First solo trip, first time at Disneyland!

[MrsKreamer]

So my work is bringing me to California in October so I decided to add a day at Disneyland. This is my first ever solo trip and my first time at Disneyland. I booked my hotel and bought my park hopper. I'll be there Saturday October 7th. Any tips or advice is truly welcome!

 

[bryanb]

That's great! My first solo trip to Disney World was a result of a business trip too.

Although you have a one-day park hopper, and you probably already know this, you won't be able to do more than just the highlights between the two parks. Each park (especially Disneyland) is far more dense than Walt Disney World in number of attractions and layout.

Given your short trip and the fact that you're visiting on a Saturday (crowded with locals), I would definitely recommend adding on the MaxPass feature if you haven't already. This will let you use the Disneyland app to reserve FastPass times, giving you an advantage over people who walk to each attraction to get their FastPasses. You have to have entered the park to use MaxPass, so I would go at rope drop and immediately select your first attraction.

Especially toward the end of the night, depending on crowd size, you should be able to get lots of FP selections back to back. The system will tell you when you can get your next FastPass, and unlike WDW, these can overlap with your return window.

I'd check the FP return times before choosing any standby or even single rider lines. Sometimes FP has been faster recently, but not sure if that will change.

If you have any particular questions about Disneyland feel free to ask!

 

[MrsKreamer]

Thank you so much! Yes I went ahead and got the MaxPass. I also scheduled a breakfast before rope drop so I am already in the park and I did the World of Color dinner package so I could have a reserved seat for that. Now I am just reading up on the attractions and selecting the highlights. I am so excited!

 

[paradesintherain]

I'd also recommend making Radiator Springs Racers your Fastpass priority! It's usually first to run out, and always has long lines. Then, in my experience Space Mountain tends to run out of Fastpasses next. Although, I guess the new Guardians ride is probably higher priority now then both of them.

Another great thing is that you can hold Fastpasses in both parks! You could grab one in DCA and head to Disneyland and grab one immediately after. A lot of walking but should work ok with the Max pass and help maximize your time!

Have a fantastic trip, Disneyland is wonderful and has a magic all its own.