Itinerary for Disneyland and California Adventure in One Day

Visiting Disneyland and California Adventure in one day can be done with a bit of planning and prioritizing your must see attractions. In this post I am sharing how to plan 1 day at Disneyland and California Adventure.

Can you do Disneyland and California Adventure in one day? Yes! It is actually very easy to park hop at the Disneyland resort due to the close proximity of the parks.

Will you get to see and do everything at both parks? Doubtful, but depending on the crowds and your stamina you can get a lot of the best rides and and most popular attractions done in one day.

Overview of Disneyland and California Adventure

Disneyland and California Adventure are the two theme parks located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. They are directly across from each other making it very easy to visit both Disney parks in one day.

Guests will need a park hopper ticket to visit both parks in one day. Ticket prices vary depending on the day of your visit. Expect to pay an additional $70-$90 upgrade charge per ticket for a park hopper.

Disneyland is the original Disney Park. It has classic dark rides and Sleeping Beauty’s castle. There is so much to do and see at Disneyland. If you are doing both parks you will have to pick your top priorities.

California Adventure has Cars Land and Avengers Campus, making it a really fun immersive place to visit. There are less overall rides than Disneyland but the ones they have are really great.

You will want to plan your day around the rides you want to experience prioritizing the most popular attractions.

Most Popular Attractions at Disneyland

• Fantasyland Dark Ride Attractions: Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Peter Pan’s Flight, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
• Haunted Mansion
• Indiana Jones Adventure
• Jungle Cruise
• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge: Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin

As you can see there are a lot of rides at the park. If you prefer focusing on one park each day read this guide: One Day at Disneyland Itinerary

Most Popular Attractions at Disney California Adventure

• Goofy’s Sky School (Not the most popular ride but because of the low loading time it always has long lines.)
• Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: BREAKOUT! (Avengers Campus is a popular area of the park.)
• Incredicoaster
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Toy Story Midway Mania!
• Radiator Springs Racers (Cars Land is a very popular area of the park.)
• WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure

Disney’s California Adventure has less attractions than Disneyland but there are a lot of areas to explore that may take time. If you want to spend one day at this park read this guide: One Day California Adventure Itinerary

Where to Stay for One Day at Disneyland Resort

There are three on-site hotels at Disneyland that all fall into the deluxe category. If you are looking for a budget friendly place to stay consider the Fairfield Inn and Suites or the Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance.

Both locations are within a 10 minute walk to the Disney theme parks. On our most recent visit we stayed at the Courtyard. Read our full review: Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance Review

Tips for 1-Day at Disneyland & California Adventure

When we planned our first visit to Disneyland we knew that it would be a quick one day visit. Ideally we would have at least a few days to explore the parks and experience everything, but for this visit we had one day and had to make it work.

Update: We did make it back to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park for a longer visit. Read our full theme park itinerary: 9 Day Southern California Itinerary for Your Theme Park Vacation.

The first thing you need to do is start researching before you arrive. I knew we would have to prioritize what our family wanted to do and skip the other things that were not as important to us.

• Plan and do your research ahead of time.
• Download the Disneyland App to your phone. I suggest downloading and logging in on all devices in your party. My phone didn’t work well in the park and we were happy to have my husbands as a back up.
• Guests will need a park hopper ticket. Purchase Disneyland Park Hopper Tickets and Lightning Lane ahead of time. Link them in the app. Be sure to compare ticket prices to the special offers on the Disneyland website.
• Create a draft of what you want to do and what you are willing to skip. Consider most popular rides and wait times when planning your day. You can check the Disneyland app for current wait times to get an idea of what to expect.
• Write out your itinerary on paper or the notes in your phone to be prepared for your day.

How We Planned Our Day at Disneyland

We set a few basic rules for our visit based on what worked for our family. Everyone is different and you should know what works for your family before you make your itinerary.

• Prioritize rides that are not at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida. We visit WDW often and decided to ride attractions that are not at the WDW park.
• Use Lightning Lane. Lighting Lane is the online FastPass system that allows you to make reservations on your phone instead of walking to each attraction. Lightning Lane is available for an upcharge and was worth it to maximize our day at both parks.
• Skip shows and character meet + greets.
• Also we did a lot of backtracking and walking. This itinerary is ideal if you don’t mind walking a lot. Disneyland is a small park and we found it relatively easy to go back and forth.
• Most people start at Indiana Jones because it is one of the most popular attractions. We decided to quickly do the Fantasyland dark rides and secure a Lightning Lane for Indiana Jones.

This may seem a bit strict for most people on a family vacation but we know how we like to do theme parks.

We don’t mind rushing to the attractions because that was our goal for the trip. We wanted to experience as much of the parks as we could in our short time.

If you want to go at a slower pace you may want to plan one day at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure to get the most out of your day.

Our 1 Day Disneyland and California Adventure Itinerary

I highly suggest you purchase Lightning Lane and individual lightning lanes if those attractions are a priority. You can also take advantage of the single rider line to maximize the attractions you experience.

Quick Lightning Lane Overview: Guests can make first reservation as soon as you scan into park. Then you can make your next one 2 hours after or when you use one.

So if you book Indiana Jones with a 9:30am-10:30am reservation, as soon as I enter the park at 8:00am. I can book my next at 10:00am or when I scan into Indiana Jones. You can have 3 Lightning Lanes reservations at a time. Always book your next one as soon as it allows you.

