Disneyland

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  • Fly: Fly Southwest from Oakland into Orange County (SNA), which is 20 minutes away from the parks.

  • Stay: At The Grand Californian:

    • 10 minute walk to Disneyland (closer than any other hotel);

    • Next-door to California Adventure, with a special entry gate exclusively for hotel guests;  

    • Also adjacent to Downtown Disney, an outdoor mall with a handful of restaurants and stores (including a very cool Lego store);

    • Three pools, including one with a slide (though the water was "cold" during our visit);

    • Extra Perk: Guests of the hotel receive an "extra magic hour" - 1 hour earlier entry into one of the parks (designated daily by the parks) than the general public.  The parks will still be crowded, but less so.

  • Duration: Give yourself at least 1 day/park.  We spent 2.5 days at the parks (1.5 at Disneyland, 1 at CA), which seemed like an ideal amount.

VIP TOURS: For the ultimate in luxury (and ease), take a look at the Disney VIP tour: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/vip-tour-services/

Here are a few other tips:

  • Tickets: 

    • Download the Disneyland app;

    • Spend the extra $15/person/day to purchase MaxPasses (which I can explain in person);

    • Park Hopper Passes - worth considering, to have the option and/or if needed, for example, if one park closes early on a particular day b/c of a special event.

  • Eat: Our best meals were (surprisingly) at the hotel.  Note - Disneyland only serves alcohol in the Star Wars area.

  • Starwars: Galaxy's Edge: During the "extra magic hour" at Disneyland, make your way to the Starwars area quickly (the area doesn't open for another hour, but line up - the line might appear daunting, but it moves quickly).  When the area opens, hurry to line up for the Smuggler's Run ride, the line will be shorter than at any other time of the day (and the ride is currently not synced to FastPasses).

  • Hacks: Before we left, we tooled around on Youtube looking for Disneyland hacks:

    • Single Rider line: if everyone else in your party is too scared/doesn't want to go on a ride, individuals can use the single rider line;

    • Fireworks: 

      • Visitors find seats early to view the fireworks, either use your MaxPasses (if available) to secure a reserved seat or find seats early yourselves (I've read that the best views are in the middle of Main Street or near Sleeping Beauty's Castle);

      • Ask the hotel if you can watch the fireworks from the concierge lounge (we didn't try this, but I read this was a good vantage point).