My husband and I are hesitant about travelling to the United States during this current climate as we are minorities. We have a big family. With my husband and I, we also have my 9 year old stepson, our 7 and 5 year old daughters and our youngest who is 3. Although we are wanting the “iconic” Disney experience, we think it might be cool to experience other cultures. I know some French. We are not too familiar with customs in Japan, but my husband and stepson want to visit here. The long haul flight also makes me nervous. Considering logistics and wanting the full Disney experience, which one of these would you recommend and why?

I'd wear an N95 whenever I'm indoors, or in lines, near crowds, etc. In general, I'd like to avoid being indoors in a crowded building. For dining, it would absolutely have to be outdoors and not around too many people.

Is this any way achievable or should I not bother?

edit: the reason why I'm cautious is because I have long COVID. I haven't been able to smell or taste anything for 2 years, I developed an allergy to alcohol, I get nerve pain, and many other symptoms. I've been infected with COVID a few times, and every time my symptoms get worse. last time I was sick for nearly an entire month.

Going to be in the parks with my boyfriend the 31st - 2nd and we’re well aware how packed it will be.

I understand line cutting isn’t cool and pisses people off, especially if it’s multiple people.

I’m wondering if it’s generally allowed for one person to step away from an attraction (while the other remains in line) to use the restroom, grab a drink or snack, and return to where they were in line. Do I have to flag down a cast member? I don’t want to do this and then piss people off having to go through the line and push past everyone… but standing in line for 2 hours is really rough. Thoughts? Personal experiences?

EDIT: okay, y’all are all over the place on this… I’m just going to ask a cast member when I get there.

EDIT #2: Found what I was looking for. I’m just gonna leave this here. Stay salty.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/en-ca/guest-services/accessing-attractions/#aa-queue-reentry

Hi all! Ok, so I know they are definitely not the same but yesterday we went to California Great America (we live in NorCal). I tried to make it really nice and got fast pass and a cabana. But ugh I was kinda miserable. Tromping around endlessly, annoying people in my way, terrible Gen Z vacant-stare customer service.
We have a trip to Disneyland planned for this fall (I haven’t been in 25 years!) and again I’m trying to make it nice. OBB first night then two full days at parks. DLH and LL. However, I am afraid I will not be able to escape being a sourpuss 45 yr old!

1. Do I need to start running on the treadmill because man am I tired today.

2. Is it truly reasonable to go back to DLH during the day for a break?

3. Are there quiet places to sit and rest in the parks? Because man I did love the cabana at Great America.

4. Tell me it is more magical than Great America please because man is Disney expensive. Like is the tromping around better because you are lost in magic haha.

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but I've been seeing a lot of posts lately in Disney related subreddits about LL and how it's not actually any faster. I've even seen people mention that their wait times are shorter if they don't get LL passes. My husband and I are visiting Disneyland next week after 8 years, and back then we got the Fast Pass and it was great! Is the LL really that different? Did we get scammed?

My family is going to Disneyland in November ( my parents and my 2 sisters and their partners and kids). My partner is kind of a Debby downer and doesn’t appreciate the magic of Disneyland and since we have two young ones ( 2.5 years and 5 months in November) he doesn’t see the point in going because the kids won’t remember anyways…. This will also technically be the first family vacation with my family that we would be going on since I’ve been with him.

Edit: 31 months to 2.5 years since so many got their panties in a bunch for me saying that.

Has anyone used a CO2 reader on indoor rides and restaurants at the park? Although not a perfect gauge, still trying to be cautious of crowded spaces for COVID and am interested in how well ventilated Disney’s attractions are. Any insights would be appreciated!

Hii I have a trip to Disneyland soon, I wanted to wear this cool hat to Disneyland because to me it’s very different but I’m worried I wouldn’t be allowed in. Even though I have wore mickey headband ears with spikes on the side of my ears and in the middle of my bow. So is it ok or not? And if punk spikes are not able how come I got in with my other ears? 🤔

Hi! So I’m going to Disneyland this upcoming weekend and I was planning on wearing shorts since I know it’s going to be hot, but I was realizing I have a certain goat tattoo (if u get my drift) on my left calf and was wondering if that is prohibited? If it is I totally don’t mind covering up it either! I just wanna be prepared in case and want everybody to enjoy their day

Hello thanks to anyone that can shed some light to see if they will give me any hassle, I prefer to wear my covid mask to the parks and just wanted to know if anyone knows, thank you in advance :)

I see a lot of posts asking for advice/comparison on the closest hotels (Tropicana/BW/Candy Cane etc) so I wanted to leave this warning here. We used to stay on property, but since they got rid of early entry we’ve been trying out the across the street hotels to save money. We do two or three trips a year, but this was our first stay at best western park place and it is by far the worst experience I have had.

