Here’s everything you need to know about purchasing Disneyland tickets. How do they work? What can you purchase? Do you need a reservation? Here is a step-by-step guide of all the information you need to know ahead of time when purchasing your tickets. It also includes some FAQs for Disneyland tickets as well. 1. How long are you staying at Disneyland for? When you visit Disneyland Resort you can purchase tickets for durations of 1 day to 5 days. Disneyland refers to these as single-day tickets our multi-day tickets. When purchasing a multi-day ticket, know that the days do not have to be used consecutively. For instance, if you are staying at one of their hotels and want to have a pool or nearby beach day in the middle of your visit, you can do that. The multi-day tickets just have to be used within 13 days from the first day of use. For example, if I knew we were going to Disneyland in February and again in August this year, I couldn’t buy a five day ticket at a cheaper price to use on both of these trips. I would have to buy different tickets for each visit since they are more than 13 days apart. 2. What Disneyland park(s) do you want to visit and when? Once you know how long you are going to stay, then you have the option to decide what parks you are going to visit and on what days. You can decide to visit only Disneyland on certain days, only California Adventure on certain days or both parks every day of your visit. If you want to visit both parks on the same day, you’ll need to purchase a park hopper ticket. Park hopper pricing is a one-time charge. Right now, it’s $65 per ticket to add on park hopping for one day. It’s a flat $60 per ticket to add on park hopping for more than one day of your visit. What that means is that you only pay the $60 once to park hop for however long your visit is - not every single day of your visit. For instance, if you are visiting for 5 days, you don’t pay $60 every day to park hop, you pay $60 once and can park hop for all 5 days as much as you’d like. Even if you are park hopping, you still have to select initially which park you’d like to start your day in every day of your visit. You’ll start in that park and then at 11:00 AM on that day, you can begin using your park hopping benefits. 3. How much are Disneyland tickets? It depends on the time year and day of the week you are visiting. Unfortunately, there’s not a good way to gauge how expensive tickets are going to be on certain dates. You get a price break per day when you commit to a multi-day ticket. Disneyland has recently been running promotions to encourage more visits during off-peak seasons. However, it’s still really hard to determine pricing on certain days vs others unless you are playing around with their ticket calculator. 4. How late is Disneyland open? It’s really important that you check the park schedules for Disneyland and California Adventure before committing to one park or the other on certain days. California Adventure and Disneyland both can close early on certain days due to special events like the Oogie Boogie Bash. If you aren’t doing a park-hopper ticket, you don’t want to be stuck committed to an early closing park when you could have easily swapped the days. 5. What days are you visiting Disneyland? Do I need to make a reservation? When you purchase your Disneyland tickets, you have to designate them to a certain individual. You also have to specify which dates you are going to be visiting. This is referred to as a park reservation. Park reservations started when Disneyland began opening back up in 2020 to help limit crowds. The parks have kept the reservation system to ensure guest traveling from longer distances will indeed be able to visit the park on their trip rather than chance it. You can always modify your Disneyland reservation on their website or on the Disneyland app. Either way, when you purchase the tickets you’ll be prompted to create your own Disneyland account. The reservations will always live under the Disneyland account for ease of modifying and accessing them. They are also confirmed via email and tied to your email address. The tickets are not the same as the reservation although they are basically tied completely together. It’s important that you look to make sure that both Disneyland and California Adventure are not at capacity already the days you are visiting. The reservation ensures that you’ll be able to visit the parks on your specified days and that the parks will not be already at capacity. 6. How far out can you make Disneyland reservations? You can make reservations 120 days in advance and you can modify them if you need to change the dates you are planning to visit. 7. What rides are open at Disneyland? You’ll want to check the Disneyland calendar to review what rides are closed for refurbishment. Remember that rides like the Haunted Mansion close at least two times each year to transition to Halloween and back. Disneyland usually announces larger closures well in advanced before they happen. Even if a ride is not a scheduled closure, that does not mean it won’t necessarily be closed on the date of your visit. Rides often break down for unscheduled reasons. However, most times engineers can get these back on track on the same day. 8. Can I share my Disneyland ticket with someone else? No - you cannot. Disneyland tickets are non-transferable. The park started taking pictures of each ticket holder to verify the correct person is entering the park on the right ticket. You do have to delegate a ticket to each member of your party. Once Disneyland has taken the picture of the ticket holder, you can no longer change ownership of that particular ticket. 