As a Los Angeles native, I consider Disneyland to be my “home” park. Over the years I have been to Disneyland so many times that I’ve literally lost count. (There was even a period where I went to the parks literally every single weekend). Today I’m taking all of that knowledge and sharing it in my new Ultimate Disneyland Planning Guide. (last updated January 1, 2024)
THE BASICS
First of all, planning a trip to any Disney Park can feel daunting, especially in 2024. The rules seem to keep changing and the demand feels higher than ever before. I’ve heard the “horror stories” from countless friends and family who’ve visited recently without “a plan”. Unfortunately, in this day and age you really do need to do “your research” if you want to have a smooth and enjoyable park visit. If you plan to show up and “wing it” without knowing the park layout and what’s offered, chances are you’re going to make some critical mistakes that will result in hours wasted in line (a parent’s worst nightmare, as I’ve been told). So today, I am going to go over what I consider to be “the basics” of planning any theme park vacation. If you plan to read nothing further in this post, please at least take away the following as the bear minimum in planning for a Disneyland vacation before you take off:
- Look at the Park layout – Look at a map of the park and understand generally where things are located.
- Download the Park’s Mobile App – Almost everything for the day of your visit will be done on a mobile app. Make sure to download that app and actually look at what’s included before you show up. Make sure all of your tickets and other reservations are linked so that you’re not wasting precious time fumbling around with that when you arrive.
- Review Park Wait Times – Most mobile apps will include a live listing of current ride wait times. If you’re unsure of which rides are offered and/or which are the most popular, this is the best way to find out. Take a screenshot and/or write down a list of the most popular rides.
- Look at the Weather – This may seem like a no-brainer but how you plan for a rainy day at a theme park is going to be very different from how you’ll plan an 80 degree day.
Now that you understand a little bit of what you’re going to experience on your park day, you’re ready to plan all of the “other stuff”.
WHEN TO GO
One of the most popular questions I get asked is, “when will Disneyland be the least crowded?”. I generally don’t like this question because I haven’t seen a really “empty” park day at Disneyland since before (and right after) the pandemic when things were, you know… different.
While there aren’t really dead days at this parks anymore, there are certain times of year where you can expect a little lower crowd level. The first is late January, because usually families are fully back from the holidays and back into the swing of school at this point. The second is September, for the same reason.
Other than these two times of year, there are two other conditions (unique to Disneyland) where crowds seem to be somewhat subdued: 1. When it rains (because the rain in Southern California genuinely scares those local annual passholders away) and 2. Any time that annual passholders are blocked out from using their passes at Disneyland (think weekends during the summer). The only exception to this rule is Christmas and New Year’s, when all passholders are blocked out but the crowds are still BANANAS. If you come in December, just expect it to be crowded.
So all that being said, I generally recommend going to Disneyland during the time of year when it’s either most convenient for you or the weather is your optimal temperature. Even if the parks are crowded, if you do your planning right, you won’t even notice! (Keep reading!)
PARK RESERVATIONS
Theme park reservations were introduced after the pandemic as a way for Disneyland to help with staffing shortages and pent-up demand. Since that time, every visitor has needed to make a reservation in order to gain admission into the park (even with a park ticket). Unlike Walt Disney World, which is starting to lift reservations in 2024, there are no current plans in place for Disneyland to do the same. So once you figure out when you want to go, the next step is to make sure that there are theme park reservations available. Theme park reservations can be made up to 180 days in advance of your trip.
In order to make a reservation, you will need a valid theme park ticket for every member of your party. So that takes us to the next step in the planning process.
BOOKING YOUR VACATION
Next up is deciding where you will stay and how many days you’ll want to spend at the parks. I have always been a big fan of staying on property (for any Disney trip) but Disneyland is my only anomaly.
Where to Stay
Disneyland is probably the only Disney theme park in the world where I’d say it isn’t completely necessary to stay “on property” at a Disneyland hotel. There are so many “Good Neighbor” hotels (as they’re called) that are within walking distance to Disneyland that you have a plethora of options for any price point or budget. If you stay on property, you can purchase your tickets when you make your hotel reservation. And for certain Good Neighbor hotels you can also do the same. If you’re unsure of where to stay, working with a Disney Travel Agent can be extremely helpful. Most agents offer services that are completely free. (If you need a recommendation, just reach out to me on Instagram. I have lots.)
If you do want to stay on property, then I highly recommend any of the Disneyland hotel options, for different reasons. My favorite is the Grand Californian and I talk more about why in this blog post here.
How Many Days to Visit
Of course this is a subjective question, but because Disneyland is much smaller than Walt Disney World you could do everything you need to in 2 days (if you do full days). If you want a more relaxed experience, then I recommend 3-4 days. Anything longer than this might feel a little too long.
Theme Park Tickets
You can choose between a single day ticket or a park hopper ticket when you visit Disneyland. While I almost never suggest a park hopper for visits to Walt Disney World, I absolutely recommend them for Disneyland. Because Disneyland and California Adventure are so close to one another, you can easily walk back and forth between the two throughout the day. This will give you the greatest flexibility as you utilize Genie+ (I’ll get into that below). Even though this is my preference, it is not vital to choose the park hopper option at Disneyland. There is enough to do at each park to occupy a full day, if you prefer to go the single park route.
