11 Top Tips for Your First Visit to Disneyland

Heading off to Disneyland for the first time? Make the most of your magical experience with these eleven top tips. Whether you’re a little one, a teenager, or an adult, visiting Disneyland is a truly unforgettable experience. With its iconic castle, thrilling rides, and spectacular entertainment, it’s no wonder it’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. However, it helps to know a few key things before you go to ensure you are fully prepared for a fantastic, fun-filled day. To guarantee you make the most of your very first visit, here are eleven top tips to for Disneyland.

1. Plan Ahead

One of the unfortunate things about visiting Disney Parks now is that you absolutely need to plan ahead. You don’t have to plan so much that every second is planned, in fact, I insist you don’t. However, there are a few things you can do prior to your visit to make it much more enjoyable.

One of the ways to plan ahead is to check out a list of attractions and shows. You can look at my full list of both Disneyland attractions and California Adventure attractions. The list includes height requirements, what are the best ages, if you should ride it, and more!

Another great way to plan ahead is to review maps of both Disneyland and California Adventure. This will help you so much in the parks when you are trying to decide your next move.

2. Get There Early

You would be shocked to learn how much more you can get down in the first two hours of the park opening vs two hours in the middle of the day. When I say to get there early, I don’t mean you have to stay from opening til closing. In fact, I insist you do not do that.

Often the parks open before they say they do, even some of the rides will be open too! I try to get there about 30 minutes before the park says its open. This allows for a lot of things like short lines, less crowds, even great photo opps!

Disneyland and California Adventure are both smaller parks than ones you would visit at Disney World. Because of this, you can easily jump to and from rides because they are much closer together. The wait times for rides in the morning are often nonexistent and due to the proximity, this means you can get through a lot of attractions before many have even entered the park.

One important thing you consider with this strategy is taking a midday break. I talk about this later, but it’s extremely helpful for everyone. You get some extra relaxing or sleeping time and then avoid any additional stress later in the day.

3. Use the Disneyland App

Disneyland has an app that will allow you to do a variety of helpful things while in the park. One of the most used features is simply seeing on the map where dining or attractions are in relation to where you currently are.

Another additional benefit is dining reservations. While I would suggest you reserve certain restaurants ahead of time, there are definitely options you should be able to reserve the day of.

You’ll also have access to mobile order, which is one of the perks to have come out of COVID restrictions. Simply place your order for you party ahead of time, when you are close enough to the restaurant open you app back up to say you are there, and they’ll begin making your food. No need to wait in a long order line!

If you decide to take advantage of Genie+ and Lightning Lane, the app will be your best friend (or worst enemy truthfully, sometimes there are frustrating aspects because well…technology).

4. Learn about Lightning Lane

Lightning Lane is one of the newest changes to both Disneyland and Disney World after the pandemic. It has replaced Fast Pass+ and Max Pass. However, if you ask me, it works very similarly to Max Pass, which was previously used at Disneyland and California Adventure.

So what is it? Lightning Lane allows you to skip the line (or at least the typically longer standby line) for various rides at Disneyland and/or California Adventure. You can buy it for $25 per ticket per day. Be warned – the prices start at $25 and only a limited number are sold a day. If you are visiting during a popular time of year, they are usually pricier and could also sell out.

Lightning Lane comes when you purchase Genie+ for your park day. You can also get access to individual Lightning Lanes for a price as well. There are three rides that you must buy the individual Lightning Lane as they do not come with the Genie+ option. In California Adventure that is Radiator Springs Racers and at Disneyland it’s Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Rise of the Resistance.

If you decide to buy Lightning Lane for your park day and have a park hopper, it is good for both parks!

5. Dress Comfortably

In a world where we love to dress for social media, it’s important to make sure you don’t forget that comfort should come above all. It’s very easy to dress for comfort and in Disney magic!

The best thing you can wear for comfort is sneakers. Get a comfy pair and make sure you break them in a little bit before going to the parks to make sure they aren’t still stiff. Pairing with your sneakers, I like to get a pair of extra comfy socks. Either ones that are made for runners because of sweat-wicking or ones that have more cushioning and support.

Layers are your best friend. I was surprised to learn during a December visit to Disneyland just how cold it gets at night, and even during the day! I ended up buying a sweater (which, while adorable, was not in my original budget for the trip). Highly recommend things you can take on or off and store in your backpack. That way they are with you should you need them throughout the day.

The number one tip is for bra-wearers – don’t do it. Use a sports bra or a bralette, or if you’re comfortable with it, go braless. Wearing a bra is already uncomfortable enough, I highly suggest switching to one that is made for lounging and/or sweating it. Between the walking and the heat, the last thing I want is to be smelly because my sweat is clinging to a bra.

