Our Disneyland vacation planning guide covers what’s new this Halloween & Christmas, what’s next in 2026, when to visit to avoid crowds, best restaurants, hotels in Anaheim, money-saving ticket tips, and more. It’s a great resource for first-timers to Southern California, lifelong WDW fans, or anyone who hasn’t visited DLR recently. (Updated September 13, 2025.)
Let’s start with all of the latest update, which is that Halloween Time at Disneyland is now underway! This also means Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween Party at Disney California Adventure is ongoing. This is a fantastic time of year to visit, but it’s also busy due to ticket deals, school districts on fall break and more.
Following Halloween’s conclusion, Christmas 2025 at Disneyland will again start a week later than usual. This is our favorite time of year at Disneyland, as the parks look gorgeous decked out for the season, the food is fantastic, and there’s holiday cheer in the air (seriously). We visit strategically, targeting the lulls in crowds in between the peak weeks to enjoy the parks when they aren’t as busy. Speaking of which, a fantastic starting point if you’ve yet to choose your travel dates is our 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Do Disneyland in 2025, 2026 & 2027.
In addition to Halloween and Holiday Time, the highlight of the year-plus is the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Celebration, which runs is ongoing and runs through Summer 2026. This 18-month event honors seven decades of happiness and many moments of joy in the making. It’ll feature specialty food & beverages, collectible merchandise, limited-time entertainment, and more.
Here’s a rundown of special entertainment for the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Celebration:
Disneyland has been relatively busy in the last couple of years, but that has started to slow down in the second half of 2025. This has been due to the 1-2 punch of “revenge travel” exhausting itself and Disney offering less aggressive discounts, with the expectation that the 70th Anniversary would be a huge draw.
Choosing less busy dates is important and that’ll continue to be the case going forward, but you only have so much control. Trying to completely avoid crowds can be a fool’s errand, as they’re impossible to perfectly predict. Not only that, but because Disneyland is fairly busy across the board. Even amidst the ongoing slowdown, there are still crowds–just slightly smaller ones and lower wait times than in the last few years. It’s all relative.
This is something we even admit in our totally free 2025-2026 Disneyland Crowd Calendars. Those offer day by day guides as to when the parks will be least busy and busiest. These crowd calendars are influenced by a variety of factors, including marketing, discounts, park hours, new attraction openings, special events, Anaheim Convention Center events, and even weather (good or bad). We strive to keep our Disneyland crowd calendars updated to reflect changes in attendance trends.
Because crowd calendars are less reliable than normal, we’d recommend out-of-state tourists planning trips to California instead consult our 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Do Disneyland in 2025, 2026 & 2027. We recommended that at the very beginning of the post, but without context, so we felt it was worth giving another plug.
This is a convenient resource for planning a weeklong or so vacation to Southern California that takes into account crowds & congestion, weather, special events, and more. That list emphasizes Disneyland, but also is good for beaches, cities, National Parks, and other popular points of interest in California. Above all else, it is holistic.
That list of dates to visit is updated regularly, including within the last month when 2027 dates were added. As with any resource like this, there’s less accuracy the further out you’re planning. The biggest wildcard is ticket deals–specifically, the end date of those discounts. You don’t want to do Disneyland in the last ~10 days of a ticket deal, and dates for those special offers are not yet known for 2026 or 2027, so we’re making educated guesses with some of these recommendations.
The good news is that even if your dates are busy, there’s Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass that can offer an easy way to beat the crowds. This is essentially paid FastPass, for those who were familiar with that. It’s important to understand how this works and whether you should buy Lightning Lanes before you visit Disneyland.
If you’ve visited Disneyland in the last couple of years, Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and Single Pass might sound like a brand-new thing. It’s not. It’s mostly just a name change from Genie+ for the sake of continuity with Walt Disney World, where there actually were material changes to the line-skipping system.
Everything you need to know, including ride priorities, where it’s NOT necessary to buy Lightning Lanes, and much more is covered in our Guide to Lightning Lanes at Disneyland and DCA. That’s regularly updated to include the latest price increases and additions to the Lightning Lane ride roster–both of which have changed in the last few months. We’ve used Lightning Lane Multi-Pass many times, and cover our experiences and strategy there.
