One Day Disneyland Park Hopper Itinerary for Star Wars Fans (2024)

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Let me know if you can relate. As excited as you are for an upcoming trip to Disneyland, the more you try to prepare, the more overwhelmed you are with strategy and finding the best way to experience the park. We want to help reduce some of that anxiety by answering questions like “is it possible to do Disneyland in a day?”, “how does Genie+ work?”, “is the Park Hopper ticket worth it?”, and more.

We get that it’s complicated. By using our personal experiences, this guide brings together the essential information you need to know if you only have one day in Disneyland California especially if you’re fans of Star Wars and want to visit both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park.

Our One Epic Day At Disneyland in Southern California

There are a ton of guides for Disneyland in Anaheim, California out there but ours is very much focused on going to theme park as adults, and 3 nerdy guys at that.

This matters because we don’t want to lead anyone astray in terms of advice or approach to planning. While there are certainly many universal truths in this Disneyland for adults guide, we’re going to cover tips and tricks that were relevant to us and won’t go into much of the details that someone traveling as a family with kids might want to know.

As a whole, the reason why we were in California was primarily because of San Diego Comic-Con and to make a nerdy trip even nerdier, we decided to start in Los Angeles and make our way down to the convention. One of those stops was Anaheim to experience Disneyland Resort for the first time.

Who this itinerary is for

• Adults with no kids
• Visit during high season when efficiency really matters
• You have one day to see Disneyland
• You’re nerds like us – primarily Star Wars fans but also interested in the MCU
• Want to maximize time in the park
• Willing to spend money where necessarily to have the best experience
• Prepared to spend the whole day in the park
• Meals are less of a priority
• Staying in Anaheim but not necessarily in one of the Disneyland Resort Hotels

Disneyland Itinerary For Adults

Below is a pretty accurate recounting of how our one day Disneyland California itinerary unfolded. By using the timestamps of our photos, we’ve been able to reconstruct it.

Our inspiration for this itinerary came from how we found an overwhelming amount of “ultimate” guides but they were always missing the actual sequence of how a day could look. For rides, we’ve included whether we used the Standby Lane, Lightning Lane, or Single Rider Lane, and the total time we were there from entry to exit.

Of course, every group is going to be so different but the goal is to give you a realistic look at how you can plan a trip with the Park Hopper ticket, especially as a group of adults and focused on Star Wars and overall fandom.

It’s worth noting that we didn’t actually make it to rope drop because we had to wait to pick up our tickets at Guest Services which didn’t open until 7:56AM.

Disneyland in one day itinerary

Thoughts on how we managed to do

As a first-timer to Disneyland since going as a kid in the 90’s, I think we did really good. That said, there’s no denying that this is quite the packed itinerary.

Did we do everything? No, but for the 3 of us dudes that cared the most about Star Wars and wanted to do the better rides, we hit on everything (except for Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!) and we got to see a show at the Hyperion Theater as well.

What worked well with this Disneyland itinerary

As a first-timer and as adults mainly focused on Star Wars and MCU, we covered everything that we wanted to. Here’s a summary of what you can take away as things that you can also try to emulate.

• Early park strategy – The advice we got was spot-on. That first hour in the park allowed us to do everything in Tomorrowland in rapid sequence (including Star Tours twice). This was not only exhilarating but it gave us space and time to attack the remaining part of the day where the lines were significantly longer.
• Single Rider Lane – We didn’t get to use it much because of how effective Genie+ was but it was instrumental in being able to do Radiator Springs Racers
• Paying for Rise of the Resistance – This was absolutely the right call. We easily saved 30-40 minutes on this alone, allowing us to do more.
• Virtual Queue – We set up alarms on our phone for this and was able to get into the Virtual Queue right on time, 2 hours before the show. This got us into the showtime that we wanted and it worked out perfectly.
• PhotoPass – It didn’t click until much later in the day that PhotoPass was free with Genie+. As you’ll see in the schedule, we ended up doing 3 separate photoshoots in Galaxy’s Edge and another at the end of the night. These turned out really well.

What we would change for future trips to Disneyland

Even with all research and preparation we made, there were still tons of things that we learned along the way. Many of these lessons-learned show up in our Galaxy’s Edge Disneyland tips but more general thoughts on our one day Park Hopper experience better is below.

• Rogers: The Musical – Sadly, this was a limited-time run in 2023 but we would love to see this come back as it was excellent. Essentially, you get to watch the full Broadway show that was teased in Disney+’s Hawkeye. The Virtual Queue system definitely required setting alarms on our phones and good timing. In its absence though, you’ll have more time to replace this rides and other shows in California Adventure Park.
• Special Shows – On the topic of Virtual Queues, one thing that would be worth considering is incorporating a show such as World of Color in California Adventure Park.
• Individual Lightning Lane – We made the assumption that the Rise of the Resistance booking was part of Genie+ but it isn’t. If we knew that, we potentially could’ve made other Lightning Lane moves much earlier.
• Guardians of the Galaxy – This is the old Tower of Terror ride and we did not know how high-in-demand this ride is. By the time we were ready to move onto Lightning Lane bookings at about 1PM, this ride was showing a times for the evening and the standby line was an hour. If we knew this, we could’ve tried to booked it right after Smuggler’s Run.
• Only scratched the surface of California Adventure Park – We were happy to do the Cars ride but would’ve loved to do Incredicoaster, Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters, and Toy Story Media Mania!.
• Missed food experiences – We certainly didn’t starve ourselves but food was one of our lowest priorities. We ate on-the-go and very quickly. We definitely would’ve liked to have tried mint julep, the beignets, Dole Whip, and Monte Cristo Sandwich.
• Staying walking distance to the hotel – The value we got out of Sheraton Garden Grove – Anaheim South was great because it was free on points but if we were smarter, we should’ve booked one of the hotels where you could simply cross the street and enter on foot, avoiding the parking fee and shuttle. Next time, I’d seriously consider the Fairfield Anaheim Resort.
• Avengers Campus – Overall, it felt like we could’ve done more around here but besides the two rides, there didn’t seem too much to interact with. In the future, perhaps the key is to time the visit with shows and character appearances .

