Disneyland Hints 2013

We visited Disneyland from March 10 to 15, 2013.

Here are some hints:

1.  Get in line for the Cars Racers 45 minutes before opening.  That way you can get an early fast pass time.  As soon as the start of the fast pass time starts, get a second Cars Racers fast pass.  The fast passes for the day usually are issued by 1-1/2 hours after the park opens.

2.  The Cars Racers and the World of Color fast passes don't limit getting other fast passes.

3.  Go get your World of Color fast passes early in the day.

4.  The bento boxes for lunch / dinner for the World of Color are pretty good and a pretty good deal.  But, you get the same fast pass for the World of Color as those getting them at the usual fast pass kiosk.

5.  When you order the bento boxes, order them one to an order.  That way you get a nice carry bag souvenir with each.  If you order your bento boxes on one order, you only get one bag for each four bento boxes.  These bags are heavy duty and would probably be $5 to $10 in a Disney store.

6.  Check the days for the performances of Fantasmic -- it's one of the best shows around!

7.  Disney has finally gotten "21st century."  They take a picture of you coming into the parks and check it each time thereafter.  So, no more of two people using a single pass on different days.

8.  If you have a Route 66 type shirt, wear it to California Adventure - you'll fit right in and be a hit with other visitors.

9.  In Carsland, just about every shop has buttons with the Cars characters on them == for free!  Ask around and you may be able to get all six.

10.  At many of the shops, and certainly at the town hall (office) in Disneyland, they happily hand out free buttons -- first visit, happy birthday, happy anniversary, etc.  Ask for them!

11.  Fast passes at Disneyland and California Adventure are independent.

12.  Entrance tickets can only be used for fast passes after they have been activated at the front gate of the park.  That means you can't use a ticket to get a fast pass on a day the ticket has not been used.  It also means you can't have one person go into the park to get fast passes for others before they get into the park.

13.  Single rider lines can be really good - quite fast, but you'll ride with others, not your own party.  Since the Racers have 3 seats across and often pairs are getting in, there are a good number of single rider seats.

14.  Racers cars hold six people each.  They load 4 cars at a time on about a one-minute cycle.  That's about 1,400 people per hour.  When they lose some operating hours (as they did 3/14/2013), that's a lot of people who never get to ride!

updated:  03/23/13 10:43:44 PM