No matter when you visit Disneyland Resort in California, you are going to spend some time waiting in line! We think the amazing attractions at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park, are worth the wait. We also have some tricks for making that time fly by. Here are our top five ways to have fun and make the most of your time waiting in line for your next attraction.
Check-Out the Play Disney Park App!
Disney has an app full of games themed to the parks at Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World in Florida. You can play some of the games at home, but many of the games can only be played inside the parks! We like to spend our time in line enjoying these exclusive games. Our favorites are the ones that interact with elements of the queues themselves. We especially recommend playing the game that goes along with Peter Pan’s Flight and then keeping your eyes open for a special lantern and a bit of pixie dusted-magic.
We suggest downloading the Play Disney Parks app before your visit to enjoy your time waiting in line at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park.
Order Disney Parks Food While You Wait
So this is probably not something you are going to do in EVERY line, but if you are feeling a “rumbly in [your] tumbly,” grab your mobile device and make a plan for your next snack or meal. You can review menus for every restaurant in Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park and even place a mobile order from the Disneyland app. Yes, you are still standing in that attraction line, but—with mobile ordering—you can skip the one at the quick service restaurant!
You can find our quick guide to mobile ordering here.
Book Your Next Attraction at Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park
While you are waiting in one line, use ride reservations to skip the next one! Check available virtual queues and Lightning Lanes while you wait in line and book future attractions.
Virtual queues are a free service, and you can find our guide to using them here.
You do not need to be in the same park to book your attraction (as long as you have a Park Hopper pass). For example, I can book a 2:00pm Lighting Lane Multi Pass for Incredicoaster, located in Disney California Adventure Park, while waiting in line for Dumbo one morning at Disneyland Park.
BONUS: The Lightning Lane Multi Pass service currently comes with a large variety of PhotoPass Lenses. These lenses work with the camera on your mobile device to create augmented reality photos of you. Our kids love posing with Olaf at their shoulder or donning Goofy’s pilot cap while they wait in line, and we love the sweet photos we get to keep after the wait is done.
Enjoy the Show!
Imagineers have put an incredible amount of imagination and ingenuity into EVERY aspect of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. Sometimes we move too quickly to appreciate this. We like to use our time waiting in line to slow down and observe. When we do, we find hidden messages in the queue for Indiana Jones Adventure, a jealous queen in Fantasyland and jazzy music outside Pirates of the Caribbean.
Connect While You Wait in Line at Disneyland Resort!
Disneyland Resort gives us some truly special ways to connect with each other. The first three tips on this list involved making efficient use of mobile devices, but we also like to take time to be present to one another. We like to put our phones away and discuss our favorite attractions or share treasured memories. Other times, we play little games together by asking questions like, “If you could live in one attraction, what would it be?” Or, “If you could have the abilities of any Avenger, which one would you choose?” The answers are fun and bring us even closer.
We have a whole list of questions like this in our post Fun Questions for Connection. All of the questions are related to Disney films, shows and attractions, and we designed them to take you from silly to thoughtful exploration of feelings and back again. We hope you will check it out!
Lines are an inevitable part of a Disneyland Resort visit, but we hope these tips help you enjoy your time spent waiting in line.
Worried about your kids losing their cool in line? Read our best tips for visiting Disneyland Resort with young children. And do not forget about our guides for saving time in line with Lightning Lanes, virtual queues and mobile ordering. For step-by-step Disneyland planning advice, click here.