Your Disneyland Guide For One Day in the Park

Now that you know one way to plan a super efficient day in Disneyland, there’s so much tea we want to spill because we learned so much.

Even after multiple visits, you probably won’t be able to unlock all of Disneyland’s secrets but these are the key things you need to know so you can nail your one visit.

Practical guide to Disneyland’s Genie+

Most people will tell you that Genie+ is a blessing and a curse. We totally agree but for any groups that are trying to do as much as they can in a one day itinerary, you absolutely need to have this add-on.

To be a Disneyland pro is to master the ins and outs of Genie+, and more specifically, its Lightning Lane booking powers. It’s more complicated than it seems because of a few fundamental rules and how hands-on you need to be with it.

That’s why to start things off, we’re not going to talk about general Disneyland tips first but we rub the lantern to ask the genie in the bottle to explain what you need to know.

What is Genie+?

Genie+ is the system Disneyland Resorts both parks have in place that allows you to use their Lightning Lane. If you’ve been to Disney before, it used to be called FastPass, and FastPass Plus but in each of those iterations, it was free.

Admittedly, the naming can be a bit confusing but Genie+ is the name of the add-on and the reservations you make are for Lightning Lane access. In a way, some people use the names interchangeably but as we’ll cover further down, Genie+ provides more than just the ability to book Lightning Lane.

Let’s make this easy for you. You absolutely need to have Genie+ if you’re hoping to maximize your day in the park. Not only does it unlock the standard Lightning Lane, you also get the benefit of unlimited use of their PhotoPass system.

Compared to Universal Studios Hollywood’s Express Pass, Genie+ is more complicated, which is why you need to know how it works.

How to purchase Genie+

When you purchase your Disneyland tickets online, you can add Genie+ to your order and it’s as simple as that. The cost of Genie+ currently starts at $30.

If you missed that step, no worries, you can still add Genie+ to your ticket at anytime (even when you’re in the theme park) through the Disneyland app.

Genie+ rules

Each day, these are the rules for Genie+

• You can only use Lightning Lane a maximum of once per ride per day.
• You can only have one Lightning Lane booking active at a time unless 2 hours have elapsed since your first booking.
• Once you’ve checked into your Lightning Lane reservation, you’ll be able to make a new booking.
• You can’t use Genie+ for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Matterhorn Bobsled, and Radiator Springs Racers. This is because these have what’s called Individual Lightning Lane where you pay a-la-carte for each ride’s Lightning Lane.
• From the Genie+ reservation you have a 1 hour window to check-in. This means that you can make a booking at say 10AM but you have until 11AM to use the Lightning Lane.

Genie+ has several gotchas

• Individual Lightning Lane – There are a couple of rides that are considered to be premium and so there’s an additional cost to use the Lightning Lane. Also, you actually don’t need Genie+ to make these bookings so this is entirely outside of the Genie+ feature set.
  • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
  • Radiator Springs Racers
  • Matterhorn Bobsled
• You don’t get a choice of your Lightning Lane time slot – What you see on your Disneyland app is what you can lock in. This means that the times available to be booked are usually quite close in the future. It can be as immediate as a few minutes from now or a few hours. There’s no dropdown of times to choose from. If that time is too early, you simply have to come back to the app later.
• It can be a game of chess – While Genie+ is a good overall system, with all of the rules, you’ll find that you have to check Lightning Lane time slots quite frequently and set alarms for yourself so you don’t forget to “make your next move”.
• An easy to miss detail is the 2 hour rule – If you’ve made booking far out in the future, it doesn’t mean that you can’t make a booking until that is completed. Let 2 hour elapse and make another booking. This means that you can totally have more than one Lightning Lane booking at a time.

How to use Lightning Lane

The hardest part about Genie+ is that you really need to be on the ball when it comes to thinking ahead and making reservations so you always have something coming up. The actual booking and entering the Lighting Lane is quite simple.

1. From the Disneyland app, if you’re allowed, you can book the next available Lightning Lane time slot for your group.
2. During your time slot (you have one hour from the listed time), show up at the Lighting Lane entrance.
3. At each entrance is a barcode scanning device. For each reservation, pull it up on the app and insert your phone into the slot to scan. The light will turn green and make an audible sound. While there are attendants here, this part is mostly self-serve. We found that in most cases, attendants didn’t really verify the scan but I presume they do it based on the sound they hear.
4. After that, you walk breeze through the empty line and end up near the front. In many cases, the line doesn’t run parallel to the Standby Lane. Instead, it weaves through another area as a short cut.

How much faster is Lightning Lane?

True to its name, Lightning Lane allows you to bypass the entire standby line and bring you straight to the front.

Of course, there will be other people using their Genie+ as well so there’ll still be a queue of people for your ride but it’ll be significantly less.

The amount of time you save will depend on how bad the regular line is but in the case of popular rides, it can easy shave down an hour or more.

In the case of Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, it took us 4 minutes to get from scanning in to being in the first briefing room where Hondo tells you about your upcoming mission.

What other perks do you get with Genie+?

By purchasing the Genie+ add-on, you unlock these features:

Unique to Disneyland is an amazing feature that everyone needs to know about. If you get the Genie+ service, you get unlimited Disney PhotoPass digital downloads. This isn’t the case at Disney World.

• Lightning Lane access (does not include Individual Lightning Lane)
• PhotoPass Lens – This is essentially a filter on the Disneyland app that allows you take fun selfies where you get turned into a Disney character or they show up alongside with you in the photo.
• PhotoPass with photographers – An underrated feature where you get unlimited photos and downloads by professional photographers stationed all around the resort. These photographers also have access to Magic Shots which can layer in characters into the photo.
• PhotoPass from rides – A subset of PhotoPass are ride photos. Automatic photos taken from rides such as Radiator Springs Racers and Space Mountain can be added to your account and downloadable for free.
• Audio Tales – This is an audio guide that tells you fun facts and behind-the-scenes stories as you explore the parks.