6. Stay Hydrated

I’ll repeat this because it’s so important, stay hydrated. No matter how early you decide to get to the parks or how late you stay, you cannot avoid walking for an extended period of time. Regardless of the time of year, you will absolutely need to stay hydrated.

I know downing lots of caffeine to keep up the pace or enjoying alcoholic beverages throughout the day is fun (and sometimes part of the joy of the visit). However, make sure you’re following up with water. You don’t want to get sick or pass out because you accidentally got dehydrated.

An easy way to do this? Disneyland will give you water for free. It’s not a secret, although they certainly do not advertise this fact. You are allowed to pack a refillable water bottle to bring with you into the parks. If you go to any quick-service location you can ask for free cups of ice water! I like to bring an insulated water bottle that will keep my drink cold.

I know a lot of people aren’t huge fans of plain water, so I recommend packing liquid IV or whatever add-on to water you prefer. So small to pack, but also helps make sure you feel good for the day!

7. Take Breaks

There are quite a few pros to Disneyland over Disney World in my opinion. One of the biggest ones is how close both the parks are to each other, and how close they are to hotels. This obviously depends on the hotel you are staying at, but there are a bunch close to the entrances of the parks.

Besides this saving you time and energy at the beginning and end of your park day, it also allows you to take breaks. Since you can get to your hotel faster than almost any Disney World hotel, you aren’t taking nearly as big of a chunk of your day if you decide to rest back in your room.

I mentioned before, getting to the parks early is incredibly helpful to ride attractions with minimal lines, but it also means you might hit a midday slump. Don’t try and push through it with coffee, just go relax in your room. I know you spent a lot on tickets so you want to get your money’s worth, however, pushing through when people are tired leads to fights and just no fun.

Sometimes you don’t need to nap in your room, but a midday pool break helps cool you down. Also, let’s face it, as a kid sometimes the pool is almost as fun as a theme park.

8. Use Single Rider Lines

The single-rider line is often, but not always, faster than waiting in the regular standby line. Please know that if you wait in this line, you will likely not ride with anyone else from your party. Do not wait in single-rider and then yell at a cast member for splitting up your group. I’ve seen it happen even though they warn people while entering the line. If you don’t care about riding with your party, but just want to ride, I definitely pick this option a lot.

So how many rides at Disneyland have a single-rider line? There are 11 rides between Disneyland and California Adventure that offer a single-rider line. The rides at Disneyland with single-rider are:

• Goofy’s Sky School
• Grizzly River Run
• Hyperspace Mountain
• Incredicoaster
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Radiator Springs Racers
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure

9. Be Flexible

It’s a tip I recommend for every Disney trip. Truthfully, it’s a tip I recommend for all traveling. If you are too rigid with your plan you are setting yourself up for failure. 

There is a lot to see and do so it’s important to pick what your must-do items are. It can be attractions, shows, meet and greets, restaurants…you get the idea. Pick out what are the most important things for everyone in your party to see and do. If you have a must-do list of activities it helps avoid the disappointment of accidentally skipping something you were really looking forward to. 

I say be flexible because it’s important to keep your options open. For example, if you happen to be by a ride that only has a 10-minute line, jump on it, even if you were planning to do it later. 

10. Prepare Your Park Bag

I have an entire post about what you should pack in your Disney parks bag, but it’s worth repeating. If you pack your bag properly it’ll save you a lot of headaches throughout the day. Literally. I always have Advil in my bag. 

I recommend reviewing that post as far as what you need to have on hand. However, the top items I would say are musts are any medications, specifically Advil, a refillable water bottle, a good portable charger, and travel sunscreen. 

The portable charger is absolutely essential because, for better or worse, you will need to access the Disneyland app your entire trip. It allows you to access any Lightning Lane information, dining reservations, wait times for attractions, your tickets for events and the park, and so much more. The app tends to drain the battery fast, so it’s important to have a backup power supply.

There are plenty of other things I suggest you pack in your bag, so make sure you are well prepared.

11. Enjoy the Magic

One of the biggest mistakes people make at Disneyland (and I’d argue traveling in general) is they are so anxious to fit everything in that they forget to enjoy the trip they spent time planning.

Build in breaks to sit and just enjoy where you are. Take time to smell the roses…literally. Disney has smells around various areas to help with the theming of each ride, various areas of the park, and restaurants.

Be sure to take plenty of photos and videos to capture the memories, but also don’t forget to get in some of those photos too!

Disney also loves to create mini-magic moments. When I was a kid, a cast member realized our family was having a rough day and let us sit in VIP viewing for the parade.

The most important thing to remember is to not get so caught up in having a perfect trip, that you end up not enjoying it at all.