Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Disney's California Adventure
1600 South Disneyland Drive
Anaheim, CA 92802

Park admission

Visiting Disneyland is an expensive affair. Tickets are sold at several levels: the base ticket is the Single-Day Theme Park Ticket which enables admission to only one of the two parks for a full day. By contrast, the 1-Day Park Hopper allows you to see both parks on the same day, and to move back and forth between the parks. Park Hopper tickets are also sold in increments of 2, 3, 4, and 5 days; while the ticket price increases with each day, the price per day actually decreases with each day. The days on which the ticket is used do not have to be consecutive. The value of the Park Hopper ticket options should not be underestimated.

The prices below were accurate as of August 2008:

Children under age 3 are admitted free.

Discounts are hard to find, but California residents (bring a driver's license or utility bill to prove residency) will receive a small discount, and booking tickets online through disneyland.com may also save some cash. AAA occasionally offers its members discounts, and seasonal discounts such as the "buy a day, get a seasonal pass" offer occur during non-peak seasons.

If you're planning a multi-day vacation to Southern California with visits to multiple attractions including Disneyland, you can save significantly by using the Southern California CityPass [3]. For only $247 ($199 for kids), you receive a 3-day Park Hopper ticket, and 1 day each at Universal Studios Hollywood, SeaWorld San Diego, and the San Diego Zoo. This makes for a wonderful week long vacation and a very attractive price with about $90 off standard prices.

Note on purchasing tickets online: Many tickets sold online through auction websites such as eBay or Craig's List are usually partially used multi-day Park Hopper tickets. While this is a very common activity, it is actually prohibited by Disney as the tickets are non-transferable. Additionally, this can be risky since you don't know for certain how many days are actually left on the ticket. While there are mechanisms in place to help protect online purchasers, often the damage is already done since purchasing at the gate is more expensive than in advance through authorized methods such as the Disney website, AAA or Disney Stores.

By plane

Disneyland is within driving distance of a number of Southern California airports. While LAX is the obvious choice and the most popular, there are a few other options which are calmer and sometimes even easier to arrive at.

John Wayne Orange County Airport (IATA: SNA) [4] is the closest airport to Anaheim. The Disneyland Resort Express [5], operated by Gray Line, provides direct bus service to the Disneyland Resort from here.

Long Beach Airport (IATA: LGB) [6]. The 2nd closest airport, which is also one of the smallest (e.g. easiest to deal with) in the Los Angeles area. Depending on where you are flying from it's one of the easiest ways to get to Disneyland. Although there is no direct bus service from the airport to the resort, depending on the number of people in your party it may be less expensive to rent a car in any case. Interestingly, if you take the main exit from the airport, which is East Wardlaw Road, eventually it becomes Ball Road, which runs directly across the north edge of Disneyland itself. JetBlue [7] serves 12 destinations nonstop from Long Beach Airport: Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Austin, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose, and Seattle. (Two more destinations will be added in October 2008: Portland and San Francisco.)

Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX) [8] is the largest airport in the area. The Disneyland Resort Express is also available here as well. Most visitors, especially those from overseas, arriving for a visit to Disneyland or to the greater Los Angeles area tend to arrive here.

LA/Ontario International Airport (IATA: ONT) [9] in San Bernardino County is within close distance of Disneyland; take I-10 (San Bernardino Freeway) west and exit into California State Route 57 (Orange Freeway) south which leads directly into Anaheim. Take either the Ball Road or Katella Avenue exit (3 and 2 respectively) and travel west.

Bob Hope Airport (IATA: BUR) [10] in Burbank is the only Los Angeles-area airport that is directly served by Amtrak and Metrolink. There is train service from the airport to Anaheim, either direct via Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner; or requiring a transfer between Metrolink's Ventura County and Orange County Lines at Los Angeles Union Station. The drawback is that it takes more than an hour; plan ahead by checking the schedules first.

Disneyland is also accessible from San Diego International Airport (IATA: SAN) [11]. From the airport, take San Diego Transit's Route 992 bus to the Santa Fe Depot located nearby, and then take Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner for a two-hour trip to Anaheim.

Regardless of which airport you land at, it is always a good idea to consider available alternative forms of transportation before deciding to rent a car. Airport shuttles and public transit are an ideal option, especially if you are unfamiliar with the area.

By car

As with much of California, by car is probably the easiest way to get to the Disneyland Resort from the surrounding area (or even San Diego, Las Vegas, and San Francisco). The Disneyland Resort offers ample parking both for day visitors to the park as well as hotel guests. All of the surrounding hotels offer parking, however, some clearly do not have sufficient parking for the number of overnight guests.

