When anyone asks how many days at Disneyland are enough to do it all, we used to have an easy answer. Saying you got to the park at rope drop and were mainly focused on rides, you could pretty much do it all at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in three days. Two days at Disneyland and one at Disney California Adventure just about covered it — even better with park hopping. If pressed for time, you could hit most of the rides in two days if you went at a really quick pace.
These days, our suggested number of days at Disneyland is expanding for some visits. Why? Two reasons: The parks have gotten bigger (with new lands and popular rides that can have long wait times and much to explore) and the festivals, entertainment and celebrations are so big and full that you could take a whole day just to focus on special seasonal entertainment, foods, characters and photo-ops at times.
If you are a big Star Wars fan, you could spend hours in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, bounty hunting, exploring, meeting characters and playing with the Datapad. And if you have small tadpoles, you could spend several hours in the reimagined Toontown. The kids can play in the playground-like setting, have a picnic on the lawn, ride the rides, meet characters and push all the buttons. Avengers fans might need to spend some time waiting for their favorite heroes to appear in Avengers Campus. These experiences do not fit well in a short trip. It's best to add a day so you can take your time and immerse yourself in these lands without feeling the pressure to move on.
How Many Days for a Disneyland Visit During Your Trip?
How many days to spend at Disneyland also depends on crowd levels and time of year, plus a few other factors related to your party and plans. If you visit at a low capacity and low-crowd time, you’ll zip through lines faster and have less to do, so a quicker visit will suffice. Add crowds, shows, parades and table-service dining, and you’ll need more time to hit your must-do items.
Do you like to go park open to close? Or are you a half-day family or a family that needs to relax midday, maybe splashing in the pool or focusing on rest or dining? That also affects how much time you need. Do you have small children? You will move a lot slower and need more breaks than a party of adults and teens. It’s better to spread it out over several days than try to push your little ones too hard all day. We see so many crying little tadpoles when their families try to cram too much into one day.
Add more time to your trip if any of the following apply:
- You are visiting during a holiday period or festival.
- You are traveling with small children.
- You like to take breaks to swim in the pool, nap or escape the heat.
- You are looking to spend a significant amount of time in lands such as Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
- Entertainment is important to you.
- You have big extras planned such as character dining or Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.
You may be able to do more in less time if any of the following apply:
- Your group is made up of teens, tweens or young adults.
- You are an experienced Disneygoer.
- Lightning Lanes are part of your plan.
- Your main focus is going on rides.
- You arrive at rope drop and plan to stay late.
- You can take advantage of Single Rider lines when offered.
Other Factors to Consider
Here are a few other factors that will help your party decide how many days at Disneyland are enough. We also have tips for how to save on tickets!
Should You Park Hop?
At Disneyland, it costs less money per day to add park hopping to a multi-day ticket than it does to add it to a 1-day ticket. What? It sounds silly, but it's true. So it pays to hop at Disneyland, which takes the price from $75 per day to hop on a 1-day ticket, to $30 per day to hop on a 3-day ticket, to $21 per day to hop on a 5-day ticket. Hopping gives you more options for that nighttime entertainment we love so much.
We like the flexibility of park hopping. It comes in handy if you have already done everything you wanted to do in a park and want to head to the other park. It also can provide better flexibility when making reservations. Maybe Disneyland Park is not available with a 1-park ticket, but if you start in Disney California Adventure with a hopper, you can access Disneyland at 11 a.m. (and vice-versa). Or when making dining reservations. You can only get the restaurant you want one day, but you're starting in the other park. If you're hopping, you can still make your reservations for lunch or dinner.
Let's say the fireworks get canceled on your Disneyland day. With a park hopper, you might get another shot to see them the next day.
If you are on a budget, park hopping is, however, an easy thing to cut out to save money. You can focus on one park per day. We'd say to spend two-thirds of your time at Disneyland Park and one-third at Disney California Adventure. Disneyland is bigger and has more rides and things to do. At holiday time or during a festival, add an extra day or a half day at Disney California Adventure since there is so much to do in terms of added food and entertainment.
Are You Debating Between Four and Five Days? Get a Fifth Day Free!
Did you know that when you purchase discount Disneyland tickets through Undercover Tourist that the Undercover Tourist 5-day ticket costs about the same as a 4-day ticket purchased through Disneyland? It’s like getting that fifth day free. So if you have a potential half day at the beginning or end of your journey, you might just get a fifth day to capture some nighttime entertainment on arrival day or to get a good start in the morning to wrap up any loose ends and last snacks on exit day. Keep an eye out for Adults at Child prices promotions that pop up frequently at Undercover Tourist!
Are You a California Resident?
