Things to do in Disneyland

A travel agent’s guide to the Disneyland® Resort.

My older sister had a work conference in Anaheim, California, so I used it as a great excuse to tack on a quick vacation to the Disneyland Resort! I hate to admit that it had been about 6 years since I last visited Disneyland even though I travel at least once a year to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. There were so many new things to do in Disneyland that I was dying to get back and check it all out.

Although I do think the dream way to visit would be through an Adventures by Disney Disneyland VIP Tour, a sister’s long weekend was just what I needed to feel the magic again! I save my best tips and touring plans for my clients, but here are a few of my favorite things to do in Disneyland from our weekend.

Where to stay at Disneyland

Anaheim/Disneyland is a very different experience from Orlando/Walt Disney World. First of all, Walt Disney World has a lot more land to work with, so it is much bigger, more spread out, and therefore they have 32 resorts on property. Disneyland, for comparison, has 3 on-property resorts. They leverage what they call “Good Neighbor Hotels” to help meet travel capacity demands. Good Neighbor Hotels are anywhere from across the street to a few miles away, but have all been vetted by Disney for their stamp of approval, and can be book within a Disney Travel Package to include tickets and extras.

Previously I had stayed at nearby Good Neighbor hotels like the Hyatt or we just drove in for the day so we didn’t need to stay over night. This time I did a split stay to try both. We stayed the first night at the Marriott Anaheim and then we moved over to Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa for the last two nights. I also toured the other two Disney hotels, Paradise Pier and the Disneyland Hotel to see the latest. I can in full confidence tell you that there is a different vibe to staying on property than at a Good Neighbor Hotel.

While we did see a couple people in Minnie ears at the Marriott, it still felt like I was staying somewhere for a convention or conference. It was nothing compared to magical feel of the other three Disney hotels. In my opinion, if you’re going to spend the money to do a Disney vacation, make it truly feel like the Disney experience from start to finish, and stay on property. Everything from the decor to the music - although subtle - had a distinctly Disney vibe. The Cast Members always provided top notch service and everything was very clean and well-kept.

Additionally, while the other properties are close, you cannot beat the convenience of the Disney hotels being right next to the parks and Downtown Disney. Within minutes we were inside the parks from Disney’s Grand Californian, compared to the almost 25 minute walk from Marriott Anaheim. While the route was pedestrian friendly, that could be a long trek if you’re traveling with younger kiddos. While the facilities were nice, it didn’t have the same impact on me as the Disney hotels.

For reference, Paradise Pier is more of Value category resort, so will have less grandeur and frills. They just added a dedicated walking path to Disney’s California Adventure Park from this hotel which makes it extra convenient. Disneyland Hotel is considered the Moderate option and definitely has a classic Disney feel to it. There are monorail slides at the pool, lots of classic Disney memorabilia, and each tower is dedicated to either Fantasyland, Adventureland or Frontierland from the park which adds fun theming. The Deluxe option is Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa which has the “wow” factor! It has exquisite craftsmanship, a gorgeous pool area, and a full-service spa operated by Disney on property. The best thing about this is you have very easy and direct access right into Downtown Disney and Disney’s California Adventure Park. (And I thought staying at Disney’s Contemporary Resort was convenient to getting to Magic Kingdom - this beats that!)

Things to do at Disneyland

Now that we talked about how easy it is to get to the parks from your hotel, let’s discuss things to do at Disneyland park.

They started scanning tickets a half an hour before official park opening, so we got there around 7:30 am to be ready for that and “rope drop” a popular attraction on our list. We did opt to buy Genie+ with our tickets for $20/day to be able to book Lighting Lane attractions and receive all of our Photo Pass photo downloads. At Disneyland you can only book your first Lightning Lane once you’ve entered the park. We “rope dropped” the Indiana Jones attraction and while in line we booked our first Lightning Lane for Matterhorn. Some people who have never visited Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge before may choose to prioritize going to Rise of the Resistance first, as this is also a very popular attraction and cannot be booked with Genie+, only Individual purchase Lightning Lane.

We had breakfast at Carnation Cafe which provided excellent sustenance for the busy day ahead! I mean, where else can you get Mickey shaped eggs? We let our breakfast settle in Tomorrowland while blasting some targets at Buzz Lightyear before we had a Lightning Lane for Hyperspace Mountain (which ended up being our favorite attraction of the trip!)

The first half of the day we noticed that Lightning Lane reservations were pretty readily available for attractions we wanted to do at return times that worked in our day. After mid-afternoon, it became a little bit trickier to puzzle together available attractions and times, but I felt that the Genie+ purchase was definitely worth it for both the approximately 6-7 Lightning Lanes we got that day and all the photo downloads.

For regular Walt Disney World travelers, you may choose to skip some attractions that are pretty close to identical at both parks like the Mad Tea Party (although we did that because I love the teacups!), Peter Pan’s Flight, and Smuggler’s Run. I do recommend doing Its a Small World, Jungle Cruise, and Haunted Mansion as they are slightly different than the attractions at Walt Disney World (and better!) Also not to be missed is the Disneyland Railroad.