Professional photographs are free with Genie+

This feature of Genie+ is easy to miss because we associate it entirely with the Lightning Lane. Getting to use professional photos freely for the group and individually is an amazing feature.

This means that you don’t need to be shy about going to all the of the different photographers that you’ll find throughout the park whether it’s at the entrance, near the Walt Disney statue, by the Millennium Falcon, or anywhere else around Disneyland or California Adventure Park.

Unlike Disney World which charges PhotoPass as a separate add-on (called Memory Maker and is $75 for one day), Disneyland Resort in California includes it with Genie+.

As we cover in our top tips for Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland, we found that the photographers in Galaxy’s Edge were especially amazing. They were true pros, directing us with different poses, and overall being extremely professional and patient.

PRO TIP: Perhaps the best use of the photographers is after you build your lightsaber. The Galaxy’s Edge photographers are well-versed with what looks the best and the results will blow you away. They also have access to Magic Shots, where they overlay BB-8, X-wings, and bounties on a holopuck into the photos.

Our Best Genie+ Tips

Genie+ seems like a headache right? Don’t worry, it’s worth the effort to understand it so you can minimize line up time, do as much as possible in a day, and maximize fun.

With these Genie+ tips below, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an expert.

Genie+ Tip #1: Assign one person with Genie+ duties

To make your life easier, assign a Genie+ leader.

To do this, you first need to add all of the tickets onto one person’s Disneyland app. We cover this in Disneyland tip #5. This person will have access to make Genie+ bookings all together.

You don’t want your groups to make Genie+ bookings individually because availability is constantly changing and you don’t want to be in a scenario where one person hits the button too slow and availability slips by another hour. With one person in command, they can do it all at once.

With great power comes great responsibility.

Uncle Ben, Spider-Man

As Genie+ leader, they’ll have to be the one to remember at which times they need to make the next booking.

PRO TIP: Don’t be afraid to set an alarm to remember when you need to make your next booking.

Genie+ Tip #2: Do as many rides as you can in the morning without Genie+

When you look at our one day itinerary, you’ll notice that our first Lightning Lane isn’t until Space Mountain. Why is that?

The morning is when you’ll encounter the least amount of people in Disneyland and is your best chance to rapidly go on rides with queues that are 10 minutes or less. At this point, there is no need to use Genie+.

Why not use Genie+ anyways? In theory you could but remember the rule that you can only use Lightning Lane one time per ride. If you burn it when the estimated time for standby is 15 minutes or less, you won’t be able to use it later when the standby line is significantly worse.

As a result, as much as the temptation would be to head straight to Rise of the Resistance in Galaxy’s Edge, we counterintuitively recommend that you go to Tomorrowland instead, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan.

Tomorrowland has the underrated Star Tours – The Adventure Continues ride with its 1500 combinations, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, and Space Mountain in a tight cluster. You’ll be able to hit up all of these rides in rapid succession and possibly multiple times as well.

Why not go to Galaxy’s Edge first thing? There are several reasons.

1. Most people are thinking the same thing, leaving other areas significantly quieter.
2. The other issue with Galaxy’s Edge is that it is far. It’s at least a 15 minute walk from Main Street, thus wasting valuable time.
3. The rides in Galaxy’s Edge are longer and slower so you waste more valuable time.

If you follow our itinerary, your first Genie+ booking should be when Space Mountain gives you an 8:45AM or 9AM slot.

Should you use Genie+ right away in the morning? No, because if you try to make a Genie+ booking in the morning, the times that the Disneyland app provides are too early.

Keep in mind that if you make a booking for say 10AM, you can still get in right before 11AM.

PRO TIP: I recommend riding Star Tours 2 or more times because every time you go, you’ll see a different combination of scenes. They’ve also done a really great job at incorporating the newer shows such as Andor, Ashoka, and The Mandalorian.

Genie+ Tip #3: Time Your Lightning Lane Bookings

Contrary to my initial assumption, with Genie+, you can’t exactly pick whatever Lightning Lane time slot you want. Whenever you pull up the Disneyland app, it shows you the next available booking which can be as little as 5-10 minutes away, 1-3 hours, or in the case of Guardians of the Galaxy, 6+ hours.

Knowing that you can only have one Lightning Lane booking at a time (or if 2 hours has elapsed), immediately after you scan in for your Lightning Lane access, you should start thinking about your next move.

Remember that you get a 1 hour window for Lightning Lane bookings so if you hope to get on a ride at 11AM but you see a booking for 10:15AM, you should book it. Remember, the 2 hour clock starts once you book it, opening flexibility down the road if you need it.

This unfortunately means checking your phone quite frequently if you don’t see the time slot that works for you.

PRO TIP: Once you’ve entered the Lightning Lane queue for Space Mountain, book Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run.

Genie+ Tip #4: Squeeze in rides between Lightning Lane Bookings

Even though you’re going to be strategically thinking about using your Genie+ capabilities, you can totally fit in more rides by using the standard Standby Lane.

This is where the Disneyland app and the map feature becomes super helpful. Either in the area that you’re already in or along the way to your next Lightning Lane booking, see which rides are under 30 or 45 minutes (a sweet spot). Depending on how much time you have available, jump into what you can.

Genie+ Tip #5: Pay for Rise of the Resistance Individual Lighting Lane

This may be an unpopular opinion but with one of the longest wait times, it’s worth spending the money through Genie+ to get Lighting Lane access. It sucks to have to pay more but time is precious in the park.

Remember, since Rise of the Resistance is a paid Lighting Lane reservation called “Individual Lightning Lane”, you can book it even if you have another Genie+ booking. However, like regular Lightning Lane, it only shows you one time slot so time your booking appropriately.

If you’re following our itinerary, you want to make this booking at around 9AM to 9:30AM which should have the 12:05PM to 1:05PM slot available. Again, the time when you book matters because they only give you the next available slot.

PRO TIP: This one is easy to forget about so you might want to set an alarm.