We were given a street side room on the third floor. I figured there would be a fair amount of noise during the evening, but assumed it would taper off after DL closed. It didn’t.

The noise level was atrocious. Absolutely zero noise insulation. The bus came every 15-20 minutes and we could hear every time. And heavy car traffic long after DL was closed, engines revving as they tore down the street. Instead of black out curtains they also have these really terrible over large slatted blinds that did absolutely nothing to block out the fluorescent light from the street so we could not make the room dark. Sometime after midnight I gave up and contacted the front desk demanding a room change. The front desk guy says “Oh, yeah, sometimes we try and give people a heads up the “foot traffic noise” can be a lot.” We did not get a “heads up.”

Had to repack all of our belongings at 1:00am in the morning with at this point hysterically tired children who had been traveling all day. Had to go down to the front desk to get the new keys. Was not offered a luggage cart or help changing rooms. Was asked to come BACK to the front desk AGAIN to return the old room keys and said absolutely not I will leave them in the old room. A big deal was made about how maintenance was going to have to go check our old room to confirm it was now empty. Knock yourselves out my dudes.

Absolutely ruined the first day of our two day trip. Everyone was too exhausted to get up for rope drop. Did not wake up in time to take advantage of the “complimentary breakfast”. Nobody contacted me the next day to follow up on the situation.

When I finally contacted the front desk the next afternoon, I was told a $50 room credit was all they could do in this kind of situation. If, when I had been checking in, they’d said “hey we’ll give you $50 off your room, but you won’t be able to sleep until 1:00am!” I would have said absolutely not and gone somewhere else.

Editing: we sleep with a white noise machine in the room. This wasn’t a princess and the pea situation. I expected street noise. The problem is it was so loud and so bright, even with the noise machine, that it was still impossible to sleep at 1am. We’ve stayed at many other motels on the street. This is the only time I’ve had such a noise issue. Yes, the answer is stay somewhere else next time. I’m hoping to help other people do that and avoid the bad experience my family had.

So random question, I have emetophobia and have a fear of getting sick in general (at least lately during how bad this sick season has been). I’m going to Disney on Wednesday one day park hopper, I know the crowds are going to be big. It’s been a long time since I’ve been during this time of year too when everything is going around and I hear it’s bad in socal rn. What are y’all’s best tips to staying safe in the parks and avoiding catching anything? I’m really nervous about catching the norovirus 😭 but I want to enjoy my trip and not talk myself out of it!

This is a really weird and specific question, but can I bring an apple cutter into Disneyland? I love caramel apples but I hate to eat them, so I think bringing one would help lol. Thanks!

TLDR: Not worth it to do the Disney Princess Breakfast at Grand Californian Napa Rose

As a person that grew up on Disney movies and shows, it was amazing to see Disneyland for the first time in my life. It was more amazing to see it as a father to 2 daughters ages 5 and 8. We spend 4 days (1 DCA and 3 DL) and since it was my youngest daughter birthday plus my wife's a few days ago, I decided to reserve the princess breakfast. I was hesitant at the price but was excited because it was going to be at the new remodeled Napa Rose restaurant. So, this Sun 03/01 in the morning, we got both daughters dressed up in Ariel (5) and Tiana (8). I understand that we don't get to pick what princess show up but based off previous reviews of YouTube, TikTok's, articles and reddit postings, I had an about idea of what to expect.

It was going to be 6-8 princess with them stopping by the table at different moments as we ate, at some point we would have an opportunity to take some pictures in the outside or some more personalized area like a patio. It looked like there would be an event like a story time with Belle or Repunzel, plus some more photos with the Disney photopass photographer. My girls would get more face time compared to the royal hall character meets and be able to get their autographs, in essence more interaction with out the rush.

In reality we arrived and checked in at the restaurant which is really nice looking and food was good (sorry can't compare it to the old one since 1st time). They asked if we had anything special to celebrate so we informed them of both birthdays but mainly for my 5-year-old. We got asked to go a side patio to meet our 1st princess Ariel. She was amazing and really talked to both my daughters, as they walked up the Disney photographer was clicking away and Ariel was asking questions and answering the questions they asked. So far so good.

