Disneyland Frequently Asked Questions

On this page you’ll find answers to some Disneyland frequently asked questions.

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When are the best (and worst) times of year to go to Disneyland in California?

WHEN you choose to visit can make a substantial difference! It’s not as big a difference as it used to be, as Disney has done a lot of work on spreading attendance across the year. They put special events, parties, festivals and promotions to fill up the hotels and parks during the traditional off season, making the slow seasons not as slow as they once were. That said, paying attention to dates is still worth it. Even if you have very limited times you can go, choosing the best possible options for arrival and departure date might reduce the average attendance across your trip by 10% or more if you can just avoid one super busy day, and that’s absolutely worth it.

The majority of Disneyland visitors are locals. So think about when you would go to Disneyland if you lived nearby (evenings, weekends and holidays, mostly), and stay away during those times, if at all possible.

The BEST times to go to Disneyland are:

  • September-December, except holiday periods. In September kids are back in school, so the crowds drop off. The weather cools off in late October, though it can be crowded on fall weekends. Beginning in early October, you can enjoy Haunted Mansion Holiday. Beginning in early November, the Christmas decorations and it’s a small world Holiday will be up. Decorations stay up until approximately January 3. If you want to visit Disneyland during the Christmas-New Year period, pick whatever day the Rose Parade is held — it siphons off a lot of tourists and locals, especially in the morning.
  • Second week of January-March (except holiday weekends). However, often rides will be closed for refurbishment at this time of year. The first week of January can be busy due to extended holiday vacations.
  • Any rainy day. Southern Californians think they’ll melt if they get wet. Seriously, the parks are often dead when it rains. A few of the more exposed rides (i.e. Dumbo) may close temporarily if it’s really pelting down, but if the rain stops they’ll open back up.
  • Weekdays, especially if you have to go in the summer or holiday seasons.
  • During special events that interest you. Bear in mind that events can attract significant crowds, however.

The WORST times to visit Disneyland are:

  • All summer. Crowds are really bad and it’s HOT.
  • Weekends, year-round. For much of the year, the busiest day at Disneyland is Saturday and the busiest day at Disney California Adventure is Sunday, so if you have to go on a weekend, reverse those days!
  • Thanksgiving weekend. Expect it to be horribly crowded (the week leading up to Thanksgiving is busy, too), though the decorations will be up and the weather is normally very pleasant.
  • Weekend before Christmas through December 31. This is a very busy time, so forget about riding every attraction. However, it’s a nice time to wander around, enjoy the decorations and the weather, which is usually sunny and cool.
  • The week on either side of Easter, and Easter weekend. The parks will be crowded, but the weather will usually be nice.
  • Other holidays: Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend, President’s Day, Martin Luther King’s Birthday, Veteran’s Day (November 11) will all be crowded.
  • During special events. Some don’t create a lot of crowds, but some do.

Some less-known events that may affect crowds, park hours/experiences and/or traffic at Disneyland:

  • Dapper Day – date varies, but usually Spring and Fall (2024 dates: November 3; 2025 dates: April 13). This is an unofficial gathering of people who like to dress up (often in vintage clothing) and go to Disneyland Resort. You’ll see some great outfits! May have an effect on crowds, but also a fun event. Visit DapperDay.com for info.
  • Bats Day – early May (2025 dates: April 26 & 27). This is an unofficial gathering of Goths, so Disneyland will be filled with cool, offbeat people wearing black. Usually has little effect on crowds. Visit BatsDay.net for info.
  • Grad Nites – Mid-May through mid-June (2025 dates: May 9, 12, 18, 21, 22, 27, 28, 30; June 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13). A private nighttime event for high school kids (ages 14-18) is held at Disney California Adventure. It runs from after (early) park closing until early the next morning. The students also get Park Hopper tickets to visit both parks during the day, so expect crowded conditions and unsupervised teens in the parks all day long. In short, we strongly recommend AVOIDING the parks on these dates!
  • Gay Days – A weekend in mid-September most years (2025 dates: September 12-14). Visit GayDaysAnaheim.com for details. In our experience, this event has minimal effect on crowds.
  • ABC’s Very Merry Christmas Day Parade footage is taped at Disneyland, usually on the first or second weekend in November. The exact dates aren’t officially released, and they often aren’t even “leaked” until 2-3 weeks prior. Unless you want to watch the production process, you may want to avoid Disneyland that weekend, because it can create crowd problems. The Christmas Day Parade is broadcast on ABC on December 25 each year.

