Disneyland in Southern California is the original theme park that started it all for Disney, but does it still hold up to today’s standards?
Is Disneyland still worth it in 2026?
Yes, but it depends on expectations. The nostalgia and classic attractions still shine, but parts of the park feel dated compared to newer Disney experiences. Families with young kids will enjoy the charm, while foodies and thrill-seekers may prefer California Adventure. That said, Disneyland on its own is a very well-rounded theme park.
What feels dated at Disneyland
When we came here in 2022-2024, the park felt in relative disarray. Rides were broken (don’t get me started about the Haunted Mansion) and customer service was rough around the edges. Disney is supposed to be magical and give you an escape from real life. But seeing the park in the shape it was in certainly did not evoke positive feelings.
Thankfully, in 2026, that’s different and they seemed to invest more into the Disneyland experience. Rides are all fully functional again and customer service seems to have been restored to historical levels.
Does anything still feel dated at Disneyland?
- Many of the rides were built long before Lightning Lane was a thing, making some rides impossible to skip and other rides only conferring minimal ride wait improvements over the standard line.
- Alcohol policies, which prohibit taking a drink around with you and limit sales to just a handful of locations.
- A dearth of high-tech new rides. Most of the rides are locked in the past like a time capsule, but we can see it drawing negative emotions from those who want the latest and greatest.
- A lack of walkways around the crowds. When everyone lines up for a parade or the fireworks, you’ll know what I mean. Your ability to get around the crowds slows to a crawl as you’re forced to take pseudo one-way routes to get around. They might have a reservation system that limits the number of people in the park, but you might not realize just how many people they let in until you get hit in this traffic.
What still feels magical
It’s impressive how much some TLC will positively impact the experience. Disney has done a great job at maintaining much of the original feel of the park while layering on new experiences for future generations. They’ve done so in a delicate way that avoids being “stuck in the past”.
For a local who grew up going to Disneyland very often, I’m satisfied by their ability to keep classic rides feeling new. While I might personally lament about not getting a chance to ride the original Star Tours ride again, I understand the need to market their new movies. (I’m going to save my Star Wars rant for another day.)
Disneyland needs to be an escape from modern life, with overly enthusiastic employees set in an impossibly clean theme park with fun that lasts all day. This park also layers in the nostalgia and great weather. Both your child and your inner child will find mostly happiness here (until you look at your wallet).
Disneyland vs. California Adventure (which is better?)
Disneyland and California Adventure: two theme parks with entrances that face each other. Which one should you choose?
The decision boils down to what you want from your day. The quick comparison table below helps you decide:
| Feature | Disneyland | California Adventure |
| Rides intended for | Generally younger guests | Generally older guests |
| Number of rides | 32 by our count | 17, if you count the PhilarMagic movie |
| Dining | Good, but we wouldn’t say it’s great | Great options at multiple price ranges |
| Lightning Lane add-on | Great, as there are many rides to choose from | Lacking, slots fill up quickly due to small number of rides in park |
| Alcohol | Only at set locations, can’t bring around the park | Practically everywhere |
| Has that “Disney feel” | Yes, with plenty of nostalgia | Some, but feels more like a generic theme park |
If you wanted the best of both worlds, you could elect for a park hopper ticket to allow you to, say, dine in California Adventure but spend most of your time in Disneyland. If the food matters that much for you, it’s a consideration, but we personally prefer not to waste time entering and exiting parks in the middle of the day.
Our ride counts might differ from what you find at other sites. We’re only counting rides, not shows or character greetings or displays.
Tips for Disneyland with kids
- Get the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and save yourself from a headache with the kids complaining in line. Well, they still might do that but at least you’ll get less of it. 😊
- Visit Fantasyland and Toon Town either first thing in the morning (if you’re here for rope drop) or later in the day when the younger crowd goes to sleep. Note that they do temporarily close these areas of the park for the fireworks show, but reopen them afterwards (to very low crowds).
- Stop jumping from land to land unless you want to get your steps in. Maybe you are in line for Pirates of the Caribbean and then need to go ride the Matterhorn, followed by the Millenium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, followed by Space Mountain all because that’s what Lightning Lane passes you got. While you might have optimized your Lightning Lane, you feet and kids will kill you for it. Minimize your cross-overs when at all possible.
- Take a moment to catch your breath during the day. Whether that’s eating at a sit-down restaurant or seeing Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln or running around on Tom Sawyer Island, you need some down time to catch your breath. Your kids need it too just so they don’t feel like they’ve been stuck in lines all day.
- And if you have a child still breastfeeding, the Baby Care Center is right at the end of Main Street, U.S.A., next to the First Aid center. You’ll get a more private place to feed and it’s air conditioned (great for the summer).
Best time to visit Disneyland
Thankfully, the weather in Southern California is the envy of practically the rest of the country. Summer can be hot, but winter isn’t too wet or cold. If you want to visit Disneyland when there are fewer crowds, consider coming before or after Spring Break (February or late April/May) or November (outside of Thanksgiving).
Additionally, we would advise against coming on Saturdays if you can avoid it. There are many local guests who love to spend the weekend here. Sunday mornings, however, can be relatively pleasant as others might be at church.
Not all holidays cause the park to get packed. The more obscure it is (like President’s Day), the less likely people have it off, and the easier time you’ll have.
