- Planning A Trip To Disneyland -
After visiting the park thousands of times (yes, I do mean thousands) I have figure out the best ways for you to make your stay at The Disneyland Resort more magical than ever before by just following these easy steps and rememebring key dates to start planning your vacation in advance. The pre-planning process make for a stress free vacation once you arrive because everything is already set for you. Doing the work ahead of time is such a blessing and really does make for and easy vacation.
Important Dates To Follow
One Year Prior - Look into ticket prices and hotel room rates & If you haven't already, create your account (and/or one for each party member) on the Disneyland Website. Make sure the accounts work on the Disneyland App too.
7 Months Prior - Make your hotel stay accomidations & Book flights to California (specifically LAX, BUR, SNA, or SAN)
180 Days Prior - Make Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique/Pirate League reservations
60 Days Prior - Make your Advanced Dining Reservations
30 Days Prior -
7 Days Prior - Double check that all your ticket are linked to the Disneyland App, airlines are set, hotel is set, airport transportation is set, and you've one your shopping for all your travel necessities.
How long should I stay at the resort?
This is the most reoccurring questions I get when clients are planning a trip for the first time. That is the most important question! I’m going to share with you the best secrets you must live by when planning your trips. Let me show you the best options in the form of math equations…
2 travel days + 2 park days + 1 hotel day + 1 miscellaneous day = 6 days total
2 travel days + 2 park days + 1 miscellaneous day = 5 days total
2 travel days - The 2 travel days account for the day you arrive and the day you leave. I always recommend taking a flight that arrives late afternoon because you’ll arrive at your resort around dinner time, have time for dinner, settle into your room, and get plenty of rest for the week ahead.
2 park days - The 2 park days should be an obvious one. Whether you're doing a park hopper or one-park per day, this is always a good rule to stand by. It allows you one full day in each park and also allows you more flexibility in your itinerary. You can spend one entire day in Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. You can start your day off in one park and finish it in the other, or spend the whole day in one, but either way you will have ample time to get in everything you want in each park without feeling rushed.
1 hotel day - This is an optional day in all honesty. If you have young children they are probably dying to spend a day at the hotel pool. I know that was the most important part of my trip as a child. Each hotel is within a short walk of eachother so you can experience all of the things You can have movie night in the lobby or pool, arts and crafts in the lounge, go shopping, dine with Mickey and Minnie, and relax at the spa.
1 miscellaneous day - This is the most optional of days. This is a just in case type of day. I would always plan this to be my third park day. Sometimes it is just way too crowded to get everything done in just two days. You could also use this as a shopping day in Downtown Disney or shop any last minute items in the parks.
The first option of spending 6 total days there is the most ideal amount of days to spend on your vacation. If you have to lessen your time, 5 days total would work fine. Any days less than that you will feel very rushed and won't get to experience everything you want. Anyone doing less than 5 total days would be DVC Members or locals. Locals visit the parks at least once a week so they are fine with riding a couple rides, eating a churro, then heading home.
The shortest time I’ve ever planned for myself has been 4 days total. That's 2 travel days and 2 park days. It felt like I could have stayed a smidge longer, but I still had enough time to do all the major rides, dine at my favorite spots, and shop. This is the shortest time I would recommend if you're not a local like me.
If you can go longer than 6 days that would be amazing. You would just double your park days and have time to check out other local theme parks and perhaps check out the beaches.
- Step By Step Planning Instructions -
Step 1
Pre-planning your vacation should start usually a year in advance from whenever you are thinking of visiting the parks. Look into whether you want to stay on property at a Disneyland Resort Hotel or one of the good neighbor hotels. Look into the pricing of each of your resort options and also the distance from the parks. Though good neighbor hotels are close to the parks, they can sometimes be more than a 25 minute walk on a busy street to the park. Some have free shuttles, some have shuttles you pay for daily, some have free parking, and some have parking that can cost around $30/night. You really want to make sure you are adding up all the costs of everything the property offers you and make sure your getting the most bang for you buck.