If you can only travel during your children’s school breaks:

  • If your school district has an unusual break that is not commonly observed by other districts, that’s a good time to consider.
  • If your spring break is very early or very late compared to most schools, that may be a decent time to go. As a broad rule of thumb, the week just before Easter Sunday and the week just after will be the peaks of the spring break season, so if you have a break that is earlier or later than that, it may be slightly less busy. If your spring break is just before or after Easter, our advice is to wait until summer if you can.
  • If you don’t have any unusual school breaks, summer vacation will usually be the best bet. Go very late in the summer, or very early. The best summer period is the last two weeks in August, which will usually have low-medium crowds, especially on weekdays. The next best time is the first two weeks in June, which will usually be moderately crowded, but not crazy. But even mid-summer will typically not reach the peaks seen right around Easter and Christmas.
  • Christmas break will have the absolute worst crowds, but the parks will be open from very early in the morning to very late at night, and there will be a lot of decorations, parades and shows. If you go during this time, add an extra day or two to your stay if you can.

How’s the weather when I’m planning to go?

Our advice is to ignore long-term weather forecasts, as weather forecasting only has good accuracy up to 2-3 days out. Just look at the historical average high and low for the days you’re going. From the temperature range, decide whether you’re going to need light clothes only, or whether you might want to bring a jacket. Assume that on a super hot day it might get 5-ish degrees hotter than the historical average high, and during a bad cold snap it might get 10-ish degrees colder, and you should be prepared.

If you’re going during high-precipitation periods, you should be prepared for rain every day, probably with a packable poncho. Even in low-precipitation periods, you may want to bring some thin disposable ponchos just in case, or you can assume you’ll buy a poncho in the nearest shop if rain comes unexpectedly. At Disneyland, every shop of any significant size and most of the merchandise kiosks have ponchos available year-round.

The most straightforward and simple look at average temperature high & low and rainfall we’ve found is this Climate Charts page for Anaheim, CA.

If you want a more comprehensive look at local weather averages, this page for Fullerton average weather on Weatherbase has lots more information, with links to other charts, graphs and data tables. (Fullerton is very close to Anaheim; the weather is essentially identical.)

Will there be any attractions shut down for maintenance or refurbishment while I’m at Disneyland?

Disneyland does have to shut down rides and attractions throughout the year to do inspection, maintenance, and refurbishment. Most rides get shut down for at least a few days each year. When they can, Disney will schedule their refurbishments in the off-season to minimize the number of guests affected. They also avoid scheduling multiple popular attractions for refurbishment at the same time. Generally, during peak seasons (Spring Break, June and July, and Christmas break) Disney will do their best to have every attraction running. To give themselves a little cushion, they actually want everything running before the crowds arrive, so if you visit a week or so before a peak season, chances are most rides will be running. Conversely, right after a peak season is when the largest number of attractions are scheduled for maintenance, so if you visit in early September or January there may be several rides closed.

No matter what time of year you go, there is always a chance that they will need to shut down a ride for mechanical or other issues. Sometimes these unscheduled shutdowns last a few minutes, and sometimes the whole day. For example, Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure must be shut down when there is heavy rain, largely because traveling in an open-top car in the rain is an unpleasant experience for guests. Rides that get you wet, like Grizzly River Run, are sometimes closed if there is especially cold weather. For the most up-to-date information, check the printed daily park schedule or the tip board when you arrive, or ask at the concierge desk if you’re staying at a Disney hotel.

