Listed below are some tips and tricks that can make your visit one to treasure. (Keep in mind these tips are written for a busy day, if you are visiting during the week or on off periods - it will be much easier.) Please note that only selected key attractions have been covered in detail in order to keep this document to a workable length.

PICK A GOOD DAY TO GO:

Summer, ANY Saturday & holiday periods are usually the busiest. Sundays (my vote!) are usually half the crowd, with a very quiet morning but with all the entertainment and events that are available on Saturdays / holidays.

During the week attendance is much less than on the weekend, but usually (unless it's a holiday or Summer period) you don't get any of the added shows or parades. The park has had quite an extra boost in attendance lately due to many admission deals and constant promotions, so keep that in mind also.

TIP: It's raining? Or you can only go alone? Go anyway! If it rains, the crowds will be smaller, and even if they close the park early, there will be few lines - if any - at all. (Just make sure to bring rain gear, it's expensive to buy those yellow Mickey ponchos there!) 

The only major loss during a rainy day is that any outdoor shows and parades that may be normally scheduled will be canceled, and a few outdoor rides, such as ALICE, DUMBO, the TEACUPS, and CASEY JR., will shut until the rain stops. Besides, if it really pours, you get to see Main St. flood.

Going alone is something everyone should try at least once in their lives at Disneyland. You will usually ride by yourself in most of the attractions since CMs won't make you share a ride unit. Plus you can see what you want to see when you want to see it. Fair warning, you may get spoiled by this and never bring anyone else along again.

THINK BEFORE YOU DRESS:

Three words - WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES.

The number one medical complaint at Disneyland is foot blisters from people who don't take into account just how much walking and standing they will be doing all day. Some folks even keep a pair of fresh shoes and socks in a locker or their car to refresh their feet in the late afternoon before a long evening. But here's a tip, thanks to our hard working tax dollars, you may not have been aware of: It seems that if you make a point of spraying your feet with anti-persperant, you'll get fewer blisters! Most research on this in the military has concluded that this simple procedure can cut blisters on entire platoons in half. Who says you never learn anything from this guide?

Yes the weatherman may have said it will be a nice day - but be prepared for how cold it gets in Anaheim at night, even during the Summer! If you wear shorts, bring along a pair of sweatpants you can keep in your car or locker until evening. Also bring a warm jacket, FANTASMIC! for example can get bitterly cold with the water mists that get blown over the crowds during the show, and if you get wet during an evening ride on SPLASH MT. you may freeze the rest of the night.

We don't need to remind you how expensive theme park apparel items can be, and face it, that Goofy sweatshirt is tough to justify as a fashion statement anywhere outside of Anaheim or Orlando. Sunblock is also a good idea since so much of the park is outdoors. Make sure you cover those spots that burn easily, like the top of a bald head, tops of ears and arms, along with your nose. Bring your own since it's expensive to buy there.

TIPS: Save money and buy your film / extra videotapes and batteries beforehand. Gum is not sold anywhere in the resort due to the fact it gets stuck everywhere, if you need some - bring it with you, and dispose of it properly won't you?

Overheating - and need a moist towlette? Head over to the BIG THUNDER BBQ (if open) and go over to the beginning of the chow line - you'll find a huge basket of them - so pocket a few for the day as you need them. PLAZA INN also has them near the side exit doors.

CHILDREN UNDER 3:

MousePlanet now offers an excellent resource online for parenting advice while visiting the parks - Adrienne Krock's Parenting in the Parks section. She covers all sorts of issues you may run into with the little ones, and it is well worth the visit.

Her are a few more tips and tricks, and bits of info you may find of interest:

A while back on the newsgroups someone posted about what a problem a smaller child might be during a park visit. Reader Lisa posted this response, which she was kind enough to allow me to quote here:

Our daughter, coming up on 3, is already a Disney veteran. She experienced D-Land at 23 months and WDW at 30 months (thank frequent flyer miles...)

She *loved* Mickey and all the costumed castmembers, Dumbo the Flying Elephant & the Carousel (both parks), all of Mickey's Toontown and Mickey's Starland that she was big enough for (the crawl / bounce / slide houses say kids 3 and up but she was more than up to the challenge), she was just crazy for the parades, and Fantasmic...

Of course, there was some planning involved. We made sure we wouldn't be touring the parks during the busier seasons, and so we avoided interminable waits in line. We made sure to go back to the room for a nap at lunch (Disneyland) and arranged for a sitter several times at WDW. (I know, nice if you can afford it. Next time we are going to try to travel with another family and switch off babysitting.) The point is, you as an adult can keep going long after the little one should stop, and you have to accommodate that or everyone will be miserable. (OTOH, at 12 months, our daughter would just fall asleep in place and be just fine in our arms or a well sun-screened stroller, This changes somewhat as they get older. :^0 )

Looks like my husband may have a business trip to Anaheim this year, and I hope we can make it another family event. Our daughter definitely remembers and talks about the previous visits.

