Surprise Trip - Could Use Input!

[mitsu13gman]

My company is flying me to the Anaheim area for a work meeting on Monday, and I’ve been given permission to extend my stay and do a couple days at Disneyland.

My adult family typically go to Disney World, but I did get to go to Disneyland in 2015 for a work conference. But because it was a work conference, I was staying on-site. This time I will be off site about 25 minutes away.

So I’ve never dealt with parking or getting to the parks from there; any details about that process would be welcome!

I plan to get a 2-day park-hopper. I usually prefer the Magic Kingdom style parks, so I was planning to make Disneyland my first park both days. I will need to leave early the second day to catch my flight. Is there a truly compelling reason NOT to start in the same park both days?

One thing I remember is that indoor dining is hard to come by day-of, and I didn’t have meals planned last time. Is it worth it to try to make a dining reservation now, or is it just too late?

My expectations for headliner attractions are low; I haven’t used LL in a couple of years, so I’m not sure how well I’ll navigate that with so little time to study. Is there a cheat-sheet for it at Disneyland?

 

[mdmost]

I've never parked at DLR as we usually stay just across the street on Harbor Blvd, so I'll let others speak to that.

If you only have 2 days but a park hopper, I think it's fine to begin both days at DLR. You could argue you're losing the ability to rope drop at California Adventure. You can park hop at 11am so you can criss cross back and forth. If you're willing to be there at rope drop (8am), you will get a lot accomplished before even touching your Lightning Lanes.

The biggies at DLR for rope drop are Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Peter Pan, and Rise of the Resistance. If you're getting park hoppers and LLs, I would just pay the extra fee for Rise so you can jump on that one when you're able to. Same with Radiator Racers in California Adventure. We normally rope drop Space Mountain and grab a lightning lane for Indiana Jones. If the wait for Indiana Jones stays below 30 minutes, I cancel the LL because all you're skipping is the outside queue which is probably not long. If you rope drop, a lot of attractions are walk-through waits until 10am.

I wouldn't even both with indoor dining other than quick service. You can try to get a table with the standby option on the app. Was there a dining option you were looking at?

 

[BrianL]

I've never parked at DLR as we usually stay just across the street on Harbor Blvd, so I'll let others speak to that.

If you only have 2 days but a park hopper, I think it's fine to begin both days at DLR. You could argue you're losing the ability to rope drop at California Adventure. You can park hop at 11am so you can criss cross back and forth. If you're willing to be there at rope drop (8am), you will get a lot accomplished before even touching your Lightning Lanes.

The biggies at DLR for rope drop are Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Peter Pan, and Rise of the Resistance. If you're getting park hoppers and LLs, I would just pay the extra fee for Rise so you can jump on that one when you're able to. Same with Radiator Racers in California Adventure. We normally rope drop Space Mountain and grab a lightning lane for Indiana Jones. If the wait for Indiana Jones stays below 30 minutes, I cancel the LL because all you're skipping is the outside queue which is probably not long. If you rope drop, a lot of attractions are walk-through waits until 10am.

I wouldn't even both with indoor dining other than quick service. You can try to get a table with the standby option on the app. Was there a dining option you were looking at?

One note - I would be hesitant to rope drop Indiana Jones as sometimes it does not open on time. It is prone to technical difficulties, especially at start-up and you could waste time waiting for it, especially if you get deep into the queue and are kind of stuck there (it's quite a walk!). It is a great choice for a Lightning Lane Multi-Pass selection though, and if it is down during your time, you should get a make-up pass.

 

[Aspencreek]

Will you have a rental car? If it was me I'd probably just take an Uber to save the parking hassle and cost ($35 fee I believe). But if you are driving a rental then I would go to the Toy Story outdoor parking lot. Always quick to get in and they have the security screening there at the lot which saves you time. After going through security there is a free Disney shuttle that drops you at the entrance bypassing the security at the park.

As for LL, there's lots of great youtube videos that go in depth on it. Socal Disney Dads is a great one to review that is super detailed and helpful:

With 2 days in the parks I would definitely start at DL both days and plan to spend most of the time at that park. Maybe hop over to DCA for a few hours midday but otherwise I'd be at DL the majority of the trip.

 

[Howry]

I have parked at the toy story parking lot. They have buses that run between it and the park. I have always found it to be pretty easy.

