Step-by-Step Prep for Disneyland
Planning a visit to Disneyland Resort does not need to be complicated. We have created this Step-by-Step Disneyland Prep guide to walk you through the process. You can follow this guide from start to finish or use the links in the table of contents below to skip to the sections most relevant to you. We hope this straightforward guide can take your planning from overwhelming to fun!
- Choose Your Dates
- Purchase Your Tickets
- Make Park Reservations
- Plan Your Transportation
- Book Your Hotel or Arrange Accommodations
- Consider Your Dining Options
- Pack Your Bags
- Rent a Stroller or Mobility Device
- Accessibility Accommodations
- Time Saving Services
- Let’s Go!
Choose your dates.
Decide on a day or days to visit Disneyland Resort. Your choice will come down to a combination of factors and the demands of your own schedule, but you may want to consider:
Special Offers and Discounts
Disneyland does occasionally offer seasonal discounts on tickets and accommodations. These offers are on the Disneyland website. You can sign-up for Disneyland Resort emails to be alerted to new and limited-time discounts.
Additionally, single day tickets and hotel room rates vary by day (weekends vs weekdays) and season. You can find-out about the variable pricing for one day tickets here. The lowest priced single day ticket option is a tier 0 ticket.
Seasonal Offerings and Special Events
Check the Disneyland website for seasonal events that may interest you like Holiday Time (winter), Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival (spring), Halloween Time (fall) and a whole host of Disneyland After Dark events and other offerings.
Ride Openings Refurbishments
Attraction closures for extended maintenance can be hard to predict, and sometimes visitors are not given much advanced notice. You can check the Disneyland Resort calendar for a list of known closures on the days you are considering. Just keep in mind that these are subject to change.
Opening and Closing Hours
Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park do not open and close at the same times year round. In times of heavier attendance, both parks are likely to have longer hours. On days with special after-hours events, the parks will usually close early to guests not attending the events. Again, check the Disneyland Resort Calendar for projected hours and to decide what will work for your own schedule.
Nighttime Entertainment
Disneyland Park does NOT have fireworks every night in every season. You are more likely to have more options for nighttime spectaculars if you visit during a busier time with longer hours. You can check the Disneyland Resort Calendar for the entertainment schedule.
Crowds
The numbers of guests in the park on any given day has become harder to predict in recent years. Traditional school breaks for students in the United States are generally busier times. Of those breaks, summer has become moderately less crowded than spring and winter breaks, but it still has a robust entertainment schedule and long opening hours. Halloween Time has become very popular. Changes to one-day ticket prices and Magic Key block-out dates have also shifted more guests from weekend to weekday visits. Visiting during busier time generally means the parks are staffed with more cast members, attractions are operating at higher capacity and more special entertainment is scheduled.
Number of Days
You can buy Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park tickets in increments of one to five days. The ideal length is different for everyone. We find that three days is a nice amount of time for one-time or infrequent guests to feel like they have experienced all of their must-dos and had time to repeat favorites. Remember, you can take days-off between park visits: multi-day tickets do not need to be used consecutively. You can have fun at Disneyland Resort with no ticket at all.
Do keep in mind that park reservations are now required to visit Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park, and popular hotels do fill-up, so you will want to verify the availability of those before you move on to…
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Purchase Your Tickets and Make Park Reservations
Time to purchase your admission tickets. For a guide to tickets, we strongly recommend heading over to our guide here.
General Admission Tickets
We recommend checking for available offers and discounts, and then purchasing your tickets in advance of your visit. We have a ticket types guide here that will take you through the options for the length of your ticket and for the add-ons of Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and Park Hopper. For further tips on making decisions on what tickets to buy, click here.
If you are planning to attend any after-hours events, you will also need to purchase…
Special Events Tickets
Special or “hard ticket” events require a ticket purchase outside of your general admission ticket. Examples of this include Oogie-Boogie Bash or Disneyland After Dark parties. If you would like to attend one of these events, it is a good idea to plan ahead: these have been known to sell-out. Check the Disneyland website for the dates when these tickets will be sold. Usually, party guests are allowed to enter the parks several hours before the start of the party: check the terms and conditions.
Make Park Reservations
Entering Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park during general admission hours (i.e. not a special event) requires both a ticket (or Magic Key) and a park reservation. Park reservations may be made on the Disneyland website or in the Disneyland app. You will need to decide whether you want to enter Disneyland Park of Disney California Adventure Park first. If you have a park hopper add-on, you will be able to cross freely between both parks after 11am, unless one of the parks reaches capacity (this is unlikely on all but the busiest days). For more detailed guidance on park reservations, visit that section in our ticket guide here.