Genie+ Tip #6: Book California Adventure Park rides as soon as you can

Something we learned from our day in the two parks is how busy the big rides in Disney California Adventure Park get. You don’t want to get caught by surprise how quickly late the Lightning Lane time slots get pushed out to.

In our case, by the time we remembered to book something in California Adventure Park, Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure was showing Lightning Lane available 3 hours later. Luckily, this worked out well because we had Rogers: The Musical in between but if we didn’t, we’d have to suck it up and use a long Standby Lane for a ride.

When we checked Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! at the same time, they were already booking for 6PM and and 7PM which means it’s incredible popular.

It’s easy to forget to make your next booking after your next Lightning Lane booking but if your plan is to head to California Adventure Park in the afternoon with the Park Hopper ticket, try to get at least one ride locked in.

PRO TIP: It’s worth setting an early alarm to schedule or at least check what the California Adventure Park rides are showing for the Lightning Lane. On the Disneyland app, a heads up that you need to manually switch to a different park.

Genie+ Tip #7: Use PhotoPass as much as you can

There are photographers stationed at various places throughout the park. Initially, your instinct might be to stay away from them because you have to pay for that service but if you have Genie+, you can get unlimited photos taken.

So don’t be shy! The queues change throughout the day but if there’s a lull in your schedule, or you want to get an iconic shot such as the extensive photoshoot we did in front of the Millennium Falcon with our newly minted lightsabers, take advantage of this.

Forget selfies, with PhotoPass, it’s practically like having private photographers with you.

Genie+ Tip #8: Add your ride photos to PhotoPass

One of the PhotoPass features at Disneyland and California Adventure Park is that you can also get ride photos added to the album, allowing you to download them later.

Location of Ride Photos:

• Disneyland
  • Space Mountain – At the final downhill at the end of the ride
  • Buzz Lightyear – Right before the final room
  • Splash Mountain – This ride is currently closed
• Disney California Adventure Park
  • Radiator Springs Racers – Right before the finish line
  • Guardians of the Galaxy – When the elevator is at the top and the doors open
  • IncrediCoaster – Right before the end of the ride

With the exception of Buzz Lightyear which hasn’t been upgraded and still requires you to e-mail the photo to an e-mail address (the camera quality is also quite poor), the other photos get displayed on a collection of monitors as you walk out.

How do you get ride photos onto PhotoPass? Look for the special number that’s displayed on the top left corner of the photo. In the PhotoPass section of the Disneyland app and under the “Link Attraction Photo” tab, type in the 8-character ID. Afterwards, the photo will appear in your PhotoPass album.

Don’t wait too long because the photos go out of rotation quite quickly.

12 Disneyland tips that will change your life

Sufficed to say, we learned a lot from our day in Disneyland. Similar to Universal Studios, you realize that you could just go in blindly and have a great time but then you’ll be caught by surprise by all of the small details that they don’t tell you upfront.

To make your life easier and bring to light the things you’ll want to know before you go, our guide to Disneyland for adults covers 12 tips that’ll make sure you go in super prepared in combination with all of the Genie+ tips above.

Disneyland Tip #1: You can do Disneyland and California Adventure Park on the same day

One of the big questions you’ll be asking if you only have one day in Anaheim is whether you want to buy the Park Hopper Ticket. Does it make sense to try to squeeze both Disneyland and California Adventure Park in a day or should you just focus on Disneyland?

Play devil’s advocate, we’ll share our thoughts on whether it’s worth it.

Reasons for Park Hopper

• The cost of adding the Park Hopper ticket isn’t absurd ($65 extra). It’s an additional cost but if this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip and you only have one day, you’ll want to do both.
• While California Adventure Park is quite large, for adults, the number of rides isn’t as overwhelming as Disneyland, making it possible to do both parks.
• Crossing over to California Adventure Park is very easy to do on foot.
• From a fandom perspective, the Marvel Avenger’s Campus and its rides are a compelling reason to go.
• Radiator Springs Racers is legitimately a great ride.
• Unlocks the World of Color performance (and other special shows such as Rogers: The Musical).

Reasons against Park Hopper

• $65 is still $65.
• You have to make some sacrifices in Disneyland to fit California Adventure Park in and ultimately splits your focus.
• In an itinerary like ours, you’ll only have 4-5 hours in California Adventure Park.

For our specific scenario as a group of adults interested in Star Wars and other fandom, and likely not returning back to Disneyland soon, we wanted to do both. As we laid out a theoretical itinerary, it seemed possible and we proved that it is.

Disneyland Tip #2: Set up your Disneyland app ahead of time

The Disneyland app is very much an indispensable tool for your visit. We’d almost go as far as saying that it would be very difficult to enjoy the parks without it.

Here’s what the Disneyland app can do:

• Your digital tickets are stored here (including parking pass).
• Ability to book Lightning Lane slots with your Genie+ access.
• Ability to purchase Individual Lightning Lane for select rides.
• Utilize the PhotoPass feature
• You can put in food orders at restaurants and food stations through the app.
• Access ride photos and photographer photos quickly.
• Map of the whole park including live wait times.

Before you even set foot in the park, you’ll want to make sure your app is ready to go. Here’s what you’ll want to make sure you get done:

• Download the app – The first step is to have the app on your phone.
• Log in – When you purchased your ticket, you would have tied it to your Disney account and if you didn’t have one before from Disney+, you would have had to create a new one. Make sure you are logged into the account and not scrambling to figure out your password when you’re there.
• Make sure your ticket shows up – This should automatically show up but if it doesn’t, follow the steps to add your ticket to your account.
• Add your credit card – If you didn’t initially purchase Genie+ or you want to put in food orders in advance, you’ll need a card on file. Alternatively, make sure your phone’s ApplePay/AndroidPay wallet is set up.

With the basic set up done, you’ll be ready to take on Disneyland!

Disneyland Tip #3: Choosing the right parking lot

Now let’s do a deep dive on where you should park when visiting the Disneyland Resort. There are 3 main parking lots to choose from and a few other additional ones to consider.

