About this guide

There are hundreds of books and websites dedicated to helping families, especially those traveling with children, to get the most out of their Disneyland vacation. While many people will find the information in the geeks' guide useful, our focus is on helping to improve the Disneyland Resort experience of a somewhat lesser served group of visitors, grownups traveling without children. If you're empty nesters, or just big kids without children of your own, and plan on visiting the Disneyland Resort sometime during the Happiest Homecoming on Earth celebration, geeks' guide is for you.

Ever since it first opened in July of 1955, the ratio of adults visiting the park without children has been greater than that of those traveling with kids. Now that the Baby Boomers are approaching retirement, the numbers of grownups visiting the DLR without kids is greater than ever.

The geeks' guide features articles to help you plan your 50^th Anniversary trip, tell you about places to stay, and, most important of all, how to spend more time enjoying the resort and less time waiting in line. Disneyland Resort regulars, Imagineers, cast members, annual pass holders, and Disneyanamaniacs of all kinds have contributed their insights, hints, tips, and even a few tricks designed to help you get the most out of your visit to Walt Disney's original Magic Kingdom during its 50^th Anniversary celebration.

To Catch a Thief

If you haven't been to Disneyland in years, or visited since Disneyland became the Disneyland Resort, you may be surprised to discover that there's a greater threat to your kids' inheritance than the costs associated with an extended DLR vacation: wasted time. And, its not just long ride queues we're talking about either.

Time spent waiting in line to check in to your hotel, to buy Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure (DCA) passports, for meals, or to purchase those perfect souvenirs (in Disney speak: souvenears) is extremely costly. Every minute you spend in line waiting to do something is time you're paying for. Chances are when you budget your Disneyland vacation, you aren't going to factor in several hours of just standing in line enjoying nothing but the frustrated looks of the folks around you. Unless you're a visiting head of state or Hollywood celebrity, nothing can spare you the experience of spending at least some of your valuable time just standing in line waiting.

There are, however, a lot of simple little things you can do to minimize the time you spend waiting in line and to maximize the time you spend enjoying the magic of Disneyland.

Spontaneous Planning

There's an old saying: "failure to plan is planning to fail." When it comes to vacations, some folks really take this adage to heart. Preparations for a relaxing time away from home can often rival those of the Defense Department.

Because of the increased number of visitors expected at the Disneyland Resort for the Happiest Homecoming on Earth celebration, we recommend that you do more than just show up in Anaheim on the spur of the moment, but not go quite so far as to duplicate the effort put into planning the Normandy invasion.

Disneyland, and now the Disneyland Resort, is one of the world's most beloved vacation and holiday destinations. It is also one of the top destinations in the Southwestern United States as evidenced by its more than 600,000 annual passport (AP) holders.

The largest concentration of DLR visitors (known as "locals") live within 100 miles of the DLR. Thousands more regularly flock to the resorts two theme parks from Northern California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, and Oregon.

With such a high concentration of "ticketed" guests within a few hours drive of the resort, Disneyland, during an average operating year, experiences several days a year when it reaches full capacity early in the day and has to close it gates to new visitors. No one knows exactly when Disneyland will be forced to close it gates, but the park and the resort do go through seasonal cycles that can provide you with a guide to scheduling your visit around some of the more crowded and time consuming periods at the resort.

The key to a really great Disneyland holiday is to plan your visit like a seasoned local who is used to visiting the parks and resort many times a year, and to learn when the resort as at it's busiest and when its not. By doing so, you can avoid those time periods where parks are typically more crowed or, if you enjoy big crowds, know the best time to join the party.

Now, click here to return to the geeks' guide and get started planning your own magical experience.

geeks' guide

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