When you visit Disneyland as much as I visit Disneyland, you learn a thing or two. Being Canadian and living 22 hours away (according to Google maps) hasn’t stopped me from going twice a year. Although I’ve been pegged a bit of a weirdo in some circles because of it, I look back on all of those trips and never regret a moment.
As far as stress relief/suspension of reality/having fun with your kids, there’s really nothing like Disneyland. You also learn a thing or two along the way, so people I know (and many that I don’t) tend to ask for advice when heading to the happiest place on earth. Because it’s my favorite subject, I’m happy to share my tips for Disneyland with anyone who asks.
Keep in mind, these tips aren’t for the die-hard Disneyland fan. Anyone who has a premium passport now (I did for three years before it just got too expensive) or wears a demin vest with badges, pins, and the words Mickey’s Angels blazing across the back (fan groups. Some may call gangs. All seem nice enough) will know all of these and a few more.
My tips for Disneyland are geared toward the person who may only go once every few years or who has never gone at all. These are also tips designed for people with a family along, because it’s a far different experience running with four kids and a stroller across from one park to another to make a fast pass for Guardians of the Galaxy than it is if you were alone.
So whether you’re a Canadian, like me, driving down on a road trip to Disneyland or someone coming from half way around the world, this is what I share when I share tips for Disneyland.
Disneyland tip one: Buy your tickets before you go (and watch where you buy them)
Once upon a time I was going to visit Disneyland with my two very small children. My daughter was 20 months old and my son was 8 weeks old, and we were heading to Los Angeles to see the XGames.
I knew we only had two days to do Disneyland that time and as it was my first visit there since I was a little kid, I wasn’t about to get buy my tickets at the resort or on the Disney website. I thought that, like everything, shopping around would yield a cheaper way to buy a ticket.
It turns out there was, but cheap doesn’t equal real in this case. I went on eBay and saw a bunch of people selling their unused park tickets for half the price. That means they used two out of a five-day park hopper and then put the rest of the days up for sale.
The problem? Sometimes those tickets you would buy from people were already used up, so you’d get to the gate and get rejected. Can you imagine doing that to you kids? I knew that it was a possibility the tickets were used so I didn’t bother myself, but I know a few families who had to shell out another $500 because they got scammed.
Disney now has photos added to their day tickets, so you can’t do this anymore. They also don’t really bother giving travel agencies a big discount on tickets, although I have seen a Westjet package recently that let you buy your 5 day tickets for the price of 3.
Do yourself a favor and buy your Disney tickets before you go, print them off or send them to your phone, and head straight to the gate when you get there. They’ll scan your tickets right at the turnstile and there’s no waiting in the long lines at the ticket booths.
In my opinion, once you get to the Disneyland resort area, waiting even another minute to walk in the turnstiles is one minute too long.
Disneyland tip two: Don’t pay twice for parking
Disneyland tip three: Download the Disneyland app
It honestly took me a few years to download Disneyland’s app, and I still use Mousewait to verify wait times. But the Disneyland app has something amazing now called MaxPass, and it lets you book a fast pass once you’re in the park for the day.
If you buy Maxpass ($10 extra per day, per ticket) you can book fast passes without being anywhere near the attraction, and you get to keep all of the cool photos the professional photographers take during the day. They scan them right to your phone and they appear in the app.
The photographers will still use your phone to take the pics, and you can still get fast passes if you’re not using Maxpass, but it’s a nice way to do all of the attractions without rushing around like a lunatic.
Disneyland tip three:
Dumbo during fireworks
Haunted Mansion during Fantasmic
Stay in a hotel near Toy Story lot so you don’t pay twice for parking
Going to Peter Pan after the fireworks
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