Coming from Canada, it will by my wife and our kids (10 & 6) first time. I’ve been a couple times growing up.

Our biggest consideration is crowds, coming from so far away and spending the money, we want to be able to experience everything at a decent pace over 3 days. ( also doing universal)

Obviously there is some pretty drastic seasonal themes between Halloween and Christmas. We love both seasons (but probably consider Christmas more magical and significant)

I looked at crowd data and it looks like both times of year have had medium crowds.

What is your experience? Of the two choices, do you have a preference?

Trip review (without budget, will do a separate budget breakdown when I get all the costs organized)

Fly in Sunday April 28, fly out Saturday Saturday May 4; Disneyland and DCA Monday-Friday park hopper tickets; Party: 2 families of 4 with neurodivergent children who qualified for DAS (kids ages: 3, 6, 6, 13). One support worker from Sunday-Wednesday. Had Genie+ on two of the adult tickets. Stayed in two rooms (Parlour A and C) at Anaheim Dessert Inn and Suites. My mom (grandma) was supposed to come but she had some medical issues arise right before the trip. My mom kindly pixie dusted my sister’s regular support worker with her hotel room, flight and park ticket and we then paid her food and wages. She was a great asset for us and if you have multiple neurodivergent and/or disabled kids with differing needs, I recommend a higher adult to child ratio.

Flew Air Canada YVR to SNA. I enjoyed flying here instead of LAX. I didn’t notice the harsh/quick landing that others have mentioned.

Transportation from SNA to Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites. We scheduled EVE for 12:30 pm pickup and bought tickets. The app kept changing the pickup time and pushing it further out. By 1:15 pm the 4 kids were done (and so were all the adults). It was too late to wait even 5 minutes for an Uber so we got 3 taxis to transport everyone and their luggage. We could have fit in 2 taxis but one of the kids needed their own space at this stage. The dysregulation was high! We brought car seats for the kids. I am not at all happy about EVE and now have unused tickets and it certainly put a damper on the start of the trip. If we ever do another trip we plan to get taxis right away.

Motel: Anaheim Dessert Inn and Suites. Our rooms were not ready early, so they stored our luggage while we walked down the street for food. We had Walmart grocery deliver some food to the hotel. The rooms were plain but worked for us. The beds were firm but not as hard as some I’ve experienced. One of my kiddos used the pull-out couch and slept well. We brought out rain makers for sleep so the outside noise wasn’t too bad (except the fireworks were very loud). The windows have slats, not curtains so light filtered in easily. It was dark enough at night, but naps were more challenging for settling my youngest. Each day our support worker gathered some basic foods from the breakfast buffet for us for the following morning so our kids didn’t have the extra transition to the buffet room. One issue for us is that the food kept changing (the oatmeal flavour), cereal type, which we were relying on as a safe food for our kids. We had even called ahead to ask detailed questions about the food and it was different than what we were told. Had I had the correct information I would have been able to adjust my Walmart order. The bread was stale which unfortunately was a no-go for one of my kids. So, if you have sensory eaters this buffet is not reliable. It also doesn’t start until 7 am but we always wanted to be walking out the door by 7 am for rope drop.

Parks: We switched parks after our mid-day motel break on a couple of the days (star wars nites). Even with 5 days we couldn’t get everything we wanted done. My kids could rope drop but our mid day breaks were long from 12-4ish and then my kids couldn’t really make it past about 7 pm in the park so it was more like “half” days worth of activities in the park. The kids were ride-focused and didn’t seem interested in environment entertainment. Our last day we all enjoyed the Magic Happens parade at 5:30 pm. We sat on the ground at about 5:05 pm near small world and ate dinner while waiting. I think you could have arrived at 5:15 and still found seats for a small group. Favourite ride for the kids in Disneyland was Big Thunder Mountain and Radiator Springs Racers in DCA. My partner and I had to pay the ILL for Rise of the Resistance. I wore ear plugs and my kids wore noise defenders most of the time in the parks. We mobile ordered most of the time. On our last day we had breakfast with Minnie at the Plaza Inn at 10:20 am. My kids really enjoyed the characters and shocking us all my little one asked for a hug from Tigger after Pooh gave him the best hug. I wish that Minnie circulated at the tables with the photographer. Her interaction was the poorest because it was so quick and my kids were still getting warmed up to the environment. My 3 year old decided to start potty training the week before we went on the trip and insisted on going to the bathroom SO MANY TIMES. And of course, the kids could not seem to coordinate their bathroom breaks so I think I spent half my time in all the bathrooms in the parks! Definitely something I hadn’t considered when I was planning this trip.