Disneyland usually puts rides on their refurbishment schedule about 2-3 months in advance, but this schedule is always subject to change. Occasionally a ride will get added last-minute or shut down with no warning, or a refurbishment will get rescheduled.

Disney typically announces their refurbishments and closures via press releases and notes on their web site, but doesn’t have any single page that catalogs all the various closures in one place. Undercover Tourist, however, does track all the current and announced refurbishments and closures at Disneyland:

How can I make our Disneyland vacation extra special?

While every Disneyland vacation should be a blast, if you’re celebrating a special occasion, want to inject a little romance, or just plain want to do something extra, we do have some ideas for you.

When will new Disneyland vacation package deals or room discounts become available?

Only Disney knows when (or if) the next ones will come out. We have no crystal ball — we can’t predict what Disney may decide to do. However, to assist you in planning future trips for which discounts have not yet been released, a chart is shown below, so you can see what has been offered in the past.

Be aware that while they have great marketing appeal, Disneyland packages are not usually a great deal. Sometimes the promo packages are okay, but you really have to run the numbers.

Even when promo packages are offered, often you can do better by putting together your own “package” with a discounted room reservation and discounted tickets. “Room-only” discounts usually become available at around the same time as package offers for the same period.

Historical Discounts at Disneyland Resort

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Check-in dates2025 Package & Room-Only Discounts and OffersBecame Available / Expired
1/7/25-3/20/25Save up to 25% for 4-night stays or longer on most rooms at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel10/22/24, exp 3/7/25
1/7/25-3/20/25Save up to 20% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel and up to 10% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Pixar Place10/22/24, exp 3/7/25
1/7/25-3/20/25Disney Visa cardholders save up to 30% on select premium rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel, The Villas at Disneyland Hotel and Pixar Place10/22/24, exp 3/7/25
1/7/25-3/20/25Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 25% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel and up to 15% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Pixar Place Hotel???, exp 3/7/25
5/16/25-9/26/25Save up to 30% for 4-night stays or longer on most rooms at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel, The Villas at Disneyland Hotel and Pixar Place12/5/24, exp 5/15/25
Check-in dates2024 Package & Room-Only Discounts and OffersBecame Available / Expired
1/15/24-3/7/24Save up to 20% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian and up to 15% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel12/7/23, exp 3/7/24
1/15/24-3/7/24Disney Visa cardholders save up to 25% for 4-night stays or longer on select rooms at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel12/7/23; exp 3/4/24
1/15/24-3/7/24Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 25% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian and up to 20% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel???, exp 3/7/24
3/11/24-6/6/24Save up to 15% on most premium rooms and up to 10% on most standard rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel2/22/24, exp 6/3/24
3/11/24-6/6/24Disney Visa cardholders save up to 25% on select premium rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel2/22/24, exp 6/3/24
3/11/24-6/6/24Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 20% on most premium and up to 15% on most standard rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel2/22/24, exp 6/3/24
6/10/24-9/26/24Save up to 25% on rooms for most stays of 4 nights or longer, OR save up to 20% on rooms for select stays Sunday through Thursday nights at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel5/29/24, exp 9/12/24
6/10/24-9/26/24Disney Visa cardholders save up to 30% on select premium rooms and up to 20% on select standard rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel5/29/24, exp 9/12/24
6/10/24-9/26/24Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 25% on select premium standard rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel5/29/24, exp 9/12/24
10/20/24-12/19/24Save up to 15% on rooms for most stays Sunday through Thursday nights at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel9/24/24, exp 12/9/24
10/20/24-12/19/24Disney Visa cardholders save up to 25% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel9/24/24, exp 12/9/24
10/20/24-12/19/24Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 20% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel9/24/24, exp 12/9/24
Check-in dates2023 Package & Room-Only Discounts and OffersBecame Available / Expired
1/9/23-3/9/23Save up to 20% on most premium and standard rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian & Disneyland Hotel and up to 10% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier12/7/22, exp 3/6/23
1/9/23-3/9/23Disney Visa cardholders save up to 30% on select premium rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian & Disneyland Hotel and up to 20% on most premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier12/7/22; exp 3/6/23
1/9/23-3/9/23Magic Key Annual Passholders save 25% on most premium rooms and standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and 15% on most premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier12/7/22; exp 3/6/23
3/12/23-6/8/23Save up to 15% on most premium and standard rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian & Disneyland Hotel and up to 10% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier2/21/23, exp 6/5/23
3/12/23-6/8/23Disney Visa cardholders save up to 25% on select premium rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian & Disneyland Hotel and up to 20% on most premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier2/21/23, exp 6/5/23
3/12/23-6/8/23Magic Key Annual Passholders save 20% on most premium rooms and standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and 15% on most premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier???, exp 6/5/23
