Shay's 2020 Disneyland Travel Thoughts
A friend of ours is planning a trip to Disneyland Resort (DLR) a little later this year, and my husband suggested I might write up a few tips to share, since she hadn't been to Disneyland in easily over 20 years. It of course turned into a novel, and he then suggested I should put up a blog about it in case any other friends would appreciate it, and for reference later. I have broken it into sections, and split my thoughts between Disneyland and California Adventure, with a few bonus hotel suggestions and Downtown Disney thoughts. Without further ado, here is Shay's incomplete but very personal guide to a quick trip to Disneyland Resort.
GENERAL TIPS
HOTEL SUGGESTIONS
ATTRACTION RECOMMENDATIONS
FOOD/RESTAURANT RECOMMENDATIONS
GENERAL TIPS
If you can afford park hoppers, do them. You won't feel as constrained in your options on a given day, and if you find one day a given park is more crowded than you want, you can hop over to the other park and avoid the crush. Or maybe you just aren't feeling the vibe in this park, and would rather run over to eat this food or try to get on that ride in the other park this evening. The resort opens up and since the parks in DLR.
Disney Fastpass is free--you can get pre-reserved time slots to get in line for a ride that will speed up your wait times significantly. The only downside is you have to pick up a paper ticket at a kiosk next to the attraction you want it for EXCEPT for one centralized kiosk in Tomorrowland they are experimenting with (last I heard, Oct 2019). Only the busiest attractions have them, not all. If you want to skip that rigmarole, you can pay $15 extra per person per day to get MaxPass, where you can make the same reservations from your phone. So instead of ever feeling you wanna get up early to get in to try and get a Fastpass for a ride, you can do it from your hotel room. That may sound like overkill, but depending on how busy the parks are when you go, it may be a good option, so I wanted to mention it.
The day you arrive and the day you leave you may or may not want to have a park ticket. If you do, awesome, go for it. If you don't, take a walk around the Grand Californian hotel, or check out Downtown Disney, which has some fun shops to meander through and some restaurants to enjoy. It's basically a Disneyfied outdoor mall, so not super exciting, but there's stuff there to pass the time if you have a few hours to kill. There's a temporary Star Wars VR experience there now, https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/downtown-disney-district/void-step-beyond-reality/
And I love people-watching. There's lots of that to be had there. Find a bar or restaurant with a view, or grab a snack on a bench. It's free entertainment. In the evenings if the weather is nice, there is also literal free entertainment with musicians and magicians and whatnot hired by Disney to busk along the promenade. There's bowling at Splitsville, if you're into that, and even a Salt & Straw there now, if you like your local heroes of ice cream! There is also always the hotel pool or hot tub on your arrival day. Speaking of which...
HOTEL SUGGESTIONS
Note: if you have AAA, don't forget to ask about discounts!
Also, pay attention to your maps if you choose something other than what I list below. There will be lots of hotels who claim to be "right across the street", but that can mean right across the street from a wall you can't enter through. If you want the easiest walk, you want to be on Harbor Blvd as close to the hotels mentioned. If further away, make sure they have a shuttle because those extra blocks of walking make for a big deal at the end of an entire day of walking.
Best Western Park Place Inn - right at the crosswalk to the resort property--closest, affordable, and well appointed. Good staff, recently remodeled, too. Good breakfast.
https://parkplaceinnandminisuites.com/
Best Western Anaheim Inn - close second, though tends to be a little less well-appointed than Park Place Inn. Also recently renovated. It's next door to our top choice, so is also super close. Similar price point. Owned by the same franchisee now so may have improved since we last visited.
https://anaheiminn.com/
Tropicana Inn - This one was the "I don't plan to spend any time in my room" hotel for years. It's seen some significant improvements since then, but I haven't been there in a long time. I just know it's still walking distance, but tended to be cheaper than the other two. So if on a budget or don't care about the hotel too overly much beyond "clean and serviceable", I could recommend this one.