The 3 main Disneyland lots are: Mickey & Friends, Pixar Pals, and Toy Story. Here are the details that matter:

Mickey & Friends + Pixar Pals Lots

• Mickey & Friends and Pixar Pals are both covered lots so your cars are protected from the sun. These are effectively two connected lots and at the bottom level is a tram.
• To board the tram, you have to go through security first.
• Note that the tram is not the same as the monorail.
• It’s a mixed bag how quickly the the whole tram process takes though because it depends on how fast security is. Then there are the trams themselves where you might have to wait to get on.
• This is why, most people opt to walk. The walkway that connects to the path to Downtown Disney is on the second level of Pixar Pals and allows you to go through security in a less busy area at the north end of Downtown Disney.
• You can walk from Mickey & Friends but you have to cut through the lot or go to ground level, over to Pixar Pals and then take the escalator up to the second level which is extra time.
• This is why the Pixar Pals is preferred and most people opt to walk to be in control of their own destiny.
• The only challenge with Pixar Pals is that we’ve heard some reporting about it not always opening 1 hour prior to park opening, staff opting to fill up Mickey & Friends first so you might not have a choice. Insiders say that the best time to get access Pixar Pals is between 8AM – 11AM.

Toy Story Lot

• This is a massive open ground-level parking lot so what you don’t get is any protection from the California sun. This is not ideal if you have anything in the car that might melt (i.e. if you’re storing your suitcases in your car and there’s chocolate inside).
• This is the only lot which allows oversized vehicles, motor homes, tractors (with or without trailer), and buses.
• If you arrive at the park before the early afternoon, you will go through security at the Toy Story Lot. Afterwards, security is outside of the Esplanade.
• You board a standard city-type of bus and drops you to the east of Esplanade.
• With any shuttle system, there’s always a chance of needing to wait for the bus to arrive, time to load the bus, and traffic on the road.
• This is one of the farthest lots so it’s not advisable to walk.
• If you’re staying at a nearby hotel, one hack is to walk to the shuttles at this lot which you can take for free.

Why did we use the Toy Story Lot? Most of it was not knowing any better but mainly because this was closest to where we were staying which meant a quicker drive in the morning. We didn’t experience any issues with the lot and the bus shuttle worked seamlessly with barely any wait times.

Additional Disneyland parking lot prices

• Preferred parking – $55 (These are spots closer to elevators and escalator)
• Oversized vehicles, motor homes, and tractors without a trailer – $40 (Toy Story lot only)
• Buses and tractors with a trailer – $45 (Toy Story lot only)

Other Disneyland parking lot tips

• If for some reason you need to leave any of the Disneyland parking lots during the day, you have in-and-out privileges as long as you keep the parking receipt.
• You can pre-pay for Disneyland parking when buying your tickets online. The price is the same but it can save you some time when entering in the morning.
• Officially, all parking lots open 60 minutes prior to the earliest Disneyland Resort theme parking opening time (not included early access). This doesn’t always hold true for Pixar Pals though as they often open this closer to opening time.
• On the Disneyland app, they have a car locator feature. It can geo-locate you or you can enter your spot manually so you can quickly check at the end of the visit.
• Have an EV vehicle? There ChargePoint spots in all 3 main lots. To use them, you’ll need to have the ChargePoint account and app set up.

Alternative parking lots

In the table above, we also listed a few other options for those that want to get a little creative. Each has their own benefits whether it’s walking distance to the park, price, or for the purpose of shopping or dining at Downtown Disney.

Which is the best Disneyland parking lot? Pixar Pals is the most ideal parking lot but if you’re aiming for rope drop, Mickey & Friends is the next best option if things don’t work out with Pixar Pals. The lot is closed, keeping your car cool throughout the day, it’s arguably safer, and you have both options of taking the tram or walking.

Disneyland Tip #4: Learn about rope drop to get started as early as possible

To maximize your day, you really want to make sure to get into Disneyland right when it opens up. This is when you can basically get in line for a ride without any wait time. This strategy has been coined the phrase, rope drop.

By being one of the first batch of people to start doing rides in Disneyland, there’s a positive chain reaction for the rest of the day.

However, if you’re like us and have never done this before, it’s a little confusing how the opening of the park works. Let’s use the example of Disneyland opening at 8AM.

Steps to rope drop Disneyland

1. Park early – Disneyland parking opens at 7AM (60 minutes before) so plan to get to your lot of choice either at 7AM or just a little before. Alternatively, if you’re staying close to the parks, you can walk right to the security checkpoint and those that want to be first should probably get to there 70 minutes before opening (6:50AM).
2. Security line – Security normally opens 1 hour (ish) before park opening (7AM). Rope drop fanatics will be here early and lines can get long. One it starts, this could take 15 minutes. PRO TIP: If you’re doing security outside of Esplanade, the security lines on the left-hand side closer to Disney California Adventure Park are often shorter.
3. Turnstile line – Once you’re through security, make your way to the Esplanade (the area between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park). Turnstiles normally open 30-45 minutes before time (in our case 7:25AM). The main gate has a whole row of turnstile entrances to enter the park. You can enter from any one of them so look for the faster/shorter ones.
4. Scanning your ticket – At the turnstile, the attendant scans your ticket. They will take a photo of you for their records.
5. Head to the ropes – This is where the name rope drop comes from. You’ll enter Main Street and on the other end of it is Central Plaza. This leads to a dead end because Security and Cast Members block your path (usually with rope). Stand patiently in the direction that you want to head next with this group here. If you’re hungry and you have time, you can also pick up something on Main Street along the way up.
6. Check Lightning Lane – While you’re waiting, pop into the Disneyland app and see what time slots are appearing for your first Lightning Lane booking. For our one-day itinerary, your first Lightning Lane should be Space Mountain.
7. The rope drops – At 7:50AM or thereabouts, they’ll announce the rope drop with much fanfare and excitement and that’s when all of Disneyland’s attractions open. is open to visitors. Again, this time isn’t an exact science but it’s usually 5-10 minutes ahead of the listed opening time.