If you’re a Walt Disney World regular, the good news is that it’s much easier to use at Disneyland. We’d recommend definitely recommend that guide to get a sense for how to use it and priorities–and would also advise having savvy strategy for Early Entry (if eligible) and rope drop. Other than that, you don’t need to overthink things. Lightning Lanes make visiting Disneyland and DCA so much easier.
The costs of Lightning Lanes can add up quickly, and even a single day might not be in your budget. In that case, we’d strongly recommend consulting our ‘strategy’ section below–that offers resources to beat the crowds, including efficient itineraries, rope drop strategy, and more. (With that said, our strong recommendation is to purchase LLMP for at least one day. If cost is an issue, trim the ‘fat’ from your vacation budget somewhere else.)
Otherwise, there’s not much ‘new’ you need to know about at Disneyland. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure recently opened, but that’s about it–and no new rides are on deck for this year or 2026. Looking even further down the road, there is a lot on the horizon at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, including a new Coco ride, Avengers Campus expansion, and Pandora – World of Avatar land.
See What’s New & Next at Disneyland in 2025, 2026 & Beyond, which covers the 5-year plan for the parks. Suffice to say, it’s backloaded.
We’re able to keep on top of all the changing crowd patterns and additions because we are Magic Key Passholders who reside in Southern California. Typically, we visit Disneyland and DCA at least once per week to refine this guide and provide you the best info.
In addition to park visits, we do frequent hotel stays, lots of eating, and field testing of Lightning Lane Multi-Pass as well as other itineraries and strategy for beating lines at the parks. Emphasis on typically since the last year has been a bit atypical and slower-paced for us as we our family grew in size. Still, we typically make it to the parks roughly 3-4 times per month–that’s just down from 6-8 times previously.
But enough about us. Suffice to say, we’re at Disneyland and DCA frequently, and have planning updates and news to share on a regular basis. If you want to receive updates when discounts are released, new things are announced, etc., sign up to receive our free Disney email newsletter, which covers Disneyland plus Walt Disney World and the international parks.
Before we get to the nuts and bolts of Disneyland vacation planning, let’s start with quick background. Disneyland is “Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom.” It’s the castle park that debuted in 1955 and paved the way for other such theme parks around the globe. Disneyland is the only park that Walt Disney himself set foot in and had an active role developing. Beyond its historical legacy that makes it a California institution, Disneyland is incredibly attraction-dense, with enough rides to fill two full days or more (if you’re so inclined).
Directly across from Disneyland is Disney California Adventure (DCA), the second gate of Disneyland Resort. DCA is ostensibly inspired by the Golden State, but is more just a catch-all park with some attractions having a vague California connection and others being driven by Marvel, Pixar, and other Disney franchises.
In addition to the Disneyland and Disney California Adventure theme parks, Disneyland Resort is home to Downtown Disney and three official hotels. Downtown Disney is a shopping, dining and entertainment district just outside the two parks. The aforementioned resorts are Pixar Place Hotel, Disneyland Hotel, and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel–which is directly connected to DCA. The entirety of Disneyland Resort is walkable, with no transportation aside from your feet needed to get anywhere within the property.
Now, let’s get down to business: what you need to plan a Disneyland vacation…
The single most important part of planning a trip to Disneyland is determining when to visit. As mentioned above, crowds are a big component of this, but should not be the sole determining factor. Weather, seasonal events, pricing, and other variables are all important.
Again, our crowd calendars and month by month ranking resources have been updated to take into account changing attendance patterns brought on by Magic Keys, discounted SoCal tickets, entertainment, and more. Crowds have already changed, and we will continue to monitor and update accordingly in the future.
Another thing to consider is the cost. There are some times of year when tickets are less expensive, which is fairly obvious if you simply look at Disneyland’s date-based ticket calendar. For a much deeper dive, you should check out Cheapest Dates to Visit Disneyland to get an idea of the timeframes that will cost less and are generally better to take a trip to Southern California. That includes average hotel prices, airfare, rental cars, and more in addition to admission.
Throughout the year, Disneyland does seasonal events to help draw locals to the parks. Earlier in the year, there’s Lunar New Year and the DCA Food & Wine Festival. Both of these are smaller scale offerings aimed at locals that run in the spring, but they’re enjoyable for tourists, too. We wouldn’t recommend planning a trip around either, but shifting your dates slightly so a trip coincides with these events could be a smart move.