Highlights for me: my 3 year old squealing with joy riding Big Thunder. My 6 year old telling me this was the best vacation ever but also that she knows I love her and I don’t need to pay for things to show her my love (that was said about the character breakfast) but also she wants an Olaf bubble wand. LOL. My favourite ride is Indy and it didn’t disappoint me. I was proud of myself for suggesting the Chewy mode on Smuggler’s Run to a group of strangers (I was single rider with social anxiety), and they all agreed though I’m not sure they had the best time. I loved it! My partner did not think he’d like Disney that much, but he made many surprising comments about how great everything is. Overall, it was a successful Disneyland trip and I sure hope I get to do it again someday.

Tips for neurodivergent kids/adults: ear plugs, sun hats, portable personal fan, airtags/tile on kids, parent contact info on a sticker mailing label stuck to the back of the kid’s shirts, leash/strap for elopers, mid-day hotel breaks/naps/screens, pack or buy safe foods. Unfortunately, even foods that are “safe” at home in Canada didn’t translate to the Walmart order with US brands. My biggest struggle on the trip was trying to keep the kids fed. If I did it again, I might bring a suitcase full of food! If you qualify for DAS, this allowed us to access attractions that we otherwise couldn’t. Rope dropping was a must for the kids to get on rides without the DAS. I found the park to be much louder than I remember from 15 years ago. I think there are numerous places that Disney could reduce the volume to give us sensitive auditory processors more of a break. Even with noise protection, my kids could not sit at the Fantasyland Theatre while the Pixar Fest photo op was going on. The music was deafening. I think the volume could be significantly reduced across the park without harm to neurotypical auditory processors and allow a much more accessible experience for neurodivergent auditory processors.

Tips for Canadians/International guests: We used the Wise visa debit card with 0.5% currency exchange fee (this is compared to the typical 2.5% exchange fee on most credit cards). The Wise worked well for all purchases in and out of the park. My husband only had one situation where tapping with his phone Wallet didn’t work and he had to use the physical Wise card for the purchase. We used the hotel address as the billing address for our Walmart order. Additionally, my sister's credit card was rejected likely because she had to call the bank and approve a US dollar cost. Instead we used our Wise card and it worked fine (with the hotel billing address).

Happy to answer any questions!

I've never visited Disneyland so I'm starting from zero, other than having dates. I could really use some guidance for this visit.

My best friend and I will be visiting mid-January. I am planning to book two or three nights on property and do the parks for either three or four days in the parks.

Questions:

1. When do hotel and park reservations open up for January? I've read some time late summer/early fall, and I have some Disney credits to use for the visit, so I don't want to miss out on booking the hotel nights I can swing.

2. How important is rope-drop for the parks, and is Genie+ worthwhile?

3. If we need to do a split-stay on and off property, doing 4 nights total, what other property is recommended? I tried looking into a Hilton but it's not showing any availability in 2025 and I'm not sure if it's booked or just not available yet. I'd be trying to keep the non-Disney nights on the reasonable side.

4. Restaurants - are there any worth making reservations for as a treat? Or do we just try to do mobile ordering and quick service type stuff in the parks?

5. How concerned should I be about refurbishments in January? I'm a little worried we'll miss out given how likely it is things will be down in January.