• Arrive at Disneyland around 7:45am for a 9:00am opening. We always rope drop theme parks. Rope drop means being among the first people to enter the park. This keeps you ahead of the crowds for the first few hours the park is open.
• Once your ticket is scanned you can purchase Lightning Lane(if you haven’t yet) and make your first reservation. We made our Lightning Lane for Indiana Jones (9:45-10:45am) Guests should also purchase a Rise of the Resistance Individual Lightning Lane if you are planning on riding it.
• Alice in Wonderland (Fantasyland)
• Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (Fantasyland)
• Snow White’s Scary Adventure (Fantasyland)
• Pinocchio’s Daring Adventure (Fantasyland)
• Pirates of the Caribbean (New Orleans Square)
• Indiana Jones Adventure, Genie+ Time 9:45am-10:45am (Adventureland)
• We arrived at Indiana Jones around 10:30 (Used our Lightning Lane 9:45-10:45am) While waiting for the ride we attempted to make our next Lightning Lane but it wasn’t working in the building so we waited until we were done.
• Upon exiting from Indiana Jones make your next Lightning Lane if you haven’t.
• Explore Toontown Play Areas (Around 10-15 Minutes)
• Gadgets Go Coaster (Toontown)
• Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin (Toontown)
• I suggest riding this before Gadget’s Go Coaster and we tried, but it was not up and running so we skipped it and went back as we finished exploring Toontown.
• After Roger Rabbit we secured a Lightning Lane for Buzz Lightyear (Genie+ 11:30am-12:30pm)
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Lightning Lane Time 11:30am-12:30pm (Tomorrowland)
• Made a Lightning Lane for Guardian’s of the Galaxy for 6:15pm-7:15pm.
• Lunch at French Market in New Orleans
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Critter Country)
• Mickey and the Magical Map 2:15pm Show (Fantastyland)
• Made Lightning Lane for Toy Story Midway Mania! for 5:50pm-6:50pm during the show.
• At this point it was around 3:00pm and we walked to California Adventure. The walk from gate to gate is only a few minutes and it makes a Disney hopper pass worth the extra money. It is very easy to park hop at Disneyland.
• Consider purchasing an individual lightning lane for Radiator Springs and/or Web Slingers or use the single rider line to skip the lines.
• Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! (Hollywood Land)
• Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters (Cars Land)
• Both Monsters Inc. and Luigi’s had between a 20-30 minute wait. They do not offer Lightning Lane and ended up being the longest waits of our day. Update: Monsters Inc is permanently closed.
• Radiator Springs
• If you can, try to secure a Individual Lightning Lane for Radiator Springs early in your day. They were sold out by 3:00pm and we booked it during the early morning.
• Early dinner at Flo’s V8 Cafe.
• During dinner we made a Lightning Lane for Soarin’ Around the World at 7:15pm-8:00pm. California Adventure closed at 8:00pm and we were surprised it was available. As you go through your day always check what is available.
• The Little Mermaid- Ariel’s Undersea Adventure (Paradise Pier)
• After The Little Mermaid we had about an hour before our next Lightning Lane. We walked around Pixar Pier, took pictures, tried a few snacks, and explored. There are a few attractions but the lines were quite long.
• Toy Story Mania, Lightning Lane Time 5:50pm-6:50pm (Pixar Pier)
• Guardians of Galaxy-Mission Breakout!, Lightning Lane Time 6:15pm-7:15pm (Hollywood Land)
• Soarin’ Around the World, Lightning Lane Time 7:15pm-8:00pm (Grizzly Peak)
• At any given point throughout the day we had 2-3 Lightning Lane reservations scheduled. I updated the app while we waited for attractions and it helped save us a lot of time waiting in lines.
• Disneyland was open until 10:00pm so we walked back to Disneyland for our last few rides.
• After we rode Soarin’ I scheduled a Lightning Lane for Big Thunder Mountain. Once we entered Disneyland we headed straight to Big Thunder. I highly recommend riding Big Thunder at night!
• I secured our final Lightning Lane of the night for Small World from 8:45pm-9:45pm as I walked to board Big Thunder Mountain.
• Storybook Land Canal Boats (Fantasyland)
• it’s a Small World, Lightning Lane Time 8:45pm-9:45pm (Fantasyland)
• I was happy we had it’s a Small World because even late at night the wait was over 30 minutes and we walked right on.
• Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
• There was not a wait at all for Nemo. This ride is a bit claustrophobic so keep in mind if you decide to ride. Although you do not submerge you are closed in a submarine with a small window. I remember this ride as a kid, when it was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and I felt the same way.

Final Thoughts

We did it!! We were exhausted but barely noticed because we had the best time experiencing both parks! For a Disney loving family, that lives in the Eastern US, we didn’t know if we would ever make it to the California parks.

Keep in mind this itinerary would need to be tweaked based on Lightning Lane reservations and what you and your family want to experience. The best tip I can give is to have a flexible plan and discuss everyone’s expectations before you arrive at the parks.

I spent a lot of time before we left for vacation working on our itinerary and tweaking it, but once we arrived at the park there were changes that I couldn’t predict and we had to be flexible.

We talked about different options if Lightning Lane reservations were sold out and discussed our expectations with the kids so they wouldn’t be disappointed if we didn’t get to something.

We fully utilized the Lightning Lane and ended up riding 23 attractions. It was ambitious but we had an incredible time. Having this Disneyland and California Adventure one-day itinerary helped keep us focused on the day and made sure we got to everything our family wanted to enjoy.

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