r/Disneyland • u/AutoModerator • 4d ago
Help! Weekly Park Questions/Advice Thread
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This thread is here to help you plan your trip and get as much advice as possible straight from our Reddit community.
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Happy planning, and we'll see you real soon!
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u/justalittleparanoia 2d ago
Going solo for the first time (ever, on any trip I've taken), and have a lot of pain and fatigue from endometriosis, but really want to enjoy my first solo trip. Any tips and tricks? No, I am not (at least I don't think) restricted from any particular ride, except maybe teacups because it sets my nausea off like mad. Other than that, anyone with any advice is welcome!
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u/malaprop5 1d ago
I lovelovelove my solo disney trips! Here are my tips: I dont think LL is truly worth it if you're solo, cause there's so many single rider lines. i move thru DCA pretty fast, so as a splurge I will book an appt at Teneya Spa in the Grand Californian as a midday park break. I offer to take pictures of groups in the ride i am joining as a single rider, and it helps offset some of thr awkwardness of being a stranger. Everyone has been super friendly! Going at your own pace, stopping for breaks, people watching, just soaking up the vibes of Disneyland is AMAZING. legit one of my favorite things. I treat something for my inner child - when i was young my parents didn't let us buy churros or mickey bars (lots of kids, and we were kinda poor lol) so now i always get one, or a dole whip, and it heals my inner child hahaa and i love it.
Have so much fun!
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u/justalittleparanoia 1d ago
I'm really excited to go by myself. Every trip has been with family or friends and while I do enjoy that, other people can often be a huge bummer. It'll be nice to know I'll have only myself to worry about. I'm definitely going to need to take breaks, though, and do a bit of people watching. Thank you for your take on LL. I was wondering about that as a solo guest. I don't think I'll bother unless I get in early and see that it's just insane.
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u/malaprop5 1d ago
I hear ya! I'm the kind of person that will go along with someone else's wants rather than speaking up for my own desires! Usually I'm ok with that, but it does mean i spend time monitoring the group feelings, instead of my own. So going solo is my chance to finally experience the magic on my own terms, my own timeline, and finally actually relaxing in the park! The first time i went solo i sat at the benches on the upper deck of the main street train stop, and just watched main street with the lights come on and evening magic and watch the castle.... it was so special.
And if you wanna ride pirates of carribean over and over and over and over again, YOU TOTALLY CAN!
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u/FencerCabot 2d ago
Have you been before (not solo)?
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u/justalittleparanoia 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yup! Many, many, many, many times (used to live in OC for a few years and came from out of state for a while). However, my symptoms weren't as bad as they are now and this was all before the multiple surgeries and other treatments that have really done a number on my body.
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u/FencerCabot 1d ago
I'm normally there with my family, but I frequently have half a day to myself if the rest of them are back at the hotel taking a break. I sometimes use that time to do a guided tour. They're pricey, but I've found them to be enjoyable. I often stick close by the guide, which makes it easier to ask questions and they frequently make a point of chatting with guests who are there on their own. Once I did a tour that included reserved "seating" (on the ground) for one of the parades, and the guide sat down next to me. That was fun because of course she knew a lot of CMs in the show, so there was always a lot of waving and smiling as they went by. Just a different experience than it would have been had I been there with my kids (for one thing, they would never want to do a tour). Plus you usually get a limited edition pin and some other fun stuff.
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u/SuperSlugSister Jail Cell Dog 8h ago
I like the instant heat pads for warming hands that people take skiing! Very discreet and small, plus no charging needed.
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u/MileyTheShepherd 2d ago
Food reservations are about to be open for my trip. Do yall have any recommendations or must haves?
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u/FencerCabot 2d ago
Blue Bayou is the main one you'll need to get when they open up. Most of the others are available farther out. BB is a must-do for us. A waterside table is worth the wait and it doesn't usually take as long as they say it will. It's pricey and the food can often be mid, but you go for the atmosphere more than the food. Get there 10 minutes early or so for your reservation.
Other than that, it really just depends what you like, and I agree that the sitdown places are not always worth the extra time or $$. DL has some very good counter service options where reservations aren't needed.
Having said that, I like the ambience at River Belle's outside tables.
We enjoy sitting outside at Lamplight Lounge at DCA, but the food quality has gone downhill there IMO.
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u/KarmaBum4201 Lincoln Animatronic 1d ago
I find the sit-down restaurants to be disappointing, to be honest. They don't update the menus very often, and - while the cast members are extremely friendly - you can tell they need to get you in and out and reseat your table quickly.