Any help or advice is recommended. I've done a bunch of googling but I'm struggling to put everything together. My biggest worry for now is when to worry about hotel/park and (possibly) restaurant reservations.

Myself, my husband, my 3 year old daughter and my 11 year old son are going to Disneyland early June. We planned to visit Disneyland June 4 and 5 and spend June 6 at California Adventure.

I am a veteran of Disneyland Paris. I used to go on a monthly basis, and that since I was in the womb. DLP really doesn't have bad wait times, and I always managed to go on the least busy days of the month.

And I went to the Anaheim park once, in early March 2020 when everyone cancelled because of the covid threat, so... Let's just say the park was quiet and it was a treat!

I bought the Genie+ option, not sure how that works, but I am anxious as I found out it's right during Grad Nites. I am a middle and high school teacher looking to have a magical time with my kids, not to feel like I'm back in the classroom 😅 we are also a neurodivergent bunch and the four of us have different reactions to crowd (I get overwhelmed/overstimulated, my daughter gets scared, my son is dyspraxic and bumps into everyone and steps on feet a lot he is pathologically clumsy, my husband can be like this too).

How bad is it? Advice on making the best out of it? I espoir want to enjoy Galaxy's edge and have the whole princess experience for my girl. How to make the best out of the genie+?

Hey, I’ve been looking at hotels for days now and I’m a little overwhelmed. I was about to book JW Marriott until I read they charge $65 parking fee per night. Also considered the Anaheim hotel, but I’m also scared about parking, since we’ll be arriving around midnight and I’ve read a bunch of reviews saying parking at night is almost impossible.

I’m looking for something priced similarly to the two I mentioned, and I’m also very much open to options further away, as we don’t mind driving and parking at Disney.

My main focus really is a good parking situation. Would appreciate any recommendations! (Also we don’t mind a parking fee, just thought $65 per night was a little steep)

Need some advice here. How many days do I need? Is two enough for each park? Should I go ahead and do three just in case I miss something?

I plan to go late July and stay near the park for about a week or so, maybe less than that. I plan to hit Disneyland and then explore LA a bit. I’d like to know how many days is enough to cover each park and what areas or what places in LA to visit.

For background information: going alone and I don’t plan on renting a car.

Hi everyone, my name is Aaron and I'm currently planning a solo trip to Disney world as a reward for finishing summer classes in math. I'm from Canada I have a few questions regarding how to keep my trip under 5K.

1. I want to avoid foreign Transaction fee and I don't want to carry so much US cash either, is there an alternative to buying stuff.

2. how much clothes should I bring? I'm planning to go on August 10th to 18th.

3. Is Disney waterpark worth it? I'm planning on going on the day I departure since my flight doesn't depart till 9:00 PM.

4. There is currently a discount of 20% for Canadian residents, how exactly will this work? For 5 days, does the admission include going to any of the 4 theme park on the specific week?

5. Should I bring a carry on bag?

If I have anymore questions, I will update this post asap.

Hi I went to Disney on Monday & Tuesday and will be returning in 2 weeks, because my group got the SOCAL 3 day tickets, but we want to find an overnight parking place to park the car! We paid hotel parking for two days ($40) and then had to leave hotel parking spot at check out to pay another $24. We want to find hopefully an alternative parking spot or an overnight one. Please Helppppp.

I’m planning on going in october but I was wondering how much it is for just two adults so I can save up lol

I keep seeing everyone talk about tevas, keens etc but no one ever says exactly which one they are recommending.. and each brand has like 1000 different versions lol. So specific recommendations wanted!

Also I was able to try on keen Newport h2s today and wondering if teva’s sizing is the same :)

So I know the website has 14' or 13'something but that's the ground level.

My truck is 8'9" tall and I'm wondering what the upper level clearance is?

One time I was told I "would fit" by the CM at the parking and I cleared the clearance bar but hit 3 things (damaging my roof) when I went up.

