Disneyland basics

[smallbutmighty]

Hello everyone! It has been many a year since we've been to Disneyland but we've been to Disney World countless times (at least once a year).

We would love to visit in May 2022 but I can tell things are run quite differently here Which is totally fine but I feel extremely lost!

Ideally we would fly into John Wayne airport, shuttle directly there, and stay at Disneyland Hotel. We'd stay & play for 4 days and fly straight back, not leaving the resort/area the entire time.
My questions are these:

- Is your park ticket not equivalent to a reservation? So you could buy a ticket and not even be able to use it for the days you're there (worst case scenario)?
- If you book far in advance, is this not an issue? If it is an issue, how common is this?
- Is booking meals impossible? 90 days out or .... ?
- How are things at the hotel? Are the pools open?
- What the heck is Genie+? I miss FastPass!!! Any idea when this Genie thing comes into practice?
- I saw MagicBands will debut here soon loveeee them!!! Any idea of the time frame on this?

Sorry for all the questions; I am just hoping to make this a special present for my one and only kiddo but wondering if this is the "right" trip or not. Thanks everyone!!!

 

[Astylla]

Hello everyone! It has been many a year since we've been to Disneyland but we've been to Disney World countless times (at least once a year).

We would love to visit in May 2022 but I can tell things are run quite differently here Which is totally fine but I feel extremely lost!

Ideally we would fly into John Wayne airport, shuttle directly there, and stay at Disneyland Hotel. We'd stay & play for 4 days and fly straight back, not leaving the resort/area the entire time.
My questions are these:

- Is your park ticket not equivalent to a reservation? So you could buy a ticket and not even be able to use it for the days you're there (worst case scenario)? Normally yes this could be true HOWEVER when you choose to buy your tickets it will show what dates are available and you reserve your dates at time of purchase. In addition if staying a DLR hotel you can book your days through a seperate hotel guest link in which I have yet to see any days blocked for guests staying on site.
- If you book far in advance, is this not an issue? If it is an issue, how common is this?
- Is booking meals impossible? 90 days out or .... ?
- How are things at the hotel? Are the pools open?
- What the heck is Genie+? I miss FastPass!!! Any idea when this Genie thing comes into practice?
- I saw MagicBands will debut here soon loveeee them!!! Any idea of the time frame on this?

Sorry for all the questions; I am just hoping to make this a special present for my one and only kiddo but wondering if this is the "right" trip or not. Thanks everyone!!!

- Is your park ticket not equivalent to a reservation? So you could buy a ticket and not even be able to use it for the days you're there (worst case scenario)? Normally yes this could be true HOWEVER when you choose to buy your tickets it will show what dates are available and you reserve your dates at time of purchase. In addition if staying a DLR hotel you can book your days through a seperate hotel guest link in which I have yet to see any days blocked for guests staying on site.

- If you book far in advance, is this not an issue? If it is an issue, how common is this? It hasn't been an issue for most when booked at maximum dates in advance. Magic Key holders have had the most issues as many tend to look for dates in the coming days versus weeks.

- Is booking meals impossible? 90 days out or .... ? DLR only books 60 DAYS out and releases at 3am PST. Blue Bayou , Oga's Cantina , Trader Sam's , Lamplight Lounge , Plaza Inn character breakfast tend to be the hot tickets and would recommend setting an alarm if they are important. We do NOT have the 60 days + 10 rule if staying onsite , it's 60 days one day at a time for EVERYONE.

- How are things at the hotel? Are the pools open? Pools are open year round but check the individual Disneyland site for their hotels as it gets closer because they periodically do go down for maintience or improvements. Currently DLH is working on building their DVC tower so that may be impacted at some point.

- What the heck is Genie+? I miss FastPass!!! Any idea when this Genie thing comes into practice? It's the new paid fastpass service , I recommend browsing the current WDW forums for more info on the basics as we have no current start date for it. We are getting MagicBand + sometime early next year also.

EDIT: Hit reply too soon..sorry!

 

[smallbutmighty]

A

- Is your park ticket not equivalent to a reservation? So you could buy a ticket and not even be able to use it for the days you're there (worst case scenario)? Normally yes this could be true HOWEVER when you choose to buy your tickets it will show what dates are available and you reserve your dates at time of purchase. In addition if staying a DLR hotel you can book your days through a seperate hotel guest link in which I have yet to see any days blocked for guests staying on site.

- If you book far in advance, is this not an issue? If it is an issue, how common is this? It hasn't been an issue for most when booked at maximum dates in advance. Magic Key holders have had the most issues as many tend to look for dates in the coming days versus weeks.

- Is booking meals impossible? 90 days out or .... ? DLR only books 60 DAYS out and releases at 3am PST. Blue Bayou , Oga's Cantina , Trader Sam's , Lamplight Lounge , Plaza Inn character breakfast tend to be the hot tickets and would recommend setting an alarm if they are important. We do NOT have the 60 days + 10 rule if staying onsite , it's 60 days one day at a time for EVERYONE.

- How are things at the hotel? Are the pools open? Pools are open year round but check the individual Disneyland site for their hotels as it gets closer because they periodically do go down for maintience or improvements. Currently DLH is working on building their DVC tower so that may be impacted at some point.

- What the heck is Genie+? I miss FastPass!!! Any idea when this Genie thing comes into practice? It's the new paid fastpass service , I recommend browsing the current WDW forums for more info on the basics as we have no current start date for it. We are getting MagicBand + sometime early next year also.

EDIT: Hit reply too soon..sorry!

Ahhhh thank you SO much!!! I really appreciate it!