Does Disneyland have early entry? Yes, of you are a guest at one of Disneyland Resort hotels, you can get into the designated theme park 30 minutes early. The schedule is currently:

• Disneyland Park: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
• Disney California Adventure Park: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

It’s also worth mentioning that not all rides are open during the 30 minute period before official opening. The full list is on the early entry page but in Disneyland, it’s mainly focused on Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.

Interestingly in California Adventure Park, many of the good rides are available so it might be an interesting strategy to complete Guardians of the Galaxy, Web Slingers, and Incredicoaster quickly.

The Disneyland Resort hotels are:

• Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (Expedia/TripAdvisor)
• Disneyland Hotel (Expedia/TripAdvisor)
• Pixar Place Hotel (Expedia/TripAdvisor)

Disneyland Tip #5: Connect all tickets to one phone

This is a tip we learned from the super friendly park attendant and pretty crucial if you ask us.

Through the Disneyland app, you can actually add all the tickets from your group. You simply scan your friend’s ticket bar code from their app and voila, you’ll have all tickets on one account.

The key benefits of this are:

• When entering either park’s gate, one person can have all tickets scanned by swiping through them.
• This allows for the one person to be assigned as the Genie+ leader as we recommend list of Genie+ tips.
• As a Genie+ leader, one person can make Lightning Lane bookings and also keep all PhotoPass photos in one spot.

In theory, every person in the group could do this but that might be overkill.

Disneyland Tip #6: Connect to the free wifi

Since the Disneyland Resort experience is so reliant on its app, it only makes sense that they provide free wifi in the park.

The network SSID to look for is “Disney Guest”.

You’ll find this available throughout both theme parks – Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park.

The wifi speeds are quite reasonable and is great for international guests so you don’t need to rack up roaming charges or use eSIM or mobile hotspot data.

Anecdotally, I was impressed that wifi was still strong when going through the Standby Lane in Rise of the Resistance or in the tunnels of Indiana Jones Adventure.

Disneyland Tip #7: Take advantage of the Single Rider Lane

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Besides Genie+ and the Lightning Lane, the best way to get ahead in line or you can go solo and use the Single Rider Lane entrance which is always shorter. In our estimation, you can easily save at least half of the time estimate for the Standby Lane.

If you’re willing to break up your group and not sit together, there are 3 rides that have a Single Rider Lane within Disneyland Resort:

• Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run – Since the co*ckpit only fits 6 people, there are often single spots that need to be filled. Just be aware that you are likely to get the least popular position as a late-comer (i.e. Engineer).
• Radiator Springs Racers – It’s obviously more fun to be in the same car but there’s also a chance that your friend can be in the car on the parallel track that competes against you.
• Matterhorn Bobsleds – You’ll likely be split up into different coasters but like in the Cars ride, you might end up on parallel tracks for a moment.

Is the Single Rider Lane faster than Lightning Lane? No, while the Single Rider Lane saves you lots of time, the Lightning Lane is always shorter and thus, faster.

Disneyland Tip #8: Storing, holding, or shipping your purchases

It’s hard not to walk out of Disneyland without buying something along the way. For us, we were definitely suckers for things we found in the Black Spire Outpost of Galaxy’s Edge. So this begs the question, what do you do with bulky items and are you forced to carry it around?

There are 4 different approaches you can take.

1) Carry it around

If you’d rather carry your goodies with you throughout the day, you can either use the bag that they provide, put it in a backpack if you came in with one, or buy one of the many cute bags that they sell in the park.

We found that Disneyland’s rides are really well-designed and include mesh pouches somewhere in front of you or below you. In other cases, you can put your items by your feet.

That said, there are exceptions for larger items like the box that comes with your Droid Depot building experience where those are not allowed. In this case, you’ll need to rely on having someone carry these larger items while the other does the ride, or utilize the Rider Switch Service (although this only works if you have a child).

2) Use a locker

Contrasting to what you’ll find in our Universal Studios Hollywood guide, Disneyland did not have any lockers built for specific rides. Instead, there are general locker coves where you can leave your things behind if they get too much to have with you all of the time.

PRO TIP: The one exception is Grizzly River Run in California Adventure Park because of how wet the ride is. There are lockers you can use here which are free for up to 2 hours. Even if you don’t take the ride, it could be useful in a pinch.

Where are the lockers located?

• Disneyland – Next to Market House on Main Street
• California Adventure Park – Next to Mortimer’s Market
• Esplanade – Next to guest services close to the entrance of California Adventure Park
• Esplanade – To the left of the entrances to Disneyland and near Lost & Found

How much do lockers cost?

• Inside the park – Standard size – $7 per day and Large size – $10 per day
• Outside the park – They offer more sizes and prices are $7, $10, $12, and $15 per day.

These lockers don’t provide in-and-out privileges. Also, you are not allowed to store items overnight, otherwise they go to Lost and Found.

PRO TIP: Set an alarm on your phone so you don’t forget to pick up your things from the locker at the end of the night.

3) Leverage Package Check Service

If you have bulky purchases, an unadvertised service is 7 locations with the ability to hold your items to be picked up later. You simply need to provide them the receipt to prove that they were purchased in the Disneyland Resort that day.

Disneyland

• Pioneer Mercantile
• Port Royal
• The Star Trader

California Adventure Park

• Elias & Co
• Sarge’s Surplus Hut
• Avengers Vault

Esplanade

• Stroller Shop

This is a handy way to allow you to explore the park hands-free.

PRO TIP: Set an alarm so you don’t forget to pick up your things. Also, picking a store closer to the entrance can make things easier as well.

4) Ship it

If you run into a situation where you realize you’ve purchased way too many things and it would make more sense to ship everything back home, Disneyland Resort has the option to ship Disney merchandise.

This isn’t well advertised at all so we don’t have the official list but as far as Disneyland goes, these are the locations that offer shipping services.

• First Order Cargo
• Any of the big stores on Main Street, Fantasyland, or Tomorrowland including The Star Trader.