If you need to change park reservations…
There is no penalty for changing your park reservation before your visit. If you purchase tickets directly from Disney, you will probably be asked to make your reservations at the time of purchase. As long as reservations are available for the day and park you wish to book, you are free to change your reservation using the Disneyland app or website. However, if you ticket is a one-day ticket, it is subject to tiered pricing. This means that your park reservation day must be for your designated ticket tier or lower. If you want to switch to a higher-tier day, you can upgrade and pay the difference in tier price. For more specific information on ticket tiers and what it takes to switch a one day ticket reservation, see our ticket tier guide here.
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Plan Your Transportation
Air Travel
Disneyland Resort is within fifteen miles of both Long Beach Airport (LGB) and John Wayne Airport (SNA). Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Ontario International Airport (ONT) and Hollywood Burbank (BUR) are a little further out but still fairly close. Any of these airports are a good option. We prefer Long Beach Airport and wrote an article about it here.
Remember that actual travel times to and from these airports can vary greatly depending on the time of day. We like using mapping applications to predict traffic at different times of day.
Traveling by Car / Ground Transportation
Should you choose to rent a car or drive your own car to Disneyland Resort, keep in mind that almost all Disneyland area hotels charge a nightly parking fee. Disneyland Resort also charges for parking on property for easy access to Downtown Disney District, Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. There
You may be able to walk to Disneyland Resort from your accommodations. All of this is helpful to keep in mind as you are considering the cost of ground transportation (public transit, taxis, ride shares or shuttles) versus renting a car and paying for parking.
There are two guest drop-off areas accessible for free to taxis, ride shares and private vehicles. These are located near the resort’s east entrance on Harbor Boulevard and off Downtown Drive by the Downtown Disney entrance on the resort’s west side. Each hotel also has a guest drop-off spot.
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Book Your Hotel or Arrange Accommodations
Local Family and Friends (lucky you!)
If you are lucky enough to stay with family or friends in the area, be sure to ask them about traffic and real travel times, so you can plan accordingly.
Remember that Disneyland Resort does charge for parking. It does not charge for short guest drop-offs or pick-ups by friends, taxis or ride shares. There are two guest drop-off areas: one east of the resort on Harbor Boulevard and one on the west side of the resort off Downtown Drive. We recommend using the Harbor Boulevard drop-off if you are headed straight to the parks and the Downtown Drive drop-off if you are visiting the Disneyland Resort Hotels or Downtown Disney itself.
Disneyland Resort Hotels
Disneyland Resort offers three onsite hotels: Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa, Disneyland Hotel and Pixar Place Hotel.
We have a comparison chart for them here and some guidance for how to choose between theme here. Disneyland Resort Hotels are not always the closest hotels to the parks, but they do echo the magic of the parks in their decor and offerings. They are generally more expensive than their off-site counterparts, but they do offer on-site perks like Early Entry and the best pools and recreation in the area.
Good Neighbor and Other Off-Site Hotels
If you plan on spending most of your time in the parks, you may prefer to save some money by staying at a hotel outside the resort. There are many great options. If you are a frequent traveler with hotel points, you are likely to find options for your preferred chain nearby.
Several of these off-site hotels offer a shorter walk to the park turnstiles than either Disneyland Hotel or Pixar Place Hotel. If your priority is proximity to the parks, start with the hotels just east of Disneyland Resort on Harbor Boulevard. Keep in mind that the pedestrian entry points to the Disneyland Resort are only on the west and east sides of the resort. The park entrances are easier to reach from the east entrance. We advise mapping your walking route before committing to a hotel that looks close. In other words, a hotel can be just across the street from Disneyland Resort, but you may still need to walk around the perimeter of the resort to reach the entrance.
As you get further from the parks, you can usually get more amenities and larger rooms for less money. Most of the hotels on Harbor Boulevard no longer offer free breakfast, free parking or other perks that may be available at more distant accommodations. You will have to decide how much value to place on these different factors.
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Consider Your Dining Options
Quick service dining options are available all over Disneyland Resort. You only need to plan your meals in advance if you like having reservations or want to make sure you can eat at a popular table service spot.
If you choose to dine at quick service locations, we do recommend taking advantage of mobile ordering for a streamlined experience.