DINING
After you’ve secured your hotel, tickets, and park reservations, then the next thing to start planning for is dining. Advanced dining reservations can be made 60 days in advance, and I’ll just say, they go fast, especially for the most popular dining experiences.
When thinking about where to make your reservations, the ones that will go right away when you reach the 60 day mark, are: Blue Bayou in Disneyland, Oga’s Cantina in Galaxy’s Edge, Lamplight Lounge in Disney’s California Adventure, and Napa Rose in The Grand Californian Hotel (both dinner and the princess breakfast). The other table service dining offerings aren’t as sought-after but they will go, so it’s important to pre-plan and book any dining you’ll want within that 60 day window.
Some table service options do also provide premiere seating for nighttime entertainment like the parade, fireworks, and Fantasmic (when that eventually comes back). This can be an interesting option if you don’t want to have to worry about where to watch the shows.
GENIE+ and LIGHTNING LANE
After these steps, there aren’t any other reservations left that you will need to make ahead of time (unless you want to do any of the unique paid experiences including VIP tours, a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique makeover, and Lightsaber building in Galaxy’s Edge).
Instead, I advise using the time before your trip to read as many blog posts and watch as many YouTube videos as you can to “prep” on what to expect. The more prepared you are, the better you’ll be at “pivoting” when you get to the parks. The name of the game for any Disney park vacation is the pivot. Knowing when and where to go is the entire battle of your trip (and some might even call this a true art form).
Don’t worry though, you don’t have to be a super fan or a Disney parks “expert” to master this. Some of it is intuitive. Do the most popular rides first and use Genie+ and Lightning Lanes for anything with a wait over 30 minutes.
What is Genie+? This is Disney’s new Fastpass system. Fastpasses at any Disney Park are no longer free. Genie+ is the new paid option. For $20-35 per person per day (price varies based on attendance), you can choose select rides with a reduced wait time. How it works is that once you pay for the Genie+ add-on in the mobile app on the morning of your visit, you’ll be able to choose 1 ride every 2 hours for the duration of the day. (You do need to be in the park to choose your first ride). Once you select your ride, you’ll be given a return time where you can enter a shortened line called a “Lightning Lane” with a reduced wait time at the entrance to that ride.
There is a right way to do Genie+ and a wrong way. Never ever use your Genie+ selection on a ride with a wait time shorter than 30 minutes. That is a waste. Always choose the most popular ride first and “stack” those return times (even if they’re in the afternoon). If you have a park hopper ticket, you can do this across both parks. I always set my alarm for 2 hours after I make my selection so that I don’t forget to make my next one.
What’s also great about getting Genie+ at Disneyland, is that it comes with free PhotoPass digital downloads, so you can take advantage of all the great photographers around the parks and keep those memories forever!
Where this gets confusing for newbies, is that not all rides come with Genie+. There are some rides which don’t use it at all, and some rides that are just so popular, Disney needs to charge guests extra. Those rides are called “Lightning Lane” rides and include Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland and Radiator Springs Racers at California Adventure. These rides vary in price from $15-25 per person per ride. Very steep but worth it on those crowded days.
HOW TO PLAN YOUR DAY
If you want to get as much done as possible and don’t want to wait in lines, then there is only one way to do the parks: you MUST get there for “rope drop”. Rope drop is when the park officially opens and guests can start riding rides. Both Disneyland and California Adventure will open up 30 minutes before rope drop to help with the flow of guest traffic. I always advise to get into the parks during this time. Once rope drop hits, guests literally run to the most popular rides (the two lightning lanes I mentioned above).
The first 1-2 hours post rope drop are the best hours of the day for rides. Guests can usually knock out a good number of the most popular rides within this period (just remember my 30-minute rule). For anything you don’t get done in the first 2 hours, that’s where Genie+ comes in. Pro Tip: Don’t wait to make those Genie+ reservations though. It’ll be obvious which rides to choose because some rides will have greater than a 30-minute wait right away, and if they don’t, then this is where your research comes in. Choose the rides that you’ve seen having the longest wait times.
Once you’ve taken care of this, you can spend the rest of your day doing all of the amazing other things that these parks have to offer! This includes rides that never have a long wait, the entertainment (shows and parades), character meet and greets, and dining. There is so much to do that you won’t find it hard to fill up your time.
The best thing about planning your day this way is that even if the park is crowded, it will never feel like it’s crowded. You might even have time to go back to your hotel for swimming or a nap!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
If you’re looking for additional resources to help “educate” you before you head to Disneyland and/or to go deeper into any particular subject, there are a couple of blogs that I swear by for my own Disney parks planning.
My all time favorite Disney blog is: The Disney Tourist Blog – Tom and Sarah have done their research and they know EVERYTHING there is to know about the parks. They have reviews on just about every resort and restaurant on property and have a million helpful tips for planning.
The next blog I use is: WDW Prep School – Shannon has a great crowd predictor calendar for the entire year as well as month-by-month specific planning guides.
I hope you found this guide helpful in pointing you in the right direction for how to tackle a Disneyland vacation. While there is obviously much more to learn and discover, if you take these general steps in your planning, you’ll be lightyears ahead of the average parkgoer and will have a much smoother and enjoyable park experience.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out via social media and I’ll be happy to help! My goal is for every family to experience the same magic as I do, every time they visit. Here’s to your next Disneyland vacation!