8/1/23-9/30/23Save up to 25% on 4-night stays or longer on select rooms at Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel6/29/23, exp 9/30/23
8/1/23-9/30/23Save up to 20% on most premium and standard rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian & Disneyland Hotel and up to 10% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier6/29/23, exp 9/30/23
8/1/23-9/30/23Disney Visa cardholders save up to 30% on select premium rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian & Disneyland Hotel and up to 20% on select premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier6/29/23, exp 9/30/23
8/1/23-9/30/23Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 25% on most premium rooms and standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 15% on most premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier6/29/23, exp 9/30/23
10/22/23-12/21/23Disney Visa cardholders save up to 15% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian and up to 10% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel and Villas at Disneyland Hotel???, exp 12/11/23
10/22/23-12/21/23Save up to 15% Sun-Thur at Grand Californian & up to 10% Sun-Thur at The Villas at Disneyland Hotel10/4/23, exp 12/11/23
10/22/23-12/21/23Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 20% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian and up to 15% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel???, exp 12/11/23
Check-in dates2022 Package & Room-Only Discounts and OffersBecame Available / Expired
1/3/22-4/7/22Save 25% on 4-night stays or longer on select rooms at Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel11/18/21, exp 3/17/22
1/3/22-4/7/22Save up to 25% on most premium rooms and up to 20% on most standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 10% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier11/18/21, exp 3/17/22
1/3/22-4/7/22Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 30% on most premium rooms and up to 25% on most standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 15% on most premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier11/18/21, exp 3/17/22
4/11/22-6/9/22Save up to 25% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian; up to 20% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel and up to 10% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier3/22/22, exp 6/6/22
4/11/22-6/9/22Disney Visa cardholders save up to 25% on select rooms at Grand Californian; up to 20% on select rooms at Disneyland Hotel and up to 10% on most rooms at Paradise Pier3/22/22, exp 6/6/22
4/11/22-6/9/22Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 30% on most premium rooms and up to 20% on most standard rooms at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 15% on most premium rooms at Paradise Pier??, exp 6/6/22
8/7/22-9/29/22Disney Visa cardholders save up to 20% on select rooms at Grand Californian; up to 15% on select rooms at Disneyland Hotel and up to 10% on select rooms at Paradise Pier6/22/22, exp 9/22/22
8/7/22-9/29/22Save up to 25% on 4-night stays or longer on select rooms at Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel6/28/22, exp 9/22/22
8/7/22-9/29/22Save up to 20% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian; up to 15% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel and up to 10% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier6/28/22, exp 9/22/22
8/7/22-9/29/22Magic Key Annual Passholders save 25% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian; 20% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel and 15% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier6/28/22, exp 9/22/22
10/20/22-12/15/22Disney Visa cardholders save up to 15% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel and up to 10% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier9/21/22, exp 12/15/22
10/20/22-12/22/22Save up to 15% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel; and save up to 10% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier9/28/22, exp 12/15/22
10/20/22-12/22/22Magic Key Annual Passholders save 20% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel; and save 15% on select rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier9/28/22, exp 12/15/22
Check-in dates2021 Package & Room-Only Discounts and OffersBecame Available / Expired
7/5/21-10/2/21Save up to 25% on select rooms at Grand Californian and up to 20% on select rooms at Disneyland Hotel6/15/21, exp 9/16/21
10/12/21-12/16/21Save up to 25% on most premium rooms and up to 20% on most standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 10% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier9/23/21, exp 12/9/21
10/12/21-12/16/21Magic Key Annual Passholders save up to 30% on most premium rooms and up to 25% on most standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 15% on most premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier9/27/21, exp 12/9/21
Check-in dates2020 Package & Room-Only Discounts and OffersBecame Available / Expired
1/5/20-4/16/20Disney Visa cardholders save up to 25% on premium rooms at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian; up to 20% on standard rooms at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 10% on rooms at Paradise Pier11/5/19, exp 3/14/20
1/5/20-4/16/20Save up to 25% on most premium rooms and up to 20% on most standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 10% on most rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier11/12/19, exp 3/16/20
1/5/20-4/16/20Save up to 25% on select rooms for stays 4 nights or longer at Disney’s Grand Californian & Disneyland Hotel11/12/19, exp 3/14/20
1/5/20-4/16/20Annual Passholders save up to 25% at at Disney’s Grand Californian & Disneyland Hotel (includes one Disney Fastpass ticket per person and one $20 Disneyland Resort dining certificate) 11/12/19, exp 4/15/20
4/19/20-6/18/20Save up to 25% on most premium rooms and up to 20% on most standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 10% on most premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier12/19/19, exp 3/16/20
4/19/20-6/18/20Save up to 20% on most premium rooms and up to 15% on most standard rooms Sun-Thur at Disneyland Hotel & Grand Californian and up to 10% on most premium rooms Sun-Thur at Paradise Pier3/17/20, exp 5/31/20