At certain times of the year, California residents (or specifically SoCal residents at times) are able to take advantage of resident 3-day ticket promos and really save money. People with specific zip codes can purchase 3-day tickets to Disneyland. These tickets can be used over a longer period of time or three days in a row. In the winter and spring, look for Disneyland Promo tickets for use from early January through late May. They bring the price down to as low as about $64 per day!
Summer Promo Tickets
In summer, usually mid-June through late-September, you might be able to jump on a summer promo ticket, which is good for three separate days and a hoppin' good deal. In 2024, kids could visit for as low as $47 per day!
Kids Ticket Promos
Sometimes there are great deals on kid tickets. Such as January to early March or in summer. Hop on those when you can to save hundreds of dollars and take your kids for as low as $47 per day!
Are You Staying at a Disneyland Resort Hotel?
If you can take advantage of early entry each day and use your 30 minutes in a theme park before rope drop, you can accomplish several rides with no wait. A couple days of that along with taking advantage of that first hour after rope drop can help you shave a day off your trip. The parks alternate hosting Early Entry.
Are You Using Lightning Lanes?
For an additional fee, you can skip the lines for select rides. This will allow you to do more in a shorter period of time. You may be able to subtract a day from your journey and save money since it’s cheaper to add Lightning Lane Multi Pass (and purchase Lightning Lane Single Pass for select popular rides) than it is to purchase an extra day of theme park tickets. You can get the best price for Lighting Lane Multi Pass when you purchase theme park tickets loaded with it. If you wait to purchase in the Disneyland app after entering a theme park, the price can vary per day but will never be less money than buying in advance.
One thing to keep in mind is that Lightning Lane rides for the most part are thrill rides with height requirements. Most of the rides without height requirements do not offer Lightning Lane. So if you have small children or do not like thrill rides, this won't help you too much. There are a few rides without height requirements on Lighting Lane Multi Pass.
Are You a Huge "Star Wars" or "Avengers" Fan?
Two of the newest lands brought some of the most popular rides to the parks, which translates to longer lines. (But all these rides have Lightning Lanes.)
If you want to spend a lot of time in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, give yourself more time to explore, visit the Cantina, play with the Disney Parks app and maybe even build a lightsaber. It’s the largest land at the resort. Riding Rise of the Resistance or Millennium Falcon takes time and so does meeting characters.
Big Avengers fans will want to hang out in Avengers Campus to watch the shows and meet characters. WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure and Guardians of the Galaxy are popular rides, so you'll want to ride them early or use Lightning Lanes to maximize time.
What If You Only Have One Day?
You can do a lot at Disneyland in one day. We have many friends and family members who only want to visit for one day. It's doable if you have realistic plans. You'll need to set priorities, arrive before park opening and hit the highlights. Pick about 3 or 4 must-do items in each park and use your tools to skip the lines and find the shortest waits.
We have 1-day touring plans for each park and for park hoppers. We don't really recommend hopping in one day, but it can be done. Get Lighting Lane Multi Pass and start in Disney California Adventure, then hop to Disneyland to accomplish the most in one day. We also sell 1-day tickets, which are a great option if you want a refundable ticket, but the multi-day tickets are typically a better value in price, depending on when you want to visit.
How Many Days for a Disneyland Visit? — A Seasonal Guide
When you want to visit probably has the most impact on how much you can do in a day. Let’s look at a calendar year and help you plot out how many days you need to accomplish everything you set out to do, especially if this is your trip of a lifetime and you won’t be coming back soon. 2025 to 2026 is a special time to visit with the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Celebration (May 16, 2025, through summer 2026) and a newly rethemed ride, Tiana's Bayou Adventure.
Our what's coming to Disneyland post will fill you in on all the new fun for this year and beyond. Our Disneyland events post goes over the big events and recurring celebrations that take place over the course of a year at Disneyland.
January
January is a big transitional month. You start out the year with the end of holiday time, with long hours, a ton of entertainment and heavy crowds. You’ll need extra time that first week of the month.
But then after Holiday Time ends, the crowds dissipate, a lot of midweek entertainment ends, and hours shrink with the park closing at 8 or 9 p.m. instead of midnight. A few big rides may go on refurbishment. However, there are usually frogtastic promo tickets that are effective starting mid-January.
You’ll want to schedule at least one weekend night to get all the nighttime entertainment, some of which doesn’t play Monday through Thursday. But you can get by with two or three days most of this month. We prefer three since you may lose valuable time with the park closing so early during the week. You want to be sure to have enough days that if you get a rainy day, you have another chance to ride rides or see shows that can close in the rain or wind. You may be less in need of a midday break than in hotter months and with shorter park hours. Watch out for Sweethearts' Nite on select nights. Disneyland Park closes early those nights.
