride in Galaxy’s Edge, you’ll want to have your ticket uploaded to the app before the park opens. Click here for more on information regarding the new Star Wars Land specifically.

Other Important Disneyland Tips

Now that I’ve shared all about the app and why it’s so useful to have when you go, I’d love to share some other tips I’ve learned over the years. For starters, get to the park early! If the gates open at 8am, try and get there no less than 30 minutes before. They usually open the gates early so you can get into the park, grab a coffee at Starbuck off Main Street or wander the shops.

I like to get there early so we can be towards the front of Adventureland when they drop the rope. Indiana Jones is always my first ride and it’s so nice getting on it before the lines start. Although, now that the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is open, I might have to start there first.

If you are in the park right when it opens, you can usually get on a handful of rides quickly. Season pass holders usually arrive later in the morning/afternoon. Families tend to trickle in later because they go to character breakfasts. I would suggest scheduling a character breakfast for a day you aren’t going to the park if it works with your schedule. Then you wont waste precious ride time. Say you fly out at noon, go the morning you fly out rather than scheduling it the days you are in the park. We always do quick breakfasts at the hotel or grab something in the park that we can carry.

If you want to make the most of your time and you plan to go for more than three days, then learn about Magic Mornings so you can use yours. Anyone that purchases a 3 day or more ticket will have access to this. The Magic Mornings offer guest entrance to the park one hour before it opens to the general public. The entire park won’t be open, usually just a half, but you can ride those rides and get in before the crowds.

It’s not every day and it will one day be for California and the next will be at Disneyland. You’ll want to know ahead of time what days and parks it will be at before you go. You can plan out what day you want to take advantage of this. We always use it on a morning its offered at Disneyland just because we prefer the rides to those at California Adventure. You can also check in with the front desk of your hotel if you want more information. They will gladly help you!

Don’t feel like you have to stay at one of the three Disneyland hotels. They’re expensive! We’ve never stayed at one because of the cost, but I’ll be honest, someday I want to just for the one-time experience. If the cost isn’t bothersome to you, then by all means do it and enjoy it! If you’re like me, a penny pincher at Disney, there are so many hotels surrounding the parks. A lot of the hotels have shuttles and some are in walking distance.

I’ll warn you, walking will still be a long walk. We’ve walked, shuttled and Uber-ed depending on where we stay. Walking even to the shuttles or Uber at the end of a long day is pretty exhausting, let alone walking back to a hotel a few blocks away. The added cost of a shuttle can sometimes be worth saving your legs. Especially if you’re going for a few days.

My Favorite Food Spots

Disneyland

• Bengal BBQ for lunch- Adventureland
• River Belle Terrace for dinner- Adventureland
• Tiki Juice Bar for Dole Whip- Adventureland
• Mint Julep for drinks and beignet- New Orleans
• Blue Bayou for dinner- New Orleans
• Hungry Bear for funnel cake- Critter Country
• Docking Bay 7 for lunch- Star Wars
• Oga’s Cantina for drinks- Star Wars
• Rancho Del Zoca for lunch/dinner- Frontierland
• Little Red Wagon fro lunch- Main Street
• Gibsons Ice Cream- Main Street
• Plaza Inn for dinner- Main Street
• Candy Palace for treats- Main Street

California Adventure

• Flo’s V8 Cafe for dinner- Carsland
• Cocina Cucamonga for lunch/dinner- Pacific Wharf
• Lucky Fortune for lunch- Pacific Wharf
• Jack Jack Cookies- Pixar Pier
• Poultry Palace for lunch- Pixar Pier
• Bayside Brew for snacks and drinks- Pixar Pier
• Corn Dog Castle for lunch- Paradise Garden Park

Our go-to dinner spot is Tortilla Joe’s in Downtown Disney. We go every time and love it. We could eat Mexican food every day though. The only downside is that you can to walk a ways since its not in the parks. If we’re only there for one day, we’ll try and go eat there on a night we aren’t at the parks. I personally love stopping at churro carts for snacks too, which are throughout the park.

Downtown Disney also has a huge Disney store if you are wanting some souvenirs, but don’t want to spend your time in the parks shopping for them. I will tell you there are some items you can only buy within the parks. If you see it in the park and you know you want it, just grab it. We try not to buy much when we’re at the parks besides food because it adds u. I don’t want to lug around a lot of items. It’s a lot easier currently because we don’t have children wanting things. If we do buy something, we try and do it on the way out at the end of the day.

If you plan to watch the fireworks or a parade, you’ll need to plan for that. People start lining up for parades well in advance. Some will send one party member to block off a spot even an hour before. We usually only watch the parades if it’s a seasonal or special event parade because thats the best time to be on rides, when people aren’t!

Same goes for the fireworks, we often watch them from other parts of the park as we move between rides. Everyone is watching them so we love to hit the rides. Every so often we do stop and watch them from the castle though because they’re amazing! If you want a good seat for the nighttime shows, consider buying a dining package. I’ve never done this, but it gets you up close reserved seating. If you want more information on dining packages, go here where you can search which restaurants have packages (will say package after the name) and what you get for it.

If you are planning a trip to Disneyland, you’re sure to have a magical time! There’s just something special about walking down Main Street. All I have to do is hear the music and I have an instant smile on my face. Unlike other amusement parks, Disneyland is so clean and well managed which adds to the magic of it all. Every detail is thought out. Be sure to check out my “Galaxy’s Edge” guide before you go too. I hope this helps you on your trip and you have the most magical time!

Happy Travels,

Elizabeth