Planning a Disneyland Vacation 2026

Planning a Disneyland Vacation is always a good idea! As Walt Disney’s original idea to bring the world of Disney to everyone, you can find vintage vibes, and original attractions from 1955 alongside fantastic restaurants, parades and more. In this post we’re sharing a complete guide to planning a trip to Disneyland Resort. From how to budget your trip, to the rides, restaurants and experiences across parks, resorts and Downtown Disney. Here are all the details to help you plan your best day ever at Disneyland Resort. 

Disneyland Resort

The Disneyland Resort includes 2 parks, 3 hotels, and Downtown Disney. Disneyland Park is home to Sleeping Beauty Castle and classic rides like It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion. California Adventure Park is home to Avengers Campus, Pixar Pier, and amazing rides like the Incredicoaster!

Since the entire Disneyland Resort is technically just a few neighborhood blocks within Anaheim, California, you may be surprised how small it is. Both parks, Disneyland and California Adventure are literally a 5-minute walk from each other. And Downtown Disney is just a few minutes from the entrance of both Parks. So it’s easy to go between all of the areas at Disneyland Resort with ease. The three hotels at Disneyland are Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and Pixar Place Hotel. 

Disneyland Vacation Planning

Wondering what money you need to put aside? Planning a Disneyland Vacation means figuring out what you need to budget. Here is your Disneyland Budget Checklist. 

• Airport
• Transportation
• Parking
• Lodging
• Tickets
• Lightning Lane
• Food & Snacks

Airport

John Wayne ( SNA) Airport is the closest airport to Disneyland. If you’re flying into California for Disneyland, it’s good to know that you have a lot of airports to choose from. Los Angeles(LAX) will be your most common choice, since it’s the biggest and will offer the most non-stop flights, and likely most flights in general. But you can also fly into Burbank(BUR), Long Beach(LGB), and Ontario(ONT). All of these are within reasonable driving distance, about 30-45 mins from Anaheim. 

Transportation 

To get around Disneyland, you can drive, walk or take the ART shuttle. The ART is Anaheim’s public transportation system and stands for Anaheim Resort Transportation. ART is a hop-on/hop-off transportation system. A day pass will cost you $5.50 per adult and $2 per child. Though you can save money when you buy 3 days or more. You can purchase these passes online at rideart.org or at participating hotels.

Parking

We always recommend staying at a hotel within walking distance of Disneyland Resort so that you don’t have to pay for parking. However, if this is part of a bigger trip and you do have a car, Parking at Disneyland costs between $35- $55 per car, per day, depending on the kind of parking you choose. Take a look at prices and Disneyland parking locations.

Lodging

The Disneyland Resort has three on-property hotels; Disneyland Hotel, Grand Californian Resort, and Pixar Place Hotel. These hotels are themed with Disney, Pixar, and California elements and are all filled with extra magic. But, the best bet and most budget-friendly choice is often a hotel off-site.  We’ve rounded up the top 15 Hotels Within Walking Distance of Disneyland, to help get you close to the action without breaking the bank.  

Tickets

The cost of a Disneyland Vacation can vary depending on where you choose to stay, and how many days you plan to be in the parks. In general a 3-Day Ticket at Disneyland Resort, with 1 Day at California Adventure, and 2 Days at Disneyland will give you enough time to ride most of the rides and explore tickets. Daily Disneyland Tickets range from $110- $210 per person, per day, depending on when you visit. 

Lightning Lane

Disneyland parks get crowded. And when that happens you may want to consider grabbing lightning lane passes. Ranging from about $20- $35 per person per day, a lightning lane pass allows you to skip the line at rides you’ve selected. You can buy the pass, select your initial rides and then add more rides throughout the day. Get all the details on Lightning Lane at Disneyland. 

Food & Snacks

We typically budget about $100 per person per day when it comes to food during a Disneyland trip. With a variety of quick service and table service options, things like drinks and snacks always add to the cost of food. So plan ahead and grab your food budget on Discounted Disney Gift Cards to save money. And if you’re a Disney Visa Cardholder you can usually save 10% off at most restaurants too! 

Disneyland Resort Tickets and Deals

The biggest expense of your Disneyland Vacation, other than your lodging, is going to be your Disneyland tickets. Disneyland tickets are not cheap, but thankfully the cost of your Disneyland ticket per day will be less when you buy more than one day. We recommend getting at least the 3-day ticket, which automatically comes with one Magic Morning Admission and will help you make the most of your time at Disneyland. Tickets range from about $110- $210 dollars a day, and are on the higher end of that range  if you’re visiting during special events, or the holidays. 