Lunar New Year is a regular festival that kicks off in late January. It brings food, a Lunar New Year procession and special character meet and greets. It’s a fun event, but it does not draw huge crowds.
The Disneyland Half Marathon race weekend brings in a lot of visitors at the end of the month Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, 2025.
February
The park hours return to normal, mostly, but watch out for some early closures in the first half of the month for Sweethearts' Nite. And be aware of race weekend the first few days of the month. Races affect hotel and park reservation availability. You still mostly have fireworks and Fantasmic! running Friday through Sunday. The most crowded days tend to be the Super Bowl and Presidents Day weekend. On select Saturdays in February, enjoy Gospel music in the Fantasyland Theatre.
March
Watch out for a couple of early closures for Disneyland After Dark Nites about the first week of March and for spring break crowds toward the end of the month. Two exciting things begin at the beginning of March.
The Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival begins by early March and runs through late April. If you plan to partake in the food, drinks and fun, add that extra day to your trip. We say two to four days this month, especially since the could be a celebration going on.
April
You have spring break crowds along with a continuing flow of Food and Wine lovers. You'll want about three to four days. All that fun in March is continuing into April. Star Wars Month/Season of the Force may kick off this month, along with Star Wars Nite After Dark parties.
May
Some days in May are more crowded than others due to Grad Nite crowds and May the Fourth. (Keep an eye out for Star Wars Nite party nights, which bring early closures.) Also, all the people who bought SoCal Promo tickets need to use up their days by May 15. Plus, the Magic Key holders want to get their last visits in before being blocked out in summer. With all the celebration entertainment continuing, May may be more crowded than you’d think, especially towards the end of the month. Add an extra day to get it all in — three to four days.
The Disneyland 70th kicks off May 16, 2025! That celebration runs through summer 2026.
June
The nighttime shows usually return to running nightly. You'll want a few nights to see them all. You can visit three to four days.
Even though it's summer, many locals with Magic Keys are blocked out. The summer heat is not as bad with June gloom helping to keep it manageable. And keep an eye out for summer ticket deals from mid-June to late September. Also keep an eye out for Pride Nite After Dark parties mid-month.
July/August
As days heat up, you may want to spread your journey out, being able to take pool breaks in the afternoon or having a beach day in between theme park days. You'll want three to five days.
In 2025, Halloween season kicks off early. Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween parties (on select days) start Aug. 17, 2025, and Halloween Time begins Aug. 22, 2025.
September
This month continues Halloween time, which adds new treats, characters in costume and the Oogie Boogie Bash leading to early closures at California Adventure. Fireworks and Fantasmic! tend to move to just Friday through Sunday, with a Halloween Screams projection show Monday through Thursday. This month can also be hot, which may lead you to want to take daytime breaks to escape the sun, however, crowds tend to decrease at this time of year, so you can accomplish a lot in a shorter period of time. You can visit two to four days.
You might reduce your theme park ticket by one day and replace it with an Oogie Boogie Bash party night. Be sure to purchase tickets as soon as they go on sale in early summer. They sell out fast!
In 2025, Disneyland holds its Halloween Half Marathon weekend September, 4-7, 2025.
October
Believe it or not, October is one of the most crowded times to visit, especially in the first half of the month. The characters are in costumes, and there are special treats and ride overlays to experience. You’ll want four or five days to do it all. As with September, The Oogie Boogie Bash takes place over several nights at Disney California Adventure. You might want to reduce your theme park ticket by one day and replace it with an Oogie Boogie Bash party night. But plan ahead if that's what you want to do.
November/December
November is another transitional month as Halloween Time makes way for Holiday Time. You can get by with fewer days early in the month, but by mid-month, you’ll have so many holiday entertainment and food options you can go all day having holiday fun that you don’t even have time for rides. Speaking of rides, several rides get holiday overlays you won't want to miss.
If you are a person who loves to meet characters in costume, see the parade, catch all the shows in both parks and taste all the holiday foods, give yourself some extra time to do it all.
From the Start of Holiday time through the end of the year, you'll appreciate having an extra day to slow down and see it all. Larger holiday crowds from Christmas through New Year's make it take longer to move about so just be patient and be glad you have the time. Our holiday survival tips (and having an extra day to fit it all in) will help reduce stress.
Did we answer your question about how many days at Disneyland are enough for your visit? If you have further questions, feel free to drop them in the comments section below. We sell discounted Disneyland tickets with and without park hopper, and with and without Lightning Lane Multi Pass. You can purchase 1-day through 5-day refundable tickets as well as the SoCal promos when offered!
Related: The Best Times to Visit Disneyland in 2025 and 2026
Keep hopping!