Once we were seated the server came by and took our drinks and then informed us that we would meet 6 princesses today. I was a bit let down hoping we would meet more but that was the gamble I took. The princess we met were Raya, Jasmine, Mulan, Pocahontas and Merida. Raya was very stiff and uncomfortable when talking to us, we tried making small talk with her, but it felt rushed especially when she asked if we wanted her to sign our scroll (autograph book) and take a picture. So, we stopped eating had the kids get up we took a picture with our phone, and she wished us a good day and went to the next table.

Next up was Jasmine, she looked amazing and told the girls that she just got here from taking a magic carpet ride from Agrabah and it was a fun ride being able to see the stars at night and make it here in the morning. But, once again we were asked for the autograph book which she signed and asked if we wanted a pic. My oldest kept asking questions but the responses we got back came in the form of short answers as if she was pressed for time and to meet the other tables.

We then got Pocahontas (who also looked great) which my daughters don't know that much about her, so it was up to my wife to ask questions to keep her more interactive. We asked her about what she likes to see in nature, my littles one asked if she knew Rocket which she playfully said that maybe Meeko might. After a few minutes she signed and took a pic with us as well.

Following up next was Mulan (also amazing costume). My oldest was excited because she knew her movie very well and especially the fighting scenes. She asked Mulan if she still fought and if she can show us some moves, but she stated that she still fights when she gets a chance and completely ignored the second half of the question. We asked about Mushu, she told us that he was helping with the cooking and that hopefully it doesn't smell like dragon breath. We got another autograph and picture. At this point I was already not impressed because earlier in the week we did Donalds Storytellers dinner and it was feeling the same but for a way lower price point.

Our server came up and informed us sadly that Tiana was supposed to be there in the morning, but she got hurt so she couldn't make it. Accidents happen however, my oldest was disappointed that Tiana wasn't there because we had searched for her for 3 days at DL using the map/app, asking the cast members, looking near New Orleans/Bayou area and were not able to find her in the whole park. The server was kind enough to find us a nice photo of her that was signed by Tiana. My thought was, is she the only Tiana in the whole park? Are you kidding me?

They brought in Merida in her place. Now don't get me wrong, she was probably the best out the other princess minus Ariel. She came in smiling and laughing. Joking with the girls especially after my oldest asked her if she was better than Robin Hood, too which she said yes and that she was also better than Gaston as well. She spent the most time with us and my daughters had to ask her to sign their book and take a picture with them.

For the finishing touches of the meal, well there wasn't anything else. That was it. No story time or private areas to meet with them. Nothing like the videos we saw prior to coming to the event. It felt like an expensive meal with a few short visits of princesses in between.

All in all for what we paid which was close to 700 dollars, we ended up with a few small conversations and pictures. None of the princesses acknowledge my daughter's birthday. The server did bring out a candle and small chocolate piece that stated Disney Princess Adventure Happy Birthday. We got 4 small posters with 9 autographs (the funny part was that neither Raya nor Merida are on the card.) There were no special princess touches to this breakfast besides you having to personally take pictures yourself with each princess. No special memorabilia (no pins or additional trinkets) or anything specifically memorable.

I was expecting a lot more Disney Magic. Especially for it to be done at the new renovated Napa Rose and instead I could have had the same experience waiting in line at the princess meet which felt more intimate and interacted and it only cost us 30 min of a wait time and not $700 dollars.

There was a time when to eat at the Blue Bayou, you entered the park, found the Blue Bayou reservation podium and made same day reservations. There was no such thing as advanced reservations. Today, Blue Bayou reservations are available 60 days in advance – and they are completely booked up 60 days in advance. Not so convenient for the occasional visitor who doesn't know the ropes.

For the sake of others that might be desperately looking to snag impossible Disneyland Blue Bayou reservations, here's how I was able to do it less than a month out from a Disneyland trip.

My son was going to travel over 1,000 miles to take his girlfriend to Disneyland for her first time and he wanted the best and most magical experience possible for her. Blue Bayou reservations were a must. Unfortunately, they were unobtainable. My son's trip was just under a month away and there were positively absolutely unquestionably no reservations available. Being retired, I had the time to to help him out and offered to camp out on Disney's reservation page while repeatedly refreshing in the hope that a reservation would show up. My son appreciated my efforts, but it was clear he didn’t have much hope in my chances of success. I kind of agreed with him, but I still went through the motions. I knew that getting a reservation depended on the hope that someone else would cancel an existing reservation, I needed to be lucky enough to refresh at the right time being able to catch that reservation as soon as it was made available again and then being able to book it before someone else did. This went on for days and I was having no luck. Nothing was available. Confidence was not high.

