Hi there, Cherylanne!
Welcome to planDisney, I am so excited about your question! The steps for planning a Disneyland Resort vacation are unique for everyone, but I would love to share my own process and recommendations with you.
The first step is to decide when you want to come. When you have some dates in mind then you'll want to
check that theme park reservations are available because each guest needs a
valid park ticket and a park reservation to enter each day. I also recommend
checking Disneyland Resort Hotel availability for your dates very soon! Each hotel at the resort has so many amenities and benefits, and some of them have some unique perks that only guests at that hotel get to use. Choosing can be hard! Whichever hotel you choose, you'll be able to use Early Entry to start your day in the park 30 minutes before the official park opening. You can accomplish so much in that early morning time!
There are some choices when it comes to park tickets. You can choose to do one park each day, or upgrade to
Park Hopper tickets so you can visit a second park later in the day! You will also have the option to pre-pay for
Disney Genie+ to be added to your tickets (which locks in the lowest price) to access Lightning Lanes. I find Genie+ to be especially awesome if we are park hopping because I can reserve Lightning Lanes in both parks!
You can purchase your park tickets at the same time that you make your hotel reservation. Your next step will be to go
make park reservations right away using your new tickets! When you make your reservation you will choose which park you want to visit each day. If you are using Park Hopper tickets then you'll choose your starting park. We like to alternate which park we start in, so we have the chance to use our Early Entry benefit in each park!
With your hotel and park reservations ready to go, you'll be ready to start thinking about
dining reservations! Reservations typically open 60 days in advance at 6:00 AM EST, and some of the most popular locations do fill up very quickly. Disneyland Resort Hotel guests do have
preferred access to dining reservations, which can be very helpful! But if you can't find a reservation you like, don't worry. There are so many great quick service options!
I also love to do a little research before our visits to figure out what our top priorities are. The
Disneyland Mobile App is a great way to explore the parks and get familiar with attractions and entertainment before your visit. The
Hours & Events Calendar is another great tool to see what is happening during your stay!
Cherylanne, I know this is a ton of information! You have so many fun choices to make when you're planning a trip. If you have more questions about any of these topics (or even something new!) I hope you'll
send me a note here so we can keep planning together!
Keep moving forward!
Amanda