Shipping services comes with a few rules:

• Shipping is based on the purchase price of the items rather than size and weight. This is a good thing, especially if you want to ship heavy items.
• You must have the purchase receipts of everything you want to ship. This means that you can only ship items that you bought from the Disneyland Resort and not any personal items.
• They use UPS as the courier. This is a bad thing for Canadians so make sure you learn how to how to avoid brokerage fees.
• The rate chart eventually hits a rate cap which means the shipping rate doesn’t get any more expensive no matter how many more items you add.
• Shipping should be available until park closing time but some stores may have their own rules and close this service 30 minutes before closing.

Below are the shipping rates as of 2024.

PRO TIP: Bundle these for the end of the night when you’ve made all your purchases. You can also combine this with the Package Check Service. The name of the game is trying to carry as little as possible during the day.

It’s also worth noting that if you’re staying in one of the 3 Disneyland Resort hotels, there’s also a service where any in-park purchases can be sent to the Bell Desk of the hotel.

Disneyland Tip #9: Shoulder and fanny packs for the win

When visiting Disneyland, we advise you to try to go in as lightweight as possible. Of course, not everyone will be able to do this depending on the amount of things you need to carry in but trust me, it’ll make things a lot easier.

The best option is to use a sling, fanny pack, or cross-body type of bag. Here’s why:

• With a smaller bag, you can keep them on when going on rides.
• You get quick-access to essentials with these type of bags.
• They are also adaptable to the situation. If the ride’s harness requires you to move it around, you can.
• A smaller bag forces you to bring less which means lighter weight on your back, shoulders, and legs.
• By knowing how to store, hold, or ship your purchases in the tip above, you really shouldn’t need to store

Looking for recommendations of what to get? Here are the ones that have been used on trips to Disneyland.

• Uniqlo Round Mini Shoulder Bag – These are ultra affordable and come in many colors and are simply a no-frills kind of shoulder bag that has great capacity and perfect for theme parks.
• Peak Design 6L Sling – This is the perfect balance of a sling that can handle a camera while also carrying other items such as this 16oz Nalgene bottle. The bottle can also be hooked on with a carabiner if you’re tight on space.
• Lululemon Everywhere Belt Bag 2L – The 1L version should suffice but if you need more space, the 2L is a great choice.
• TOPERIN Pineapple Fanny Pack – This is from Amazon but I was impressed with the quality. Love that it comes in multiple fabric design.

What about backpacks? Disneyland designed their rides with small backpacks in mind. In most cases, there are mesh pouches, large spaces by your feet to put your bag between your feet, or sometimes a hook. If you are going to bring a backpack, make sure it’s a small to medium size.

The ride in Disneyland where you can’t put a backpack anywhere is Soarin’ Around The World. For this ride, you leave it on the ground in a designated area and pick it up right after the ride finishes.

Unlike other traditional theme parks such as Anakeesta in Gatlinburg, Silver Dollar City in Missouri or Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto, where there are cubby’s for bags, you won’t find that at Disneyland.

PRO TIP: If you’re wearing a hat, Disney Ears, or have a cute character clipped onto your clothing at Disneyland, make sure to take it off for rides.

From a baggage policy perspective, Disneyland isn’t super strict but you do have to make sure they are smaller than 24″ long x 15″ wide x 18″ high (61 cm x 38 cm x 46 cm). Selfie sticks, extension poles, flags, and banners aren’t allowed. Tripods and monopods also need to fit inside a backpack.

Disneyland Tip #10: Have an idea of the food you want to have

Food might be lower on your priority list especially if you’re focused on rides, but the food in Disneyland is actually quite good and not as expensive as you think. The key is to know what’s worth

When it comes to popular food items between the two parks, here are things that we tried and would recommend:

• DOLE Whip Pineapple Soft Serve (Tiki Juice Bar, Disneyland) – You don’t need to go all the way to Hawaii to have this icy pineapple treat. This is great as an afternoon cool-down.
• Jack-Jack Cookie Num Num (Jack-Jack Cookie Num Nums, California Adventure Park) – A big cookie with giant chocolate chunks.
• Mickey-shaped Beignets (Mint Julep Bar, Disneyland) – Addictive fluffy fried treats with dusted with powdered sugar.
• New Orleans Mint Julep (Mint Julep Bar, Disneyland) -The perfect pairing with beignets and incredibly refreshing.
• Battered & Fried Monte Cristo Sandwich (Café Orleans, Disneyland) – This is quite the carnival-esque turkey, ham, and swiss sandwhich that has a corndog-like shell after its battered and deep-fried.
• Cream Cheese-filled Pretzel (Refreshment Corner, Disneyland) – The only pretzel you should be getting in Disneyland. You can also get this at a number of different pretzel carts all around the park.
• Churros (various churro carts, both parks) – This is always a fun quick on-the-go snack. If you’re lucky enough to go to the park on May 4th, they also have special lightsaber versions of these.

Disneyland Tip #11: Order food from the app

The Disneyland app does everything – it holds your tickets, you can make your Lightning Lane bookings with Genie+, it gives you access to PhotoPass, and it can also purchase food with it. What doesn’t it do?

Since the Disneyland app or your phone’s digital wallet already has your credit card on hand, it’s as easy as a few quick taps to put in an order and have it processed right away. In fact, this should be how you order everything in the Disneyland Resort.

Food order scheduling

You can order food for pick up right away but you can also schedule food orders for future pick up. Just when you thought Lightning Lane was as complicated as it got. Hear me out though, this can help you in certain situations.

Pros

Where it’s different from Lightning Lane bookings is that they give you multiple time slots in the future to select from. You can literally pre-order food in the morning for an evening pick up.

The only challenge with ordering in advance is that it’s often pretty hard to predict when you’ll be back to that particular cart or restaurant. Luckily, the app does have the ability to reschedule orders if you don’t think you can make them.

Cons

Where this implementation fails is when you show up early by a few 10-15 minutes. When you’re close to your pick up time, you typically won’t be able to find an earlier slot to switch to, so you’ll be forced to wait.