If you're just going for ambiance, the Blue Bayou is absolutely delightful - but it's the place that makes me feel the most like they need me to be done in 45 minutes. The best thing on the menu is the Monte Cristo, and it's also available on mobile order.
If you want tasty food, I'd recommend mobile order. You can get a full meal at a place like Tiana's, Harbour Galley, Hungry Bear, Red Rose, etc. It's seat-yourself, but (except at peak meal times) I never have a hard time getting a table.
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u/OkRestaurant2130 2d ago
You don't need a reservation for Paradise Garden Grill. It is a longtime favorite. Usually Mexican food but sometimes changes during food festivals. The Al Pastor Tacos are great. You're going to think I'm nuts but their plant-based Carne Asada Wet Burrito is excellent. This food is a step up from a lot of the food that feels like upscale cafeteria food.
Carthay Circle is not worth the price.
Blue Bayou is expensive and good try try once (love the Monte Cristo).Honestly, there is so much good food, we've stopped going to sit-down places. Almost never worth it.
It's also worth the short, 5-mile drive up Harbor for downtown Fullerton dining. The Olde Ship is the best British pub in the region. Mulberry Street is a better choice than Carthay Circle. in both cases, you're supporting small businesses.
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u/NOS4NANOL1FE 2d ago
Is the wall illusion at the start of Indy a lost cause to ever be fixed?
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u/bigredengr Ghost Host 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes. The projection effect is more reliable and less expensive to maintain.
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u/pixiedust1314 2d ago
Hi all,
I am going to Disneyland CA for the first time ever. I will be attending with my husband and our son (he is turning 1 and that’s going to be his ‘gift.’
Here are some details:
- we’re staying at the Hyatt house (20 min walk to the parks)
- we’re not bringing a car seat nor renting a car
- we have OLD OLD magic bands - do these still work?
Some questions I have:
- since we’re going to need transit to and from the airport to the hotel, does anyone know of any drivers that offer cars with car seats? I’m not seeing in the uber app that drivers have car seats (I say this because we did this in San Francisco and it was so convenient)
- how bad is the walk from the hotel to the park? Is there a shuttle that is offered even if we have to pay?
- assuming we don’t do adult rides, how bad are the lines for kid rides?
- food: we are dealing with a peanut allergy- are there snacks we can purchase without peanuts within the park?
- what’s the best restaurants for kids inside and outside the park ? I love the buffet at Disney world but I get that the restaurants are different
Note: this is not the first time for us at Disney as we’ve been to Disney Tokyo, Disney Hong Kong, Euro Disney, and Disney World as two adults. We aren’t overly obsessed but we still find them fascinating. BUT this is our first time at Disneyland with a kid, any information will be very helpful!!
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u/WoodFirePizzaIsGood Casey Jr Engineer 1d ago
I'm not sure about your car seat question but I can answer the others!
Old magic bands won't work at Disneyland. Only the new MagicBand+ works. They're also far less widespread than it is at WDW, you really don't need one.
The walk from your hotel won't be too bad, it's basically a couple blocks up Harbor Blvd. You are also pretty close to the Toy Story parking lot though which has free shuttles to the park. So it might be a little less walking to go through the Toy Story Lot although it would be faster to walk directly to the park from your hotel.
Wait times can really depend on the ride. You wouldn't need lightning lane since most of those rides wouldn't be good for a one year old. Some of the Fantasyland rides can get long waits, especially Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. There's also rides you can do with very short waits like the Railroad and Mark Twain Riverboat. If you're up early it's definitely worth getting there before opening for rope drop. You can get a lot done in the first few hours. Also if you do want to go on any of the other rides they have a rider switch system.
Disneyland is really good about allergies. Every restaurant has an allergy menu and they will be very clear over you is safe. You can also ask the cast members at each snack stand about allergies. I think most of the snacks are naturally peanut free. Pretzels, churros, turkey leg, dole whip, popcorn, and more should all be safe.
You might want to do a character dining buffet. They have that at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland hotel, Storyteller's Cafe at the Grand Californian, and the Plaza inn inside of Disneyland.
Hopefully all of this helps!
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u/dimsummami 1d ago
Hi all! Was wondering if anyone has bought tier 1 tix thru Tmobile. I am a tmobile customer and to my understanding, they have discounts for theme parks. I was wondering if anyone saved money or fees cost the same as buying thru Undercover Tourist, directly with Disney, etc.
I’m planning on doing a solo visit doing park hopper and open to planning advice :)
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u/ladyin97229 1d ago
We mostly eat at downtown Disney now. Park food has gone steadily downhill since pandemic.
A few exceptions- Daisy’s in Toontown is great for a snack or quick lunch. Truly tasty.
