How to Plan a Day at Disneyland

The key to enjoying the fun and excitement at Disneyland in Anaheim,
California, is to keep the whole family happy and avoid the brutally
long lines. Impossible, you say? Not at the Magic Kingdom. Try to
schedule your visit midweek or during the winter months, plan ahead,
use the FastPass--and dust off your sense of adventure (and humor!).

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

General tips

1. Browse around on Disneyland.com a few weeks before your trip. Take advantage of advance-purchase online ticket specials and have tickets held at will-call. If yours is a last-minute trip, arrive 30 minutes before the official opening time and get in line at the entrance gate. Print out a map, surf around and look at options, and start thinking about how you'd like to approach your visit.

2. Decide how long you'll stay. The park can be done in one day, but you'll miss a lot. If you have little kids or if it's crowded, plan a two-day trip (or even three with a Disneyland Hotel package). Avoid summer weekends and major holidays if at all possible.

3. Use a FastPass. Find kiosks at extremely popular rides such as Indiana Jones and Autopia. Slide in your park ticket, and the machine will print out a FastPass with a reservation time slot-- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., for example. Come back to the ride anytime between 11 and 1 and blow right past the crowds by jumping into the FastPass line. Often you'll save an hour or more.

4. Sit down with your crew and your map to plan out the best route around the park. Your map also has scheduling details of all the productions, parades, and live entertainment.

5. Grab an early lunch at Frontierland's Blue Bayou, the only fullservice-and recently refurbished-restaurant in the park. Nearby (and less expensive) is the French Market Restaurant, a counter-service cafe'. You'll find a wide variety in the $10 to $15 range, with kids' meals for about $6.

6. Give tired legs of all ages a rest by taking a ride on the Disneyland Railroad instead of walking. Or board the Mark Twain Riverboat or the Sailing Ship Columbia in Frontierland for a peaceful cruise. Tom Sawyer's Island is another great getaway.

Going with little kids

7. Set the ground rules: no whining, no fighting, and always keep a grown-up in sight. See 406 Plan a Trip With Children.

8. Pin a note to your child's back with "If I'm lost" written in bold letters. Inside the note, list your cellular number (but no name). If your group includes several children, dress them all in the same color shirt so you can spot them easily in the crowds.

9. Play it by ear with your littler kids. Head for Toon Town, where there's plenty to do even if the lines get too long (be sure to go to Dumbo the Flying Elephant first to miss the crowds). Take a break while your 2- to 7-year-olds watch the Buzz Lightyear Adventure show at the Club Buzz Stage across from Autopia, or take wannabe princesses to Snow White-An Enchanted Musical, in Fantasyland..

10. Snag a front-row sidewalk seat ahead of time for the Grand Parade at 7 p.m. on Main Street. It's fun for everyone, but an extraordinary treat for kids under 7 who see all their favorite characters--in the flesh.

Going with big kids (and really, really big kids)

11. Head straight to Indiana Jones, Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. If there are hardly any people in line, do any or all of these rides over and over again.

12. Indulge in sentimental favorites like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted House. Pure kitsch--but it's a pirate's life for you, especially since the release of the popular movies. You'll even see Captain Jack Sparrow among the other pirates.

13. Investigate grown up entertainment at the Courtyard Gallery on Main Street (with fabulous multimedia animation shows) or take yourself shopping: Disneyland has more buying opportunities per square foot than anyone can possibly imagine.

Tips & Warnings

• Get a two- or three-day pass and see California Adventure (right next door), too.
• Pick a meeting spot (like the drawbridge at Cinderella's castle) in case someone gets separated or lost. Having fully charged cellular phones is key when you're supposed to meet someone but are stuck in line.
• Hit big rides during the lunch hour when people are eating. Eat at 11 or 2, or bring your own meal and skip the lines altogether.
• Punctuate long walks across the park with a show now and then so everyone can rest up a bit.
• If you have small children (and a two- or three-day pass), consider a midday nap break at the hotel.
• Divide and conquer when you have little and big kids.
• The temperature drops significantly after dark, even in summer, so bring a jacket or sweatshirt for everyone as well as an extra pair of sneakers for the kids. The water rides will soak their shoes, which won't dry by the evening.
• Bring your own food if you don't want to drain your wallet completely. The vendors at Disneyland aren't cheap!
• The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse? Gone. They turned it into the cartoonriddled Tarzan's Treehouse.

[anglee]

on 1/26/2009 I don't like the idea of pinning a note to a kid's back. I just write my cell on a small scrap of paper and put it in their pocket, and write it again on the inside of their upper forearm.

Also, whenever I ask, I'm told that being late for a fastpass return is fine - just not early.

[thebigandy]

on 3/25/2008 I actually wrote about the Blue Bayou (which is technicaly in the French Quarters :))


http://www.ehow.com/how_2249916_meal-inside-pirates-carribbean-disneyland.html

[kmilano]

on 11/19/2007 After you get a FastPass, leave the area. Most people try to get on the next-closest attraction, so you'll be waiting in line with all the people you're trying not to wait in line with! More tips at DisneylandVacationTips.com

on 9/18/2006 Fastpass return windows are only one hour. The Blue Bayou is in New Orleans Square. More often than not, you will wait longer for an attraction with a Fastpass as opposed to just waiting in the line. A prime example is the Indiana Jones Adventure on any given Saturday. The normal stand-by wait time is usually 30-45 minutes, while a Fastpass will make you wait 2-3 hours before you can even use it, and then another 10-20 minutes on top of that.