Disneyland advice

[Shmee]

We’re off on a 3 week road trip end of June into July this year. We’re staying in Anaheim for 5 nights and will be spending every day at Disney (it won’t be too much time for us). There will be 3 adults and a 13 year old.

Does anyone have any advice re a park strategy?

What are the busy rides?

Should we get MaxPass?

Any recommendations for restaurants - quick and table service?

Best place to get tickets?

Sorry for so many questions, any advice gratefully received.😃

[Aims]

Hi Shmee! You will be visiting Disneyland at a very busy time- summer crowds will be even busier at the end of June due to Star Wars Land being newly opened. I was at Disneyland last week and it was VERY busy- and this was on a Tuesday before summer and before Star Wars Land opens. The average wait time was 40 minutes for most rides, and a bit longer for the most popular ones.



My best piece of advice has always been to be at the parks for rope drop and get as much of the big rides done in the first 3-4 hours that you can. My experience has been that the crowds are usually lighter in the first few hours, especially on weekdays, and the crowds build into the afternoon. That wasn't my experience last week though! I arrived just before opening and the lines to enter both parks stretched across the plaza and almost touched...on a Tuesday in early May. So, expect more of the same after Star Wars Land opens- however, I still believe arriving early is going to be a key to getting a good start.



MaxPass was a saving grace for me, so I do highly recommend spending the extra money for it, especially at the busy time you will be there. I have used it each time I have visited the parks and it has been so convenient and time-saving. I have been able to get much more done in a day than I would have normally.



Busiest and most popular rides that I have noticed (not all the rides are available on MaxPass or the regular paper Fastpasses they still offer)...Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Matterhorn Bobsleds and the Autopia cars. In Fantasyland, the Peter Pan ride always has the longest line...you might even want to go straight to that one first on one of your Disneyland days. The Peter Pan line never seems to get shorter throughout the day either. In California Adventure, the busiest rides are Radiator Springs Racers, Incredicoaster, Guardians of the Galaxy, Toy Story Midway Mania, Grizzly River Rapids and Soarin' Around the World.



Restaurants I would recommend in Disneyland are the Cafe Orleans (table service- reservations in advance are recommended), Red Rose Taverne (quick service) in Fantasyland, Rancho del Zocalo (quick service) in Frontierland, Bengal BBQ (quick service) in Adventureland, Hungry Bear restaurant (quick service) in Critter Country, Jolly Holiday Bakery & Cafe (quick service) and Carnation Cafe (table service) both of these are on Main Street USA...snacks in Disneyland I recommend are a Dole Whip from the Tiki Juice Bar (Adventureland), frozen lemonades and churros from one of the outdoor carts (I usually go to the ones in Fantasyland in front of the Casey Jr. Train ride). Anything from the candy shop on Main Street USA is good.



Restaurants in California Adventure I recommend are Flo's V8 Cafe (quick service) in Cars Land, Smokejumpers Grill (quick service) in Grizzly Peak, and Lucky Fortune Cookery (quick service) in Pacific Wharf. Snacks to recommend...ice cream sundae from Ghirardelli's Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop, a cookie from Jack Jack Cookie Num Nums (outdoor cart at Pixar Pier), a soft pretzel from the pretzel carts.



One last piece of advice...Star Wars Land can only be entered by advance reservations through June 23rd. Beginning June 24, it will be open to everyone. Rumor is they are expecting capacity level crowds at Disneyland once it does open to all, so it is even more important you arrive at Disneyland for opening, or even a little earlier just to get in the lines to enter. If Disneyland reaches capacity on any of the days you are there, they will close the park to all incoming guests until enough people have left that they can start letting people in. So if you leave Disneyland during the day with the intention of coming back later, and the park reaches capacity, there is a chance you won't be able to get back in again for awhile. I would suggest staying in Disneyland until you have done all you want to do that day, just in case.



Bring patience, bring sunscreen, good walking shoes and have a plan! Have a wonderful time!

[Sew109]

We were there in October again first few hours it was not busy we had max pass and it was worth every penny and some.

If you have not been I think you will find it too long it is not like Orlando.

[Shmee]

Thanks so much for your comprehensive reply Aims.

We were hoping that Star Wars Land wouldn’t open until after our trip. We like Star Wars but would be happy to wait to see it at a later date and would have preferred to enjoy the parks being less busy as it’s our first time there. We really want to visit Disneyland (especially DS) but I’m having serious doubts as to whether we should. I’ve booked the Best Western Plus Park Place Inn (for it’s location) on a cancellable rate so we can change our minds but we really want to go. Getting there as early as possible was our plan hence our choice of hotel but we might need to be up even earlier than we thought.

Sounds like MaxPass is going to be essential but expensive for 4 people for 5 days. The Peter Pan queue sounds just like the Florida one!

Thanks for the restaurant recommendations, plenty to choose from. Dole whips and pretzels are my favourites!

We’ll need to have a serious family chat to thrash it all out and decide what to do. We’re used to the busy Florida parks in the summer and don’t mind that at all but were hoping to have a quieter experience in California - not going to happen now!

Decisions, decisions!😀

[Shmee]

Originally Posted by Sew109

We were there in October again first few hours it was not busy we had max pass and it was worth every penny and some.

If you have not been I think you will find it too long it is not like Orlando.

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Thanks for your reply Sew109.

I realise a lot of people would find 5 days too long but we really wouldn’t. We could spend 5 days in each park, we love just wandering around taking it easy and soaking up the atmosphere as well as doing rides. And now with Star Wars Land crowds thrown into the mix I think 5 days might not be enough.😀

MaxPass sounds like it will be essential for us given how busy it’s going to be.

Hope you had a great holiday!😀

[Sew109]

Originally Posted by Shmee

Thanks for your reply Sew109.

I realise a lot of people would find 5 days too long but we really wouldn’t. We could spend 5 days in each park, we love just wandering around taking it easy and soaking up the atmosphere as well as doing rides. And now with Star Wars Land crowds thrown into the mix I think 5 days might not be enough.😀

MaxPass sounds like it will be essential for us given how busy it’s going to be.

Hope you had a great holiday!😀

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Was fantastic drove there from Denver.

I love Disneyland was the first park I went to and I think it’s easier to soak it up there than Florida. Max pass I think is $10 per person per day we got about 12-16 fast passes off of it in a day was procesless.

[swiper]

We went at Easter. Max pass was great we done everything we wanted. We done 3 days and we could have done longer.
Our best meal was in goofy kitchen in the Disneyland hotel, plus we loved the beignets. Guardians of the galaxy was our favourite ( sorry tower of terror) My advise - get there early!
We took an Uber and went to Outback one night .
Have a fantastic time!

Oh just a note, bottled water is $4!

I would take a small Robinson’s juice those really small concentrated ones and go and get the iced water which is free!