Before arriving:
Book dining 60 days in advance- great way to celebrate your 2 month mark.
Have kids get involved with saving- cans, bottles, selling cookies, working around the neighborhood. Then put some of the money on Disney gift cards for them to spend when they arrive! You can also use the cards to show them they are going! Walgreens has gift cards you can choose the amount to put on them. Sam’s Club has $100 gift cards with a bonus $10 Disney Store gift card for under $100.
Those who booked packages:
Final payment is due 30 days before arriving- love having it paid off before hand to really enjoy the trip.
Use your Character Call to have the characters let your family know you’re going to Disneyland!
Packages include premium seating at California Adventure shows and include other goodies- use them!
Packages also include a ticket to Toontown Morning Madness- this is a parade and ceremony that makes you a Toontown Citizen for the day (includes a button) and gives you time with characters before opening to the rest of the park guests. It starts at opening on Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday. Sneak in some rides on the Go-Coaster and Roger Rabbit if you have time too!
At the resort:
Have a FastPass at all times- if you can’t make it back during the assigned time, you can still use it later that day.
At California Adventure’s opening, get the FastPass for World of Color on the day you want to see it. You can get that FP and still get another one right after it for Soarin’ Over California (*corrected).
On-property guests or those that have a 3-day or more Parkhopper ticket have at least 1 Magic Morning where you get in 1 hour before listed opening time! These are held Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Resort guests can get in using their room key on all those days during their stay.
Resort hotel guests can charge purchases to their rooms and have it delivered to the resort- no carrying items around during the day! Keep your ID with your tickets and room key.
Traveling with little ones and if adults want to ride bigger attractions, ask the cast member at the beginning of the line for a Parent Swap pass- this will allow the other adult to have a chance to ride without waiting in line all over again. Make sure to ask where the other adult will enter to redeem their ride.
Dining/Snacks:
After the Winnie the Pooh ride, you’ll be in the mood for some sweets- check out Pooh’s Corner for some yummy treats.
Have a meal with your favorite characters- Mickey, Minnie, Goofy*, Ariel* and Chip & Dale are all waiting to greet you with some of their friends! *These are premium meals, the others are resort priced.
Enjoy some of the unique dining at Downtown Disney like Rainforest Cafe or House of Blues (check links to see some ways to save at those restaurants).
Some of our other favorites: Rancho del Zocalo is a nice quick-service spot to eat near Frontierland. Pacific Wharf Cafe in California Adventure has sourdough bread bowls with chilis/chowders.
Disneyland’s Blue Bayou famous for its Monte Cristo sandwich and it’s IN the Pirate’s of the Caribbean ride! (*corrected)
Right before the parade, grab a Dole Whip from the Tiki Juice bar in Adventureland. Cool down while you enjoy the show. The new summer parade premieres end of May!
Related articles
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The tips here for Disneyland for planning the trip are very useful…..All the tricks listed in the post are the best ones to be kept in mind….Linds thanks of sharing this vital information…
Thanks Steven and Melissa- changes made.
I am glad someone else caught that. No fastpass for TSMM at Disneyland.
There are two errors in this article that jump out at me. For example talking about getting Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania, TSM at DCA don’t have Fastpass. Also the Monte Christo sandwich is not excluise to the Blue Bayou, i normally eat mine at the Cafe Orleans. Cafe Orleans which is a table service that overlooks the Rivers of America has the same Monte Christo that you get at the Blue Bayou, but cheaper. They also have a special Three Cheeses Monte Christo as well.