Hi Aimee!
Welcome BACK! It's so great to see your name pop back up in our system. Thank you so much for sending another great Disney planning question to us hEAR at planDisney. And this time you're going to Disneyland Resort - how exciting!
This is a great question. At this time, the special pre-park opening Extra Magic Hour available to guests staying at a
Disneyland Resort Hotel are still paused due to the pandemic reopening procedures. We haven't hEARd if or when these will return to Walt's Original theme park like they have at Mickey's Florida house. But the best bet to know if anything is set to change between now and your Disney dates, Aimee, is by keeping up with the
Disney Parks Blog as they're the most official source to share the newest Disney news straight from Mickey himself. You can even
keep up with them across all of your social media feeds so you'll never miss a story!
One of the differences I like most between Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland is that Disneyland is yes, a vacation destination, but it's also a place where locals love to play; mornings don't feel as crowded, especially during the week, as many people with Park Pass Reservations don't arrive until later in the day after work or school. When I lived nearby, my son and I often wouldn't arrive until around Dinner time, then we'd start our Disney day by playing until the park closed as most locals leave after Fireworks. You really can get so much done in the first few hours of the morning as well as in the evening.
Another tip to the morning rush is that instead of any single area or land being more or less busy than another, Guests tend to sprint to the
attractions that either
don't offer Genie+ Lightning Lanes or to the attractions that
only offer Individual Lighting Lanes in addition to their standby queues as 'rope drop' is when these rides will have the shortest lines. The
attractions that are the most popular with this strategy are Peter Pan's Flight and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in
Disneyland Park and Radiator Springs Racers as well as WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure, which are both in
Disney California Adventure Park.
I'm so excited for you to walk in Walt's footsteps, Aimee! Be sure to add the '
opening day attractions' to your list of Disneyland must-dos. And one of my favorite things to do is compare how attractions differ between the two coasts. I hope you'll notice some of the tiny Disney details too! Be sure to follow the
official planDisney Instagram account for even more Disneyland tips and tricks. And if you have any more Disneyland Resort Planning Questions, We're All Ears!
~Kristen