For those used to planning a trip to one of the Disney parks, preparing for an adventure to the other coast can be a bit different. Beyond the different attractions and park layouts, there are things you might expect would be the same that are not. I hope these five tips about the planning differences can help you out.
1) Advanced Dining Reservations
At Walt Disney World, advanced dining reservations (known as ADRs) can be made 180 days out from when you plan to dine. On-property hotel guests get an added bonus of scheduling reservations for up to ten days of their trip on 180 days out from their first night at a Disney hotel. For very popular restaurants at Walt Disney World, such as Be Our Guest or Cinderella’s Royal Table, reservations may not be available soon after the 180 day window opens.
At Disneyland, advanced dining reservations can only be made 60 days out from when you plan to dine. On-property hotel guests get no advantage in booking on the West Coast. Some popular restaurants, such Blue Bayou do book up early, however in general ADRs are easier to make in Walt’s park. Many good reservations can be found the day of or just days before heading to the parks.
2) Park Hours
At Walt Disney World, park hours, including Extra Magic Hours for on-property hotel guests, are available over 6 months in advance on Disney’s website. Many parade, fireworks, and major show schedules, like Fantasmic, also appear on the calendar this early or shortly after. This makes it easy to plan your day by day touring well in advance. It also helps you decide on which day you’ll want to make ADRs at which park.
At Disneyland Resort, park hours only become available 6 weeks out. These hours do include Extra Magic Hour (for those staying on-site) and Magic Mornings. The entertainment schedule for both parks is also posted at 6 weeks out. However, waiting till 6 weeks before your trip can seem difficult for those accustomed to the early posting of the hours on the East Coast.
3) On-Site Hotels
At Walt Disney World, there are over a dozen on-property hotels that range in price from Deluxe (the most expensive, usually over $300 a night) to Moderate to Value (sometimes available at around $100 a night). Deluxe hotels usually have table service restaurants and some have cool transportation options such as boats, monorails, or an easy walk to a park. Value hotels on the other hand typically only have counter-service restaurants. Each hotel has its own theme, but they all share Disney customer service, free on-property Disney bus transportation, a free shuttle to and from Orlando International Airport in Magical Express, access to Extra Magic Hours, awesome pools, and other Disney extras.
At Disneyland Resort, there are only three on-property hotels, the Grand Californian being the most expensive, the Disneyland Hotel being the next most expensive (and the most steeped in Disney history), and Paradise Pier being the cheapest. However, Paradise Pier is priced similarly to moderate Walt Disney World hotels. These hotels offer some Disney extras like Extra Magic Hour, but they don’t offer a free shuttle to any airport, they charge for parking, and they don’t have on property transportation (but that’s because you can easily walk to either park from all three!). At Disneyland, however, there are often cheaper alternatives just off-property in the Good Neighbor Hotels, many of which are within parking distance of the parks.
4) FastPasses
At Walt Disney World, the old FastPass system has been changed to FastPass+. In this system you schedule one hour windows to visit up to three attractions with minimal wait up to 60 days ahead of time if you are staying on-property and 30 days ahead of time if you are staying off-site or just coming for the day. Some rides, like Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train and Toy Story Mania, and some character meet and greets, like Anna and Elsa, do book up very early, so scheduling your FastPass+ early is important for some travelers. However, FastPass+ can also be booked upon arrival at the parks and the stand by lines are still available.
At Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, they are still on old school paper FastPasses. Here you can pull a FastPass and get a return time for later that same day. The return times are enforced. You can only hold one FastPass at a time unless it has been over two hours since you pulled your FastPass, in which case you can pull your next one even if your return time for the first one isn’t ready yet. World of Color and Fantasmic FastPasses are necessary to see these shows, unless you have a dining package, but they aren’t connected to the rest of the FastPasses in the park so you can always hold another FastPass while you hold one of these. You can also hold FastPasses from both parks at the same time, since the systems aren’t connected (and since the parks are so close it’s easier to hop there!)
5) PhotoPass
On both coasts, PhotoPass photographers will take your photo for free throughout the parks and give you a PhotoPass card where you can look at and purchase your photos online. These photographers will also generally use your camera to take a picture for you if you ask.
At Walt Disney World, you can purchase Memory Maker to be able to download all the PhotoPass photos from the length of your trip (and add cool borders if you choose) from the website for one price. This includes ride photos and a few short ride videos. Memory Maker costs $149 if purchased before at least 3 days arrival and $169 if purchased once on property.
At Disneyland, there is no Memory Maker option. There used to be a PhotoPass+ option for the length of your trip but that is no more. Now the only option is a one-day PhotoPass+ which includes all the photos (including ride photos) taken on one day for $39. This can be purchased ahead of time or afterwards for the same price.