Driving to the Disneyland Resort also means braving the Southern California traffic, which at times can be overwhelming. The Disneyland website offers driving directions [12], as do most online map sites. Traveling from the Long Beach Airport to the Disneyland Resort can be done using surface streets instead of freeways, which can be very crowded during commute hours.

The Disneyland Resort is bounded by Katella Avenue to the south, Ball Road to the north, Walnut Street to the west, Harbor Boulevard to the east, and the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) on the northeast corner. The Anaheim Convention Center is located south of the resort across Katella Avenue.

Parking at the theme parks is $12 for Car/Motorcycle, $17 for RV/Oversized Vehicle, and $22 for Bus/Tractor Trailer. Parking at Downtown Disney is free for the first three hours and $6 for each additional hour afterwards, charged in increments of $2 every 20 minutes. Valet parking is available at Downtown Disney for $6 from 5:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.

If you are arriving in Anaheim by train, a taxi is a reasonable option to get to the resort from the station. A one-way taxi ride from the station to Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel costs $10.40 (as of July 5, 2006).

By foot

One of the great advantages at the Disneyland Resort is that Disneyland Park, Disney's California Adventure Park, Downtown Disney, and many "off property" hotels are all within walking distance. Unlike Walt Disney World in Florida, guests can walk between Disneyland Park, Disney's California Adventure Park, and Downtown Disney in just a minute or two. There are approximately 12 "off property" hotels that are within a 10 minute walk. Some experienced visitors to the Disneyland Resort stay at the walking-distance hotels and find it more convenient to not have a car. It only takes five to 10 minutes to walk to the Disneyland entrance from a walking-distance hotel, and taking breaks in the middle of the day is much more convenient.

By transit

Local trains and buses are the cheapest ways to get to the park. Amtrak and Metrolink's Anaheim station is located on the north edge of the parking lot of Angel Stadium, less than three miles east of Disneyland on Katella Avenue. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner [13] (Paso Robles to San Diego, via San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles) and Metrolink's Orange County Line [14] (LA to Oceanside) service the station.

From 6:30am to 8:45am a free Orange County Transit Authority bus (Route 430) will take you directly into Disneyland from the station. That same bus will take you back to the station for free from 3:30pm to 6:00pm. There is no service on weekends. Other than these times Route 50, which runs from Cal State University Long Beach to the Village at Orange, services the station and Disneyland every 20 minutes. Other OCTA routes that service the park but not the station are Route 43, which runs from La Habra to Downtown Newport Beach every 15 minutes (although you will need to walk ten minutes to get to the park for this route), and Route 83 which goes from the Laguna Hills Mall to the Disneyland Resort, by way of Santa Ana. The latter three routes cost $1.25 per boarding.

Los Angeles County MTA Route 460 links Disneyland with Fullerton, Buena Park (with a stop at Knott's Berry Farm), Norwalk, and downtown LA.

If you are staying at the Knott's Berry Farm Resort Hotel [15] in nearby Buena Park, you can take advantage of the free Disneyland shuttle.

Greyhound offers service to the park and the City of Anaheim runs a tourist bus service [16].

Once in the park, everything is reachable by foot. Disneyland also has pretty good access for wheelchairs and other mobility-assistance vehicles. Outside of the park, a car is again the best way to get around, though many of the hotels and restaurants are just across the street.

To help make getting around a breeze, the Disneyland Monorail links Disneyland's Tomorrowland with Downtown Disney.

FastPass

Disneyland offers its visitors a time-saving tool called FastPass. You can get a FastPass at the most popular attractions by inserting your Passport (admission ticket) into a FastPass machine. The FastPass allows you to come back at a pre-determined time (printed on the FastPass) and go to a shorter line, called the FastPass Return line, to enter the attraction. This works well for very crowded rides, or especially busy times of the day. Although there is a specific time printed on the ticket (ex. Noon to 1 P.M.) the CMs at the FastPass Return line will accept your FastPass ticket any time after Noon, for the remainder of that day. Also, make sure that you notice the return time before taking your FastPass ticket, since you cannot get a new FastPass until A) the printed time is reached, or B) two hours later, whichever time is shorter.

Within the theme parks

There are many gift shops throughout Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. They are so abundant, it is close to impossible to throw a stone and not hit a store. Some attractions even have gift shops located right at their exits. The complete list of shops may be found in your park brochure.