Later in the spring and summer, the seasonal events often rotate. Most recently, there was Star Wars Season of the Force and Pixar Fest. In the past, Disneyland has done Marvel Summer of Heroes. This past summer the focus was Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary; it’s unclear what will be emphasized in 2026.
As noted above, Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary is an ongoing celebration, and one that we expect to get a second wind in early 2026 after the holiday season concludes. Even though that runs through Summer 2026, it’s likely to quietly wind down around Spring Break with a new marketing campaign kicking off around May 2026 (70th entertainment will continue, it just won’t be what’s emphasized in advertisements). Further down the road, we’d expect Summer 2027 to once again be Summer of Heroes with the Avengers Campus expansion opening.
With all of that said, we have two tried and true favorite times to do Disneyland. We highly recommend Halloween, which is our #2 time of the year at Disneyland. Check out our Ultimate Guide to Disneyland at Halloween for reasons why, and assistance planning a trip during that specific timeframe.
One of our favorite parts about the spook season is Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party, which is held on select nights at Disney California Adventure. That’s a hard ticket event, meaning that tickets to it cost extra.
You do not need to attend Oogie Boogie Bash to have a great time during the Halloween season at Disneyland, but we recommend it to anyone who is willing and able to splurge–especially fans of rare characters (and villains!).
Our favorite time of year at Disneyland–by a wide margin–is the holiday season.
Unlike Halloween, there is no Christmas hard ticket event, meaning that everything is included with the price of regular admission. This means holiday fireworks, special parades, decorations, attraction overlays, entertainment, and so much more.
You could literally spend multiple full days focused exclusively on the seasonal offerings at Disneyland during the holiday season. Read our Ultimate Guide to Disneyland at Christmas to learn more about what makes this time of year so special–and see photos of the parks in all of their Christmas glory!
There are several weeks throughout the Christmas season that make our lists of both the best & worst times to visit. The worst ones are probably what you expect–dates around holidays that people have off from school and work. The best weeks are basically the windows in between. Beyond the festive offerings, the weather in November and December is fantastic. The holiday season can be a great quantitative and qualitative time to visit if you choose your travel dates wisely!
Finally, before solidifying your travel dates, you’ll also want to check out our 2025-2026 Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar to make sure any must-do attractions won’t be closed for renovations during your visit.
We typically do not recommend relying heavily on the refurbishment calendar unless you’re planning relatively last-minute. While Disneyland provides advance notice of most major multi-month closures, that’s not always the case. Some are scheduled only weeks ahead of time for necessary repairs or preventative maintenance. Short projects are sometimes scheduled at the last minute, and unannounced downtime (due to breakdowns or other issues) can also impact attractions.
Our biggest piece of advice with regard to refurbishments is not to visit in January or February if a high number of ride closures will negatively impact your trip. Winter is typically Disneyland’s refurbishment season, with many attractions going down for annual maintenance after the holidays.
There are a ton of options in terms of where to stay near Disneyland: Good Neighbor Hotels, official Disney resorts, nearby hotels within driving distance, sprawling resorts in nearby beach towns, and more.
In Best Hotels Near Disneyland, we cover our top 10 picks for hotels within walking distance of the parks, with 5 family-friendly budget options, 3 luxury resorts, and 2 Disney-owned hotels. That’s a concise resource if you don’t want to comb through our more comprehensive hotel info.
For most vacation planners, the decision comes down to choosing among Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (our favorite!), Disneyland Hotel (second favorite), and Pixar Place Hotel, or one of the cheaper hotels on Harbor Boulevard. We cover the pros and cons of each choice in our Where to Stay at Disneyland: Off-Site v. On-Site Hotels post.
If you’re looking for something more thorough, we’ve stayed at every on-site Disneyland hotel and most of the Good Neighbor Disneyland hotels and other off-site hotels within walking distance of the Disneyland Esplanade.
All of these are covered in our Rankings & Reviews of the Best & Worst Hotels Near Disneyland. This post ranks ~60 hotels near Disneyland at which we have stayed, along with room photos, pros & cons, and other useful information. That also details how to score a good deal on a hotel that’s close to Disneyland.