Disclaimers: I'll mention that we just happen to be the lucky parents of a happy, fearless toddler. It could certainly be different with a more shy or temperamental child. This is definitely a YMMV situation, and I really don't have the experience to say how a 12 month old would do in this situation. I can only say that I don't agree with any generalizations and as for the business about waiting until they are old enough to remember every "first", well, by the time our daughter is 6, for all we know we could be living in Idaho with no frequent flyer miles. Seize the day, rent a camcorder...

Thank you for your wise posting Lisa!

JANNA NICHOLS also answered on a newsgroup a posting about taking your children in the off-season to avoid the heat and crowds of summer.

Basically the original question was "What do you do about taking your kids out of school for a week (or whatever)?" Here's the nuggets of wisdom she offered:

Ah, I feel qualified to answer this one! I have four children, one in High School, one in Junior High, and two in Elementary School. Taking your kids out of school takes planning, but it can be done.

We have taken our children out of school almost every year for either a WDW or a DL trip. There have never been any problems with the kids' teachers or school administrators (although I thought there would be!) until this year...in High School. Some classes just get too intense to be able to miss them at this level. We also noticed our Junior High son had some trouble catching up after we came back this year.

So, I think our days of taking the older ones out, are gone, sad to say. However, I do not hesitate to still take the ones in Elementary school out. We have NEVER had problems with that.

Tips:

- Notify teachers about 2 weeks ahead of time. Arrange for your child(ren) to start their makeup work BEFORE the trip. Coming home to piles of work isn't too fun.

- Try not to tell your child(ren) about the trip until about a week ahead of time. If you do, the time they spend in school, before the trip is shot since they are so excited! :(

- Insist that your child do work (if they have it) on the plane/in the car going *TO* WDW or DL. Once you are there, not much will get accomplished! (at least we found that to be true of our kids) They just cant seem to concentrate when on a Disney vacation!

- If your trip is planned to WDW, go heavy on the emphasis (when teachers ask where you are going) that you are going to EPCOT! (oh, and I guess we will visit the rest of WDW while we are there, too.) *smirk!*

- Our kids teachers have had them all keep journals, and got credit for that also. Sometimes the kids have had to give a brief presentation to the class of things they learned there, so 'educational chatter' between parent and child is a good idea... so they can be prepared to tell what they have seen and done, above and beyond what rides they went on. :)

Hope some of this is useful!

Thank you Janna.

ARRIVE EARLY:

Try to get there an hour before the park's announced opening time. On busy days (weekends / holidays / Summer) the park may open anywhere from 60 to 30 minutes early. (Sometimes Main St. is opened to absorb crowds until the official opening time too - a great time to get a cup of coffee or a muffin if you need one.) 

If you are staying at the Disney hotels or on a Walt Disney Travel Co. package at a another local hotel, inquire about the early entry MAGIC MORNING early entry that may be available to you. The park gets its greatest influx of crowds in the hour just before and the hour just after 12 noon. Getting there early also benefits you since parking is now being moved to outer lots and a tram ride may take longer to get you to the gates.

USE "DISNEYLAND TODAY":

This full color combined attractions map / show schedule will help keep you on track all day. If you miss getting one at the gate, it's available to you either at City Hall or the Bank on Main St. Don't lose it! If you do, copies are available at some of the shops and Cast Members (CM's for short) roaming the park.

A key reason to get this guide is that Disneyland is now opening many smaller attractions late, or closing them early, and not following general park hours! The guide lists what may not be open at any given time. It's more complicated than it should be, but only when people complain enough to City Hall will it get changed back. If this is a particular annoyance to you, please let them know via a written complaint!

Also keep your ears open for the P.A. [public announcement system] around Main St. if they make any added show / event announcements as sometimes this happens when crowds exceed estimates.

TIPS: LANI TESHIMA suggests the following:

I have a recommendation that you might want to add in your file. The DISNEYLAND TODAY guides are specific to each day, so make sure the one you get is for the day of your visit. This is not a problem at the front entrance, but many of the shops and ride queue areas have older ones lying around--and the cover looks the same day to day, so you can't tell unless you read the dates carefully.

This happened to us on more than one occasion, where we were given an old guide for Thursday when it was already Friday or Saturday. Had we taken the word of the old Thursday guide, we would've missed out on all of the various parades and shows! Lucky us, we noticed right away that Fantasmic wasn't scheduled on the guide we got, so we were able to figure out the problem pretty quickly.

Just like in Florida, on busy days the park now maintains a board in the hub area (across from the Plaza Pavilion restaurant between Main St. and Adventureland) detailing wait times for all the most popular attractions. Updated every 30 minutes by a host with a walkie-talkie this is a great way to keep track of shorter lines as they pop-up during the day in the park, it usually stays up until early evening. The person manning this board also has extra show guides (also in other languages) available for the asking. Keep checking the postings on the board so you can plan for minimal wait times.

USE FASTPASS!

Many of the major rides have or are installing FASTPASS, a new ride reservation system which lets you spend the time you'd normally spend in line, doing other things at the park.

