Welcome to MAI first Disney tips post! Anytime we post about our Disney trips on Instagram, I always get tons of
questions about crowds and recommendations so I'll list some tips in this
post. Today we are focusing on Disney California Adventure (DCA) and how we
efficiently spend the day there. We only had 4 hours to spend this day and also note that my kids are 5 and 10..so when we have our 5 year old with us, we can't really go on the big kid rides..so this post is probably for the parents with little ones.
#1 GET DROPPED OFF or PARK AT TOY STORY PARKING
If possible, get dropped off. They have a drop-off lot on Harbor street which
makes it less than a 5 minute walk to the park entrance. This is the same area
that you get dropped off by the bus if you parked at the TOY STORY lot. If you
want to save time, park at TOY STORY because the wait times for the buses are
shorter.
We came on Memorial Day and this was the crowd at Disney California Adventure
at 10am ish. A lot of times people ask me how I think the crowds will be
during summer...but it's pretty unpredictable. However I think these days the
parks are more crowded since we are coming out of the pandemic and Disney is
pretty much a safe outdoor activity.
#2 BREAKFAST / FOOD / COFFEE
We usually never come to DCA this early but if you're looking for an easy
breakfast, they sell a chorizo burrito at the Gourmet Coffee stand right
before Pixar Pier! We tried to stop into Starbucks first but the line was out
the door so we kept walking and discovered they had this burrito! yum!
Apparently they sell this chorizo burrito for breakfast until it's sold out
and we heard it sells out fast. You can also order simple pastries here like
chocolate croissants.
We think it wasn't that crowded this day because people usually start their
morning on the DISNEY side so this was a huge advantage for us! Most of the
wait times were 5 minutes! Ariel and Mater were 5 minute wait as well but we were trying new things today...
#3 CHECK THE WAIT TIMES ON YOUR APP - THE DISNEY APP IS YOUR FRIEND
If you haven't downloaded the Disney App yet, how did you get into the park?
If you push the "location" icon on your app, tap "FILTER" then "SHOW LIST",
you'll be able to see the wait times for all the rides.
What is lighting lane (LL) and GENIE + ??
Back in the day they had this thing call a Fast Pass (FP) - you had to walk up
to a kiosk in front of the ride and scan your ticket to obtain this.. Then, it
evolved into a MAX PASS, where it was either included in your annual pass or
you had to pay $15 to get it / per guest for the day and you had access to get
this FP via the app which we thought was so convenient because you didn't have
to run all the way to the rides to get a FP. And now, they have evolved into
the GENIE +. It is no longer included in Magic Key holder's pass and has to be
purchased each time. It still costs $15 / guest but, we are going to be
honest..it might not always be worth it depending on what time you've arrived
into the park and how long you are staying. But let's just say, you're staying
the entire day..then YES, I think it's worth it..but you should decide the day
you enter the park.
There are a list of rides that you can use the Genie + LL for, but it doesn't
work for every ride.. All the really big and popular rides such as Radiator
Springs and Web Slingers require an extra charge for a LL pass. Sucks, I
know..it's a lot of extra $ to spend but if you really want to get on these
rides you just have to pay extra - or just pay for these and not the Genie +
😓
I found another blogpost that explains this way better than me as the
above Disney website might lack experience info..
#4 WHAT DID WE DO IN 4 HOURS?
TO BE CONTINUED ...
I've decided that I should dedicate a part of my blog to answering all of your questions about Disney so feel free to leave your questions in the comments or comment on Zooey's IG post! We go so much that we might as well share how we navigate through the parks efficiently.
Follow @maisassygirl or @zooeyinthecity for more fun !
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