Walt disney world tips
Purchase MaxPass
A great Disneyland tip for anyone wanting awesome pictures is to buy MaxPass. For only $15/guest you can purchase MaxPass. MaxPass allows you to make FASTPASS reservations through the Disneyland mobile app instead of having to go to the machines in front of the actual ride. This is such a huge time saver! Once you walk into the park, start making your reservations and just hit the rides. You can also get unlimited free Disney PhotoPass downloads (if you purchased that plan). This is a big money saver, because often you have to pay to download those pictures.
Download the Disneyland Mobile App
I highly recommend downloading the Disneyland mobile app for your phone. Through this you can get a FASTPASS reservation (with MaxPass), see the park showtimes, park hours, wait times for each ride, make mobile food orders, and see your GPS location inside the park. Mobile ordering is a really cool feature on the Disneyland mobile app and will totally save you some time getting your food. You can use the Disneyland mobile app to order your food and beat the line. You pay through the app and just pick your food up from the window once it’s ready. This is awesome when you are at Disneyland with toddlers. You can also use the Disneyland mobile app to find the locations of all the characters in the park. This is super helpful when you’re visiting Disneyland with toddlers. The Disneyland mobile app is very helpful in navigating the parks to get the most out of your visit. You will use this app more than you imagined during your stay. READ MORE: The 21 Best Travel Apps You’re Not Using (But Should)
Park Hopper Tickets and Combining Parks on Multi-Day visits
If you are visiting Disneyland on multiple days, I highly recommend purchasing Park Hopper tickets. Park Hopper tickets allow guests to go to multiple parks in one day. The regular entrance ticket only allows you to enter 1 park per day. The Park Hopper tickets allow you greater flexibility during your visit. If one park is really packed and the lines are long, you can open up the Disneyland mobile app to see if the other park has shorter lines. I use this hack often, especially at Disneyland Park. Disneyland Park is the busiest park, and thus has the longest lines. If you run out of FASTPASSes and can’t stand to wait in long lines, check out the other park to find better ride options. Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure are right next to each other, as in a 2-minute walk across from each other. It’s super easy to get from one park to the other.
Purchasing Disneyland Tickets
You basically have 2 ticket options when going to any Disney park: admission to one park per day or a Park Hopper ticket. The difference being you are either confined to one park per day or you can bounce between the different parks with your ticket. When going to a Disney theme park I highly recommend getting a Park Hopper ticket. This is especially true if you are spending multiple days at the parks. The benefit being, if one park is super crowded, you can just hop over to the other park with shorter wait times. A Park Hopper ticket also gives you the opportunity to get in more rides each day at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. These tickets are more expensive, however, in my opinion they are totally worth it. One of my favorite Disneyland tips and tricks is to buy tickets through a 3rd party vendor to save money. After visiting several sites, the one I found with the best prices was Undercover Tourist. For a 3-day Park Hopper ticket purchased through Disney was going to be $355. Whereas through Undercover Tourist it only cost $329. That’s a savings of $26 for 1 person – a total win in my book! I recommend you print out the e-ticket they send and bring it with you to Will Call at the entrance to get your actual ticket. You might be able to just pull up the email to show it to them and receive your tickets. However, I always recommend printing out the email and bring it just in case. You do not want to travel all the way to Disneyland only to be told that you can’t get a ticket because you didn’t have the printout. Take a look at the table below to see how you can save up to $29 per Disneyland ticket by purchasing through Undercover Tourist!
And last but not least, MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY DAY
Be a kid, have fun, and eat delicious food!
For Disney Springs restaurant reservation, check Open Table
You can make reservations at a few Disney Springs restaurants using Open Table. This is very useful especially when the My Disney Experience app shows zero restaurant availability on their end.
Consider a Deluxe or Plus Dining plan if you want to eat at signature restaurants.
These two dining plans proved too with enough credits to eat at Signature restaurants every day if needed.
When at Whispering Canyon, opt for the bottom milkshakes as your “non-alcoholic beverage.
There’s not better way to truly maximize your meal credit than opting for a milkshake instead of a soda, juice, coffee, or tea.
Be sure to order your Disney Dining Plan before you get to Disney.
The Disney Dining Plan can only be added to your trip reservation prior to your trip (48 hours or more).
If you’re getting a military room rate at any Disney Resort, you can actually get the dining plan too.
In case you didn’t know, in order to get the Disney Dining Plan, you have to buy a Magic Your Way vacation package which consists of your resort room, dining plan, and park tickets (only if you aren’t an annual passholder or Disney Vacation Club member). But if you’re in the military (or reserves, or retired) you can get military Disney tickets for ($180ish) as opposed to anywhere upwards $250). So when booking a Disney room, you can also opt for the dining plan minus tickets.