I want to avoid that and just know what the clearance is to tell the CM I'm too tall.

Thanks.

Hello,

We have already purchased tickets for Disneyland for 2 days 1 park with genie for 2 adults and 1 child. We are planning on going in September. Looks like 3 day 1 park tickets will be going on sale at the end of May, basically a third day free compared to the price we already paid. Would it be possible to “upgrade” to these 3 day tickets when they go on sale? Or are we SOL? Thanks in advance!

Hello So I live in Southern California and would love to visit Disneyland again but tickets have gotten so expensive. Are there any deals I could take advantage of? What's the cheapest ticket you can get?

Also, when is a good time to go that is less busy? Obviously winter will be less crowded,, but are there specific weeks that are best? I don't know if it's true that it's less crowded on Super Bowl Sunday.

Thanks.

We are looking at taking a trip in early February. 4 adults, 2 kids (will be 5 & 9). Looking at AoA family suite. MK day 1, rest/pool/shopping day, then park hopping day 3 (AK, HS, and maybe Epcot- just to visit, know we won’t get everything done).

Any tips you can offer on any of the above, crowds, weather, etc would be appreciated! We’ve taken older (high school) kids with school groups but not small kids.

EDIT: we have since decided to only do HS and Epcot as our second park day. HS in am and EPCOT in pm.

Hi All,

My wife and I are finally taking our first vacation in a long time. We have May 11-May 19th off. We wanted to surprise our 3 year old (and our 9-month old, but I don't think she'll care that much that we're there, lol) with a 1-2 night stay at the Disney land hotel. We were wondering what days would be the least crowded that week and if you had any tips to avoid crowds and long wait times for rides. Is that genie-pass worth it for young children?

Thank you all in advance!

Im visiting Disneyland in August with family & was wondering how is it possible to get dining reservations for Blue Bayou? We have eaten there several times years ago & obviously so much has changed where you used to be able to walk up and possibly get a table. I see reservations seem to be booked up until early July. When do they usually release August dates? Any tips?

Hello - this past week I booked my flights & hotel for Disneyland. Wanting to avoid spring break times and before Easter, I’ve booked us April 6, 2025 - April 12, 2025, did I do ok? Our last trip was Mid October and we had the best time bu it was busier due to the Oogie Boogie bash & Halloween excitement. Just looking to hear feedback on how I did in terms of dates lol

Hey everyone! I am planning my honeymoon to Disneyland CA in June. 3-Day Park Hoppers w/Genie+. I've been lots of times, my wife will be a first timer.

I want her to have the best and most complete experience. World of Color, Fireworks, and Fantasmic are all must-dos.

I'm wondering what kinds of experiences I should be looking to do to make our honeymoon special? Are there any experiences I should try to make reservations for? Are restaurants like the Blue Bayou worth it? Or are there more "romantic" options I should be looking at? Like I said, Ive been to the park many times but it's been a few years and I know a lot has changed.

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you so much!

Long story short - my family is finally getting the chance to stay at the Disneyland hotel this summer. I just got a voicemail from someone from DVC at Disneyland Resort asking for me to call them back. Is this just a sales call looking to get us saddled with DVC or is it normal to have someone reach out about your hotel stay?

Hi All,

We are trying to book a trip from Canada to go to Orlando between June 29-July 6 and were looking to get some advice when it comes to planning it out.

Our budget is under $5,000 for the entire trip for two people.

What we were wondering was the following:

• Would you recommend going to Disneyland around this time? Would it be extremely crowded?
• Which hotels would you recommend that would be relatively close to the parks that are of good quality?
• Which theme park package would you recommend to be able to see both Universal/Islands Of Adventure and some of the Disney Parks? Are there any good deals that you are aware of for theme park tickets during this period of time?

Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks!

First post asking advice for Day 1 at Disneyland is here since this got longer than anticipated!