Another scenario that gets messy is when a restaurant gets really busy with orders and you want to put an order in for let’s say, 30 minutes from now. Since they’re slammed with orders, you might not be able to put a future order in until 1-2 hours away which won’t work.

When order scheduling makes sense

• If you know that, let’s say, Tiki Juice Bar gets really busy in the afternoon, you can put an order in the late morning so you can easily swoop in to pick up your DOLE Whip.
• If there’s an insanely popular item (i.e. cream cheese pretzels), you can put in an order ahead of time so they hold it for you.

PRO TIP: Tiki Juice Bar is mobile-order-only so you won’t be able to place an order in-person.

This is another layer of planning that feels way overcomplicated but if you can anticipate your moves, you can bypass all the food lines, even at the peak of high season.

Disneyland Tip #12: Know what you need reserve in advance

In our tips for Galaxy’s Edge, we explain all of the Star Wars-related bookings you can make 60 days before you arrive at the park. There’s one more you need to consider – restaurants.

If you’re planning on snacking along the way, eating at various carts and quick-service eateries, you can easily rely on ordering when you arrive, using mobile ordering, or scheduling orders. However, at the sit-down restaurants in Disneyland Resort, you need to make reservations.

Interested in trying the Battered & Fried Monte Cristo Sandwich? You need to make reservations at Café Orleans which is notoriously difficult to get last-minute reservations.

If you aren’t able to find reservations, similar to Oga’s Cantina, there’s still hope! Here’s what we advise:

• You can make reservations for restaurants even if you don’t have a ticket on your account.
• Make your restaurant reservations as early as possible. You can do this as early as 60 days in advance.
• Reservations for 1 are very difficult to find. If that’s the case, change the group size to a larger number. PRO TIP: There’s no penalty for showing up to a reservation and having less people than indicated.
• Cancellations happen all the time so constantly re-try the restaurant reservation page. There’s often a lot of movement the day prior so don’t despair! PRO TIP: If you’re on a laptop or desktop for work, you can make reservations through their website. The problem is that it constantly logs you out so it might be easier to do this on your phone because your phone’s authentication (i.e. Face ID) is much faster.

What if you no show? You must cancel your reservation at least 2 hours prior. Otherwise, you’ll be charged $10 per person for a no-show.

What if you show up a few minutes late to your reservation? We find that Disney Resorts isn’t cut-throat when it comes to these things. I haven’t been able to test the limits of this but if you’re 10-15 minutes late, your reservation will still be honored.

Best Places to Stay For Disneyland

To round out our one day in Disneyland itinerary guide, you’ll also want to book accommodations for your trip.

For all of our 4 recommendations, the key for Disneyland is to stay close by so your morning drive is short, and more importantly, you avoid needing to take the freeway and be victims of Los Angeles traffic. Better yet, avoid driving completely by staying at a hotel that’s walking distance.

WE STAYED HERE

Sheraton Anaheim South Garden Grove

Extremely affordable hotel that’s also cheap on points that we quite enjoyed. The rooms have been renovated, the beds are comfortable, parking is easy, and they have an outdoor pool as well. The only downside is that not walkable to Disneyland. Stay for free with your Marriott Bonvoy points to redeem when booking directly or use corporate codes you’re eligible for.

TripAdvisor

Expedia

SHORT WALKING DISTANCE

Fairfield by Marriott Anaheim Resort

This is only a 10 minutes walk to Disneyland Esplanade. Rooms are clean, comfortable, and modern. They also have the option of getting adjoining rooms and a pool. What they lack is breakfast and restaurant by Panera Bread is right next door. As a Marriott property, use your points when booking directly or use corporate codes you’re eligible for.

TripAdvisor

Expedia

RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET

Best Western Plus Park Place Inn

This might be the closest hotel to Disneyland that isn’t on-property. The walk to Disneyland Esplanade is 6 minutes. This is more of a motel-like property with stairs to the second floor but modernized and has a mini-suite option. The property has a mini-mart and pool & hot tub. Breakfast is included! Make sure to collect Best Western Rewards and check their active promos and coupon codes.

TripAdvisor

Expedia

WITHIN DISNEYLAND

This is the closest on-property hotel that’s practically connected to Downtown Disneyland. The resort is beautifully themed, rooms are spacious, there’s an excellent pool, tons of food choices, and best of all, it offers you early access one of the parks depending on the day. Stay here if you want the best in convenience and comfort.

TripAdvisor

Expedia

To help in your search, we also have an interactive map below where our hotel picks above are in red but it also shows alternative properties surrounding Disneyland.

How Much Does A Day At Disneyland Cost?

So how much did I spend at Disneyland? These cost tables are always interesting to tabulate because in the moment, it’s hard to tell how much you’ve racked up.

The Disneyland cost totals are in USD and for a single person. The only cost that wasn’t divided evenly for our group is the parking fee.

I couldn’t categorize this as a budget trip to Disneyland but at the same time, we didn’t go over-the-top with spending. For nerdy adults like us, this should be a good benchmark for how much you’ll expect to spend in the park.

Compared to the $481.05 I spent at Universal Studios, this was more. However, if you subtract Savi’s Workshop from the equation, the total cost was $427.58.

A Nerd’s Dream Come True

They say Disneyland is the most magical place on earth. It totally is, and more specifically, with Star Wars and the Avengers properties rolled in thanks to Galaxy’s Edge and the Avengers Campus, 3 nerdy guys on their way down to San Diego Comic-Con were able to have an awesome day.

A big part of having a great experience was knowing many of the tips ahead of time. Still, there was so much we had to learn on the fly. Ultimately, this one article isn’t going to include everything but we give you the essentials, especially if you’re a group like ours – a bunch of millennial dudes from Canada.

After you’ve used our Disneyland itinerary and guide, we want to know what we missed or tricks that you learned from your trip. Make sure to leave a comment below!

Frequently Asked Questions

This trip was supported by Disneyland but all opinions are our own.