Are you also planning a trip to Disneyland? Then you have come to the right place! In this article, we will try to cover every detail from flights, hotels to riding the best rides. So sit and relax and start planning your trip to Disneyland with us!
ABOUT DISNEYLAND RESORT
Disneyland Resort is regionally located in Anaheim (Southern California). You can also go by car as it is about an hour outside of downtown Los Angeles. The entire resort comprises these area:
- The “castle park,” Disneyland or you can say “Disneyland park”.
- A second park that is Disney California Adventure
- Three Disney-operated hotels — Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Pixar Place Hotel
- A shopping and dining area, Downtown Disney
Within the walking distance of the surrounding are there are also countless hotels, restaurants, and stores are available that are not operated by Disney.
The Theme Parks
Disneyland park is the traditional and authentic castle park. The park consists of “the dreams, the ideals, and the hard facts that have curated America.” Disneyland park features Tomorrowland, the lands of Main Street U.S.A., Fantasyland, New Orleans Square, Bayou Country, Adventureland, Mickey’s Toontown, Frontierland, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Disney California Adventure is a park dedicated to those who built the Golden State. It is a sort of place for Disney to put the great collection of lands with awesome Disney theming. It is a home to Avengers Campus, Pixar Pier, and the stunning Cars Land.
Both the parks have great night time shows which is:
- World of Color at Disney California Adventure
- Fantasmic at Disneyland
Seasonal nighttime shows are also sometimes added.
COST OF A DISNEYLAND VACATION
If you are a family of three or five then this might help you to get a basic idea. This will highlight different options for families of three to five people which includes per person figures.
So if you are a family of four 3 over 10 years and 1 under 10 years, then our vacation prices come out to:
- Budget Trip – $5,160 approx
- Baseline Trip – $6,500 approx
- Expensive Trip – $8,880 approx
However these numbers might vary depending upon the situation.
CROWDS IN 2025
In deciding when to visit Disneyland, you’re going to need to consider crowd levels, along with events that bring even higher crowds than usual.
Crowd Levels At Disneyland
Disneyland Resort “suffers” from a huge demand problem. This is chiefly the product of its placement adjacent to the second largest metropolitan area in the United States. There are lots of annual passholders at Disneyland and lots of people just spending a day or two visiting from within California.
If you want to avoid high crowds, avoid warmer months and holidays.
Otherwise, we think an over-reliance on crowd calendars is a mistake. Don’t think that a perfect day depends on low crowds. Low crowds help, but like most any Disney park, the quality of your day is going to depend most on the amount of preparation you put into it. A beautiful California day can bring huge afternoon crowds any day of year.
How Long To Visit Disneyland
If you are visiting for the first time then we advise you to stay for four nights (three full days and two travel days. This might be a bit surprising—surely even three days for two theme parks would be too much! But Disneyland is a special place.
Disneyland park is not a one-day park. It takes at least one and a half, more like two, days to get a good sense of the place. Disney California Adventure probably is a one-day park, but repeat rides on the best attractions will push you to one and a half days.
So, in general, you want something like three and a half days for these parks. First time visitors will want to take things slower, maybe see the hotels, and spend some time in Downtown Disney. All that adds up to three full days plus some half days on either end being a good length.
You can do two amazing days at Disneyland, hitting all the highlights and many, if not most, of the other offerings. You’ll probably have to be more deliberate on your must-do rights and open to compromise when your schedule doesn’t cooperate, but it will be a great time.
GETTING TO DISNEYLAND
As you all know that Disneyland Resort is located in Anaheim (California), and can be reached under one hour outside central Los Angeles by car. But the question is how to get there if you are visiting for the first time.
Flying To Los Angeles
If you are flying to Disneyland Resort, then you have to choose between these places
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- John Wayne Airport, Orange County (SNA)
However SNA is closer but there are fewer flights available. LAX is farther and one of the busiest airports around the world.
The Economy flights to both the airports can be found between $100 to $200 per person, or it sometimes gets even lower.
Get To Disneyland From The Airport
We prefer you to take Uber from both LAX and SNA to any of the hotels or Airbnbs near Disneyland.
WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEYLAND
If you are visiting Disneyland then you have most probably two good options for accommodations:
- Hotels
- Airbnb.
Hotels
There are a huge number of hotels available near the Disneyland Resort. The three Disney-managed hotels are:
- Disney’s Pixar Place Hotel,
- Disneyland Hotel,
- Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.
All three hotels are just a short walk from the parks (5 to 15 minutes)
- Grand Californian is located next to Disney California Adventure with its own entrance into the park.
- Pixar Place Hotel also has an entrance to that park, although it is a five-minute walk from the hotel.
Apart from Disney hotels, there are several other hotels that collaborate with Disney in some capacity (such as “Good Neighbor” hotels), as well as many hotels located nearby that do not have any partnership with Disney.
Disney Hotels Price Breakdown
The disney hotels of the Disneyland are quite expensive if compared to their Walt Disney World counterparts. But the question is: How expensive? So here we have breakdown the average pre-tax room rates for some of the best Disney hotels
All-Star Movies (Walt Disney World) – $157
Pixar Place Hotel (Disneyland) – $443
Disneyland Hotel (Disneyland) – $538
Contemporary Resort (Walt Disney World) – $580
Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (Disneyland) – $716
After creating the list we have found that Pixar Place Hotel is the cheapest option in the list of Disney Hotels at Disneyland. It is almost 3X the price of the best resort at Walt Disney World.
Conclusion
If this is your first ever trip to Disneyland then you should definitely get a park hopper. The reason is pretty simple: you never know what park you or your kids would prefer in advance. If you are going on a trip with your very small children and will be serving them entirely, then the one-park-per-day tickets would work for you as you will easily prefer Disneyland park.
But if they hit 40 inches, it is best to explore and see where the wind takes you. Moreover, the parks are only about a minute apart, walking.
Park hopper also allows you to take advantage of Lightning Lane Multi Pass, the paid system for skipping lines on popular rides, as you’ll have a wider selection of rides to choose from on any given day.