We do not like lines. We get to Disneyland Resort at sunrise and pay for Lighting Lanes in order to spend less time in line. Given the chance, we would love to avoid waiting in line for the DMV, TSA or most anywhere else. Still, there are some lines at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park that we actually enjoy! This is a top five post on fun lines we actually enjoy waiting in at Disneyland Resort.
While we are on the topic of lines: if you are looking for ways to AVOID lines at Disneyland Resort, then we suggest checking-out Maximize Your Disneyland Experience: Beat the Lines & Save Time. For ways to make your own fun in line at the parks, see Make the Best of Your Time in Line at Disneyland and Have Fun and Fun Questions for Connection While Waiting in Disneyland.
But for now, on to our favorite fun lines at Disneyland! Here are our five favorite queue experiences at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park in no particular order:
Jump Into Mickey and Minnie’s World
One of the newest and most detailed queues at Disneyland Resort is for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Inside the El Capitoon Theater in Mickey’s Toontown, you will encounter all kinds of artifacts from Mickey Mouse’s acting career. You can find costumes, props and fun movie posters. We like matching the objects around the queue to Mickey’s films and shorts. Plus, the photo opportunities around here are a lot of fun; the queue area is bright, vibrant and generally pleasant.
With Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, we are not quite sure where the queue transitions into the actual attraction. There is a pre-show experience that blends it all together and really helps you, literally, enter Mickey and Minnie’s world. Many rides at Disneyland Resort have fantastic pre-shows blended into the end of the queues. For example, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has several experiences that make it hard to pinpoint where the queue ends and the attraction begins. As we move forward with this list, we are focusing on the traditional standing-in-line part of the queues rather than these transitional experiences, but we do think this one is worth pointing out.
For another fun line at Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland Park, we also suggest Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin. This queue really immerses you in the wacky environment of Roger Rabbit’s world. Still, Mickey & Minnie Runway Railway edges out its Toontown neighbor for a place on this list, because the same things the make the Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin queue great can make it a little scary for younger children. You are totally surrounded by the (cartoony) film noir feeling of the ride.
Meet Stanley at Radiator Springs Racers
Okay… so, you do not get to actually meet Stanley, the founder of Radiator Springs at Radiator Springs Racers. But, it might feel like you have met him after you stand in line for Cars Land’s headliner. We all get a glimpse into Stanley’s story and that of Radiator Springs through the Cars film franchise, but this attraction queue actually immerses you in that history.
Cars Land at Disney California Adventure Park is an Imagineering marvel, and the details that make the land so engaging and, well, transporting are also present in the extensive queue for Radiator Springs Racers. The wait for this attraction is typically among the longest in all of Disneyland Resort, so you may as well enjoy it. Before you take part in the race, slow down, look around and enjoy the details you can find there.
Explore the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
Indiana Jones Adventure features our all-time favorite queue in all of Disneyland Resort. It is not just a place to wait. It is a place to really enter the story of Indiana Jones. As you move from the lush jungle, through the dimly lit tunnels and into the depths of the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, you actually feel like you are entering a different time and place. The details of the queue match the tone of the beloved Indiana Jones franchise: suspenseful, alluring and humorous.
There are some fun little jokes incorporated into the queue area (go ahead, pull the rope) and props straight out of the films. And we mean that literally: there are two prop vehicles that were actually used in the making of the Indiana Jones films. You can read about them and more details about “easter eggs” on the D23 fan site, right here.
Some of our favorite elements of the queue—hidden in plain sight—are the “Maraglyphs.” Imagineers left messages for guests using a secret code. All through the queue, you can see strings of symbols called “glyphs.” Today, you can type those glyphs into the Play Disney Parks app. There, your message is instantly decoded using a translation key. Piece together enough secret messages, and you will also piece together a bit of the larger mystery of the Temple of the Forbidden Eye.
I love this little activity. I specifically remember waiting in an hours-long line for Indiana Jones Adventure just after it opened. There was no Play Disney Parks app then (or virtual queues), so cast members gave everyone a little card with the translation key on it. I have fond memories of using that card to decode message while the anticipation for my first ride built and built!
Have Fun in Disneyland Lines with the Play Disney Parks App
Unfortunately, I did not save that card. While guests have received re-done cards in recent years, we recommend downloading the Play Disney Parks app to make sure you can join in the fun. The Play app is different than the standard Disneyland app (which we also recommend downloading). You can download the Play app today and play some games at home. It offers even more fun when you are actually in Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort. Some games on the app specifically interact with elements in the ride queues. We are rolling all those queues into this part of the top 5 lines in Disneyland Resort. Is that maybe bending the rules a bit? Sure… but we make the rules here anyway.
Hunting for Treasure with Peter Pan and Tinkerbell
The most surprisingly fun queue to enjoy with the Play Disney Parks app is the Peter Pan’s Flight queue. This covered queue area is otherwise pretty boring with a bunch of switchbacks and a slow moving line. If you pull out the Play Disney Parks app, you are prompted to engage with questions for your group and find objects embedded in the queue structure. The best part comes when you find all of the hidden objects: finish this little pirate treasure hunt and you actually trigger a special effect in the queue area! It is such a fun little surprise for everyone nearby, yet we have never seen anyone else make use of it! This simple little game with a fun ending is called “Off to Never Land.” (And for bonus fun in the queue, keep an eye out for the Evil Queen across the way.)
Using the Star Wars Datapad at Disneyland
In Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the Play Disney Parks app actually transforms into the Star Wars Datapad. The whole interface of the app changes, and you get to choose your own adventures, including whether you would like to side with the Resistance or the First Order or even identify as a Scoundrel. Some of the Datapad fun is even specific to the queues for the land’s two major attractions: Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Honestly, there is so much in the Datapad we have not even experienced yet (we like taking some time to look around and socialize too). We really recommend checking it out!
More Queue Games with the Play Disney Parks App
Two other lines with Play Disney Parks app games specific to those queue areas are the Space Mountain queue in Disneyland Park and the Toy Story Midway Mania queue in Disney California Adventure Park. Like the one for Peter Pan’s Flight, these games encourage you to seek out physical elements in the queue areas. Jungle Cruise also has an attraction specific game, but this is not one you need to be in the queue to enjoy. In fact, you can even play this trivia game at home.
Laugh Through the Other Star Wars Line
Rounding out the list of fun lines at Disneyland Resort is the queue for Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. We just shared information about using the datapad in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, but this Star Wars ride is actually outside of that Star Wars land! You can find it in Disneyland Park’s Tomorrowland.
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue incorporates the silly humor and kooky droid antics from the Star Wars films and shows into its ride queue. We love that the queue actually kind of feels like a space airport from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Like several of the queues on this list, it actually helps us transition into the world of the attraction. And those little droids are just plain funny and even kind of cute.
Thank you for reading this post on fun lines at Disneyland Resort.
We hope you found this list helpful. Of course we would rather be experiencing attractions at Disneyland Resort than waiting in line, but these queues do make the wait fun. For other advice on having fun in line, be sure to read Make the Best of Your Time in Line at Disneyland and Fun Questions for Connection While Waiting in Disneyland. To skip the long waits, take a look at Maximize Your Disneyland Experience: Beat the Lines & Save Time. That post is part of our free and complete Step-by-Step Disneyland Prep. Thanks again for reading, and please consider subscribing to our free newsletter below to get more articles in your inbox.