Be sure to check out Get Away Today for discounted Disneyland Tickets, to save money where you can. They also sell packages with your hotel and tickets to save even more! If you decide to book a package, use our code PDPD to save a little extra.

Disneyland Resort Special Events

In addition to rides, restaurants, and hotels, Disneyland Resort hosts a variety of events each year that may be happening during your Disney Vacation! As such, here’s the lineup of annual events at Disneyland you can look out for. 

Disneyland 70th Anniversary Celebrations 

Special for the 70th Anniversary, Disneyland Resort is pulling out all the stops. A new signature song, to Celebrate Happy, a fireworks show, a new cavalcade parade and more await! Birthday Celebrations run through Summer 2026. 

Lunar New Year | Late January- Early February

Honoring the Chinese New Year, you can celebrate in the parks, with Mickey, Minnie, Mulan and Mushu! Special events, food kitchens, parades, and snacks are all part of this month long event. 

Celebrate Gospel | February

Live music comes to Downtown Disney for Black History Month, featuring popular and local performers, singers and choral groups. A free event, this is one worth visiting. 

California Adventure Food and Wine  Festival | March- April

Featuring all things foodie, the Disneyland Food and Wine Festival takes place at California Adventure Park, serving up new dishes, wines and handcrafted brews. 

Star Wars Season of the Force | April – May

May the fourth be with you at this Disneyland extravaganza. Sharing Star Wars themed snacks, a fireworks show, new meet and greets, merch, and ride overlays, Season of the Force at Disneyland is in full force every spring. 

Disneyland Halloweentime | August- October

Halloween at Disneyland brings the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay to Haunted Mansion, tons of spooky decorations, Halloween snacks and the Oogie Boogie Bash! 

Oogie Boogie Bash | September- October

This Disneyland Halloween Party requires an extra ticket, but the chance to see rare characters, trick or treat, and get in on the Halloween fun is worth it. Select nights from late August though October. 

Plaza de Familia | August- November

Featuring all things Coco, the Plaza de Familia honors family. Complete with decorations for remembrance leading up to the Day of the Dead, this event features special shows, and snacks and chance to honor your loved ones. 

Disneyland Holidays | Mid November- Early January

Christmas at Disneyland includes loads of decorations, Holiday snacks and a ride overlay on it’s a small world makes this theme park trip an extra fun way to start the holiday season. 

Festival of Holidays | Mid November- Early January

Held at California Adventure, the Festival of Holidays offers up holiday inspired foods across a variety of cultures. Specialty events, snacks and merchandise are all part of the fun. 

Disneyland After Dark Events

Offered intermittently throughout the year, Disneyland After Dark events, give you a chance to be in the park after dark. Fewer crowds, and specialty menus are all part of these themed events. Check out the Disneyland Calendar for themes and dates.  

Disneyland Dapper Day

Feeling dapper? Dress to the nines in your favorite vintage look honoring Disney characters, rides, and more. Consider this just a fashionable night out for fashionable people. Less black tie and more 1950’s cocktail party, we love this event as a great reason to dress up. Dapper Day has become more and more popular every year. The event happens twice a year at Disneyland. once in the spring and once in the fall. The dates vary every year, so check out the Dapper Day Event Calendar to stay in the know. 

Disneyland Park

Disneyland Park was Walt Disney’s brainchild and features a variety of themed areas throughout the park. Including Main Street USA, which is modeled after his childhood home of Marceline, Missouri. This street meets you as you enter the Park, and leads towards Sleeping Beauty Castle and all the areas we’ll share below. 

Disneyland Park Map

• Main Street USA
• Adventureland
• Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge
• New Orleans Square
• Critter Country
• Frontierland
• Fantasyland
• Mickey’s Toontown
• Tomorrowland

Disneyland Park Rides

As the original Disney park, here is where you will find many of the original classic rides. From dark rides like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride to other classics like Haunted Mansion, Disneyland is home to 1955 opening day rides worth trying. While the parks are covered with rides, here is our Disneyland MUST Do Rides list. 

• Disneyland Railroad
• Enchanted Tiki Room
• Jungle Cruise
• Indiana Jones Adventure
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
• Haunted Mansion
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Star Wars Rise of the Resistance
• Milennium Falcon Smugglers Run
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
• Mr. Toads Wild Ride
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Mad Tea Party
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• it’s a Small World
• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
• Space Mountain
• Star Tours
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Disneyland Park Meet and Greets

One of the most fun things about Disneyland is that the Disney characters are free-roaming a lot of the time! If you’re lucky, you may even see them riding on some of the rides or casually dancing or playing games with other guests. Mickey, Minnie, and friends, along with the Disney Princesses, and even Star Wars Stormtroopers can be found throughout the park. Be sure to check out the My Disney Experience App for official meet and greet times for your favorite characters. 