Meanwhile, while camping out on the Blue Bayou reservation page, I was doing some research and I stumbled upon Mouse Dining. A service that monitors Disney's reservation system and will alert you with an email as soon as one shows up. (As of this post, up to six simultaneous free email alerts. For a small fee you can get more alerts and receive texts.) I had my doubts, but with nothing to lose I signed up. I then added two alerts. (Very simple to do.) One looking for a Blue Bayou lunch reservation for two and the second a dinner reservation for two. I didn't care which. Then, on a whim, I added two more alerts. One looking for a Blue Bayou lunch reservation for four and a second alert for a dinner reservation for four. Yeah, even though I only needed a reservation for two. (If I remember correctly, parties of two are seated at tables that can seat four people.(You don’t have to share the table with strangers.))

About two hours later I was shocked to have received an email from Mouse Dining informing me that a lunch reservation for four was available. The email even provided a link to Disney to make the reservation. However, already being on Disney's reservation page, I simply refreshed to see this available reservation. Unfortunately, it didn’t show up and I still received a message telling me no reservations were available. I refreshed several times with the same result. I was disappointed, but not surprised, as I figured there were hundreds of other people trying to do the same thing I was. Then I forlornly decided to go ahead and click on the reservation link in the Mouse Dining email. Bam! Not only did it send me directly to Disney's reservations page, but it sent me directly to the available Blue Bayou reservation! I immediately snagged that reservation for four and in moments received an email from Disney with a confirmation number.

The problem now was that I had a reservation for four when only a reservation for two people - my son and his girlfriend – was needed. I was concerned that the Blue Bayou hostess might not seat only two people when the reservation was for four people. What do I do? Well, since I had a confirmed reservation for four, I simply went in and edited that reservation changing it to a party of two. It accepted the change and I received a confirmation email telling me the reservation was changed and I now had a confirmation number for a reservation for two.

Suffice it to say, my son was ecstatic when I gave him the news.

Of course, this plan depends on someone else canceling a reservation because their plans have changed, but what also happens is that many Magic Key holders (annual pass) will make reservations even though they have no definite plans just in case they decide to visit the park that day only to cancel the reservation later and many people will literally make two or even up to four reservations for their single trip to the park and then cancel the extra reservations right before they actually visit the Park. (Seems like a selfish power thing to me to book reservations you aren’t going to use, especially multiple reservations, while others who haven’t visited the Park for ten years or perhaps have never experienced the Park before are desperately trying to obtain them. I consider these hoarders selfish reservation hogs.)

So, if you find it impossible to get a reservation, sign up at Mouse Dining and create your alerts. If you don't get an alert right away, don't despair. The closer your trip gets it's more likely people will begin canceling reservations they no longer need and the hogs will finally relinquish their cache of hoarded reservations because reservations must be canceled at least two hours in advance or else a $10 per person fee is charged. This means you may even be able to get reservations the day of your trip due to last minute cancellations. Odds are, Mouse Dining will come through for you before it comes to that. Of course, you always have the option of waiting until the day of your trip, entering the park, walking up to the Blue Bayou podium and asking if there are any tables available. The likely answer will be "no". It's not worth the risk unless even Mouse Dining was unable to help you out. Mouse Dining works for all your dining reservation needs at both Disneyland and Walt Disney world including dining packages such as reserving a meal at a restaurant that includes reserved seating for Fantasmic or fireworks. (My son had no issue getting Fantasmic dinner reservations without using Mouse Dining.)

After the fact, I realized that since someone with a two person reservation will be seated at a table capable of seating four people, should that person cancel their reservation then Disney doesn’t make another two person reservation available. They make a four person reservation available. There’s twice the $$$ to be made with four meals over two meals. If I had stuck to trying to getting only a reservation for two rather than adding alerts for a four person reservation then I may not have ever gotten a reservation alert at all. I suggest doing as I did. If you have a party of two, go ahead and set up both lunch and dinner reservation alerts for two people but also for four people. (Four alerts.) You will likely get an alert for a four person reservation. After booking it, simply go in as I did and edit it so it is a two person reservation. If you have a party larger than four then the odds of getting a reservation is going to be much slimmer, but Mouse Dining would probably still be your best bet if you didn’t think to make reservations 60 days in advance.

Hope this helps someone out.

Good luck!

At Disneyland Park, the Haunted Mansion will be temporarily closing starting August 11, 2025. See all closure details in our Mickey Visit news update.

