The purpose of your Disneyland visit greatly impacts the schedule of your day. If you are an annual passholding stay-at-home mom visiting for just a few hours or a family of five visiting for the first time, your priorities will be different. Below are tips that we hope will help better shape your visit.
Take Your Time
In the hopes of getting the most out of your day, it's easy push yourself and your family to see and do too much too quickly. The fact of the matter is a methodical approach to your day is the easiest way to get through the day. If you rush too quickly, you will miss out on the beautiful moments you and your child could be sharing. Moreover, rushing here and there will only tire you and your children out. The tips below should help you to schedule your time more wisely.
Perhaps most import, do not over plan your day. It's important to find a happy medium. You cannot expect to do everything in one day. Instead, select the things that are most important to make your family's day the most memorable for your children. Select the things that your children will be most interested and engaged in--you'll be happier, they'll be happier, and together you'll create some amazing memories.
Tips for First Time Visitors
- Stop by City Hall to get a map if you do not get one when you walk through the Main Entrance.
- Try taking the Disneyland Railroad for a grand circle tour around the Magic Kingdom before venturing into the park. It provides a great overview of what to expect.
- When you make it to the end of Main Street, stop by the Baby Center, which is also where children should go if they are lost.
- Save yourself some time and buy your tickets ahead of time so that you don't have to waste time at the ticket booths where lines can be quite long in the morning.
Tips for Crowded Days
Days Crowded days are rough for the whole family. If you are visiting on a day when the park is open 9a.m to 10p.m. or longer, you can pretty much bet on the fact that Disneyland is going to be pretty busy. Big crowds don't have to mean small fun. There are a few things you can do to minimize the frustration of a crowded day.
- Pack a lunch and you'll be able to stay on the go and won't have to worry about waiting in long lines for food. You could even eat while waiting in line for an attraction!
- Hit the children's attractions in Toontown and Fantasyland during meal times--if your kids can handle it!
- Visit the Tomorrowland attractions you wish to ride first thing in the morning. While you are there, pick up a Fast Pass for Buzz Lightyear later in the day!
- If you aren't into the Tomorrowland attractions, visit Peter Pan's Flight first thing in the morning. This incredibly cute attraction gets incredibly popular very quickly!
- On days with long hours when Fantasmic! is shown, the attractions on the west side of the park are far less crowded in the evening than they are during the day. Instead on going on attractions, thousands of guests stake out their plot on the concrete walkways along the Rivers of America in excited anticipation of the shows. For example, during the day Pirates of the Caribbean (in New Orleans Square) can have a wait over 30 minutes long and in the evening you and your family can often virtually walk right on.
- Don't forget to get Fast Passes. A Fast Pass is a special ticket that allows guests to "save their place in line" so that they can enjoy other attractions and then return at a later time in the day to board the attraction with a "minimal wait." You simply go to your favorite attraction which has fast pass first thing in the morning and follow the instructions on its fast pass machine. The machine will give you a ticket to return later in the day during a certain time period.