When will Disneyland ticket prices go up?

Only Disney can say for sure, but typically the prices of regular tickets tend to go up at least once a year, usually on a Sunday.

Past dates when prices went up: January 6, 2019; February 11, 2020; October 25, 2021; October 11, 2022; October 11, 2023.

Many years we’ve been able to find out the dates of the ticket price increases at least a day or two in advance, and have announced those increases through a MouseSavers.com Hot Deals email so that our readers could buy their tickets before the prices went up. If you would like to receive those notifications and you are not currently a subscriber to the FREE MouseSavers Newsletter, sign up for our newsletter here and be sure to select the option “I would also like to get the free Hot Deals newsletters.” If you are already a monthly newsletter subscriber, you can add the Hot Deals announcements to your subscription.

The “secret” newsletter prices for Undercover Tourist seem to be the same as their regular prices.

No, there really are lower prices from Undercover Tourist if you go through the private MouseSavers Newsletter link that appears in every issue, with the exception of a very few tickets for other parks that are not discounted at all and are only available as a convenience, such as the 1-Day Walt Disney World tickets.

The most likely reason you’re seeing the same prices is that a “cookie” is set on your computer when you visit through the newsletter link. If you go directly to the Undercover Tourist site in a different tab, or even close the current tab and open a new one, the cookie causes your screen to display the MouseSavers Newsletter rates.

However, if you close down your browser completely, or open a completely different browser, and return to the Undercover Tourist site without using the special link, you should see the regular prices for the general public, which are higher. If that doesn’t work, you might have to clear cookies (see the help for your browser to find out how to do this) or reboot to see the higher prices. You can also visit the site directly using a completely different computer, or your phone or a tablet.

When you’re on Undercover Tourist’s private page for MouseSavers Newsletter subscribers, you will see the MouseSavers log and a “Welcome MouseSavers” message just below which should say that you are seeing Undercover Tourist’s lowest prices. When the general public comes to the Undercover Tourist site, the message and the special prices are not visible.