How much time you need at Disneyland
You’re not going to be able to go on every ride at Disneyland in a single day. Try as you may, it just won’t happen. If you just want to ride the highlights at the park, you’ll achieve it in a day. But if your goal is to ride everything, and especially your favorites more than once, you’re going to need to budget in a visit of at least two days.
Much of your efficiency at the park is also going to depend on you purchasing the Lightning Lane add-on. Our general stance is that you shouldn’t think of it as a true add-on. We almost consider it a requirement and mentally you should assume you’re already going to purchase it. Lightning Lane is essentially a way for you to reserve a spot in line on a separate ride. It won’t bypass the complete line, but it gets you most of the way there. The sad reality is that not having it means it negatively impacts waits in the standard line by a material degree.
Time spent at Disneyland also increases if you wish to also visit California Adventure. If you want a true Disney vacation in Southern California, plan for a minimum of three days at the parks. That gives you two days at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure.
Ranking of Disney Parks
We’ve been fortunate to have visited all 12 Disney theme parks around the world. For our complete rankings of each Disney theme park, please refer to our linked post.
Agree or disagree with where we slotted Disneyland? Let us know in the comments!
FAQ for Disneyland:
Southern California residents ideally should wait for special deals that might happen once a year. These deals typically include three days at the parks and might even include Lightning Lane access, all for a discounted rate. When these deals occur, it might actually be better to not purchase from Disney directly but instead from authorized third parties. We have no financial relationship with third parties like Undercover Tourist, but they can offer a further discount on top. As an example of pricing, we recently got a three-day park-hopper ticket with Lightning Lane and a $10 Disney gift card for $284 each ($95/day).
What if you’re not a Southern California resident? These third parties are typically still the way to go when you purchase tickets. It also helps if you find a shopping portal deal at Undercover Tourist too, which helps earn you some money or points back.
Lastly, if you wish to purchase directly from Disney, consider loading up on Disney gift cards. You might get discounts you didn’t know you could use at Disney through your credit card merchant offers. An example includes a merchant offer for Best Buy, which sells Disney gift cards. Thus, a 10% offer for Best Buy is as good as a 10% offer for Disney by the transitive property.
This is a highly subjective question that depends on who you have in your party and your interests. We’ll offer up more insights into this in a separate post, but we’d say the following are among our favorites at Disneyland:
– Space Mountain
– Matterhorn
– Pirates of the Caribbean
– Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye
– Haunted Mansion
Are we biased because we’ve been to the real Matterhorn and seeing the one here brings back memories? Likely, yes.
See the Disneyland website to view an interactive map showing all rides at the theme park.
There are generally three options for you depending on what you prefer when entering the park.
1. Head to the right at entry (to Tomorrowland) and go to Space Mountain, as it’s crowded all day. Then, if you want another rollercoaster-like experience, go north to the Matterhorn. And then head to the back of the park to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which can also suffer from long lines.
2. Head down the middle to Fantasyland and hit up the big name kids for little kids like Peter Pan and Dumbo. This is probably the most relevant if you have little ones in your party.
3. Head to the left at entry (to Adventureland) and go to Indiana Jones Adventure. From there, you can do one of the following:
– Hit up both Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion
– Ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
– Continue to the back of the park to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
There’s no single right answer on what to do, and it’s important to be flexible based on ride lengths.
In 2026, the parking fee $40 if you wish to visit Disneyland or California Adventure. It does come with in and out privileges. It requires tram service to the parks, which can get crowded at the end of the day after the fireworks celebration. You have been warned.
Discounts may apply if you have a Disney Magic Key annual pass.
This will vary on the day you come here. During the summer or on Saturdays, we would say aim for 6:30AM if the park opens at 8AM. During weekdays outside the summer, you might make it work with aiming for 7AM.
If you’re staying at Disneyland, you won’t need to worry about fighting with others for parking, so you can get 15-30 minutes of extra sleep.
Mostly no. Unlike all other Disney theme parks, this one only offers alcohol at a small subset of vendors:
– Club 33 (if you know you know)
– Blue Bayou Restaurant (hard to get reservations)
– Oga’s Cantina
– Docking Bay 7
On top of that, you must drink your alcoholic beverages there at those locations. You cannot take them out and walk around the park with them.
The best place to see the characters at Disneyland is actually right at park opening. That’s because everyone is so focused on going to a ride that everyone seems to overlook them welcoming you in. Right after you enter the park and pass under the bridge where you see the Town Hall on the left or Mr. Lincoln on the right, turn around and look at the Disneyland Railroad. All of them will be up on the platform waving hi to you. Stop here for a moment, say hi, and check it off your list. You won’t get an autograph from them, if that matters to you, but this beats waiting in a line.
Closing thoughts
Making the most out of Disneyland will require some extensive planning on your part. Sorry, but that’s just how it is at Disney theme parks and this one is no different. You’ll want to map out what rides you want to go on, where you want to eat, and figure out where you’ll start your day. From there, it’s all about adapting to the situation as it unfolds: are the crowds more than you expected? Are the rides you want to experience closed? Are you too fatigued to go on?
We’ve been there and all we can say is we feel you. We feel the original Disneyland in Southern California is still relevant today and it still manages to capture that Disney magic. All it needed was some TLC, which it finally received in recent years.
What do you think of Disneyland with kids?
Suggested reading:
- Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance: Good for Disneyland?
- Legoland California: An Excellent Option for Kids
- Universal Studios Hollywood: In Desperate Need of TLC
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