Simplified Guide to Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure Theme Parks

Here is a collection of information you need to know for planning a visit to California’s Disney theme parks.

Disney manages parking garages and tram transportation to the two Disney Theme Parks in California and it is $40 per vehicle, per day. Once you have paid for and parked your vehicle, you will walk over to the security area where they will check your bag, have you place your metal items and phones in bins, and have you walk through a metal detector. Once through security, you will board a tram vehicle, and the tram will drive you to the Downtown Disney shopping district where you will then walk over to the nearby theme park entrance that you have a pass for.

The Disneyland theme park entrance is to your left and Disney’s California Adventure theme park entrance is to your right.

You can purchase single day or a multiple day theme park pass and you will select one theme park to visit per day. I recommend that you purchase your tickets in advance, even if it is just the night before. With a ticket already purchased, you just head to the gate, scan your pass, enter, and go have fun.

I have done both single day visits to each Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure and I have experienced a 2 day park ticket pass with the park hopper addition. This past year, we chose to just visit the Disneyland theme park with single day tickets. We did consider adding the park hopper to our one day park ticket, but a favorite ride there at California Adventure, the Radiator Springs Racers ride in the Cars themed land, was being refurbished at the time.

Before purchasing a multi-day ticket, be sure to compare the total price of your multi-day tickets with the total price if you were to purchase certain individual days one at a time. Depending on when you plan to visit, you could find that it is cheaper to select two individual days than it would be to purchase a 2 day ticket package.

When purchasing tickets, you have the option to pay extra to add park hopper to your theme park ticket.
Whether or not you choose to purchase the Park Hopper add-on will depend on: 
1.) How many days you have available to visit the Disney California theme parks – If you only have time for a one day visit and you want to see as much as you can, having a park hopper is worth it.
2.) What rides or attractions do you want to ride and in which park are they located? If your preferred rides are in both parks and you are hoping to ride them each day during your visit, having a Park Hopper makes this possible.

The two Disney theme park entrance gates in California are literally right across from one another. This makes it easier to go from one park to the other with a park hopper when visiting the Disney parks in California. You do need to allow time to walk from within one park, through the gates, and into the next park, but it is an easy distance between to two parks.

Check the ride and attraction refurbishment list at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure ahead of time for which rides will be closed during your visit. This could impact your decision to park hop if certain rides are closed that you were hoping to ride during your visit.

How many days do I need to in order to see both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure?
Because the two theme parks are across from each other, it is possible to get a feel for both parks in one day with a park hopper pass. However, spending at least two days at the two parks, with a park hopper, allows you to cover more of the parks then feeling rushed for all in one day.
Currently it has been shared with me that those most familiar with the California Disney theme parks, rarely purchase a single day ticket just for Disney’s California Adventure. They either just visit Disneyland or they choose to purchase the park hopper so that they can visit both California Adventure and head over to Disneyland after they have seen the attractions they enjoy at California Adventure.

The Car’s Land area of Disney’s California Adventure is really well done, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT ride replaced the previous Tower of Terror ride, and the World of Color evening entertainment show is a fan favorite. Right now, though, Disney’s California Adventure is in its transformation time period. There are plans in the upcoming years to add some major updates and new attractions to Disney’s California Adventure, but for now, it seems that park hopper feels most worthwhile as the park completes its updates. You may disagree with this opinion and feel that there is plenty to do at California Adventure that is worth a full day without park hopper. It all depends on you, how much you want to do in a day, and how you want to spend your time. 

What rides are in Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure?
Rides in Disneyland: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Lightning Lane Single Pass), Space Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, Autopia, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Peter Pan’s Flight, It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White’s Enchanted Wish, Mad Tea Party, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, Dumbo’s Flight, King Arthur Carrousel, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Astro Orbitor

Rides in Disney’s California Adventure: Radiator Springs Racers (Lightning Lane Single Pass), Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters, Incredicoaster, Grizzly River Run, Soarin’ Around the World, Toy Story Midway Mania!, Goofy’s Sky School, WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure, Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Jessie’s Critter Carousel, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind

Which rides or attractions at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure have Lightning Lanes?
The attractions listed in bold above under each park, have a Lightning Lane option that can be purchased in addition to your daily entrance ticket. Lightning Lanes can help you ride more rides that you are hoping to experience while at Disney on your theme park days without dealing with high wait times especially during peak crowds. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Disneyland and Radiator Springs Racers in Disney’s California Adventure have a Lightning Lane Single Pass that is purchased separately and are not included in the Multi Pass.