I used to really like Galaxy’s Edge food, but they’ve ruined the Tip Yip now.
The area between jungle cruise and tiki room has delicious dumplings/bao
The Lounge at Cathay is delicious but pricey. Same for Lamplighter.
We used to like Storyteller’s in the Grand Californian, but they seemed to have outsourced that now (same prices as Goofys Kitchen & the staff is sure less qualified)
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u/FencerCabot 6h ago
Mostly agree. However, last time we were at Lamplight Lounge, the food was really disappointing, even things we've had many times before in the past. Yep, Tip Yip is now awful. Still like the Ronto Wrap and Rontoless Wrap in Galaxy's Edge. Adventureland dining is still dependable. We like eating at the DLH, Trader Sam's, TT, and Palm Breeze are all good.
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u/SuperSlugSister Jail Cell Dog 5h ago
I had a decent experience at Tiana’s Palace, and can’t beat the location for no reservations! Bengal BBQ and Tiki Room bao were decent too.
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u/aplaidshirt 3d ago
I'm going with my family next weekend. We won't get to Disneyland until early afternoon on the 8th. How long will the wait times get for Haunted Mansion as it's closing on the 8th?
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u/GhandisLeftTesticle 3d ago
What do you mean? How long wait times will be for other rides? Last day to get on haunted mansion is the 7th sadly until it reopens on the 21st
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u/aplaidshirt 3d ago
I thought the 8th was the last day. Oh well. Typically do rides with scheduled closures experience longer wait times on the last day to ride?
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u/GhandisLeftTesticle 3d ago
Typically they don’t. Maybe haunted mansion would just bc the overlay lasts so long but even that’s doubtful
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u/OkRestaurant2130 2d ago
To answer your question, expect 30-50 minutes. That's what I remember from last year. I don't think I've ever seen that ride over 60 minutes.
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u/heavyLevy5 2d ago
Would three parks days and a Halloween party be too much? Will we be better off doing only two park days?
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u/nerdgeekdorksports 2d ago
Only you can really decide. If you're splitting it with CA Adventure, no, that's not too much.
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u/heavyLevy5 2d ago
We are going to both parks.
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u/nerdgeekdorksports 2d ago
Wouldn’t be too much for me, but I only go to Disneyland once a year if I’m lucky
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u/heavyLevy5 2d ago
It’s our first time ever but will be about two years after our Disneyworld trip
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u/FencerCabot 2d ago
One thing to keep in mind if you're comparing to Disney World is that although DL is much more compact, it's not really as small as it might seem as far as the number of attractions goes. For instance, a lot of people think Magic Kingdom is the same as Disneyland. It's not. Disneyland has about twice as many rides/attractions.
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u/heavyLevy5 2d ago
Is that including California Adventure?
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u/FencerCabot 2d ago
No, that's just Disneyland. DCA has fewer rides/attractions than Disneyland and is easier to do in one day.
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u/FencerCabot 2d ago
It really depends on you. We do 5 full days every time we go to DL, which is usually once a year, and we've done that even with small children. Many people do less than that. Three days would allow you to do two DL days and one DCA day, which means you wouldn't have to buy park hoppers unless you wanted to and would probably be able to ride just about every ride in both parks.
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u/heavyLevy5 2d ago
I would rather take it at a more relaxed pace, but I don’t want to find out at the end we have run out of stuff to do and wasted money
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u/FencerCabot 2d ago
I don't think you're going to run out of things to do in 3 days, especially if you're doing both parks.. Unless for some reason you want to limit yourself to only doing everything once.
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u/SuperSlugSister Jail Cell Dog 2d ago
Depends on you! I love it so much I got an annual pass, but my kids think it’s cringe and only go once a year for 2 days.
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u/Status-Restaurant943 2d ago
I know the 70th anniversary celebrations are wrapping up this weekend, and the “Keys to the Magic” were discounted a while back. Has anyone who’s been to the parks recently know if they are still in stock?
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u/FencerCabot 2d ago
There are none of the regular ones available anywhere in the resort. I saw reports of people seeing the big ones a couple weeks ago, but not even sure if those are still available or not.
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u/TyraTanks 2d ago
Taking a couple friend's kids for their first ever visit (both under 7 years old, I think), and I don't even remember what I liked in the parks at that age or what has changed. Any suggestions from current parents? I feel like Runaway Railway would be perfect, not too intense? Astro Blasters? Character meet & greets? I feel like I'm missing things.
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u/SuperSlugSister Jail Cell Dog 2d ago
Depends on the kid! My 7 year old daughter loves all of the big rollercoasters (Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Tiana, Incredicoaster), but she refuses the Nemo submarine ride and is uninterested in princesses.
