Disneyland Park, California - Travel Guide

Yes! Disneyland – A visit to the Disneyland Park in California is a Dream come true for me and my inner child. A visit which brought the curiosity and ecstasy of my inner ME and it was the most needed visit at the right time to free up my mind. I can’t thank enough my friends who made this trip possible. I truly deserved such freaking party amidst all chaos, twists and turns life offered me. It was a one day trip and I should say it’s not enough to enjoy the thrill and beauty of the park. I highly recommend two days visit if you would like to enjoy every ride the park offers and visit leisurely. But then, we were on a stringent schedule, hence planned only a weekend in Los Angeles and we had two great landmarks to visit in our schedule – Disney Land Park and Universal Studios.

After such exhilarating experience, here I am to share my experience of my visit to the Disney Land Park and I assure you it won’t be another ordinary travelogue with the information about rides and present you another guide map, here.

Park Overview

The park is designed according to themes and is categorized into 8 spectacular lands where you can sail rides, meet pirates, find Nemo, meet fairytale princess, visit Mickie’s house and watch live shows.

Main Street, U.S.A – Resembles small town of Middle America in 19^th century and Walt Disney’s House
Adventure Land – Embark on the journey of wildness, untold stories, lost temple and of course, adventures
New Orleans Square – Resembles enchanting streets of 19^th century New Orleans Square, visit recreated historic French architecture and American traditions
Critter Country – Resembles the great American North Woods with rustic buildings, waterfalls, and the thrilling Splash Mountain ride
Frontier Land – Resembles the Columbia banks and thunderous thrill rides
Fantasy Land – Dreamland come true here where you can visit the most beautiful sleeping beauty castle, meet & greet princess and get lost in the fantasy
FAST PASS
Mickie’s Toon Town – Toon Town where you can visit fantastic home of Mickie, Minnie and meet other Disney characters
Tomorrow Land – Experience the future today here with Star wars launch bay and witness your imagination come live here

My recommendations for Park Tickets

Purchase Ticket Online to avoid long queue at the ticketing counter
Multi-day visit is highly recommended if you have Kids and would love to visit every ride in the park
Get Disney Max Pass for additional $10 which includes Disney Fast Pass and Disney Photo Pass along with it
If planned for Multi-day visit (3 days or more), ensure that you purchase ticket online and take advantage of Magic Morning – entry of park 1 hour 15 minutes earlier before the Park opening hour
Disney Fast Pass offers express entrance to certain attractions inside the park
Disney Photo Pass allows unlimited download of photos taken at the Nikon Picture Spot
Check out Park’s website to purchase tickets online and Get FASTPASS with MAXPASS tickets

FAST PASS Tickets – Facts

Express entry is available for only certain rides using Fast Pass Tickets
Fast Pass Tickets are available only during the particular time for each ride
Check park’s schedule to know about the timings of using Fast Pass for rides
Fast Pass Ticket can be redeemed for only a ride at a time.
If Fast Pass is blocked for a ride/used for a ride, you cannot redeem Fast Pass for another ride in the next one hour
Rides with Express entry are marked as FP in the Park Guide Map

My recommendations:

FAST PASS Ticket is highly recommended
Cover the rides according to each land, rather than spending time in walking across the parks to figure out the rides just because you blocked FAST PASS for it.
Download Disney App and block FAST PASS Tickets for the rides according to your schedule
Redeem FAST PASS Ticket for rides which doesn’t allow mass entry. I mean you don’t need to use FAST PASS for a boat ride which usually accommodates 100 persons and regrets for not able to use the FAST PASS for next one hour for rides which allows single person or a group of people – say 4 or 5
Use FAST PASS Ticket wisely

Disney PHOTO PASS – Facts

Allows unlimited download of photos taken at the Nikon Picture Spot
My Recommendations
Nikon Picture Spots are available at certain places inside the park
The Spots are hard to figure out
Don’t spend time figuring out the spots and clicking photos
We didn’t use PHOTO PASS at all in the park
We took just 3 selfies inside the park

Karthi’s Recommendations for Disney Land Park

Book Ticket online with MAX PASS
Download Disney app to book FAST PASS for Express entry
Be there exactly when the park opens to avoid long queue for parking. And if you arrive earlier, there will be less crowd and no long queues
Never forget to pick the park guide map at the counters
Feel free to take the help of the Park Guides available at various locations inside the park
Not all the rides function every day. Take the help of park guide to know about the functioning rides and directions. It saves your precious time in figuring out the rides
Multi-day visit to the park is highly recommended
If on stringent schedule, plan for a day’s visit wisely
Disney Land offers all sorts of entertainment and attractions. Discuss with your group and choose rides according to your interest in your visit to the park
In case of difference in opinions about the plan, better split off individually
Disney Land offers 53 attractions but not every attraction provides unique experience; few are walk-through attractions like Mickie House, Tarzan House which might not excite unless you are a kid; few are roller coaster rides without 3D experience which I bet you can enjoy in any theme park
If you are adults, complete the rides which walk through attractions; Cover coasters if you still have time left for the day offers unique experiences (which can be enjoyed only in Disney Land) followed by
Use the attraction – Disney Rail Road for commuting within the park. Double Dhamaka – You can commute and at the same complete one of the famous attraction of the park
Some of the attractions in the park are theatres where live shows are performed. I highly recommend you to attend at least a show in the park.
- Fantasy Land Theatre – Beauty and the Beast Live Show
- Royal Theatre offers live shows
- Fantasmic – Jaw dropping show with special effects
- Mickey and the Magical Map – Live show in the Mickie Toon Town
- The shows are offered at multiple times. Hence plan accordingly
- We viewed the Live Show – Mickey and the Magical Map as our last spot before exiting the park. And it was spectacular and I highly recommend this show!
If you have Kids of age group 1-3, I highly recommend visiting Mickie’s Toon Town followed by Fantasy Land
If you have Kids of middle age group and love adventures, visit adventure land followed by Tomorrow Land (if your kid loves star wars) else Fantasy Land (if your kid loves Snow White, Alice, Mr. Toads)
If you are adults and not scared of darkness & adventures, then I highly recommend visiting Adventure Land at the start of your day and later visit other rides according to your desire
Never miss out Fantasy Land at any cost
Disney Land is full of attractive shops and fantastic dining experiences. Don’t get carried away by the glam and charm of the shops. You will be attracted to those glitters for sure but the purpose is to visit the park and have a unique experience. Don’t waste your time on shopping, no, don’t! Control that shopping freak in you.
Have grab and go breakfast and lunch at the park. Again, our purpose is to have Disney experience, not a leisure dining.
- Red Rose Taverne for Lunch Options – Their enchanted cauliflower burger is awesome and it is in the center of the park in the fantasy land
Visit the shop Emporium in the Main Streets, the USA for your shopping needs. The shop has everything the individual store offers in every land
Proceed to the attractions without walking down the lanes of the Main Streets and gazing around the shops

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My Recommendations (if you love adventures and fantasy, not a big fan of Star Wars)

Adventure Land
New Orleans Square
Fantasy Land
Visit other themes according to your desire

My Recommendations (if you love adventures and die-hard fan of Star Wars)

Adventure Land
New Orleans Square – only Pirates of the Caribbean
Tomorrow Land
Fantasy Land

Well, that’s a long read! Isn’t it? Hold on, I do have recommendations and ratings for the rides in the Disney Land Park but in my next post. And don't forget to purchase that trademark headband for you! It's a must when you are in Disney!

Let me know how do you plan when you visit such famous landmarks which offer loads of entertainment and you just have a day to enjoy every one of them. I would like to know your tips and it might be helpful to me as well.