Disneyland Planning Guide
& Ticket Deals

Struggling to plan out your Disneyland vacation? Our guide will help you maximize your fun--and save some bucks, too!

Get FASTPASS early The Disneyland FASTPASS gives your group the ability to move passed long lines saving tons of time. FASTPASS runs out quickly for popular rides and shows like World of Color so get them as soon as you enter the parks.
 

Sunscreen - Bring your sunscreen, a hat, and sunglasses. Disneyland can be hot with lots of sunshine most of the year. While walking around is what Disneyland is all about, there are limited escapes to shade unless you head indoors. 

Reading Glasses - If you wear reading glasses, you'll be taking them off and putting them back on dozens of times a day. Additionally, when you go indoors you'll need a convenient place to put your sunglasses. To keep from losing or breaking them, we suggest using ReadeRest. ReadeRest is a magnetic clip that holds your glasses securely to your shirt. Hang your readers on ReadeRest while at Disneyland and you'll always know where they are.

Sunglasses Reading Lenses - Trying to read the small type on a park map or your phone, a ride description or anything else with sunglasses on is impossible if you wear reading glasses. To help you read things while keeping your sunglasses on, try stick-on reading lenses for sunglasses from Grainger.com. These lenses are available in any diopter and can be cut to fit any sunglass lens. Place them in the lower part of the lens. When you look straight out you will look over the top of them. When looking down to read something you'll look through the lens. Great product!

Wear Comfy Shoes Disneyland encompasses 85 acres, 100 acres after Star Wars Land opens in 2019. California Adventure is another 72 acres. Ask yourself this, when was the last time you spent 6 to 8 hours walking around a 160 acre park on a hot day? Exactly, not lately so bring comfortable walking shoes.

Phone Charger Cord If you don't carry a battery pack extension, like the Mophie which we use, then you'll need to charge sometime during the day and overnight. This is vitally important if you need to stay connected with family members. While Disneyland doesn't have designated charging stations, there are many wall plugs scattered throughout the parks. It's worth noting plugs are located just above floor level, like in your home, so unless you find one near a seat or a bench, then plan on standing or sitting on the ground for 45 minutes while you charge up. Check our Disneyland and California Adventure Charging Locations for a complete list that also designates whether you can sit while charging as CAN SIT. 

Plug Bank - Hotel rooms typically have two or three wall plugs with one or two available outlets in each. If you're traveling with multiple people who all have multiple devices, deciding who gets to charge is a decision is best left at home. Bring a plug strip instead, two if necessary. You'll be plugging in 3 to 6 devices each night, or more if you're bringing a laptop and iPads. 

Anaheim Resort District Public Transportation - ART is the Anaheim Resorts public transportation service. ART buses are clean and reliable. You'll know one when you see one as they are all colorfully wrapped in a Disney, Universal Studios, Knott's and other resort venue themes. ART services all theme parks, hotels, restaurants, shopping, dining, and other destinations within the Anaheim Resort District. Cities serviced include Anaheim, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, and Orange.

ART is now located at the information desk in the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC). ARTIC connects you to OCTA, Greyhound, Megabus, Amtrak, and Metrolink. 

Water Bottles - Southern California is a desert hidden by roads and buildings. In other words, it's hot most of the time. Temperatures routinely hit 90+ degrees from July through October. Temps also can easily surpass 80 degrees during mid-winter months. Navigating the crowds, coupled with lots of walking and an overdose of SoCal sunshine and you will quickly dehydrate. Be sure to carry plenty of water.  

Ziploc BagsAhh, didn't think of Ziplock bags? Ziplock bags will come in really handy for - leftover sandwiches, snacks for the kids, ID's and room key cards, storing your Disneyland Trading Pins, keeping your phone dry on Grizzly River Run, keeping your sunscreen, lip balm, allergy meds, sinus sprays, hand sanitizers etc in one place. Bring a bunch of these. You'll use them every day.

Hand Sanitizers - Bring one larger bottle for the room and many small ones for everyone in your group for the day. Disney keeps their parks as clean as can possibly be expected, certainly cleaner than other parks. But with thousands of people touching everything your group is touching thousands of times a day... Need I say more? Bring plenty of hand sanitizers and use those ziplock bags to carry them.