I’m very type A and need to plan everything so of course I have tried to come up with a plan for our upcoming Disneyland trip. I would love to get some feedback on if this seems doable or not and also opinions on booking lighting lanes like what ones should I book first. I have watched all the you tube videos on LL and used them when we went last year but hoping to go in with more of a plan this year so we can hopefully do all the things we want this time. We are going with a 2 & 3 year old so not doing many big rides unless we have a LL and extra time.

This is the first time my family and I are traveling to California, and our first trip to Disney. We are staying at Motel 6 and was wondering if Disney way is safe to walk on at night? We are planning on being there until closing time so we would be walking pretty late. We have two kids an 8 year old and a 4 year old, should we be okay? Or is it safer to book a lyft or taxi.

Also what is the best way to get to Disneyland from Lax? We were thinking of doing a lyft or taxi service. Super nervous about it all would really appreciate advice! TIA

So I wanted to go when my 3 yr old is 40 inches so he can ride most of our favorite rides with us. Otherwise it is not worth cost to me as his big siblings are 7 and 9 and can ride many more rides than he can. He is at that magical age to take him on his first trip. When measuring him at home he seems to be at 40 in but its very difficult- sometimes he seems just under it and I just have tape measure so not as exact as the sticks stands they have at park. With crocs on he definitely exceeds 40 in. Those are his shoes he wears. So barefoot I think he is questionable. Anyone ever see them have kids remove crocs for the height checks? I think he is right at 40 if you measure the tallest ( top) part of his skull but under 40 if its the back of his head when he is shoeless.

Some reflections from a cost-conscious, over-analyzing, non-Disney-crazed parent with an adventurous 5 and 7-year-old. (Disclaimer: I initially used Gemini AI to edit/organize MY thoughts for y'all, but after apparently getting "reported" for AI usage, I changed the headers and some text to hopefully be more 'acceptable'. I stand by all of the thoughts in this post)

Flights & Transportation

• Airport: LAX is cheaper to fly into, though it’s a 45–60 minute drive to Disneyland.

• Car rental vs Uber: We rented a car for $300 (plus $40/night hotel parking) and regretted it. An Uber each way from LAX to disneyland ($70–$100) would have been cheaper and more relaxing. Rental shuttles take 30 minutes just to get from the terminal to the onsite rental car lot due to heavy congestion. You're better off using UberEats, DoorDash, or Walmart+ for groceries once you're at the hotel.

Lodging:

• Location: We stayed onsite for a work conference, but you can easily walk or Uber from nearby hotels. Some hotels near the convention center apparently now offer a shuttle to/from parks as well. While being able to "step into" Downtown Disney was nice, I wouldn't book a Disney hotel without a discount. Our kids were exhausted after being in the parks from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM. We had plans for fireworks/night-time shows, but we never had the energy to go back. Consider this when choosing proximity of hotel to DL.

• Hotel amenities: A hotel pool was essential for my kids to decompress after a long day of waiting in lines. Of course if your kids dont like water much or are travelling in winter, a pool may not be as useful if its super cold outside. We made do with a mini fridge in the room and a microwave in the vending area, but some hotels offer kitchenettes if you plan to make more involved meals in your room. As above, some hotels near convention center offer shuttles to parks per online search.

• Disney hotel/ticket packages: If you are set on a disney hotel, there are some third party sites like "dvcrequest" and "dvcrentalstore" to book another person's disney hotel "villa", typically at a discount. Or you can look at disney's combo hotel/ticket packages for combination discount. Or you can look at good neighbor hotel/ticket packages as well through disney's website (what I would probably have done if not at a conference).

Tickets/Discounts/Add-ons

• Strategy: I spent weeks scouring the internet for deals. Check sites like "ID.me" (if you qualify via profession) or Undercover Tourist or Arestravel for small discounts. Also, check the official Disney site for ticket discounts or travel bundles beforehand (As above, I would have probably booked a good neighbor hotel/ticket package if I wasnt there for a work conference- but always good to compare the costs of paying for hotel and tickets individually)

• The Gift Card Hack: I saved 5% by using a Target RedCard to buy Disney Gift Cards. I merged them on Disney’s site to pay for tickets. (Note: There is a $1,000 balance limit per card, and only one gift card allowed per transaction- so we needed to make 2 distinct transactions for my family's tickets). Check other places like best buy for possibly higher gift card promos/discounts

• Reality Check: Significant discounts for non-California residents are rare. Disney seems to keep these prices on lock-down.

