Disneyland® Park

Disneyland® Park Touring Plan

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

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 (Extra Magic Hour) to either Disneyland® Park or Disney California Adventure® Park (select days) for the length of your stay or purchase a 3 day or longer ticket for 1 day of Magic Morning access at Disneyland® Park. If you do not have the Extra Magic Hour or Magic Morning benefit, try to avoid Disneyland® Park on those days and visit Disney California Adventure® Park instead.

3. Arrive at Disneyland® 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. 

Disneyland® Park Overview

Disneyland® Park shares many of the same lands as Magic Kingdom® Park, including Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Frontierland and Main Street, U.S.A. It also shares some attractions with the same name, although they are not all exact replicas. Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland® Park, for example, is thought to be superior to its counterpart in Magic Kingdom® Park, with more elaborate storytelling, more waterfall drops and an expanded city burning scene. It opened in 1967 and remains the park’s most popular attraction. Because of the large number of attractions at Disneyland® Park, we suggest allotting at least two days to explore this park and taking advantage of FASTPASS, Disney’s ride wait system.

We recommend arriving at least 30 minutes ahead of the official opening so that you are one of the first to enter the park. (Guests who are driving should arrive an hour early to park and access the tram.) Guests taking advantage of the Extra Magic Hour or Magic Morning benefits are allowed one-hour early entry into the park on select days, with access to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland attractions.

Unlike crowds at Walt Disney World® Resort that generally peak in the afternoon and then ease off in the evening, crowds generally build and build throughout the day at Disneyland® Park. 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 encourage guests to experience 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 service (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 pass). FASTPASSES DO get distributed quickly for some attractions. For example, they are routinely gone for Radiator Springs Racers within an hour or two of park opening. 

Single Rider Attractions:

• Indiana Jones™ Adventure ©Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.
• Splash Mountain

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 Disneyland® Park 1-Day Touring Plan

Attractions By Land

1st: Fantasyland

Busiest - Peter Pan's Flight, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Alice in Wonderland

Medium - Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Mad Tea Party, Casey Jr. Circus Train

Least Busy - "it's a small world" Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, King Arthur Carrousel, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Snow White's Scary Adventures

Other - Fantasy Faire, Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough

2nd: Tomorrowland

Busiest - Space Mountain, Star Tours - The Adventures Continue ©Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.

Medium - Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage inspired by Disney•Pixar's Finding Nemo, Autopia , Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters inspired by Disney•Pixar's Toy Story 2

Least Busy - Disneyland® Railroad, Disneyland® Monorail, Captain EO Starring Michael Jackson

Other - Starcade, Innoventions

3rd: Mickey's Toontown (opens one hour after park opening)

Busiest - Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ROGER RABBIT Character ©Disney/Ambin Entertainment, Inc.

Medium - Gadget's Go Coaster, Mickey's House and Meet Mickey , Minnie's House

Least Busy - Disneyland® Resort

Other - Chip 'n Dale Treehouse, Donald's Boat, Goofy's Playhouse

4th: Frontierland

Busiest - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Least Busy - Mark Twain Riverboat, Pirate Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Sailing Ship Columbia

Other - Big Thunder Ranch, Frontierland Shootin' Exposition

5th: Critter Country

Busiest - Splash Mountain

Medium - The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Least Busy - Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes

6th: New Orleans Square

Busiest - Haunted Mansion

Medium - Pirates of the Caribbean

Least Busy - Disneyland® Railroad

7th: Adventureland

Busiest - Indiana Jones™ Adventure ©Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.

Medium - Jungle Cruise

Least Busy - Enchanted Tiki Room

Other - Tarzan's Treehouse™

8th: Main Street, U.S.A.

Least Busy - Main Street Vehicles, Disneyland® Railroad

Other - Main Street Cinema, The Disneyland® Story presenting Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, The Disney Gallery