I think my favorite thing to do at Disneyland are the nighttime spectaculars! We had dinner reservations that included priority seating to Fantasmic. The first show of Fantasmic finishes right before the Disneyland Forever fireworks, so we could stay in our spot and view the fireworks from there. Once fireworks were over, we went over to Its a Small World and watched the Encanto projection, rode the attraction, and then had a perfect (non-crowded) spot to watch the second parade viewing of the Main Street Electrical Parade.

It was a very full day from 7:30 am to midnight, but we were able to ride almost everything we wanted to, stopped for some characters, ate and snacked well, and had a wonderful evening of shows.

Attractions we did at Disneyland:

• Indiana Jones Adventure

• Jungle Cruise (LL)

• Matterhorn Bobsleds (LL)

• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

• Hyperspace Mountain (LL)

• Big Thunder Mountain (LL)

• Mad Tea Party

• Snow White’s Adventure

• Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

• Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-though (you might miss the entrance on the backside of the castle if you didn’t know it was there!)

• Rise of the Resistance

• Smuggler’s Run (LL)

• Haunted Mansion (LL)

• Its a small world

• Disneyland Railroad

• Fantasmic!

• Disneyland Forever

• Main Street Electrical Parade

Things to do at Disney’s California Adventure Park

Because we were staying at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, we could just walk downstairs and into Disney’s California Adventure Park before park opening. We had to be flexible this day as our initial plan was to “rope drop” Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land and then purchase an Individual Lighting Lane to WEB Slingers. However, we learned that Racers wasn’t operating at open, so we decided to reverse and start at WEB Slingers then watch for Racers to reopen. Unfortunately it remained closed all day, but it was a great reminder of what I tell my clients - you won’t be able to do everything in one trip! That is why I keep going back. So, we’ll have to save that one for another Disneyland vacation.

Once we were able to book our first Lighting Lane with Genie+, we opted for Guardians of the Galaxy since it is also in Avengers Campus, followed by Incredicoaster because we had brunch reservations near Pixar Pier at Lamplight Lounge. We did Incredicoaster and stopped for some fun Photo Pass pictures before checking in for our reservation (with a view!) We circled back to Pixar Pier after brunch to do Toy Story Mania while our food settled, then went back to the fun!

We opted to take a break in the afternoon here from about 2pm-4pm when it was very warm and the parks were most crowded. So after riding Grizzly River Run, we walked back into Disney’s Californian Hotel, changed into our swim suits and enjoyed a crisp cider at the pool. We returned to DCA park to do one of our favorites, Guardian’s of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout for a second time!

Later in the evening we had a quick dinner at Pym’s Kitchen which has a fun theme from the Ant Man movies. There are a number of short shows that happen in Avengers Campus, so we stopped to watch the Amazing Spider-Man and Dr. Strange before doing a few more attractions.

Attractions we did at Disney’s California Adventure Park:

• WEB Slingers: a Spider-Man Adventure

• Guardian’s of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout (LL)

• Soarin’ (LL)

• Grizzly River Run (LL)

• Incredicoaster (LL)

• Toy Story Mania (LL)

• Mike & Sully to the Rescue

• Sorcerer’s Workshop walk-through

• The Amazing Spider-Man

• Doctor Strange: Mysteries of the Mystic Arts

Because Hyperspace Mountain was our favorite attraction of the trip, we utilized our Park Hopper and went back to Disneyland in the evening to do a few more attractions since DCA closes earlier than Disneyland. You can book a Lightning Lane in the other park when you have a Park Hopper ticket and the return time is after 1:00 pm. Big Thunder Mountain is also another fun one to do both during the day and after dark as it has a different experience to it.

While DCA does have the World of Color nighttime show, we opted to skip this (and the Virtual Queue required for it) so that we could do more attractions (and get churros!)

Character Breakfast in Disneyland

We had the most wonderful experience at Storyteller’s Cafe breakfast on the day we were checking out. It was such a fun way to say “see ya real soon” to our vacation. The food was great, servers were nice, and the characters spent a good amount of time at each table interacting with guests. Plus, it was at our hotel, so a very convenient option.

While the parks did have a number of characters strolling about for photos and autographs, there is nothing compared to the convenience of getting a great Disney meal while the characters come to you!

Downtown Disney

A much more compact version of the remodeled Disney Springs in Florida, Downtown Disney is free entry and home to shops like World of Disney, Star Wars Trading Post, LEGO, The Dress Shop, and Marceline’s Confectionary. It is a great option for strolling the stores, getting some merchandise or souvenirs, and there are a few photo ops! In the evenings, as part of the Celebrate Soulfully celebration, they also had a stage set up for live music and a craft area for kids to enjoy.

For guests staying at nearby hotels or perhaps drove in for the day, there is a monorail station that goes from Downtown Disney, right into Disneyland Park. You do have to have a valid theme park ticket to board the Monorail here.

How long should you stay on your Disneyland vacation?

There are so many fun things to do in Disneyland that my 4-day weekend wasn’t enough — it went by too fast! I always thought you could do Disneyland in a couple of days because that is what I had previously done with friends and family; but after staying on property and taking advantage of so many of the amenities and attractions, I could easily see spending 4-7 days here. It was such a lovely Disney vacation experience and I cannot wait to go back!

Travel agents specializing in Disneyland

If you have questions about things to do in Disneyland, contact us today! We can provide a free vacation quote, plus our planning services and expertise are free to you when we book the vacation package. Let’s get planning your next Disneyland vacation!