Do I need to purchase a Lightning Lane pass for the Disney parks in California?
Not necessarily. Are you visiting during peak season or on a day when a lot of people are expected to be in the parks? Are you trying to cover both parks and ride everything you can in a short time frame? How many attractions that offer Lightning Lanes do you plan to ride? If you are set to visit during a busy time or if you are expecting to ride all of those Lightning Lane offered attractions during each day of your visit, purchasing Lightning Lane Passes would be a great addition for you to get to all you plan to experience.

When we visited in August and September, on a lower price and lower crowd level ticket day, we did not purchase Lightning Lane passes for Disneyland. We were able to ride all of the Lightning Lane attractions and non Lightning Lane attractions with at most a 30 minute wait. Being in just one park for the day, it felt relaxed and we could check the wait times and decide where to go in the moment. If we had decided to include a park hopper to also visit California Adventure, I probably would have considered purchasing a Lightning Lane more seriously, but, for just Disneyland we didn’t need it.

If you are trying to compare to a Disney World Lightning Lane experience, you should take note that there are more attractions available with Lightning Lanes at the theme parks at Disney World in Florida and you can select three Lightning Lanes at a time than at the Disney parks in California. In California there are not as many rides offered for Lightning Lanes and you can only select one Lightning Lane at a time. More details on the California Disney Lightning Lanes are described below.

What types of Lightning Lane Passes can I purchase at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure?
If you would like to try to shorten the wait time spent in the Standby lines, purchasing the Lightning Lane Multi Passes allow you to select an hour time frame for one ride at a time in order to enter a shorter ride line called the lightning lane line. The price is $34 per ticket. Once two hours have passed since you selected your Lightning Lane attraction, or as soon as you have ridden the ride that you selected with the Lightning Lane, you can then select your next Lightning Lane ride. If you also have Park Hopper addition on your ticket, you can select a Lightning Lane at both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure. Purchasing the Lightning Lane Premier Passes also gives you free access to the Disney PhotoPass Service and Disney PhotoPass Lenses which includes the photos of you taken by in-park photographers and also photos taken of you on various rides with unlimited downloads.

Lightning Lane Single Passes are purchased individually for two specific rides at the Disney California parks: Radiator Springs Racers in Disney’s California Adventure and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Disneyland. The price is different per ride and ranges from $18-$28 per ticket. You can purchase the single lightning lane pass individually for one or both of these rides for each day that you would like and then select an hour time frame in order to ride the ride the attraction by entering the faster lightning lane line.

Lightning Lane Premier Passes allow you to ride each attraction once at any time during park hours by entering the lightning lane lines in one specific Disney park selected for the day. Premier Lightning lane passes will work in both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure if you have Park Hopper. The price of premier lightning lane passes ranges from $300-$449 per ticket depending on when you are visiting the park. Purchasing the Lightning Lane Premier Passes also gives you free access to the Disney PhotoPass Service and Disney PhotoPass Lenses which includes the photos of you by in-park photographers and also photos taken of you on various rides with unlimited downloads.

How early should I arrive to visit Disneyland or Disney’s California Adventure?
While at Disney World in Florida it is essential to be in the park, or at least in line, before the park opens, at Disneyland it is a bit more relaxed. From my own experience, we arrived around opening time, entered the park and rode the rides based on their lower wait times. Mornings are the best times for riding as many rides as possible. As the day goes by, the wait times get longer especially once California Adventure closes for the day and the park hopper visitors come over to Disneyland. Disneyland will then stay busy until closing. Wait times didn’t lower too much unless parades, fireworks, or evening shows were happening at the same time.

Which attractions at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure take your photo while on the ride?
In Disneyland, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Space Mountain both take photos of you while on the ride. We were able to link the number displayed on the screen with the photo, after exiting the ride, to our accounts on the Disneyland app and could then save them on our phones. 
In Disney’s California Adventure, Incredicoaster and Radiator Springs Racers take your picture on the ride.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in Disneyland also technically takes your photo on the ride, but it is not linked to the Disneyland App and visitors have mentioned online that they rarely get the photo emailed to them after entering it on the screen after the ride. This was true for us. We entered an email there but no Astro Blasters ride attraction photo showed up in our emails.

