With more people going to Disneyland every year and the park offering new seasonal attractions that turn less-crowded periods into busy gate-busters, it gets harder to have a good time every year. Waits at the most popular rides can be 90 minutes or more on a busy day, thirty times as long as the ride itself.
Most Disneyland visitors end up spending several days just to do everything once, running up their vacation costs in the process, but don't despair. Our tips will help you have more fun and spend less time in line. In fact, you may save so much time that you can shorten your stay, which is the best way to cut your Disneyland travel costs.
Timing
For smaller crowds, plan your trip off-season: between January and President's Day, the day after Easter to Memorial Day, or between Labor Day and the end of September. Any time of year, weekdays are less busy, especially Wednesday and Thursday, and Sunday is quieter than Saturday.
Getting to the main gate at least 30 minutes before the park opens may also help, and you might get to one or two rides before everyone else catches up with you.
Seven Ways to Shorten the Wait
These tactics will all shorten your waits somewhat. They're listed in order from most effective to least effective.
- Use Ridemax: This clever, inexpensive software tool can cut out hours of waiting. In fact, if you use it, you can shorten your stay by a day or more and still do everything, which can save you a lot of money.
- See what others think about Ridemax.
- Get a FASTPASS:. Disneyland's answer to long lines at their most popular rides is called Fastpass. Pick one up and go do something else while it saves your place in line.
- See what others think about Fastpass.
- Break it Up: If you are alone or with others who don't mind splitting up, head for the Single Rider lines at selected popular rides. Cast members use people from this line to fill single empty seats, and the wait is much shorter.
- Parents, Don't Stand in Line Twice: Here's the problem: two adults with one or more kids who can't go on a ride because of height or weight restrictions. The time-wasting solution is to send one adult through the line while the other waits with the kids, and the other gets in line when the first returns. You're a smart visitor; get in line together and when you reach the front, tell a cast member you want to "switch off." The waiting person hands the kids off to the other one as soon as they're off the ride and can then get on right away.
- Timing is Everything: Visit major attractions early, late, or during parades. Lines tend to be shorter then. You can also check with the cast member at the booth near the Adventureland entrance, where current wait times are posted.
- Be an Early Bird: Disneyland sometimes offers early entry with multi-day tickets. They also offer a special early program in Toontown if you buy travel packages through the Disney Travel Company, but you many find so many people using the' that it's actually more crowded rather than less.
- Don't Listen to Them: If you use the touring routine from any of the popular guidebooks, you'll find everyone else who read that book in line with you.
Stay Out of Line Everywhere Else
- Don't Stand in Line Outside: Buy your tickets in advance online, and you won't have to stand in line at the ticket booth (with the kids tugging on your sleeve, begging you to hurry up).
- Eat Out of Sync: Eat lunch before 11 a. m. or after 1 p.m. Restaurants will be less busy.
- Shop Early: Shops on Disneyland's Main Street often open before the rest of the park, and they're not as busy then as they are in the evening. Ask the shops to hold your purchases until you leave the park, pick them at the booth up near the exit gate, and you won't have to carry them around all day. This also works for purchases at shops further inside the park.
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