It’s been a long time between visits, covid, plus obligations for travel last year. We hadn’t been since 2019! This is our fourth trip to Disneyland, we have been to all of the Disney Parks in the world except WDW. So this isn’t going to be a trip report, but a series of tips and observations.
Cast compliments, this is located in the app. If any cast member makes your day more special, please give them a shout out in the app. You will need to remember their name, the character they like bests name (under their name), where you saw them (it’s not too specific, like shops on Main Street, attractions at Frontierland) and what day it was. Those cast mates are GOLD! I always do it when we exit wherever we saw them, so I don’t forget.
Anywhere from 5-30 mins lightning lane for haunted mansion overlay - it is long, like I have never seen it before! Get in early, the queue stays long, but they have done such a great job of it, way better than Tokyo, and I love everything about Tokyo!
Always ask for a cup of water with your meal, it’s free, and usually has ice! Remember to bring a water bottle, you can fill it up at one of the many water fountains in the parks, my husband did this, I did not. Drinks add up!
If you have Genie + stop and get in park photos whenever the queue isn’t too long, always ask if there is a magic shot! Take a pic of any photos from attractions you ride as you can add those in for free too!
World of Color is magic, but you want priority viewing. Ideally, get a world of colour cancellable dining option, try and join the virtual queue at midday, if you get a spot, cancel the dinner. It sounds rough, but why pay $70 for dinner when you might be able to get it for free. One of my mates said the second showing is very quiet compared to the first, so there is that option too!
Mobile order is super inconsistent, one day we get a slot in half hour, the next 3 hours, the later it is, they just seem to be chasing their takes. We booked lucky fortune cookery and waited 40 mins from ‘I’m here’ to eating. It’s hard to predict, but always worth organising early, so you don’t end up hangry!
Shadow Box Pin trading at 20th Century Music and at Tomorrowland. All of the general pin boards are full of trashy scrappers. Pin trading is fun, but it’s hard when there is no regulation on the pins being traded. Shadow board trading evens that out, go to the location and read the rules, it’s the first time we have enjoyed trading in the US in years. Paris does this better, it’s fully regulated there.
Lots of the new attractions have long times between queue and action, it’s a lot of waiting and a significant chunk of your time. You have your quick attractions, like incredicoaster, but you also have these loooong, almost 20 minute attractions like Rise of the Resistance (I had no idea, we almost missed our Ogas Cantina booking), or Webslingers.
If you didn’t get a booking for Ogas Cantina or lamplight lounge, get close to the eatery and try the walk up list. If it sold out, keep trying! Ours said it was full and 2 seconds later it accepted us. Ogas is a sensory nightmare but I am so glad we saw it with our own eyes!
Big Thunder Mountain is one of my favourites, but Paris spoiled it for me. It felt like no thrill that first time, always ask for the back carriage, and if you can, do that at night.
Not enough shade, at eateries, at the shows, the sun can be relentless, they have clearly planned to do shows in areas that have zero shade, it feels almost cruel. Is it worse in DCA, it feels like it. I was watching the Dora Milaje and there was no shade, every time I found some, I was moved on. There are mostly kids in that audience, it’s rough!
Genie + and other changes, feels like the magic is slowly being drained from the parks. I really felt this, my husband and I spoke about it, he agreed. We spoke with long term annual pass holders who agree. I can see what they are trying to do here, and from a business model it might work. But as a park goer, I felt I had to look at my phone way too much. That’s not Disney time for me. It really upsets me that you can only use genie+ to ride each offered attraction once. I only enjoy a few of the attractions offered. It felt like a bit of a bust. Ours was bundled in, so I don’t feel like I lost anything, but if I paid $25 or $30 on the day, without researching the offerings, I would be sad.
We hadn’t been since 2019, so much has changed in every way! Obsessed with Mickeys Runaway Railway and Rise of the Resistance, I LOVE trackless attractions, rode these a lot!
There are premium attractions that will attract a seperate fee if you want a lightning lane pass, Rise, Runaway Railway, Radiator Springs. You can get single rider on Radiator Springs, if you get in Disneyland early go straight to Runaway Railway and it will be a 10-15 minute wait! I have no tips for rise, at opening it was 45 mins, maybe dash there once you have done runaway, it did seem to go a little bit up and down, so keep checking. Alternatively if you have tiny humans, you can smash out almost all of fantasyland (give or take Peter Pan) in that first hour or two).
Try and use single rider or the Buddy Pass at Monsters Inc (this is for parties of 1 or 2) to cut down wait times. This is even shorter than the lightning lane when it’s long!
Loungefly bags are a thing! If you are someone who wear ears, looking for a loungefly mini backpack for the parks, the best ones have a pocket with straps at the front for your ears. You are taking your ears and sunglasses off for many of the attractions, having somewhere safe to put them is way better than stuffing them in and out of a regular loungefly mini backpack, I have three and absolutely prefer the one with a spot for the ears. Sadly it’s a Halloween backpack so I can only use it in September and October.
We had a wonderful time, saw some wonderful additions to the parks. But also changes we didn’t enjoy. We went to Vegas, then LA and finished at Disneyland. Great child free trip!