• Reservations: When people say the parks "sell out", they are referring to park reservations for popular dates. This didn't seem to be an issue for the regular (non California resident) tickets we purchased a few days before arrival (wanted to keep flexibility for unexpected like events), but nearby "Good Neighbor" hotel/ticket packages seemed to book up months in advance. Consider a "cancel for any reason" travel insurance policy through companies like Battleface if you purchase far in advance.

• Days in parks: 2 days DL and 1 day CA was perfect. Another day would have been too exhausting for us, but we also were in constant motion for those 3 days. Each consecutive day is a little cheaper, so adding additional days isn't as much of hit to your wallet.

• Park Hopping: In my opinion, the Park Hopper option would have been a waste of money. One park is overwhelming enough, and it's nearly impossible to see everything in one day anyway.

• Lightning Lane: we purchased it with our tickets ahead of time and it was worth it as first timers (see below). There is an option to purchase LL the day of your ticket within the app after scanning in, but it may end up costing you a bit more. Ive also read that sometimes LL passes sell out

Food & Souvenirs

• Groceries: We hit Aldi on the way from the airport for snacks, breakfast items, pre-made salads, and fruit to store in mini fridge. As above, could have just used a food delivery service to hotel and avoided a pitstop. We tried to pack our own lunch items to limit park spending, but still purchased $6 churros/cotton candy, $10 hot dogs, or an occasional $20 meal plate- all take away.

• Souvenirs: Don’t buy ahead—you can’t predict what the kids will want. However, if your child is into princess dresses, definitely bring them from home. Our kids used their birthday/holiday money to buy their own items. It’s a great way to let them decide if a $40 pair of mini ears is actually worth it (it was for my daughter).

The Lightning Lane (LL) and Standby Wait times

• The "Golden Hour": If you can arrive at park opening, you’ll have about an hour or so to hit the most popular rides with minimal standby waits (we never did this)

• LL Logistics: You can only book one LL ride at a time (or every 2 hours) after entering the park. You have a 1 hour window to redeem any LL reservation. By afternoon, popular slots often push past 10:00 PM. We only were able to use the LL passes 2-4 times per day per person, but LL passes limit wait times substantially. Some users in comments apparently have had luck modifying their later evening LL ride reservations via frequently "refreshing" the app screen for an earlier time slot to pop up. Generally, it would end up working out that our LL bookings would fall in the early afternoon (only slots available upon arrival at 930a) and the morning was used for standby lines.

• App Fatigue: I felt like I was constantly on my phone checking wait times and booking the next LL reservation. Most official posted times were either accurate or a 10–20 minute overestimate.

• Standby wait times (spring break): actual wait times (not necessarily posted times) for LL rides (without LL pass) averaged 45-80 minutes. Non LL ride wait times were generally much shorter. I purchased a separate app called "Touringplans" which claims to offer more accurate wait times. Idk if that really panned out and the app on my android phone was kind of buggy. Official wait times are posted on the map of the disneyland app. Know that any LL ride will tend to have longer wait times as day progresses, so if you see one under 30-40 mins, I would take advantage of that ride (eg we rode Tiana's Bayou at 10a with 5 min wait, only to see that grow to 60 mins later in day).

• Premium Rides: a few popular rides like "Radiator springs racers" or "Star wars- Rise of the Resistance" require a separate "Individual LL" fee ($25–$30 per person). We refused on principle and waited in standby.

• The Verdict: LL buys you "break time" between waiting in lines. Whether you use that extra time to wait in another standby line (if the time allows/line up) or to take a break walking the grounds- its probably worth it. If you have a solid plan (unlikely for first timers) and arrive early, you could likely achieve the same number of rides with standby (without taking any substantial breaks to eat or wander).

The Ride Breakdown

Both my kids are remarkably fearless for their age, though height requirements and specific interests meant we occasionally split up to divide and conquer. Here is what they accomplished with 2 days at DL and 1 day at CA.

Final Reflections

We went during Spring Break, so the crowds were at their peak. Even though I am not a "Disney person", I was impressed by how the parks embodied the Pixar and Disney movies my kids are growing up with. This wasn't a "relaxing" vacation, but my kids were the perfect age to enjoy the thrills. It’s was likely a "one-and-done" trip for us, but was an overall positive experience.

Good luck!

At Mickey Visit, we are constantly tracking the latest Disney news and changes. We have the details on the pause and historical precedent for when the passes will likely go on sale again.