Disney CA for a day? Worth it?

[3 Caballeros]

Originally Posted by Bad Pink Tink

For the first few years I did one day visits with my friends. It is doable but you need to plan.

Arrival and Departure Time
You need to check the opening and closing hours for the day you plan to be there. The first 3 hours after opening are the sweet spot for low crowds and short wait times. California is a locals park, and the crowds only start at lunch time onwards. Locals dont tend to rope drop so this gives a great advantage to anyone who makes the effort to get there early.

Get there as early as you can, as close to opening time as possible. This also helps with parking, as they load the main parking structure, Mickey and Friends from the top down, and from the escalators out. The earlier you park, the more likely you are to get a spot near to the escalators.

Stay as late as you can. The shows fireworks / Fantasmic / World of Color are between 9pm and 10pm. Depending on when you go, the park may stay open as late as midnight. Huge amounts of people leave after the fireworks / Fantasmic / World of Color so this means low wait times for rides.

To Park Hop or Not
We did get park hoppers when we did the one day visits. We would start in the main park then hop over to California Adventures in the afternoon and then back to the main park around 6pm.

It gets very hot in the main park in the afternoon, the walkways are narrow , the people are more compacted together and the buildings and walkways absorb the sun which raises the temperature in the park. California Adventures park has wider walkways and the buildings are more spread out so it is more comfortable and feels less crowded.

Restaurants and Food
When we did one day visits we always ate in The Plaza for lunch and then had snacks and quick service. With such a short time to cram everything in you cant really afford the time for a Table Service restaurant. The quick service and snacks in California are much better than Disneyland Paris, so dont think you have to stick to burgers, hot dogs and pizza.

If you do decide you want a table service, make sure you make an online reservation. Reservations open at 60 days in advance. Many restaurants can have reservations still available the day before but wont accept on the day walk ups.

Shows - Fireworks / Fantasmic / World of Color
For a 1 day visit, you will not see all 3. Fireworks and Fantasmic are in the main park, World of Color is in California Adventures.

The only way to see 2 out of 3 shows is
Fantasmic and Fireworks
9pm Fantasmic and stay in your place. They project the animations onto the water fountains and pipe the music through the Fantasmic sound system. You get a restricted view of the actual fireworks and miss out on some of The Castle special effects.

Fireworks from The Esplanade and World of Color
Watch the fireworks from the esplanade that seperates the main park and California Adventures. You will just see the higher fireworks and hear the music. You wont see any projections or animations or special effects. You will then need to walk with purpose into California Adventure and over to World of Color. You will end up at the back of the crowd / restricted view for World of Color.

The fireworks are the standard Disney animations projected onto The Castle with Fireworks. The scheduled time is 9.30pm, however depending on the time of year and the weather , they may not happen every night. Sometimes they get cancelled last minute due to wind issues.

Fantasmic is different to Walt Disney World. The best viewing areas are reserved for dining packages and you sit on the ground. There are Fastpass sections, and these are standing areas and the view can be restricted. There are also standby viewing sections but again, they are standing and have restricted views. The scheduled time is 9.pm. Depending on the time of year, Fantasmic may not be available on the day you are there, or they may be 2 shows.

World of Color is a unique to California Adventures show. It is similar to Fantasmic, with animations projected onto water fountains. It has special effects but no live characters or performers or props.

My preference, which I do every year is Fantasmic dining package and watch fireworks from Fantasmic area. However this takes up the time between 7.30pm to 10pm which on a one day visit may be better used for rides.

Fastpass / Maxpass
The fastpass system in California is the legacy free paper fastpass system. You can only get fastpasses on the day, once you are in the parks. You put your paper park ticket into the fastpass machine and the fastpass gets added onto your park ticket. You get a paper receipt from the machine which is a reminder, not an actaul ticket. To use a fastpass you scan your park ticket at the fastpass machine.

Maxpass is a digital on your phone fastpass system which you pay $15 per person per day. You can only buy it once you are in the parks. Instead of using the free kiosks for fastpasses, you can get digital fastpasses on your phone through the Disneyland California App. Again the fastpasses are added to your park ticket, and you scan your phone or paper park ticket at the fast pass entrance.

Park Wifi and Data
Disneyland does not have park wide WiFi, only hotspot locations. I rarely use the Wifi as it is not reliable.
If you want to use Maxpass you really need data on your phone.

Disneyland APP
If you want to use the Disneyland App you will really need data on your phone. I used it for the first time this year and its really great. You can check ride wait times and other park information.
Mobile ordering is amazing and I used this alot this year. You add a credit card to the App and then you can mobile order food and drinks at various quick service locations. You bypass the main lines and go direct to the mobile pick up section.

Star Wars Galaxys Edge
This is really a must do, but with so much else to cram in on a one day visit you might not have time. You need to make advance reservations for Ogas Cantina and if you want to build a droid and / or a light saber. Millennium Falcon Smuggers Run / Ogas Cantina /build a droid and / or a light saber will take up about 60 to 90 minutes each depending on the time of day and wait times. Realistically you are looking at 4 hours for Star Wars Galaxys Edge

Parades and Character Meets
Unless you really really have to meet a specific character I would not do any character meets or parades on a 1 day visit.