I am planning a 2 day Disneyland/DCA trip for the first week of July 2024 with my best friend and my two-year-old. It will be their first time at DLR and I was there last in 2019. My past park touring plans involved a lot of criss-crossing the park, doing rope drop, AND closing out the park. That won't work for us now, but thankfully the only e-tickets both of us really want to ride at DCA are Radiator Springs Racers and WEB Slingers. We will have Genie+ but would prefer not to buy ILLs.

=============================

Day 2 - DCA - Open 8 am - 10 pm

I'm overwhelmed with coming up with a touring plan for this park. I can't even remember what we did in 2019 - maybe rope-dropped GOTG? This time we want to do the following, in rough order of priority:

1. All of Cars Land, including the Sh-Boom moment - I'm thinking the best strategy without buying ILLs will be swapping turns in the Single Rider line either first thing in the morning or in the evening.
2. Avengers Campus - WEB Slingers, Spiderman show, meet some superheroes
3. Pixar Fest stuff
4. Grizzly River Run (my friend only)
5. Soarin'
6. Art of Animation building - Crush, Animation Academy.
7. GOTG and Incredicoaster (me only - low priority but I would like to go on at least one!)
8. Pixar Pier

How would you order these priorities? Keeping in mind:

1. We will be (trying) to do rope-drop again
2. The toddler will be happiest if we do most of Cars Land earlier in the day when he's fresh.
3. We want to take a mid-day break.
4. My friend will be staying for World of Color at 9 p.m. - the toddler and I might too, just depends on how he's doing.

Thanks for any feedback!

I am planning a 2 day Disneyland/DCA trip for the first week of July 2024 with my best friend and my two-year-old. It will be their first time at DLR and I was there last in 2019. My past park touring plans involved a lot of criss-crossing the park, doing rope drop, AND closing out the park. That won't work for us now, but there are some big rides we are all going to skip like Matterhorn and Space Mountain. What do you all think of the following loose plan to maximize "riding the crowd wave" and hitting the rides we *do* want to do in the shortest amount of time possible, but also leaving enough flex in the schedule for toddler snack times, melt downs, and impromptu princess meet and greets? We will have Genie+ but would prefer not to buy Individual LLs.

=============================

Day 1 - Disneyland - Open 8 am - 12 pm

8 am - 11 am ish - Start in Fantasyland (skip Peter Pan if line is outside the building). Move to Toontown, then start using LLs for rides in Tomorrowland. We will be skipping Matterhorn, Space Mountain, probably Nemo, possibly Star Tours. Maybe we can squeeze in a LL on Indy before lunch?

11 a.m. - Blue Bayou reservation? (Might cancel this if it's not optimal and now that Disney has confirmed that standby is available for Fantasmic. I also grabbed a 5 p.m. reservation). If not, I assume crowds will be building so we should do lower-wait activities like the Monorail or whatever LLs we can get and get quick service lunch.

12 pm - 3 ish - Break at hotel (10 minute walk away). If we need less of a break, we will work in rides on Jungle Cruise and Pirates, and do lower-wait activities like the Tiki Room. A ride for me on BTMRR would be nice but not strictly necessary.

4 p.m - Happy hour at Oga's! (My friend's request) Or, can move this to another time - I think availability for this is easier than Blue Bayou.

5 p.m. - Blue Bayou reservation (if we didn't cancel lunch)

6-8 p.m. - Galaxy's Edge! We'll suck it up and do standby for Rise of the Resistance with rider swap. This is a must-do for us. LL Smugglers Run too.

After Galaxy's Edge, the toddler and I will head back to the hotel for bedtime and my friend will line up for Fantasmic. She might upgrade to the dining package, hence the Blue Bayou reservation.

===============================

Thoughts? I know we won't get to see *everything* in one day, but we will have a flexible half-day at the end of the trip to catch anything we missed. This got longer than anticipated, so I made a separate post asking for advice on our DCA day.

Thanks for any feedback!