Fair warning: those comprehensive rankings can be overwhelming. We do a lot of hotel stays in Anaheim and report on them; most of that’s overkill for planners–you just need to know which ones are the ‘hotel hell’ options (bottom of the list) to avoid at all costs and the best ones to book (top of the list). If you’ve already booked accommodations, you might also want to search the list to see where your selected hotel ranks!
Our Money-Saving Guide to Disneyland Tickets is a huge resource with recommendations on what type of Disneyland tickets you should buy, including how many days, whether you should get Park Hopper, and where you can buy Disneyland tickets to save some money.
There are some great offers right now–we recommend bundling park tickets and your hotel stay to save even more, especially with the 3rd and 4th night free specials at hotels near Disneyland. These package deals can save you a lot of money.
For the vast majority of guests visiting Disneyland, we recommend the Park Hopper ticket option. This allows you to bounce back and forth between the two parks throughout the day, which is easy to do given that their about a football field apart.
The practical upsides of this is starting at the park that opens first and ending your night at the park open later (Disneyland is often open 2 hours later than Disney California Adventure). You can also eat in the park with the dining options you prefer, grab a beer in DCA (there’s no alcohol in Disneyland outside of Oga’s Cantina in Star Wars Land), and enjoy the nighttime spectaculars in both parks.
If you’re a local or just a big diehard Disney fan planning to make multiple trips in a single year, Magic Key Annual Passes are also an option. See our Guide to Magic Keys at Disneyland: Prices, Perks, Blockout Dates & Discounts for more details.
Prior to moving to California, we were Disneyland AP holders while living in Indianapolis, Indiana followed by Orlando, Florida. We’d make several long weekend trips out to Disneyland each year, and the APs more than paid for themselves.
With that said, Annual Passes were much cheaper when we lived in the Midwest–a fraction of the current price–and we blogged about Disney by the time we moved to Central Florida. So our circumstances are a bit unique. Nevertheless, if you live in Nevada, Utah, or even Northern California…and can do a few long weekends each year, Magic Keys might make sense for you, too!
There are over 75 attractions between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. On a normal day, the average guest will only experience 10-11 of those. It would thus take you at least 6 days to experience everything in the two theme parks, assuming you didn’t want to re-ride anything. Obviously, not many people are devoting over a week to their Disneyland vacation.
As such, we’ve developed a few step-by-step Disneyland touring plans, each of which will enable you to efficiently experience the parks, while also enjoying their leisurely offerings and atmosphere. More to the point, you’ll be able to do 20+ rides per day–and skip the ones not worth your time.
When it comes to efficiency, the biggest piece of advice we have is to arrive early and stay late. This may seem obvious. After all, the more time in the park, the better, right? We’d take this a step further. The first three hours and last three hours of the day are more valuable than all of the time in between. If you could only do those 6 hours or the 10 hours (give or take) in between, we’d recommend opting for the 6 bookending the day. That’s how valuable that time is–even if you need to take a long midday break to make it happen, do it.
To that end, we’d highly recommend consulting our Disneyland Park Opening Strategy & Rope Drop Tips for how to start your day. If you’re staying on-site at a Disney-owned hotel, instead refer to our Guide to Early Entry at Disneyland for what you need to know about this pre-park opening access to Disneyland and DCA.
Less practical, but check out our Top 10 Disneyland Rides at Night for the best way to spend your final hours in the park. In a perfect world, you’ll have everything done by then and can just soak up atmosphere while doing those attractions with short waits–but you also might want to slip Space Mountain and Indiana Jones Adventure in there at the end of the evening.
Here are our best and recommended itineraries:
We are currently working on additional multi-day itineraries for trips of 4+ days at Disneyland Resort. For now, if you plan on spending more time at DCA, consult our Disney California Adventure Ride Reviews & Guide. The article reviews every attraction at Disneyland, giving each a numerical score out of 10, plus highlights key attractions that we consider the best ones, which should be prioritized if you have limited time.
Our Disneyland Ride Reviews & Guide does the same thing for the castle park, in case you want to spend 3+ days there. (Which you totally could, especially now that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is open!)
Food is half the fun at Disneyland. Both parks have great restaurants, iconic snacks, decadent desserts, and great drinks. We typically go all-out when visiting the parks, doing breakfast at one of the hotels (or sometimes in the park), followed by a mid-morning snack, counter service lunch, and table service dinner.
