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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Anyone been to Disneyland?

42 replies

Jaffacake76 · 03/01/2023 22:52

Hi,

Hoping to visit family in USA this summer & spend 4-5 days at Disneyland especially Star Wars Land. We have boys 10/12.

Has anyone been? Is it worth it, especially July/Aug?

Thanks for any tips x

OP posts:
Beexo · 04/01/2023 00:25

We went end of may 2022. It was so hot stifling humid my DD refused to go the parks more than one day. She wanted to go to the water parks and beach to cool off 🤣🤣 waste of money.

Askingforfriend · 04/01/2023 00:48

I live in So Cal. Weather in May/June has zero relevance to July/August. People who are saying it is horridly humid are likely talking about Florida.

July/August could be warm or could be hot. It is likely to be no hotter than about 30oC. So hot but not unbearable. Certainly doable if you seek shade during the hottest part of the day and go back to the hotel to swim or siesta late afternoon if it gets too bad.

It is likely to be very busy. Your experience will likely depend on if you are the type to chill and see the less popular things or if going on as many big rides as you can is your thing. We used to have season passes and some of the less popular stuff is still a whole lot of fun so we would interlace busy stuff with less busy stuff. If you are trying to do as much as possible to justify the insane ticket prices you might get very frustrated.

FixItUpChappie · 04/01/2023 01:18

We just went in May 2022 with our 9 and 11 yr old. It was a whirlwind. I can't imagine how crowded it must be in July and August. There are lots of YouTube videos on going to Disney and I'm sure this topic will be covered so do a bit of research because even in May I felt like the park needed to do something to limit entry and improve the experience.

A few suggestions:

  1. Get the Genie pass, dont even consider not getting it.
  1. Also pay to get on the Rise of the Resistance and Cars - just do it. They are both excellent and you have to get on with your day.
  1. Be prepared to basically hand your wallet to Mr Disney.
  1. Book restaurants WAY in advance (like now) - there is literally no where to sit down because they removed the benches (they removed the benches Hmm). By late lunch you will be dying to sit down
  1. Be prepared to get up very early each day. Arrive for the "rope drop" and plan out where to go (everyone will go to Rise of the Resistance) so try to go left if everyone else is going right.
  1. Do get a Mint Julep at the New Orleans Cafe or at the Mint Julep Bar (ours were passion fruit - so so yum)
  1. Bring a portable phone charger - the app burns through your battery and your phone is essential
  1. Get a hotel where you can walk over to the park. If you need a car, know that the Toy Story parking lot is very efficient and has its own security screening which is nice.

Just a few thoughts.

Our boys absolutely loved it and I would like to try Disney World and its other parks but I would want more days because I really did find it completely rushed and exhausting - like we went to Disneyland? It's like we didn't even go for me and we did 2 days at Disneyland and 1 at Disneyland California.

SummerLightning · 04/01/2023 01:30

I just checked and we actually went end of July and it was a weekend too due to covid rearrangement - although it was busy we just checked the queues on the app and used the genie tickets and managed to do everything good at least once. (we had 1 day at each park). Admittedly we did not stop much and went from 7am to closing each day!

We did regret not getting the park Hopper thing but we didn't pay for cars or rise of resistance, just went to them first each day (yes everyone was going there too, we just made sure we beat most of them!)

We did find places to eat in the park they were probably crap ones though as lots of places booked out. I wouldn't bother leaving to eat -places like Panera just outside the park had their prices jacked up compared to elsewhere in CA and inside was not that pricey in comparison

Minniemousenotmickey · 04/01/2023 06:35

Ok so I see the free fast pass machines were retired at the end of 2021 - it’s now Genie. Still pretty cheap compared to what we get charged even for Chessington, Alton Towers etc. As others have said, end of August is better and that’s when we went. I checked a site called “is it packed” It was quite accurate strangely. I know people have said to do a day in each park but I really recommend a park hopper as you can go to the other when one is too busy. And we went 4 days but like I said we went outside for lunch time/afternoon. If you want a break from the sun I can throughly recommend going in the theatre for a performance. It was included when we went - now who knows! You get to sit down for an hour! It’s bliss. When we went it was frozen and was well before the show came over here.

Minniemousenotmickey · 04/01/2023 06:44

Ok so I’m going to leave you to people who have been more recently as I now see the bloody theatre is closed! Things seem to change quite regularly. Someone said they’ve removed the benches 😱 Anyway the main thing is August is fine in California and at the end of August it’s not too crowded to enjoy.