9. What’s happening at Disneyland on the day I’m visiting? Again, the calendar for Disneyland is the best place to check for entertainment opportunities. The calendar will have everything from the Dapper Dans to parades to fireworks listed. Usually fireworks on more on the weekends and nighttime projection shows are during the week. Regardless, the calendar will have everything you need to give you an idea of what’s happening on the days you are visiting. 10. What’s the Disney app? Literally everything is tied to the Disney app. Because of this, it’s critical that you have enough phone battery on your visit! There aren’t paper tickets anymore (very rare). Instead, all of the tickets are sent electronically on devices. The entrance gates will scan the barcode for every ticket directly on your phone. You can use tickets via email or via the app. In my opinion, the app is easier to navigate and they are all in one place. Even when sometimes I am confused using the app, all the cast members are very well trained on how to navigate the app and can always easily help me find exactly what I need. Not only can you use the app to carry your tickets, you can also use the app to check entertainment, wait times, and character greetings. This is helpful to give you an idea of how busy the park might be on the day of your visit. It will also give you an idea of other offerings that might be happening that might not be listed on the calendar - mostly character greetings. 11. Does my 2 year old need a ticket? No! Any guest under the age of 3 does not need their own ticket. We have really taken advantage of this - although it is a bummer that the younger kids won’t remember as much about the vacation. Children tickets are for guests aged 3-9. Anyone over 10 has to get a general admission ticket. 12. Can I still get in early to Disneyland? Disneyland used to have magic morning hours and guests could get into the parks early if they were staying for a certain number of days. However, the Resort changed this offering. Instead, now guest have to be staying at one of the designated Disneyland Resort hotels - The Disneyland Hotel, The Grand Californian, or Paradise Pier. Staying at one of these resorts allows guest 30 minute early access to certain sections of the park. Guests will just have to show their hotel reservations at certain rope areas of the park to pass by. The signage and guidance once you are in the park for the morning magic hour is really well laid out and easy to follow! In short, buying Disneyland tickets is an investment and if you’re like me, you want to make sure you are doing everything correctly before hitting that purchase button. They are not returnable, but like I shared earlier, you can modify the reservations if needed. The ticket process has changed a little bit throughout the years, so it’s best to brush up on the topic before purchasing.
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What are the top 5 tips for winning the Disneyland game with toddlers? First, download the Disney app early. It's amazing! I usually try to avoid downloading anything where you have to have a profile, but all your admission tickets are housed here too. You can make and manage reservations right on here. There are so many hidden gems on here. This isn't a real tip, but the rest of my tips may refer to just how important this app is! 1. Character Dining - is it worth it? Yes - to us it was! We didn't feel stressed about trying to get the kids to character meet and greets in the park because we knew we had a character dining option. We did dining at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel and at the Plaza Inn inside Disneyland. I had a tough time getting reservations at the Plaza Inn for breakfast, but I eventually did (all on the app!). If you can't find reservations at first, keep trying on the app! Lots of reservations continue to pop up randomly as people cancel theirs. Also, I noticed a lot of people doing walk up requests and they were able to get seated right away, so it's worth a shot. We loved having the reservation so we knew when the kids would be eating! *TIP* For smaller children, you still want to include them in the number of people of the reservation. You don't have to pay for children under 3 to eat, but you'll want them on the reservation so you get a large enough table to include them! The food at the Plaza Inn was delicious! We weren't as impressed with Goofy's Kitchen, but the kids loved the characters walking around and the vibe of Goofy's Kitchen. 2. Visit Fantasyland Early and/or Monitor Wait Times on the Disneyland App Fantasyland clogs up quickly! It is small and congested but there are lots of rides packed into this little area. If you arrive at the park right when it opens, you usually want to head here first to avoid longer wait times later in the day. I'd also recommend constantly checking the Disney app for wait times on these rides. They seem to stay pretty busy throughout the entire day, but there are some fluctuations in wait times. You might get lucky and be able to visit them on a lull if you can't visit them in the morning. For whatever reason, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland seem to be the BUSIEST rides ALWAYS. Dumbo and Snow White get busy off and on during the day! 3. Bring a Portable Phone Charger You need access to the app for basically everything in the park - your tickets, your photo pass, wait times, Genie+. Make sure you pack one and make sure it's charged with the right connecting cords! 4. Genie+ - is it worth it? For us, it wasn't and here's why - the kids are little and they were not ready for the majority of rides on Genie+. I think we probably would have used it more in California Adventure than in Disneyland if we did purchase it, but I'd review the rides currently included on Genie+ before making that decision. If you all are going to ride those particular rides then it probably is worth it, but we ended up hardly riding any of the thrill rides included. 5. Game Plan - even the bathrooms!