Disneyland Park Restaurants

There are so many restaurants at Disneyland worth trying, that we’re only sharing our favorites here. From the beignets at Tiana’s Palace to strangely named dishes at Docking Bay 7 in Galaxy’s Edge, there are plenty of options when it comes to food. We recommend booking at least one Table Service Restaurant during your trip to really get a feel for things. And don’t forget to grab a dessert treat at the Jolly Holiday Bakery before you leave! 

• Blue Bayou
• Trader Sams Enchanted Tiki Bar
• Oga’s Cantina
• Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo
• Carnation Cafe
• Cafe Orleans
• Bengal Barbecue
• Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe
• Tiana’s  Palace

Disneyland Park Shows

No matter when you visit Disneyland you can always ( ALWAYS) count on a parade, show, or fireworks display to add more magic to your trip. Here are the shows to see at Disneyland Park. 

Celebrate Happy Cavalcade

This afternoon parade honors all things happy for the 70th anniversary. Showtimes: 1:30 PM and 2:45 PM.

Wondrous Journeys Disneyland Fireworks 

During the Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration, thrill to this stunning nighttime spectacular celebrating the legacy of Walt Disney Animation Studios. 13 minute show at Sleeping Beauty Castle

Paint the Night

Back on Main Street USA, in honor of the 70th, the Paint the Night Parade fills the evening with colors, and magic. Showtimes 8:45 PM and 10:45 PM

Fantasmic! 

Daring heroes and epic villains do battle on a grand scale in an incredible nighttime show—starring Mickey Mouse. 25 minutes. Showtimes: 9 PM and 10:30 PM

Disney’s California Adventure Park

Home to a variety of unique lands, Disney’s California Adventure Park also hosts annual festivals, holiday events, is accessible directly from the Grand Californian Hotel. DCA features spaces that include Disney favorites like the Incredibles, Marvel, Big Hero Six, and themes honoring California. California Adventure is Disneyland Resorts newer Park and is considered the more “grown-up” Park of the two. Not only do they serve alcoholic beverages throughout the Park, but they have more thrilling rides there.  Let’s dive into the rides, restaurants and events at Disney’s California Adventure Park. 

Disney’s California Adventure Park Map

• Paradise Gardens
• Pixar Pier
• Grizzly Peak
• San Fransokyo Square
• Cars Land
• Avengers Campus
• Hollywood Land
• Buena Vista Street

Disney’s California Adventure Rides

While California Adventure does have some of the more thrilling rides, they also have something for everyone! With kid-friendly options like Toy Story Midway Mania and Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters and more exciting options for adults like the Incredicoaster and Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, California Adventure has a lot of rides to choose from. 

• Grizzly River Run
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Incredicoaster
• Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
• Toy Story Midway Mania!
• Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters
• Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
• Radiator Springs Racers
• WEB Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure
• Guardians of the Galaxy- Mission BREAKOUT!

Infinity Defense Ride – Coming Soon

Featuring “technology that allows you to jump between worlds” this ride will bring you to locations like Asgard, Wakanda, and New York City as you zoom through the ride, helping the Avengers get back the tech that Thanos himself has stolen.

Stark Flight Lab Ride – Coming Soon

This ride features two person pods that deploy to a test station. Giant robot arms grab your pod and whirls you around in this simulated flight ride. Luckily Tony Stark himself is on hand to help in the Stark Flight Lab to help get you back to safety.

Disney’s California Adventure Meet and Greets

If you’re hoping to meet a real life superhero, you can do that Disney’s California Adventure. Avengers “recruits” can find all sorts of heroes in Avenger’s Campus. Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, The Wasp, Black Panther, Thor, Doctor Strange, and more can all be found on campus during your visit. 

In addition to Marvel characters, you can also see a variety of Pixar Characters in California Adventure too! From Baymax over in SanFransokyo to the Toy Story crew, these friends roam the park and have regular meet times too. You can find official meet and greet times in the My Disney Experience App for Disneyland Resort. 

Spider-Man Show

One of Avenger’s Campus’s most amazing experiences is seeing Spider-Man himself flip 60 feet in the air! You can see this hero high above the WEB building and watch him swing down to the ground. Check My Disney Experience app for the times that this show takes place. 

Black Panther Training Session 

Head to Avengers headquarters to train with the Warriors of Wakanda, Okoye, and Dora Milaje. Learn compassion, strength, and courage and build your skills with a series of warrior exercises. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Dance Off

Another way to get some Avengers time in the park, you can join Peter Quill, and Gamora at the boombox for some tunes to dance to. This pop up dance party at Avengers Campus happens throughout the day, but you can typically plan for a 10-15 minute jam. Showtimes: 3:30 PM, 4:30 PM and 6 PM.