If you’ve tried all the above, and you’re not seeing the special prices and not seeing the “Welcome MouseSavers” box, then possibly something on your computer, most likely an ad-blocker or privacy screener is stripping off the parameters in the link that tell Undercover Tourist to show the special prices. You can try adding Undercover Tourist and/or MouseSavers to a “trusted” list in your privacy software, or just try another computer.

What is a “Good Neighbor” hotel?

A Good Neighbor hotel usually has a ticket shop in the lobby that sells full price Disney tickets. The Good Neighbor hotels also participate in certain Disneyland vacation packages.

Other than that, the Good Neighbor designation means nothing for the consumer. It does not guarantee quality. Some Good Neighbor hotels really aren’t very nice, while others are excellent. Some are close to Disneyland, while others are quite far away.

Basically, we advise you to ignore the Good Neighbor designation, as it doesn’t guarantee you anything at all.

Why don’t you have more discounts and information for Disneyland?

Sometimes people compare the Walt Disney World section of this site (or the MouseSavers Newsletter) with the Disneyland section, and wonder why the Disney World section is so much bigger.

When we receive any Disneyland discounts, updates and news, we do publish them. However, there is just plain a lot less information for Disneyland.

For one thing, Walt Disney World is massively larger and more complex than Disneyland!

Also, deep discounts are much harder to find at Disneyland than deals at Walt Disney World. Why? Because the two regions have very different economies.

The number of hotel rooms in Anaheim is limited because the area has been fully developed for about 50 years, making it difficult to build new hotels. Most Disneyland visitors are relatively local: more than 20 million people live within easy driving distance of Disneyland. So even when times are tough, plenty of locals will scrape together enough money for 2 or 3 days’ Disneyland admission and a night or two in a nearby hotel. In fact, it’s even conceivable that Disneyland could benefit from an economic downturn, because West Coast inhabitants who might normally vacation in more expensive locations (i.e., Hawaii) may decide to substitute a long weekend at Disneyland instead.

Walt Disney World, on the other hand, gets most of its visitors from outside Central Florida. The local population is relatively small and the economy is extremely dependent on tourism. The Orlando area only has around a million inhabitants and about 1 in 20 of them work for Disney. In addition, the availability of huge swaths of undeveloped land around Walt Disney World has made it easy for developers to overbuild, adding many thousands of new hotel rooms. The net result? Orlando hotels are hungry for business and they are rolling out fantastic deals.

So if you’re torn between a visit to Walt Disney World and a visit to Disneyland, Florida almost certainly should be your choice. In most cases you’ll get a lot more for your money at Walt Disney World.

There will never be as much coverage of Disneyland on MouseSavers.com, in the MouseSavers Newsletter or in MouseSavers Hot Deals as there is of Disney World. We can’t publish what doesn’t exist!

I have a disability or health issue and may need special accommodations. How can I get more information?

Here are two useful resources for anyone with a disability or special need who plans to visit one of the Disney theme parks:

  1. Disney’s official information about help for those with disabilities at Disneyland.
  2. For “live” help, check out the DIS Boards’ disABILITIES forum, where you’ll find many people who have visited the Disney parks multiple times and can provide great insights, tips and tricks on dealing with special needs and disabilities.

Does Disneyland ever offer special discounts for Canadians?

Not often, but occasionally. In the past, when the exchange rate was much less favorable for Canadians, Disneyland occasionally offered “at par” specials on vacation packages, hotel rooms and tickets, particularly in the off-season.

You can visit the “Offers & Discounts” section of Disneyland’s Canadian site to see any current deals specific to Canadians, but 99% of the time the offers are the same as those distributed in the US. Sometimes the Canadian offer will have a different discount code, but otherwise it will be identical to the US offer.

Canadians can book the US offers. The Disney specialist travel agency we recommend, Small World Vacations, gladly works with clients around the globe. They have many clients from Canada.