The app has made life so much more convenient for planning out the day! Here are some ways to use the app to make your day run smoother:
Packing for toddlers for Disneyland is tough, but it doesn't have to be. I had some main packing goals in mind (I know my weaknesses - overpacking):
Clothes - Obviously depending on the season you are visiting, the clothes are going to look different. However, I made 1 plastic bag outfit for each child and stuffed it into the stroller. This worked out PERFECTLY. Teddy spilled water all down the front of him at California Adventure. We grabbed the bag from the stroller and walked into the bathroom - no full diaper bag, no trip to a locker - and changed! I didn't have to repack spare clothes every day. I had these all pre-packaged from our initial packing and we were ready to go! Snacks - There is SO much to eat at Disney, but it's SO EXPENSIVE. Also - my kids don't ever eat the entire snack in one sitting. I carried on my love of the gallon ziploc bag. I made one gallon-sized bag for each kid for EACH day. I labeled them with their name and put the SAME snacks in every bag. Our snack bags had:
*TIP* - Bring plastic bags for unfinished snacks! We bought churros, but sometimes the kids wouldn't finish them or finish their Mickey Mouse shaped cooke, rice krispie treat, etc. Saving them in a nice zip plastic or REUSABLE zip bag helped make them last longer throughout the day! Also, make sure to pack their sippy cups. Teddy loves Simply Orange and Cal loves Simply Lemonade. I was very surprised to find that Disneyland sells these drinks at select locations! I always made sure to buy one to have on-hand when I saw one. I remember getting a Lemonade and pickle on a cart right outside the canoe line at Disneyland. We also got an orange juice at the coffee cart in California Adventure. You can also bring in bottled water which was great! ![]()
![]() *Update* I bought this shade cover to use for Cal since the umbrella stroller shade doesn't completely cover him when he naps. I give it a 5 out of 10 stars. It didn't come with directions, so we did our best to figure out how to tie it on. Half the time Cal was annoyed by it and half the time he didn't mind it (usually once he was completely asleep). Eh - I don't know that I'd recommend this specific one, but the sun is tough on that baby skin! I've held out for a long time on not going to Disneyland with the kids. Exhausting, right? I'm not even sure where to begin. I think it's time though. I can't wait any longer to see their little faces light up with excitement. Also, supposedly January/February are the least busy times, so it's now or in another year... so come on a journey with me as we break down the Disney barriers to understand how to EASILY plan a trip.
I'm lucky that I've been to Disneyland and understand enough about how the park works, but there's been so many changes in the past couple years that I also feel completely at a loss. Sooo here's to planning... Step 1: Check out the Disney crowd calendars. I just Googled different sites and was able to get a general sense of when it might be busy vs when it shouldn't be too busy. Sites like...Just be mindful if you are looking at Disneyland or DisneyWORLD. There seem to be A LOT more Disney World sites out there! Step 2: Visit the official Disneyland website. I know, it's simple but there's some great information I got on the website like hours of operation, ticket pricing, hotel information (we decided we wanted to stay on-site since Cal is so little yet), ride refurbishments (Boo! Haunted Mansion is closed!), dining reservations. Step 3: Once you have some general dates, get going on those dining reservations. Reservations open 60 days in advanced, so if you have less than 60 days until your trip, you'll want to make those reservations as soon as possible. They do take a credit card to make the reservations, but most of them you can cancel up to 24 hours before the reservation without getting a cancelation fee. I reserved any potential character dining that we might want to do. As I make more sense of the schedule, I can cancel these, but I wanted to snag what I could find. **PRO TIP** Keep checking! I was showing no availability for the Plaza Inn Dining for a couple days and I kept trying and was able to snag a morning spot for breakfast. Also! Even though young children won't necessarily need their own plate, keep them in your party count so you get seated at a large enough table to accommodate them! It took me FOREVER to find the answer on this one! Step 4: If you are ready to commit or even semi-ready to commit, go ahead and purchase your tickets. Disneyland now has a reservation system where you have to lock in which park you are visiting on which day. If the parks are at maximum capacity already that day, it won't let you visit, so if you are traveling during a busy time (like every day of the year) then get your tickets quickly! |
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