Original poster
Jaffacake76 · 05/01/2023 23:28

Thanks so much for your replies!!! I’m prepared for the long queues & my boys have mentioned if they ever went to USA they’d even be excited going to a Taco Bell & a skate park so im sure they’ll be blown away by the whole experience! They’re easily pleased!!
I’ll definitely be buying the unofficial guide & making notes from your comments so thank you!!

xx

OP posts:
HappyTalkingTalkingHappyTalk · 06/01/2023 06:47

Ahh apologies
I default to Florida because DF lives there.

For anyone interested, end of Feb beginning of March or November are great times to go. Not too hot, not humid and you can walk straight on the rides with no queues. Avoid thanksgiving though.

Have an amazing time op.

runwithme · 06/01/2023 07:08

OP, we visited DL last year, spent 2 days there and 1 in the studios. We stayed opposite, so were able to get there for rope drop, spend the morning there and then the afternoon at the pool at our hotel. We could have gone back later but my little one has mobility issues so we stayed at the hotel. We only used the fast track (I forgot its name) for the studios.
It did get hotter throughout the day, and queued grew quickly as time went on but we'd hit about 6 rides in the morning. There was only one ride we didn't get to go that we wanted to, and we could have if we were that bothered!

ILostMyself · 06/01/2023 07:17

We went to DL in LA last August and it wasn’t unbearably hot at all. I’ve felt much worse heat in Florida at the parks.

We stayed at the Grand Floridian and as pp said, it’s great because you can walk straight into one of the parks from the hotel (separate entrance and zero queue). Definitely get the genie plus, it is worth it (and pay for rise of the resistance). We loved the California Adventure park the best, so much fun.

You only need 1 day in each of the 2 parks though. We also loved Universal Studios and Warner Brothers studios too. The tours of real life sets are amazing.

runwithme · 06/01/2023 10:34

I agree, the studio tours were brilliant. Warner Bros is more of a backlot tour, with a great interactive museum type space. Universal has some fantastic rides, and they have these water fans which gave much needed relief!

Jas5mum · 08/01/2023 00:00

I'm planning a trip there. Its gonna take a few years to save. Doing 1 day LA sightseeing, 1 day at universal studios then 4 days at disneyland. Going to celebrate both children completing their GCSEs 😃

HermioneWeasley · 08/01/2023 10:05

We went last summer for 3 days at the end of August. Allegedly American schools were back but there were lots of kids and families there! It was hot but manageable (low 30s). A week or so later I saw it was in the 40s! A lot of the queueing is outside with no shade. We stayed in the Howard Johnson which was 10 mins walk away and a lovely hotel. Ubers were also plentiful and cheap. Mobile ordering food was a necessity.

we had 3 days with genie plus and we did everything we wanted to once (managed rise of the resistance and smugglers run twice) but I’d have liked another day to do the rides in California adventure again. If you’re prepared to pay again to skip the queues on the big rides (Star Wars ones, Spider-Man, radiator springs racers) then 2 or 3 days would be enough.

Askingforfriend · 08/01/2023 21:31

Not that you asked, but I think Orange County fair is in July or August. I've never been but our San Diego county fair (usually ends July 4th weekend) is worth seeing if you've never seen one so I'm assuming OC might be. worth looking into at least.

You might also look into Knotts Berry Farm as well if you are in the area

Askingforfriend · 08/01/2023 21:33

HermioneWeasley · 08/01/2023 10:05

We went last summer for 3 days at the end of August. Allegedly American schools were back but there were lots of kids and families there! It was hot but manageable (low 30s). A week or so later I saw it was in the 40s! A lot of the queueing is outside with no shade. We stayed in the Howard Johnson which was 10 mins walk away and a lovely hotel. Ubers were also plentiful and cheap. Mobile ordering food was a necessity.

we had 3 days with genie plus and we did everything we wanted to once (managed rise of the resistance and smugglers run twice) but I’d have liked another day to do the rides in California adventure again. If you’re prepared to pay again to skip the queues on the big rides (Star Wars ones, Spider-Man, radiator springs racers) then 2 or 3 days would be enough.

yeah September is usually our hottest month and can be quite brutal in the full sun. Plus some families come out for the Labor Day holiday and so are here right at the very end of August and go home straight afterwards.

omnishambles · 09/01/2023 12:51

We normally stay at the Howard Johnson across the street as its close, next to restaurants and has a good splash pad/pool. No need to splurge on the onsite hotels - save that money for Rise!

omnishambles · 09/01/2023 12:52

Watch some Ordinary Adventures on Youtube for tips and hype.

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