Tickets
1 day tickets are the lest cost effective.
Buy tickets in advance either through Disney website or from an authorised reseller such as Last Minute Travel Company
On the day tickets need to be bought from the ticket kiosks in the esplanade. Lines can get very long at the kiosks which wastes your precious park time.
Bought in advance tickets means you go direct to the entrance turnstiles and maximise your park time.

Recommendations

1. Buy tickets in advance
2. Do Open to Close
3. Fastasyland first thing in the morning as many of the rides dont have fastpass. This area can get very crowded from lunch time onwards.
4. Fastpass as much as you can, and plan and stack for the evening time.
5. Have a list of must dos, would like to do and maybe if we have time to do
6. Only buy merchandise at the end, either if you are in an area for the last time or at the end of the night.
7. Depending on the time of day, you can buy merchandise and have it delivered for pick up at park closing to the the stroller rental kiosk at the entrance to the park. Ask in the shops about this.
8. Pick 1 show or chose not to do a show
9. Skip parades and character meets
10. Quick service food only
11. Single Rider and Fastpass as much as you can

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Experience from 2 weeks ago is that the 9pm Fantasmic finished before the 9.30pm fireworks finished. We watched the fireworks then the late Fantasmic (which I'm aware isn't on all year)

[Bad Pink Tink]

Originally Posted by Stitchbounce

Thank you for the hotel recommendations! Shuttle or close by sounds good as we aren't driving. Partner will be 24, hes the driver and insurance would be pricey and hard to hire as it's mainly 25 I believe. So we are going to have to pay for a taxi as other public transport supposedly takes 2 hours so would be extra long. We are definitely thinking of getting tickets but for one park a day, allowing us to do both but not adding so much more just to hop.

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Ah ok well in that case I then recommend 2 nights / 1 park day.

Where are you travelling from / where will you be before Anaheim?
What are you planning to do with your luggage if you arrive for rope drop in Disneyland?

I dont drive either and I use public transport. This would be my suggestion to you, based on personal experience. This is how I get to Anaheim

Arrival Day

1. Get yourself to Union Station in Downtown LA. I use the Red Line Underground Metro but it may be easier for you to Uber or Lyft to Unions Station.
2. Take The Pacific Surfliner Train from Union Station to Anaheim Artic Train Station. Journey time is approx 40 minutes. I book my train ticket online in advance and it costs about $15 per person.
3. Take Uber or Lyft or ART local bus to your motel.
4. You can then relax and explore the area, go to Downtown Disney for shopping and restaurants , and check out The Void experience.
5. Have an early night

Park Day

• Aim to be at Harbour Boulevard Security entrance about 45 minutes before park opening time.
• Afternoon break- go back to your motel, have a nap, re fresh
• Go back to the park and stay until close
• Walk back tour motel when your feet and body scream enough

Departure Day

• Depending on your schedule, where you are to next, check out of your motel, and leave your luggage in the motel luggage store
• Have breakfast at Ihop or Dennys on Harbor Boulevard
• or go back over to Downtown Disney for more shopping
• Then go back to your motel, collect your luggage and then head off to your next destination

[Stitchbounce]

We will be in Long Beach before Anaheim. In terms of luggage, we plan to leave our things at our other hotel as we have it for the full duration of our holiday and just take a change of clothes and minimum toiletries with us for the night, which will all fit in a backpack.

Yes, I've been looking at Uber and Lyft as they will be rather useful in all of our holiday actually. Thank you for your recommendation, we will be going straight back to long beach after or going home. We are not 100% on when we want to visit Anaheim in our stay. However, from what I understand online we may have stupidly booked over spring break so I'm realising that it's going to be a lot busier than I thought perhaps (going end of March to mid April)

[Bad Pink Tink]

Originally Posted by Stitchbounce

We will be in Long Beach before Anaheim. In terms of luggage, we plan to leave our things at our other hotel as we have it for the full duration of our holiday and just take a change of clothes and minimum toiletries with us for the night, which will all fit in a backpack.

Yes, I've been looking at Uber and Lyft as they will be rather useful in all of our holiday actually. Thank you for your recommendation, we will be going straight back to long beach after or going home. We are not 100% on when we want to visit Anaheim in our stay. However, from what I understand online we may have stupidly booked over spring break so I'm realising that it's going to be a lot busier than I thought perhaps (going end of March to mid April)

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Ah ok, well then that makes it easier for you to arrive on the day and get there in time for rope drop.

You can rent a locker for the day and store your stuff. The lockers are located in Disneyland Main Park, at the top of Main Street. Carrying even a small overnight back pack around all day will tire you alot quicker.

Its about an hours drive between Long Beach and Disneyland. An UBER / LYFT will coast approx $60 each way.