Do I just park at the Downtown Disney lot or is there a specific place to park for Grand California Hotel? On their website it does say that 3-hour parking is validated from Storyteller’s but I can’t figure out if there is a designated Grand California parking lot.

I found this online: “the opposite side of Disneyland Drive from the hotel's entrance, on the same side as Paradise Pier.” But that seems to describe the Downtown Disney lot, right?

This morning I booked our dining for our trip coming up, which will be July 3-7. I was hoping to get one of the fireworks watching packages at Epcot for the 4th (Spice Road Table) but I wasn’t certain they would do it because it’s a different show than the typical show.

When I went to book, the packages were all available on all the other nights of our trip but not that night. They weren't even grayed out, the dining event was just not listed at all. I found a message board post from last year of people who actually had booked that package on the July 4 so it was available on July 4 last year.

I was wondering if anyone knew if it’s that people whose trips started before mine snapped them all up or that they just aren’t going to offer it.

As it is, I just made a regular dinner reservation at spice Road table to have something there at least.

(We will of course still be able to see the fireworks it just would have been nice to do so with space around us lol.)

We have a vacation package we got through the website. We are headed to Disneyland at the end of May. My mom has moderate to severe dementia and we are taking her with us and hoped to get a DAS for her.

I was going to call today and try to do the interview but our tickets aren't yet connected to our account. We have reservations but just not tickets yet. Am I able to do the interview for DAS without them or do I need to wait until right before we go?

Thanks!

Hey all! After an entire year of planning my family trip the dining booking window for July 4th is finally here. Wondering what you pros think are the best tips and tricks for tackling the insanity that I’m sure Independence Day at the parks will be (and no, skipping the parks is not an option although I’m sure that’s the best way to avoid the crowds, lol).

I don’t plan on staking out a spot on Main St several hours early as it’s the last day my family will be there and want to maximize our time (it’s our 5th day so we should be fairly lax with ride priorities by then, we also have park hopper but are reserved at Disneyland). I’ve read several recommendations online but figured you all are the experts.

• Is there a dining location with optimal viewing area?
• Is the special show at DCA a good/better option and maybe plan to view fireworks at Disney on the 3rd?
• Which area of the park would you recommend for lightest crowds or easiest viewing? (and I understand if you have secret spots you don’t want to divulge publicly)
• Is trying to find a spot at Rivers of America for Fantasmic then fireworks crazy talk?

This subreddit has been an invaluable source of information so thank you all for your insight!

Is it possible to watch the fireworks at 9:30 and then catch the 10:30 Fantasmic show? We’re heading to Disneyland for the first time in a couple weeks.

We purchased 5 days at the end of May to Disneyland. Saw a week ago enchant key is still on sale and, running the numbers, saw it would be cheaper over the year to get it vs individually getting tickets for our trips. When I called ticketing, they mentioned I could put the purchase of our 5 days towards the magic key purchase, but it would have to be done at a in person kiosk when there. Just checking with people on here if you've found that to be the only way and that it isn't possible right now online? I only ask because I'd hate to see the magic keys sell out by the time we get there in late May, as getting it will save us thousands.

Hey there!

we’re planing a trip to Disneyland Anaheim in October. We’re from Germany. We’ve already been to Disneyland Paris twice and 5 years ago in Disney World Orlando (just before Galaxys Edge opened (sigh))

I have a couple questions towards our visit.

• We fly in through LAX, what’s the cheapest way to get to Anaheim?
• We plan on staying in a 4* Hyatt hotel close to Disney Park for 16 nights). Are there other tips or recommendations?
• best time in October to visit Disneyland
• MUST DOs in Parks
• cheap car rentals
• ticket fees, one park/two parks?

Any recommendations towards other activities and must dos in and around the area? (LA, Vegas, Sam Francisco, Grand Canyon, etc)

Maybe there’s some locals here in this subreddit.

Thanks in advance. Sorry for the questions but it’s going to be a quite expensive trip 😅

May the 4th be with you.