Disneyland opened July 17, 1955 and in 2019 welcomed nearly 19 million visitors, making it the second-most-visited theme park in the world, followings its younger sibling, Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
Walt's original park is considered by many the "original" theme park, inspiring countless imitators around the world. Visitors to Walt Disney World may find Disneyland tiny in comparison, but this park is jam-packed with attractions, including the new Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge land as well as the original Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and the world's first tubular steel roller coaster, Matterhorn Bobsleds. And if you manage to do everything here, the Disneyland Resort's second gate — the Disney California Adventure theme park — lies just steps away from the park entrance.
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Other notable attractions include the Disneyland Railroad, which stops on Main Street USA and in New Orleans Square, Toontown, and Tomorrowland; the Tarzan Treehouse walkthrough in Adventureland; the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes and Winnie the Pooh dark ride in Critter Country; the Snow White's Enchanted Wish, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and Peter Pan's Flight dark rides, Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Mad Tea Party spinners, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Storybook Land Canal Boats, and King Arthur Carrousel in Fantasyland; Gadget's Go Coaster and the Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin dark ride in Toontown; and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Disneyland Monorail, Autopia mini-cars, and Astro Orbitor spinner in Tomorrowland.
Coming next is Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway in Toontown in 2023.
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The Disneyland Forever fireworks show also returned on weekends starting April 22, then runs daily during summer. The Mickey's Mix Magic projection show runs on Main Street and on the Small World facade on nights without fireworks.
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If you want one of Disneyland's famed Dole Whips, try The Tropical Hideaway in Adventureland.
Disneyland is located in Anaheim, California - about 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and 30 miles from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
You must make advance reservations to visit Disneyland, via Disney's website. This is true for "Magic Key" annual passholders as well as daily ticket holders. Unlike at the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland hotel guests get no special preferences for admission.
If you want to go to the Blue Bayou or Oga's Cantina, make reservations up to 60 days in advance on the Disneyland website or the official app.
Disneyland now offers a new tool called Disney Genie on its official app to create a custom itinerary for each day of your visit. In addition, Disney offers two ways for its theme park guests to pay to access shorter wait times for many popular attractions. You can learn more about these options in our posts:
The good, old-fashioned free strategy is to get to the park at least half an hour before opening (accounting for time to park), then head to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain first, followed by Star Tours, then head across the park for Indiana Jones, then Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, and Pirates. If you have young kids, do Fantasyland first, starting with Peter Pan, then Dumbo, then working your way around the dark rides.
Most visitors will rush to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance first thing in the morning, but unless you are among the very few people who can get all the way to the back of the park before the bulk of the crowd, you're going to end up with a long wait for a long ride that costs you any chance at shorter queues during the park's first hour. Rise of the Resistance typically closes early - often by 8pm - but wait until later in the afternoon to ride this award-winning attraction to maximize the number of other Disneyland attractions you can experience during your visit.
