It's been 5 years . . . .

[nutshell]

Hello! It's been about five years since my last trip to Disneyland. Next month, my wife and I are going - just the two of us. We are in our late 40s. Please give me your top three tips, tricks, recommendations! Thanks!

 

[irlandaise]

Are you up to date on current Lightning Lane options?

 

[nutshell]

Are you up to date on current Lightning Lane options?

I know I have park hoppers with "Lightning Lane Multi Pass."

 

[OlliePop27]

I know I have park hoppers with "Lightning Lane Multi Pass."

My best advice is to get there for rope drop at 8:00, or 7:30 if you have EE. This means being to security by 7:15 if you have regular park open rope drop, and wait inside the park until 8:00. You can get TONS done in the first 3 hours the park is open.

I recommend watching a few videos online about LLMP and how it works. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it. Make sure the videos are about Disneyland's LLMP, not Disney World. The two systems work entirely different from each other.

Have a great time!

 

[LKing]

In addition to what has been mentioned above, I would look at what nighttime entertainment will be available during your trip.

How many days will you be there? If your trip includes a weekend, consider purchasing a Fantasmic Dining Package for the first show. You will be able to watch fireworks immediately after Fantasmic from the dining package location.

 

[nutshell]

In addition to what has been mentioned above, I would look at what nighttime entertainment will be available during your trip.

How many days will you be there? If your trip includes a weekend, consider purchasing a Fantasmic Dining Package for the first show. You will be able to watch fireworks immediately after Fantasmic from the dining package location.

We are there two weekdays in February. There is no fantasmic or fireworks. DL has the projections one night and DCA has World of Color. No parades either. I've never gone during such a down time.

 

[ClaudiaKincaid]

I've got a little more general advice:

1) since your last visit, EVERYTHING is app-based, and I do mean everything, so you want a charged-up phone and A) a plan, plus B) the ability to pivot.

2) When you are thinking you might want some food/drinks, at anything but like a churro cart, go to the app and pre-order (or at least check the wait times, so you know when you might need to order).

3) I have had next to zero success getting dining reservations since the reopen, so I very reluctantly use the reservation-bots to flag openings that I can jump on (and you gotta pay for the texts -- you wait for the email notifications, you're SOL).

4) Park-hopping is allowed only from 11:00 a.m. onward; you have to pick your starting park in the reservation system, then you can hop back and forth the rest of the day after 11. Getting there early is more crucial than ever, in terms of maximizing how many attractions you can do (if you care about that, even -- I've heard some people don't, lol).

Have a great time! it is still the happiest place.

 

[LKing]

3) I have had next to zero success getting dining reservations since the reopen, so I very reluctantly use the reservation-bots to flag openings that I can jump on (and you gotta pay for the texts -- you wait for the email notifications, you're SOL).

If you are flexible with timing, you can go on the app and it will say something along the lines of "Hungry Now?" and allow you to join a walk up waitlist from the app while you are at the park. If I look right now (5:30 pm on a cold Monday), Blue Bayou is booked. Everything else has availability within 30 min.

 

[maleficent55]

use the app to mobile order. If the time given to is later than you'd like you can keep refreshing to get a 'now' time. Good video here, the whole thing is good, but start at minute 14:00 for this particular tip

 

[irlandaise]

use the app to mobile order. If the time given to is later than you'd like you can keep refreshing to get a 'now' time. Good video here, the whole thing is good, but start at minute 14:00 for this particular tip

Nice! Thanks!

 

[tarheelalum]

Be prepared for a much different experience from 5 years ago.

 

[nutshell]

Be prepared for a much different experience from 5 years ago.

In what way?

 

[LKing]

In what way?

You're no longer in your mid 40s.

Seriously, everything everywhere changes over a five year period. Don't worry about or compare to previous visits. You'll have a great time!

 

[mom2rtk]

We visited January 24 (and also 25) after not having been to DLR since December 2018. So a 5 year absence. It was like riding a bike. It didn't feel that different to us, especially since we used Genie+ previously, and LLMP this time. And it's mostly the same product.

As others mentioned, mobile ordering is a really nice addition.

The biggest difference for us honestly was the ridiculous skyrocket in pricing. We compensated for that by staying offsite for the first time. Saved more than enough and were much closer to the action (stayed at Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites compared with DLH last time).

The other big change (which is a huge PITA) is not being able to hop until 11 AM. Not cool when hopping is such a pricey add on.

I might have been tempted to stay onsite, but the reduction of early entry to 30 minutes made that just a joke to me and not worth it.

It was great to reconnect with DLR. We had done WDW in 2022 and 2023 so had gotten our Disney fix, but DLR is still our favorite.