The stereotype that all Disney food is unhealthy food like burgers and hot dogs is entirely false. Disneyland has inexpensive unique dining options as well as expensive fine dining. Good dining can help define a trip! To that end, we highly recommend checking out our List of the 23 Best Restaurants at Disneyland. Those are the places we dine the most, and recommend to friends visiting the parks. You’ll find several hidden gems on there, as well as explanations for why we’ve snubbed several hotspots.
If you want advice, food photos, and more about all restaurants, see our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. (Honestly, we think that’s probably overkill for 95% of you. The ‘best of’ list above covers where you should do meals, and there are more lists below for bars, snacks, and desserts.)
Beyond full meals, we have a few resources that can help you plan memorable meals at Disneyland. If you have kids, we highly recommend consulting our Disneyland Character Dining Guide, which covers the best character buffets in the hotels and parks.
Looking for the best quick meals? Our Top 10 Disneyland Counter Service Restaurants list ranks the best meals in the castle park, while our Top 10 Disney California Adventure Counter Service Restaurants list offers the same for DCA.
Want to have fun with your food at Disneyland? Our Top 10 Delicious Desserts at Disneyland covers delicious treats, including some hidden gems, plus brand new items and recently-added restaurants in Downtown Disney!
If you’re into drinking, we also have posts about a few of our favorite lounges: Trader Sam’s, Lamplight Lounge, GCH Craftsman Bar, and Carthay Circle Restaurant. The last one is particularly noteworthy because–in addition to the lounge downstairs–the restaurant upstairs is the best in-park restaurant in either park.
Should you fly or drive to Disneyland? Rent a car or use public transportation? What about getting around Southern California? There are a ton of questions you might have, and our Guide to Disneyland Transportation covers everything you need to know, answering these questions for you based on our first-hand experiences visiting Anaheim as tourists and living nearby as locals.
If you’ve already decided on flying to California but aren’t sure of the pros & cons of each option, check out our Guide to Airports Near Disneyland. That covers the strengths and weaknesses of the 5 airports in Southern California that are relatively convenient to Disneyland.
In a nutshell, our strong recommendation would be flying into SNA (or even LGB) over LAX. Even if the flight is a little more expensive, it’s worth it. Not only is SNA closer to Disneyland, but LAX has tons of chaos, construction, and crowds.
We like LAX and its eclectic energy, but it’s more than a little overwhelming for a first-timer. If you’ve never been to Southern California or a large city like Los Angeles, it can be a bit much and start your trip off on the wrong foot. Meanwhile, SNA is laid back and quiet. If there were a list ranking the best airports for napping, it would be near the top and LAX would be near the bottom.
In addition to this, SNA is much closer to Disneyland than LAX, which makes it easier to simply take an Uber or Lyft from the airport to wherever you’re staying near Disneyland. In most cases, we’d recommend rideshare over renting a car at the airport, as the vast majority of hotels near Disneyland now charge for parking. So not only will you be paying to rent the car, but also to park it.
The vast majority of hotels near Disneyland are within walking distance, so you won’t need a vehicle during the theme park portion of your trip to Southern California. If you’re staying at one of the hotels we recommend in Anaheim, it’s literally counterproductive to drive to Disneyland since the parking structures are all farther away than most of the nearby hotels.
If you’re venturing beyond Disneyland to one of the destinations discussed below–and we strongly recommend that you do–while visiting Southern California, our advice would be to book a rental car in Anaheim. There are numerous rental car companies within walking distance of Disneyland, and most offer one-way rentals to the nearby airports. Walk over to one of those on your checkout morning, pick up your rental car, and continue your California adventure!
We do not recommend relying on rideshare if you’re heading to Los Angeles. However, if you’re doing Laguna Beach or another coastal community, a rental car may not be needed at all. Many coastal towns have free trolley service that is fantastic. Simply take an Uber or Lyft from Disneyland to wherever you’re staying in the beach cities.
If you want to venture beyond theme parks, you’re in luck. Southern California is one of the best places in the world to visit! Thanks to Los Angeles, San Diego, and the beach cities in between, there’s a ton to do in the area.