Downtown Disney

Downtown Disney's anchor store is the World of Disney, the second largest of its kind, after the one at Walt Disney World. Essentially, this is a Disney Store on steroids. Downtown Disney also showcases a wide range of well-known retail chains. These are just a select few; see here for a complete listing.

• Anne Geddes
• Build-a-Bear Workshop
• Compass Books
• Disney Pin Trading
• Disney Vault 28 (specializes in boutique style pieces with Disney characters and from various designers.)
• ESPN Zone Store
• Fossil
• House of Blues
• Lego Imagination Center
• Rainforest Cafe

Disneyland dining

When dining if you want to dine at the more upscale or "sit down" restaurants there is a good chance you will not be able to get seating without a reservation in advance. Some locations, especially the Blue Bayou Restaurant and Goofy's Kitchen, require a reservation weeks in advance. Reservations are made through Disney Dining at (714) 781-DINE.

Main Street, U.S.A.

• Blue Ribbon Bakery - Baked goods,sandwiches and specialty drinks.
• Carnation Café - Table service, breakfast, sandwiches, gourmet coffees and ice cream
• Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor - Ice cream specialties
• Main Street Cone Shop - Ice cream cones
• Plaza Inn - "Minnie & Friends Breakfast in the Park", lunch and dinner featuring home-style favorites
• Refreshment Corner - Hot dogs, chili and cold Coke

New Orleans Square

• Blue Bayou Restaurant - This restaurant is inside the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride; table service, seafood, chicken and beef dinners, plus the famous Monte Cristo Sandwich at lunch
• French Market Restaurant - Jambalaya, fried chicken and decadent desserts
• Café Orléans - Table service, soups, salads, gourmet sandwiches and crepes
• Royal Street Veranda - Chowder and gumbo in bread bowls, New Orleans-style

Fantasyland

• Village Haus Restaurant - Hamburgers, pizza and salads
• Enchanted Cottage, Sweets and Treats - Bavarian-style sausages, desserts and drinks

Mickey's Toontown

• Daisy's Diner
• Clarabelle's Frozen Yogurt
• Pluto's Dog House
• Toon Up Treats

Adventureland

• Bengal Barbeque - Barbeque kabobs and coffee drinks
• Tiki Juice Bar - famous Dole Whip ice cream desert, Dole Whip floats, pineapple spears and pineapple juice are available out front of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.

Frontierland

• The Golden Horseshoe - Chicken, fish and mozzarella strips, chili, and tasty ice cream specialties
• Stage Door Café - Chicken, fish, and mozzarella strips
• Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante - Mexican favorites and Costeña Grill specialties, soft drinks and desserts
• River Belle Terrance - Breakfast, BBQ and Southern-style food
• Conestoga Fries - Fries and drinks

Critter Country

• Harbour Galley - Fries and drinks
• Hungry Bear Restaurant - Burgers, chicken and salads

Tomorrowland

• Redd Rockett's Pizza Port - Pizza, pasta and salads
• The Spirit of Refreshment - Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite
• Tomorrowland Terrace - Breakfast, sandwiches, burgers, salads, desserts and drinks

Disney's California Adventure dining

Sunshine Plaza

• Baker's Field Bakery - Baked goods, sandwiches and coffee
• Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream - Ice cream specialties and cones

Golden State

• Pacific Wharf Café - Salads, soups and breakfast
• Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill - Tacos, drinks and more
• Pacific Wharf Distribution Co. - Karl Strauss handcrafted beers
• The Vineyard Room at the Golden Vine Winery - Table service and fine California cuisine inspired by Califonia's Wine Country
• Wine Country Trattoria at the Golden Vine Winery - Table service and Italian favorites

Paradise Pier

• Ariel's Grotto - "Ariel's Disney Princess Celebration" character dining featuring American-style favorites for lunch and dinner
• Burger Invasion - Hamburgers, fries and shakes
• Pizza Oom Mow Mow - Pizza, pasta and salads

Hollywood Pictures Backlot

• Award Wieners - Hot dogs and gourmet sausages
• Schmoozies - Fruit smoothies

"a bug's land"

• Bountiful Valley Farmers Market - Chicken, fish and mozzarella strips

Downtown Disney dining

Downtown Disney has a wide array of choices for dining; the complete list may be found here. Those that shouldn't be missed are:

• ESPN Zone
• House of Blues
• Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria
• Rainforest Cafe
• Tortilla Jo's