https://tropicanainn-anaheim.com/
GENERAL TIPS
HOTEL SUGGESTIONS
ATTRACTION RECOMMENDATIONS
FOOD/RESTAURANT RECOMMENDATIONS
GENERAL TIPS
If you can afford park hoppers, do them. You won't feel as constrained in your options on a given day, and if you find one day a given park is more crowded than you want, you can hop over to the other park and avoid the crush. Or maybe you just aren't feeling the vibe in this park, and would rather run over to eat this food or try to get on that ride in the other park this evening. The resort opens up and since the parks in DLR.
Disney Fastpass is free--you can get pre-reserved time slots to get in line for a ride that will speed up your wait times significantly. The only downside is you have to pick up a paper ticket at a kiosk next to the attraction you want it for EXCEPT for one centralized kiosk in Tomorrowland they are experimenting with (last I heard, Oct 2019). Only the busiest attractions have them, not all. If you want to skip that rigmarole, you can pay $15 extra per person per day to get MaxPass, where you can make the same reservations from your phone. So instead of ever feeling you wanna get up early to get in to try and get a Fastpass for a ride, you can do it from your hotel room. That may sound like overkill, but depending on how busy the parks are when you go, it may be a good option, so I wanted to mention it.
The day you arrive and the day you leave you may or may not want to have a park ticket. If you do, awesome, go for it. If you don't, take a walk around the Grand Californian hotel, or check out Downtown Disney, which has some fun shops to meander through and some restaurants to enjoy. It's basically a Disneyfied outdoor mall, so not super exciting, but there's stuff there to pass the time if you have a few hours to kill. There's a temporary Star Wars VR experience there now, https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/downtown-disney-district/void-step-beyond-reality/
And I love people-watching. There's lots of that to be had there. Find a bar or restaurant with a view, or grab a snack on a bench. It's free entertainment. In the evenings if the weather is nice, there is also literal free entertainment with musicians and magicians and whatnot hired by Disney to busk along the promenade. There's bowling at Splitsville, if you're into that, and even a Salt & Straw there now, if you like your local heroes of ice cream! There is also always the hotel pool or hot tub on your arrival day. Speaking of which...
HOTEL SUGGESTIONS
Note: if you have AAA, don't forget to ask about discounts!
Also, pay attention to your maps if you choose something other than what I list below. There will be lots of hotels who claim to be "right across the street", but that can mean right across the street from a wall you can't enter through. If you want the easiest walk, you want to be on Harbor Blvd as close to the hotels mentioned. If further away, make sure they have a shuttle because those extra blocks of walking make for a big deal at the end of an entire day of walking.
Best Western Park Place Inn - right at the crosswalk to the resort property--closest, affordable, and well appointed. Good staff, recently remodeled, too. Good breakfast.
https://parkplaceinnandminisuites.com/
Best Western Anaheim Inn - close second, though tends to be a little less well-appointed than Park Place Inn. Also recently renovated. It's next door to our top choice, so is also super close. Similar price point. Owned by the same franchisee now so may have improved since we last visited.
https://anaheiminn.com/
Tropicana Inn - This one was the "I don't plan to spend any time in my room" hotel for years. It's seen some significant improvements since then, but I haven't been there in a long time. I just know it's still walking distance, but tended to be cheaper than the other two. So if on a budget or don't care about the hotel too overly much beyond "clean and serviceable", I could recommend this one.
https://tropicanainn-anaheim.com/
No DLR on-site hotel recommendations? They are just way overpriced for what you get, in our opinion, and we can get steep discounts that still don't make it worth 3-5X more than these hotels we typically stay at. In Disney World, the price is worth it because of the seamless experience--the transportation, the theming, the Magic Bands tied to your door key and room expenditures, and much more. At Disneyland, they just don't have the same incentives. And two of the hotels are actually fewer steps from the Disneyland gates than any of the resort hotels (we counted...twice).
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