In addition to this site, we have non-Disney blog: TravelCaffeine with resources for on an eclectic mix of the places where we’ve lived or visited extensively. California is one such emphasis, as we’ve spent a ton of time exploring our home state. If you’re planning on heading to LA after Disneyland, be sure to check out our Ultimate Guide to Los Angeles.
While LA is one of the greatest cities in the world, we’re particularly partial to Laguna Beach. It’s home to the best stretch of coast in California, has small-town charm and personality, and tons of things to do. To that point, see our Ultimate Guide to Laguna Beach, California for extensive advice. If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of visiting Los Angeles, then Laguna Beach is for you!
In addition to these planning resources, we also give away a free eBook, 101 Things to Do in Southern California over on TravelCaffeine, so be sure to download that totally free resource!
If you’re thinking of visiting other theme parks in Southern California, we also have guides to those…
Universal Studios Hollywood Trip Planning Guide – In just a few years, USH has transformed and improved dramatically. The opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was what really put the park on the map as a vacation destination, but many other additions have made this a great park in the last few years. Our favorite new attraction is Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash, a new family-friendly dark ride. (Read our review of it in Universal’s New Dark Ride Rivals Disney’s Best!)
The blockbuster new addition is Super Nintendo World. We love this land, and rate two of its biggest components in our Ride Review: Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge and our Review of Toadstool Cafe in Super Nintendo World. For practical planning advice, check out our comprehensive Strategy Guide for Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood. That offers tips & tricks, how to beat the crowds, and a ton of other advice for making the most of your time in this incredible new land.
Aside from that, the Studio Tour is our favorite attraction, which is a 45-minute plus tram tour through the working backlot of Universal’s studio. If you are only interested in this Studio Tour, you might broaden your potential options beyond just USH, and also consider the Warner Brothers Studio Tour and Sony Pictures Studio Tour as alternatives.
Guide to Knott’s Berry Farm – An Orange County institution that proudly proclaims itself as “America’s 1st Theme Park.” Really, Knott’s is a tale of two theme parks. It has modern roller coasters and other fare for thrill-seekers. Thematically, this leaves a lot to be desired.
Then there are the quainter areas, reminiscent of Frontierland at Disneyland. We love these areas–and the park’s annual Boysenberry Festival. All things considered, we love both Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios Hollywood, and together with Disneyland Resort, these four gates make for a great theme park vacation in Southern California!
Now that we’ve covered the essentials to ensure you have a great trip to Disneyland, we have a bunch of other resources that will guide you through the planning process to make your visit to Disneyland more enjoyable, helping you save time and money. Armed with all of this knowledge, you will have a much better vacation.
What to Pack – Packing for Disneyland is comparable to packing for any vacation, but with a few twists. Here’s our list of “unordinary” items to pack that will help enhance your Disneyland trip!
Guide to Downtown Disney – We sort of gloss over it here, but Downtown Disney is a massive area within Disneyland Resort’s security perimeter. You can easily leave either park and get to one of these restaurants for a meal…or some of the best ice cream you’ll ever have…in under 10 minutes.
Our 101 Best Disneyland Tips – This is not nearly as structured as our other advice, but these tips offer great advice and sometimes obscure little things that will help you visit the parks like a local. This is more granular advice than what you’ll find in our other planning articles, but we’ve had a lot of positive feedback from readers who really got a lot more out of their trips because of those tips.
Renting DVC Points to Save Money on Accommodations – This is written from a WDW perspective, but there are also Disney Vacation Club villas at the Grand Californian. Booking there can be a challenge (it’s incredibly popular), but you can save a ton of money if your timing is right and you get lucky.
Best Credit Cards for Disney Travel – Leveraging credit card rewards can be a great way of getting free airfare or hotel rooms, and there are several options near Disneyland that you can book for free thanks to signup bonuses.
Tips for Buying Discount Disney Gift Cards – Want to save at least 5% on every single thing you buy at Disneyland? These hacks are for you. Some are relatively simple and straightforward (like using the Target RedCard) while others require a bit more effort.
In general, there are a variety of ways you can save money on a trip to Disneyland. If you’re looking for the best way to save on an entire vacation package, many of our favorite hotels near Disneyland can be booked via Get Away Today at a discount. If you bundle tickets into your hotel stay, you’ll get an even better deal. You can check package prices here.