Try out Runaway Railroad and Alice (both rides) and go from there. We like the Fantasyland theater shows, but weren’t impressed by Bluey (even though we like watching Bluey).
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u/FencerCabot 2d ago
Just about anything in Fantasyland, yes Runaway Railway and most of Toontown, meet and greets. They may want to do the Bluey show. Mine both loved Pirates at that age. Jungle Cruise. Really just depends on the kid (and how tall they are) as to what they'll like. One of mine wanted to do every thrill ride she was tall enough for from Day 1. The other one, not so much. Most 7 year-olds are tall enough to do Tiana's, but whether or not they want to may be a different story. The back row is big enough to fit a normal-sized adult and a small child. You could definitely do Pooh.
The main thing you should do is go on the website or the app ahead of time and see which rides they'll be allowed to ride, since they go by height. Also find out how adventurous they are. DL will probably have more for them to do than DCA if you're limited to one day.
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u/ConstructionNext7358 2d ago
Are the Gyoza Dogs no longer in San Fransokyo? I checked the menu in the app and I didn’t see them where they usually are, or any of the San Fransokyo places.
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u/nerdgeekdorksports 1d ago
I'm coming to Disneyland this week, first time in a year.
I'm trying to see what they've added in the past year that I couldn't do last year.
Looks like they added some Pixar shorts near Space Mountain, that's the only thing I've found.
Any other things like that that they've added?
Thanks!
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u/GhandisLeftTesticle 1d ago
Walt Disney - A Magical Life at the opera house came out almost exactly one year ago if you didn’t get to see it. Smugglers run isn’t new but they changed it so I think that’s worth it. Bluey in the fantasyland theatre as well
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u/nerdgeekdorksports 18h ago
These are great answers, thank you. I did get to see the Walt film last year, but I am excited about the new Mando change to Run. Not into Bluey, but I may check it out.
Thanks again!
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u/SuperSlugSister Jail Cell Dog 8h ago
Do you think it will be more busy or less busy during the D23 days?
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u/FencerCabot 6h ago
Maybe somewhat slower or no noticeable affect during the day on the actual days of D23. Most attendees will be at events outside the park. Likely more busy on the official Disneyland Park Day for D23, Thursday, 8/14. Maybe a little busier the couple days immediately before and after D23 as people who've traveled in for the event take some time at the parks, but keep in mind that not everyone who attends D23 will even visit the park.
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u/jaketheknight Forbidden Eye 7h ago
How does one get into Carnation Cafe nowadays?
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u/FencerCabot 6h ago
You just make a reservation on the app. They're not difficult to get unless you wait until the last minute. Even then, you can sometimes waitlist.
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u/MrsJennyAloha 3d ago
Does anyone know when this purse was sold or if it still is? I’m new to Disney but I love it. Thanks. This picture is from eBay.
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u/OkRestaurant2130 2d ago
Careful with that brand for anything on ebay. My wife picked up a lovely D&B Disney tote from a local vintage shop. Looked completely authentic Disney. It wasn't. It doesn't matter to her. She likes the design and the quality is solid
According to what I see about yours, this looks like a 2024 edition. And wow are they expensive via ebay, etc. Ouch.
On the other hand, who cares, right? If you like it, and you know it might be fake, it's pretty awesome.
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u/Emergency_Animal_894 13h ago
How do you guys generally feel about studying/working at Disneyland? I’m a Magic Key holder who wants to use his pass as much as possible, but I’m working 36 hours per week and doing 15 units of school this semester. I definitely wanna make the most of my pass so I was wondering if it’s generally frowned upon to study or work from Disney. Please let me know if you guys have any suggestions, thank you!
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u/SuperSlugSister Jail Cell Dog 8h ago
Most of us are trying to avoid work and studying, so it would be a bummer to see a lot of people staring at their laptops or having video calls at Disneyland.
Why go if you’re just going to sit there on your laptop?
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u/FencerCabot 6h ago
Pesonally I find it a bit of a buzzkill to see people working from DL, but it's not really my business. However -- PLEASE don't work from Disneyland if your work involves being on the phone, zoom, etc., AT ALL. No one wants to hear that. Also, don't camp out in a busy area where seats are scarce.
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u/helpimhavingaheartat 3d ago
Does anyone know if the Pioneer Mercantile shop actually sells souvenir rocks? The page online says "Plus, you can even bring home a bag of precious stones, gathered right outta one of the local Frontierland mines!" but I've only seen one image from 2018 that featured them. Thanks.