Step 2
Once you've made your hotel accommodations and know where you're staying, you will want to look into booking your flight to one of the local airports. John Wayne (SNA) is 15 miles or a 20 minute drive to Disneyland. Los Angeles International (LAX) is 34 miles or a 35 minute drive to Disneyland. Burbank (BUR) is 47 miles or a 47 minute drive to Disneyland. San Diego (SAN) is 95 miles or a 1 hour 30 minute drive to Disneyland. Each of these are great options, however, the clear winners would be SNA or LAX to save you on time. If you are wanting to have more of a long road trip adventure through San Diego or want to stop by the Walt Disney Company studio buildings in Burbank, then you may want those instead. It is all peronal preference in the end. My suggestions are alwasy going to be based on the shortest and easiest travel time. Also, make note that there is no free bus to the resort. In Disney World you have luxury of free transportation to and from the airport via Disney’s Magical Express, but we don’t have that luxury at the Disneyland Resort. Instead you will have to take public transportation, group shuttles, or however you’d prefer to travel. This is when the closer aiports come in handy so you have more options to take. The farther away the airport the more expensive and less options you'll have for travel.
Step 3
Now that you have your hotel and airline ticket booked, you can start thinking about making reservations at the park. 180 days prior to your visit you can reserve special events such as the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where your little girls will be truned into princesses for a day, or the Pirate League where your child's inner pirate self will be brought to life with the help of magical cast memebers. These are a bit pricey (like more than $100/child pricey), but if your children like to play dressup then this may one for the books. 60 days prior to your visit you have the opportunity to make dining reservations with what are reffered to as Advanced Dining Reservations. You don’t have to make these in advance, but I would highly recommend you do. This is a nice way of Disney offering priorities to those that are staying
Step 4
Once you have all your ducks aligned you are now ready for your worry free vacation. Make sure to save a special file where you can save digital and/or physical copies of all your vacation plans. You can never be too safe when it comes to vacation planning plans. If you need any additional help in you vacation planning or have any questions feel free to call my planning services number at +1 (949) 438-1177
- Know Before You Go -
Airport Travel: SNA, LAX, LGB, BUR, ONT, SAN - Listed in order by shortest distance to park.
Airport Transportation: WARNING! There is no Magical Express at the Disneyland Resort. Unfortunately you do have to take a city bus, airport shuttle, taxi, Lyft, or Uber. The busses will take you directly to the resort but they will not be dropping you off right at your hotel; you will still have to walk however far to your hotel. There are specific lines you must take in-order to arrive at the Disneyland Resort. Follow this link for airport travel information. The shuttles do have to be pre-arranged before you land in order to guarantee a spot on one. These are normally group shuttles so you might be sharing a ride with other families. Taxis can be accomidated on site. Lyft and Uber are very prominent in the LA area and would be valid options if arriving at SNA, LGB, or LAX, but would get pretty expensive from the other airports since they are all roughly 50 miles away. Rental cars are available on property
Hotel Transportation: There are no modes of transportation from hotel to hotel, or hotel to park. Crazy right! That’s because you are within walking distance of both parks from all three hotels. A fun tip for you when choosing a hotel - staying at the Grand Californian is a bit more expensive but you do get a direct hotel entrance to Disney California Adventure Park. At the end of the night when your dogs are barking at you that close private entrance will be a great blessing. The hotel also has a special entrance to Downtown Disney that drops you right in the middle of the fun. There is no special hotel entrance to Disneyland Park. The Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel are all the way at the end of Downtown Disney so there will be a small 10 minute walk back to the hotel at the end of the day.
Park Transportation: There is no need for transportation between the parks as both park entrances are about 200 yards apart. Not at all like Disney World where you are having to take buses, boats or monorails to take you to another park. You will be walking everywhere as there is no transportation. There is the Monorail, but unlike Disney World it is not used as transportation, more like a ride locals would say. The Monorail has only two stops; one next to the hotels in Downtown Disney and one in the middle of Tomorrowland in Disneyland. It takes one really big circle. If you are staying at the Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier hotel this is a great shortcut back to your room after a long tiring day or if you're like me and just too lazy to walk through Downtown Disney.
Park to hotel transportation: Monorail station in Downtown Disney next to the hotels will drop guests off in Tomorrowland; Walking
Park to park transportation: Walking