Between this blog and TravelCaffeine.com, you should be totally covered with what you need to know if you’re thinking about visiting Disneyland Resort and Southern California sometime this year or in 2026 for the tail end of Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary. We can’t encourage people enough to give Disneyland a try, especially Disney fans who are biased towards Walt Disney World as their “home” park. Disneyland is a totally different, much more relaxed experience. It’s intimate in both size and feel, and is oozing with history and incredible attractions.
I could go on for pages and pages about why I love Disneyland, and why everyone owes it to themselves to visit Disneyland, but hopefully this is a good-enough jumping off point. If you’ve never been to either Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort, it’s a good place to start as we attempt to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of each in an unbiased manner. If all of this is still overwhelming or you want personalized recommendations for Disneyland Resort, click here to get a vacation quote from a no fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.
Are you planning a Disneyland Resort visit this year or in 2026? Debating between Halloween and Christmas? Thoughts on Lightning Lanes, where to stay, best restaurants and snacks, or anything else covered here? Have you previously visited Disneyland? Have any tips of your own to add? Any questions you still have that this guide did not answer? We really appreciate reader feedback and your thoughts, so please share in the comments below!
fireworks question. Is there any time in April that fireworks go every night? we have been to DL twice in the last 2 years, April and March, and have yet been able to see the fireworks. that is my main disappointment. Or would may be netter for a chance to see fireworks. TIA
Hi Tom!
I am bringing my family to DL for fall break this year. Oct5-9 and we will be staying at Disneys Grand Californian. I have a few questions, as this will most likely be a once in a lifetime trip for all 5 of us.
I know that DL has more characters roaming the parks than the FL parks offer. Are autographs and pics available with “roamers?” Or is it just snap a pic as they walk by?
I know CA weather is typically warm by day, cool by night. Will the pools remain open all year?
You mention high crowds beginning Columbus Day and beyond- which would occur right after we leave. Based on your research and historical patterns, do you see our week as heavy crowds, moderate?
Thanks in advance for all of your help!
Awesome article! Even though we’re locals, we still get a lot of great tips for DL (and California) from you guys, thanks. Love the adorable Megatron “sub” with the bears…that’s the exact same expression I have in the park when they run out of my favorite handmade treat at Candy Palace 🙂
I have a couple of questions:
1) Do you know when Small World will close for the install of the Holiday overlay? Or at least an educated guess…
2) When will Haunted Mansion close for the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay?
Thanks,
Long shot, but if you have the bandwidth for it I would greatly appreciate it!
Taking my 13 year old girl there this coming April 2025, and your guides have helped me with airports specifically, because I have only ever heard of LAX personally! So that is much appreciated! I am reading as much as possible for every angle to make this work. However, one thing I came across, and this is the only time I have found it mentioned, one way rental car! I have yet to find any info or links here, and well I may be googling incorrectly because some of the results back are not exactly what I thought I was looking for.
Could you shed a bit of light on these one way rentals or rentals in general, specific to Disneyland! I have been land locked before with no rental, but did not want to be roped into 4 days of rental car that will be use maybe a handful of times. Uber and Lyft prices can equal a full few days of rental car prices if used often enough (I had intents on going to one or two restaurants outside of Disney while there), but wanted to see if there was any information you had that could give me a better insight on location, how they work etc.
hey Tom, I LOVE the blog, huge long-time reader here, and this blog has really revolutionized and supported mine & my family’s Disney trips – including us going to Japan!!
can I ask – what is the pet-sitting situation for your household? I would also love to travel for weeks, but I have 2 cats, and I would love to explore different options for their care
P.S. Also we are going to Disneyland for the first time in 9 years or so, so I appreciate the Disneyland resources!!
We are not the ones to emulate in that regard. Sarah’s mom watches them for us, which means either flying them back to Indianapolis or her coming out to pet-sit and stay at our house (she’s started coming out a lot, anyway, since Megatron was born–so this works out for shorter trips).
Either option is impractical, but our boys are old (16 and 17 years) and we no longer feel comfortable boarding them.
Hi,
my son is confined to a wheelchair and is to big now for us to pick him up to transfer into a ride vehicle. Are there any plans to make Disneyland rides more accessible for folks like him? We know there are some rides at DL and DCH that allow him to stay in his chair, but his favorites are Radiator Springs Racers and Haunted Mansion.
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