Disneyland Strategies to WIN the Vacation!
So you've booked your trip and everyone is excited for Disneyland! Maybe you've gone down the checklist for what to do and you've booked your transportation, got your hotel ready, and you've even got the family matching tee's ordered! What else is there to do???
The most important part: STRATEGIZE your day.
I absolutely feel like I'm crazy when I tell someone that they need to strategize a vacation BUT Disney is not just any other average vacation for most people. Disney is expensive and Disney is packed full of activities and entertainment. There is so much to do that unless you're there, for like 10 days, there is no way to get and see everything Disney has to offer!
If you're a list person, then here are the top reasons why you need to strategize:
To make the most of your time at Disney
To get the most out of your money at Disney
To enjoy each moment rather than be rushed to and from each side of the park
To leave the vacation feeling like you accomplished and made memories rather than gained blisters and frustration
So, lets jump straight in and get into a few sample strategies to try on your next trip! Remember, every strategy may fail or not work at any point- example- Rise of Resistance kept breaking down but we had to walk all the way to the back of the park to check on it's status. This disrupted our flow for the entire day :/ SO, stay fluid, stay positive and re-prioritize throughout the day!
**REMEMBER for all strategies- keep an eye on the Disneyland app for ride wait times and when rides are temporarily closed. Adjust the flow of these rides based on preference of the ride, how much you're willing to walk and the posted ride times.
**INSIDER TIP for most rides, 10 minutes or less basically means a walk-on...
DISNEYLAND PARK THRILL SEEKER STRATEGY
Don’t forget to get up EARLY for the Rise of Resistance virtual queue at 7am! And get to the park before it opens to make the most of your time. Based on our personal experience in the park, here's the order I would tackle the rides in:
Haunted Mansion Holiday (we tried this during their Nightmare Before Christmas edition... this ride can be skipped during regular season and come back to it after Big Thunder.)
Indiana Jones Adventure
Pirates of the Caribbean
Big Thunder Railroad
Jungle Cruise
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Matterhorn
Lunch Break
Millennium Falcon
Rise of the Resistance (virtual queue-adjust is necessary)
At this point, all the lines will be at their typical length for the day and you can really go about the day at your own order but I like to continue making a circle around the park so I'm not zigzagging my way across. Disneyland Park is spread out so you will be doing a lot of walking! Following this order once you knock out the key ones earlier in the day prioritizes that. But if you see one of these rides drop to a low wait, you can always change it up and head there before the others! Take a look at the map ahead of time so you know in what direction you will be headed to.
DISNEYLAND PARK WITH YOUNG KID STRATEGY
To make the most of your time for both the kids and the older members of your party, try to get to the park before it opens or right at opening. Most people will ride the thrill rides first and head to the "kid" rides towards the afternoon so you will want to do them before the crowds get there.
Peter Pan
“it’s a small world”
Dumbo
Alice in Wonderland
Gadget’s Go Coaster
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
Mad Tea Party (teacups)
Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters
Astro Orbitor
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Casey Junior Circus Train
King Arthur’s Carrousel
Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
Pinocchio’s Daring Journey
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Autopia
Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE THRILL SEEKER STRATEGY
Don’t forget to get up EARLY for the Web Slinger’s virtual queue at 7am! And get to the park before it opens to make the most of your time. Based on our personal experience in the park, here's the order I would tackle the rides in:
Radiator Springs Raceway
Guardians of the Galaxy- Mission: BREAKOUT!
Incredicoaster
Toy Story Midway Mania
Soarin’ Around the World
Golden Zephyr
Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
Grizzly River Rapids
WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure (virtual queue)
Monster’s Inc
Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE WITH YOUNG KIDS STRATEGY
Don’t forget to get up EARLY for the Web Slinger’s virtual queue at 7am! This ride is very kid friendly and your Spiderman fans will love it! Again, getting to the park early guarantees that you'll be able to ride on more rides but sleep is also important with kiddos so it's your preference! This strategy is based on getting there right before opening. The "kiddy" rides have pretty low wait times throughout the day so just keep an eye on the app.
Radiator Springs Raceway
Toy Story Midway Mania
Jessie’s Critter Carousel
Pixar Pal-A-Round
Emotional Whirlwind
Silly Symphony Swings
Goofy’s Sky School
Jumpin’ Jellyfish
Golden Zephyr
Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure (virtual queue)
Monster’s Inc
Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
If your kids are MARVEL fans, this is the park that they are going to LOVE. While we were there we saw Spiderman, Iron Man, Thor, Loki, Black Widow, Black Panther, the Wakanda Warriors, Star-Lord, Gamora, and Shang-Chi. Spiderman has a show where he literally crawls down the wall and flies across the sky! We also watched the Wakanda Warriors presentation and a show with Black Widow and Black Panther defending the Avengers Campus. You can find all of the show times on the Disneyland app! It was incredible and made my boys so extremely happy.
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