There is a WHOLE PAGE now here on the site explaining how it works - make sure you read it before visiting, especially during peak periods.

RIDE EARLY:

Ride the DL mountain range (SPLASH, THUNDER, MATTERHORN, SPACE) EARLY and then popular rides like PIRATES only if the lines are short. Lines only grow longer for the mountain range as the day goes on. If you are nimble, you can do most of them before 11 AM. The longest lines now are for SPLASH MT..

Working it this way allows you to see those smaller, quieter, and less crowded rides & attractions (like the TIKI ROOM) where you can relax, from noon on, when the heat, lines and crowds are at their peak.

RIDE LATE:

It's a well known fact that your eyes tend to close up with bright sunlight. Waiting until nightfall to ride INDY, PIRATES, HAUNTED MANSION, SPLASH MT. and IT'S A SMALL WORLD reveals more detail in these dimly lit attractions. BIG THUNDER MT. and the MATTERHORN at night make it hard to see where you are going on these coasters, increasing the thrill.

TIP: Save STAR TOURS for the end of your day. For some reason, (Efficient loading? The thrill has worn off?) this line ALWAYS diminishes as the evening goes on. If the line ends right at, or inside the entrance door, you have about a 20 minute wait, perfect for taking in all the detail in the pre-show area.

This evening line "wind-down" also applies to INDY, along with IT'S A SMALL WORLD, SNOW WHITE'S SCARY ADVENTURES, PINOCCHIO'S DARING JOURNEY and most of ToonTown's attractions, probably because the younger set heads home early.

AVOID the first performances of any shows or parades, as they are the most heavily attended. AVOID the Frontierland / New Orleans Square train station as it is always the most crowded, with the Tomorrowland station coming in second. (The ToonTown station is the least crowded.)

TIP: Want to ride the Monorail and avoid a long line? Exit the park (after getting your hand stamped of course), and take the shuttle tram over to the Disney hotels. After visiting the hotel, you can board the monorail there to return to Tomorrowland.

LITTLE KNOWN FACT: Anyone can ride the monorail round-trip at the hotel for $3 - without having to buy a Park admission. It's a nice way to peek into the park without having to pay for the whole day. Tickets are sold only at the hotel ticket booths. 

[This will only happen on days when the Monorail operates in a loop trip - not when it gets reduced to a back and forth path over the same stretch of track due to construction, ask any CM just in case about this.]

TIP: If you need a cocktail, (and few don't after a day full of kamikaze strollers and screaming kids) the hotels are the only places that offer them. (Not cheap.)

A GOOD PLAN OF ATTACK:

When the park opens- AVOID Indy or Tomorrowland first, because almost everyone makes a bee-line for them, and since they are usually open for the Magic Morning crowd they both may already have a line when the park opens to the general public.

If you wait to ride during a parade or just before closing, that's when they usually post a 90 minute or less wait time on these attractions, which usually means an actual 50 minute wait. The only day this may not work is on a Fri. when the park opens late into the evening - since most arrivals on that day hit the park after 2 PM, and the line only begins to grow until closing.

Make sure you also use the FASTPASS system where available.

The plan: If you want to reserve a meal at the BLUE BAYOU go directly to the BLUE BAYOU reservation podium at the entrance of the restaurant, next to PIRATES. Then - 1) Head over and ride SPLASH MT., 2) Ride "Pirates," 3) Ride "Big Thunder Mt.," 4) Do the HAUNTED MANSION, 5) Head over to TOONTOWN and ride ROGER RABBIT'S CAR-TOON SPIN, and possibly do the MATTERHORN either on the way there or back.

That should complete your morning. Save INDY and STAR TOURS for dinner time or FastPass or during a show or parade. (Keep parade and show times in mind while making reservations so you won't miss anything.)

Don't be afraid to keep checking lines all day either as most times parades or shows draw off enough guests to allow lines to shorten. The ONLY rides guaranteed to have a long line ANYTIME you try to go are: PETER PAN (It's my favorite too...), MR. TOAD, DUMBO, INDY, ROGER RABBIT, GADGET'S GO COASTER, AUTOPIA, the MATTERHORN, and both SPACE & SPLASH MTs.

LONGEST LINE / SHORTEST RIDE?:

GADGET'S GO-COASTER in TOONTOWN wins hands down at up to a 45 minute busy day wait for a 50 second load/ride cycle. Second longest line is the ANNUAL PASSHOLDER renewal line at the Bank of Main St. ;)

SHORTEST LINE / LONGEST RIDE?:

PIRATES during a FANTASMIC! performance, everybody gets so involved in the show the ride sits empty.

PICK A GOOD DAY TO GO

THINK BEFORE YOU DRESS

CHILDREN UNDER 3

ARRIVE EARLY

USE DISNEYLAND TODAY

FASTPASS

RIDE EARLY

RIDE LATE

AVOID

A GOOD PLAN OF ATTACK

LONGEST LINE / SHORTEST RIDE