If you want to eat at table service restaurants, you can begin making dining reservations sixty days before your meal. Some popular options, like Fantasmic! dining packages, Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar (at Disneyland Hotel) or the Blue Bayou Restaurant can fill-up on the same morning they open.
If you want to review your choices in advance, the Disneyland app and website both have menus with pricing for the restaurants and snack stands at Disneyland Resort. Here are some of our favorite dining spots.
Remember, you can bring outside food into the Disneyland parks. We always do! We also bring reusable water bottles to fill at the water fountains and bottle fillers around the resort. We stop-in to quick service restaurants for free cups of ice water if we need something colder.
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Pack Your Bags
Packing your suitcase or day bag for Disneyland Resort is not all that different than packing for any other trip, but we do have some articles with Disneyland specific advice. We recommend reading what to bring to the parks and how to dress for the weather.
We have a series of articles on “What to Wear to Disneyland” including base layers, clothing for cold and wet weather and advice on shoes. If you want to Disney-fy your outfits with some DIY and budgets tricks, we have advice for that here and here.
Many of the area hotels, including the Disneyland Resort Hotels, do have laundry rooms for guests if you need to wash your clothes.
Forget something? There are numerous gift and convenience stores nearby, but be prepared to pay higher prices than you likely see at home. If you would like to save some money, consider stopping at a store before you reach the area directly surrounding Disneyland Resort. We like scheduling an order pick-up at a place like Target to grab lots of sunscreen and some food items.
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Rent a Stroller or Mobility Device
You may decide to bring your own stroller or mobility device to Disneyland Resort. If you choose to rent one, you have the option of renting straight from Disney or using a third party service.
Disney ECV (scooter), wheelchair and stroller rentals are located on the Esplanade by the Disneyland Park entrance.
If you rent a stroller from Disney, you can use it in both parks, but you cannot take it back to a hotel. If you have already paid for a Disney stroller rental for the day, you can pick-up a new stroller when you re-enter by showing your receipt at the rental facility. Replacement strollers are available (with a receipt) at other select locations around the resort as all.We have tips on using strollers at Disneyland Resort here (like marking your stroller with ribbons) and for visiting with young children here.
If a member of your party will be using a stroller as a mobility device, make arrangements to have it tagged as “stroller as a wheelchair” so that you can use it in areas where strollers would not otherwise be allowed.
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Accessibility Information
Information about specific accommodations for guest with disabilities can be found on the Disneyland website. That section of the website has downloadable guides. Additionally, you can find accessibility information about each attraction on the attraction’s webpage and the Disneyland app. Physical signs with accessibility information are posted at each attraction.
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Ways to Save Time in Line
If you want to spend less time waiting in line, you may find the following services useful:
Lightning Lanes
Disneyland Lightning Lanes are priority access queues for popular attractions. You can purchase access to these queues with Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass. For a primer on these paid services and how to use them, check out our Lightning Lane guide here.
Note: Disney called previous versions of these or similar services by the names Genie+, MaxPass and FastPass. Check the Lightning Lane guide for the latest. Additionally, Disneyland Resort’s Lightning Lane Multi Pass works differently than the one available in Walt Disney World, so experienced visitors to the park in Florida should keep that in mind.
Virtual Queues
Free Virtual Queues allow you to reserve a chance to experience select new or popular attractions. Access to a virtual queue is free but also popular, so if you want to use one, you should be knowledgeable about the process in advance. Virtual queue spots do run out. Sometimes virtual queues are the ONLY way to experience a popular attraction, so we think you should look at our Virtual Queues Guide here.
Mobile Ordering
The free Mobile Ordering service gives you the ability to order food from your mobile device. With the Disneyland app, you can browse menus from Disney quick service restaurants and order food for pick-up. You select items and a desired pick-up time and pay for your selections in advance. When your food is ready, you go to a designated pick-up window. We have a step-by-step guide for the process here.
None of those three services are necessary for your visit, but they can make your visit more efficient and possibly more enjoyable. If you want some advice for making your time in line fun or productive, we have an article about that here.
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Let’s Go!
We hope the information here helps you have a fantastic visit to Disneyland Resort! Thank you for trusting us with your planning process. If you are now enjoying the preparation or are curious about other Disneyland Resort topics, we encourage you to keep browsing.
We have plenty more advice on topics like where to start your day, the best attractions for all ages, navigating the parks, how to have a great visit with young children and even places to relax. You can find a collection of our “not-so-brief” (over 101 words) advice here and our glossary of Disney terms (under 101 words) here.
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