What are some popular food or snack options at Disneyland or Disney’s California Adventure?
Prior to my visit to Disneyland, I did some research for the best foods in the park and came up with a list of things to try. I watched some food suggestion videos and skimmed through some blog posts. Overall it seems as though guests prefer the food options at Disney’s California Adventure, specifically at Pym’s Test Kitchen and the Pacific Wharf Cafe, but I did find some well reviewed options at Disneyland too. In addition to quick service restaurants, there are some popular sit down restaurants at the parks, such as the Blue Bayou Restaurant which is located within the Pirates of The Caribbean ride, that can take reservations ahead of your visit. 
Disney restaurants do update and rotate food items throughout the year, so it is a good idea to do your own research too near the time of your visit.
Quick-service foods I researched at Disneyland:
Savory foods and snacks:
Rancho del Zocalo Restaurant next to Thunder Mountain – Pollo Asado Meal,
Jolly Holiday near Adventureland entrance – Beef Birria Toasted Cheese Sandwich,
Cafe Daisy in Toontown – Pizza Flops, and
Maurice’s Treats left of Sleeping Beauty Castle – Garlic Cheesy Pretzel Bread
Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo Restaurant in Galaxy’s Edge, and
Oga’s Cantina, in Galaxy’s Edge, is a Star Wars themed bar offering both alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks and light snacks. No prior reservation is needed anymore for Oga’s Cantina, but you do need to give your name and stand outside for a little bit before they can get you inside. The wait was not too long. Once inside, unless you have a larger group, most likely you will be standing at a narrow table space alongside other people.
Savory and sweet:
Royal Street Veranda next to New Orleans Square – Monte Cristo Sandwich
Sweet:
Mint Julep Bar next to New Orleans Train Station – Beignets,
Tropical Hideaway next to Jungle Cruise – Dole Whip Float,
Jolly Holiday near Adventureland entrance – Desserts
Harbor Gallery in Liberty Square – Chocolate Chip Cookies from Harbor Gallery, and
Churros from the churro food cart near Haunted Mansion.

What are some popular souvenirs you can purchase at Disneyland? 
Silhouettes from the Silhouette Studio on Main Street, U.S.A. There can be a long wait for this depending on the day and the time of day. If timed right, the wait is not too bad, and it is a very nice souvenir that you can get, individually or with multiple people, cut for you in the moment by an artist. The line technically starts in the store to the left of the studio and you exit the silhouette studio door when you are leaving. Check online for current pricing.
Embroidered personalized hats at the Mad Hatter shop in Fantasyland. The item needs to be newly purchased from a Disneyland Resort location, tagged, and with a receipt to show them as proof. Some online say they will embroider newly purchased clothing, but do your own research on this or ask someone in the store while at the park.
Personalized leather bracelets from the Pioneer Mercantile in Frontierland.
Pressed penny of the Disneyland Castle. Pressed penny designs and their machine locations can be found online and researched ahead of time. They currently offer the Disneyland Castle with the 70th Anniversary design at the Candy Kitchen on Main Street, U.S.A.
Nuttles are popular caramel, pecan, and milk chocolate candies from the Candy Palace on Main Street U.S.A, made only on certain days of the week. I did ask on a Tuesday and they said Wednesdays and Fridays are when they make them, but this could vary. I also saw online that someone said they also make them on Mondays. There are other popular sweets at the Candy Palace, such as Churro Toffee, that are available daily for purchase.

Special Events at Disney’s California Theme Parks:
Disneyland After Dark Special Events during certain evenings of the year:
Sweethearts’ Nite – late January through mid-February,
90s Nite – 2 nights early March (in 2026, they are doing 70 years of Favorites nite instead),
Disney Channel Nite – 3 nights in mid-April,
Star Wars Nite – last week of April – 1st week in May, and
Pride Nite – 2 nights mid-June
These special event tickets allow entry to Disneyland at 6pm, the regular park guests leave at 8pm, and the party time is from 9pm to 1am.
Disney’s California Adventure’s Oogie Boogie Bash – Halloween Party – mid August through October 31st. An Oogie Boogie Bash ticket allows entry to Disney’s California Adventure around 3pm, the regular park guests leave at 6pm, and the party time is from 6pm to 11pm.