Avengers Headquarters 

Head to Avengers Headquarters to see the Avengers team spring in to action and defend the rooftops from evil doers. Here are the avengers you’ll see around the park, scaling walls, and fighting bad guys. 

• Iron Man
• Black Panther
• Captain Marvel
• Black Widow
• Thor
• Doctor Strange
• Ant-Man
• The Wasp
• The Guardians of the Galaxy
• Captain America
• Shang-Chi

Disney’s California Adventure Restaurants

From Brunch at the Lamplight Lounge to weirdly sized food over at PYM Test Kitchen there is something for everyone. Carthay Circle serves up gorgeous signature dining if you’re looking for something fancy, and you can explore a variety of wines over at Wine Country Trattoria. And if you’re grabbing quick serve, remember you can mobile order in the Disneyland App! Here are our favorites places to eat at Disney’s California Adventure. 

• Lamplight Lounge
• Carthay Circle Restaurant
• Flo’s V8 Cafe
• Smokejumpers Grill
• Lucky Fortune Cookery
• Cocina Cucamonga
• PYM Test Kitchen
• Wine Country Trattoria
• Shawarma Palace

If you stop at PYM, try the Quantum Pretzel, Proton Pb&J Punch, and the Not So Little Chicken Sandwich. We love that you can also mobile order select foods from this Ant-Man restaurant. The ChocoSmash candy bar is a favorite. 

Disney’s California Adventure Shows

During your trip be sure to head to Pixar Pier for one of the most beautiful musical water shows ever- World of Color. And then of course, you can see a variety of parades throughout the day, and special for the anniversary as well. 

World of Color Happiness Nighttime Show 

World of Color is an absolute must-see if you’re visiting California Adventure. A water and light show, World of Color was recently reimagined and is sure to give you all the Disney feels! We do not by any means claim to be experts on getting the best view for this show, as we have only seen it once. If you want a taste of what the show has to offer, you can watch our video here! Showtimes: 9 PM and 10:15 PM.

Better Together Pixar Pals Parade

Over 2 dozen Disney characters can be seen in this parade filled with Pixar themed floats honoring favorite films. Soul, Turning Red, Toy Story, Luca and more are all part of the fun. 25 minutes. Showtimes 2:30 PM and 5:00 PM

Disneyland Resort Hotels

If you’re staying on property and not just in Anaheim, then you have three hotels to choose from at Disneyland Resort. All are a bit pricey, but magical. 

Disneyland Hotel

The classic Disneyland Hotel was the first one built at Disneyland Resort and still features a throwback vibe, complete with Sorcerer’s Hat, and Tink at the entrance. A bit pricey, this hotel has headboards that light up, and direct access into the Downtown Disneyland Area. Read our Disneyland Hotel Review for all the details.  

Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

The most luxurious hotel at Disneyland Resort is the Grand Californian! Featuring a Pacific Northwest theme, this hotel is pricey but does have a variety of amenities. On property restaurants, lounges, and character dining are perks. And it has a direct gateway into Disney’s California Adventure Park! Meaning that you don’t have to wait in lines at the front when the park opens. Read our Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel Review for all the details. 

Pixar Place Hotel

The newest hotel at Disneyland Resort, Pixar Place, honors all things Pixar. Here you can find themed rooms to Inside Out, Finding Nemo, Toy Story and more. A little farther than the other two hotels, its connected to Downtown Disney and a features a modern fun look. 

Downtown Disney

If you’re Planning a Disneyland Vacation, know that you can head to Downtown Disney, at any time, for FREE! As the local Disney themed shopping center, this little area just happens to be tucked between both parks, offering a variety of shopping, restaurants, and even access to the Disneyland Resort Hotels. Perfect for just browsing around. No park ticket needed.

While Downtown Disney itself is free, you do have to go through security to enter and if you’re not walking there, you will have to pay to park. Parking can be validated if you spend $20 while there, so we always try to buy food or something small when we are visiting if we have to park. We love heading to Downtown Disney when we’re looking to get out of the crowds of the parks or to grab a meal. Check out the Downtown Disney page for a list of shops, restaurants, events and more. er for a short time and get back to the Parks quickly. And it’s close to the hotels within walking distance of Disneyland Park too. 

Hopefully this post has helped you get a quick overview of what you can do on a Disneyland Vacation. With good planning, we find that 3 days across Disneyland and California Adventure gives us enough time to take it all in! Be sure to enjoy the built in nostalgia, alongside all the new things happening at the park. As Walt Disney’s original creation, it’s amazing to see it in person.