 

[LKing]

Parking is $35/day. You can park in the Mickey & Friends parking structure off of Disneyland Drive or the Toy Story lot on Harbor Blvd. Both options open at 7 am. Toy Story is an flat, outdoor lot with buses that take guests to the parks. Toy Story is a six story structure with a tram that takes guests to the park. If you are arriving early, you'll go through security before boarding transportation at either location. Personally, I prefer Toy Story because there are more entrance booths and, if I enter via the booths on the right, I can park in the shade.

The Toy Story parking structure is connected to a second parking structure called Pixar Pals. Often (especially early in the day) guests will enter via Toy Story, drive up the ramps, and be guided to park on the Pixar Pals side. Neither is better and both lead to the same place. Just pay attention to were you park so that you don't get turned around when you return in the evening.

Another option is to park in Anaheim Garden Walk shopping center. It is a private shopping center that charges $30/day. If you park there, you will need to walk to the park entrance to go through security.

If you are by yourself, I would take advantage of single rider lines, especially on Radiator Springs Racers. It is a fast moving, efficient single rider line that usually takes 10-15 min to board.

Personally, unless there is something that you must have, I wouldn't worry about making a dining reservation. On the Disneyland app, tap the + with a circle on it at the bottom of the home page. Select "check dining availability," tap on 1 person, choose the date you are there, scroll down below the "next" button and select "join a walk up list." Alternately, you can tap that same + button, select "order food" and mobile order at a variety of quick service locations in the parks. The only restaurant I wouldn't mobile order at is Tiana's. Their mobile order food is in plastic containers where, if you go inside the counter service restaurant, your food will be on a real plate and silverware.

 

[mitsu13gman]

Thank you all for the great information so far!

My hotel is south of Disneyland due to the work commitment, so it makes more sense (especially on my second day where I’m going to the airport from the park) to drive my rental there.

The Toy Story lot sounds like the secret sauce for parking, so that it what I’ll do.

As far as attractions, we’re a pretty regular Disney family. We missed a couple years during Covid, but we were at WDW in January of ‘24. I’m still catching up on the new attractions. I would love to do both Star Wars rides, so it sounds like LL for RoR will be worthwhile. I’m curious about the Guardians ride, but is it really just Tower of Terror? After that, my favorite ride of all time is Haunted Mansion, and I love Pirates and the Tiki room. I would love to try to get on the Tiana ride, since I’ve never seen it and really loved Splash. I would also like to do Jungle Cruise. Is Spider Man any fun? I rode Incredicoaster before it was Incredibles-themed, does the update make a big difference?
Big Thunder Mountain has a ton of nostalgia, as does Small World. Oh! I would LOVE to do Mickey and Minnie’s Railway!

As for rides I won’t miss, Space Mountain, Soarin’, Toy Story (if I can hop on great, but I’ve done it many times in both parks,) Radiator Springs Racers (we did it once or twice in 2015, and it is fine, but I enjoyed Rodger Rabbit as much or more,) and Grizzly River (I don’t enjoy getting soaked.)

Honestly, apart from the cost, I can be happy just walking around a Disney park.

Regarding food, I did get to eat at Blue Bayou, and between the food and the ride vehicles coming through, it was a great experience. But they aren’t showing any available reservations. It sounds like I’ll stick to counter service and be happy. I am definitely looking forward to a Chili-Cone-Carne!

Is there a food thread for Disneyland? I’d love to see what creative counter service options there are.

I’m a hardcore planner, so this is a challenge for me. Having one week to plan everything for a Disney trip is WAY outside my wheelhouse!

One fun aspect of this, though, is that this is also a possible scouting operation for my 50th birthday. So I’m very curious to see how access to the park is staying off-site.

Thank you for the LL video - I’ll give it a watch this evening!

 

[mdmost]

I hate to break this to you but Incredicoaster goes down for refurbishment on Monday. Guardians is great. It is more of a thrill ride and fun with the music blaring versus going for terrifying like Tower of Terror.

I would recommend grouping rides together. If you're headed to Big Thunder, ride Indy, Pirates, and Haunted Mansion. You can do Tiana's up there but you're going to get soaked. Get the LL for Rise and ride Millenium Falcon single rider. If you head to Small World, do Mickey and Minnie's ride while up there.

Like I recommended up thread, if you can rope drop, you'll get so much done before 10am.

 

[mitsu13gman]

That is actually good news on Incredicoaster - I was on the fence, but if I had the chance, I’d probably try. Knowing it’s just out helps me focus on other things I’d rather do.