Disney California Adventure® Park Touring Plan

Disneyland® Resort Touring Plans: Disney California Adventure® Park | Disneyland® Park

The Frog Family follows a general touring plan when we visit Disney California Adventure® Park Park.

If you are like us and will be traveling with little ones, we suggest navigating the park by land and experiencing the most popular attractions with the shortest durations when crowds are lowest. When the park is relatively empty, you don’t want to find yourself watching a 30-minute show!

For the lowest wait times at Disney California Adventure® Park:

1. Plan which day and park to visit using our crowd calendar (coming soon).
2. Consider staying at a Disneyland® Resort hotel for one hour early admission on select days and to take advantage of the dedicated park entrance at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.
3. Arrive at Disney California Adventure® Park BEFORE the official opening.
4. Take advantage of FASTPASS on the most popular attractions.
5. Ride the most popular attractions with the shortest durations first. 

Overview

We recommend arriving at least 30 minutes ahead of park opening so that you are one of the first to enter the park. Guests who are driving should plan to arrive at least an hour early to allow time to park and take the tram. Guests staying at a Disneyland® Resort should take advantage of the Extra Magic Hour to ride and/or secure a Fastpass for Radiator Springs Racers (note that Fastpasses are distributed near It's Tough to be a Bug!® Attraction FASTPASSES are not available until official park opening, but guests are allowed to line up a half hour in advance). Resort guests can also utilize the dedicated Disney California Adventure® Park entrance inside Disney's Grand Californian Hotel® & Spa for even shorter waits and quicker access to Cars Land. If you don’t have Extra Magic Hour access, we recommend avoiding Disney California Adventure® Park and spending the day at Disneyland® Park instead. Because of the large number of attractions at Disneyland® Park, we recommend allotting at least two days to explore this park and taking advantage of Fastpass, Disney’s ride wait system.

For guests who are more familiar with Walt Disney World® Resort, crowds generally build and build throughout the day. Locals with annual passes make up a large percentage of the guests and will often visit the park after work, making the evening hours as crowded as the afternoons. For this reason, we highly recommend visiting the highest priority attractions in the morning when waits are lowest. We recommend experiencing your chosen attractions in each land before moving on to the next.

Disney FASTPASS Service: The Disneyland® Resort continues to make use of the traditional FASTPASS (no FastPass+ so far), wherein guests can collect FASTPASSES at certain attractions to return at specified hour-long windows later in the day. Guests can hold only one FASTPASS at a time, with World of Color being the exception. A guest can collect another FASTPASS after the time stated on the current FASTPASS passes or two hours passes. FASTPASSES DO get distributed quickly for some attractions. For example, they are routinely all gone for Radiator Springs Racers within an hour or two.

Single Rider Attractions

• Radiator Springs Racers

• California Screamin'

• Goofy's Sky School

• Grizzly River Run

• Soarin' Over California

Single rider lines typically move faster than even the FASTPASS line, making this an excellent choice for those guests who don’t mind splitting up their party.

Suggested 1-Day Disney California Adventure® Park Touring Plan

1. Radiator Springs Racers or FASTPASS

2. Luigi's Flying Tires, presented by Alamo®

3. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

4. Toy Story Midway Mania!® inspired by Disney•Pixar's Toy Story films

5. California Screamin' or FASTPASS

6. Mickey's Fun Wheel

7. Silly Symphony Swings

8. The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure

9. Goofy's Sky School

10. Golden Zephyr

11. Jumpin' Jellyfish

12. Grizzly River Run or FASTPASS

13. Soarin' Over California or FASTPASS

14. Disney's Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular

15. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ or FASTPASS

16. Flik's Flyers inspired by Disney•Pixar's A Bug's Life>

17. Francis' Ladybug Boogie inspired by Disney•Pixar's A Bug's Life>

18. Heimlich's Chew Chew Train

19. Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies

20. Disney Junior - Live on Stage!

21. Pixar Play Parade

22. Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! inspired by Disney•Pixar's Monster's Inc.

23. Muppet*Vision 3D ©The Muppets Studio, LLC.

24. Turtle Talk with Crush inspired by Disney•Pixar's Finding Nemo

25. World of Color (pick up your Fastpass at Grizzly River Run) 

Attractions By Land

1st: Cars Land
Busiest - Radiator Springs Racers
Medium - Luigi's Flying Tires, presented by Alamo® , Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

2nd: Paradise Pier
Busiest - Toy Story Midway Mania!® inspired by Disney•Pixar's Toy Story films , California Screamin'
Medium - Mickey's Fun Wheel, Goofy's Sky School, Silly Symphony Swings
Least Busy - Golden Zephyr, The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure, The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure, Jumpin' Jellyfish
Other - World of Color

3rd: Grizzly Peak
Busiest - Grizzly River Run
Least Busy - Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

4th: Condor Flats
Busiest - Soarin' Over California

5th: Hollywood Land
Busiest - The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™
Medium - Disney Junior - Live on Stage!, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! inspired by Disney•Pixar's Monster's Inc.
Least Busy - Animation Academy, Turtle Talk with Crush inspired by Disney•Pixar's Finding Nemo, Sorcerer's Workshop, Character Close-Up

6th: "a bug's land" inspired by Disney•Pixar's A Bug's Life
Medium - Flik's Flyers inspired by Disney•Pixar's A Bug's Life>
Least Busy - Francis' Ladybug Boogie inspired by Disney•Pixar's A Bug's Life>, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies

7th: Pacific Wharf
Other - The Bakery Tour, hosted by Boudin Bakery

8th Buena Vista Street
Least Busy - Red Car Trolley