The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2020

by Seth Kubersky, Bob Sehlinger, Len Testa, Guy Selga Jr.

Overview

The most thorough guide to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure

Filled with revolutionary, field-tested touring plans that can save 4 hours of waiting in line in a single day, The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2020 is the key to planning a perfect vacation.

Get up-to-date information on Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. Each attraction is described in detail and rated by age group, based on a survey of more than 20,000 families. Whether you’re visiting Disneyland for a day or a week, there is a plan for any group or family. Enjoy the rides, activities, and entertainment instead of wasting time standing in line.

Honest and Outspoken Advice from the Unofficial Experts

• Insider tips that save you time and money
• Dining chapter with detailed reviews of more than 65 restaurants, including all full-service restaurants at the Disney hotels, theme parks, and Downtown Disney
• More than 30 Disneyland Resort and Anaheim hotels profiled, rated, and ranked, plus proven strategies for getting the best rate
• Up-to-date information on Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Park
• Each attraction described in detail and rated by age group based on a survey of more than 16,200 families

OVER 6 MILLION UNOFFICIAL GUIDES SOLD!

“A Tourist’s Best Friend!”
—Chicago Sun-Times

“Indispensable”
—The New York Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781628090987
Publisher:	Unofficial Guides
Publication date:	09/17/2019
Series:	Unofficial Guides Series
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	1,167,152
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Seth Kubersky is nationally recognized as an authority on theme parks and amusement attractions. He has worked for more than 20 years as a theatrical artist, culture critic, and travel journalist. In addition to writing “The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando” and coauthoring “The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland,” Seth also contributes to the Unofficial Guides to Walt Disney World and Las Vegas. A resident of Orlando since 1996, Seth is a former employee of Universal Orlando’s entertainment department. Named Best Arts Writer in The Daily City’s 2013 readers’ poll, Seth covers arts and attractions for the “Orlando Weekly” newspaper, “Attractions Magazine,” AAA’s “Via Magazine,” and other publications. You can find Seth online at sethkubersky.com or on Twitter @skubersky. Bob Sehlinger, a Lowell Thomas Award–winning journalist, is best known as the creator and producer of The Unofficial Guide series. A contributor to several top-selling guidebooks, Len Testa leads the team at TouringPlans.com, a research arm of The Unofficial Guides. Guy Selga Jr. is a passionate Disney fan, a blogger, and a researcher at TouringPlans.com.

Read an Excerpt

Part 3: Disneyland with Kids – Disney Characters

Meeting characters

For years the costumed, walking versions of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and others have been a colorful supporting cast at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Known unpretentiously as the Disney characters, these large and friendly figures help provide a link between Disney animated films and the Disney theme parks.

About 250 of the Disney animated-film characters have been brought to life in costume. Of these, a relatively small number (about 50) are greeters (the Disney term for characters who mix with the patrons). The remaining characters are relegated exclusively to performing in shows, usually in holiday parades or Disney anniversary celebrations.

Character encounters

Character watching has developed into a pastime. Where families were once content to stumble across a character occasionally, they now pursue them armed with autograph books and cameras. For those who pay attention, some characters are more frequently encountered than others. Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy, for example, are seemingly everywhere, while Thumper rarely appears. Other characters are seen regularly but limit themselves to a specific location. The fact that some characters are seldom seen has turned character watching into character collecting. Mickey Mouse may be the best known and most-loved character, but from a collector’s perspective, he is also the most common. To get an autograph from Mickey is no big deal, but Daisy Duck’s signature is a real coup. Commercially tapping into the character-collecting movement, Disney sells autograph books throughout the parks. One Unofficial Guide reader offers this suggestion regarding character autographs:

Young children learn very quickly! If they see another child get an autograph, then they will want an autograph book as well. I recommend buying an autograph book right away. My 4-year-old daughter saw a child get Goofy’s autograph, and right away she wanted to join the fun.

Preparing your children to meet the characters

Because most small children are not expecting Minnie Mouse to be the size of a forklift, it’s best to discuss the characters with your kids before you go. Almost all of the characters are quite large, and several, such as Br’er Bear, are huge! All of them can be extremely intimidating to a preschooler.

On first encounter, it is important not to thrust your child upon the character. Allow the little one to come to terms with this big thing from whatever distance the child feels safe. If two adults are present, one should stay close to the youngster while the other approaches the character and demonstrates that the character is safe and friendly. Some kids warm to the characters immediately, while some never do. Most take a little time and often require several different encounters.

*****

Part 5 – Disneyland Park

Star Tours—The Adventures Continue

Description and Comments

Star Tours is a flight simulator that features crystal-clear digital 3-D screens and in-cabin Audio-Animatronic figures of C-3PO, your golden droid pilot. During your inevitably turbulent travels, you’ll bump, twist, and dive into a Who’s Who of Star Wars icons, with heroes Master Yoda and Admiral “It’s A Trap!” Ackbar on your side, and villains Darth Vader and Boba Fett on your back. You’ll either be visiting planets from both the classic trilogy—such as icy Hoth and arid Tatooine—and the not-so-classic prequels, including Geonosis (home of the dreaded Death Star) and Naboo (home of the equally dreaded Jar Jar Binks), or taking a perilous tour of Jakku’s starship graveyard and the mineral planet Crait from the recent sequels, with cameos from BB-8 and Maz Kanata; another new scene should be added for Episode IX’s debut. The big twist is that the various possible cosmic destinations and multiple celebrity cameos (look for Han Solo and Chewbacca in the background) are randomly combined into hundreds of different story variations, giving the attraction unprecedented reridability. A wealth of references to the original Star Tours ride (along with hidden Disney characters and Star Wars inside jokes) can be found inside the detailed queue, and the ride is quite smooth and well synchronized.

Touring Tips

Star Tours sees hour-plus waits on busy days, so ride as early in the day as possible or grab a FastPass. The ride’s long-term future is uncertain now that Galaxy’s Edge has arrived. A single-rider queue has been tested here, but it involves a confusing trek up the exit ramp inside Star Traders.

*****

PARADES
Disney Theme Parks are famous the world over for their parades. Typically, there is a parade every day in late afternoon or early evening. On days when the park closes late (10 p.m.–midnight), the parade may run twice. The parades are full-blown productions with some combination of floats, huge balloons of the characters, marching bands, old-time vehicles, dancers, and costumed Disney characters. Themes for the parades vary from time to time, and a special holiday parade is always produced for Christmas. Disneyland retired its long-running daytime processional Mickey’s Soundsational Parade shortly before press time, with an all-new parade scheduled to debut in 2020. The vintage Main Street Electrical Parade also made a brief encore appearance in summer 2019.

Parades always draw thousands of guests from the attraction lines. We recommend, therefore, watching from the departure point. With this strategy you can enjoy the parade and then, while the parade is continuing on its route, take advantage of the diminished lines at the attractions. Watching a parade that begins in Fantasyland from Small World Mall affords the greatest mobility in terms of accessing other areas of the park when the parade has passed. On days with two scheduled parades, the first performance will start at It’s a Small World, travel past the west side of Matterhorn Bobsleds, go around the Tomorrowland side of Central Plaza, head down Main Street, and then circle Town Square counterclockwise. The second performance will begin at Town Square and run the route in the opposite direction.

The upper platform of the Main Street Station affords the best viewing perspective along the route. The best time to get a position on the platform is when the parade begins in Fantasyland. When this happens, good spots on the platform are available right up to the time the parade begins. When you are at the end of the parade route, you can assume that it will take the parade 15–18 minutes to get to you.

Most guests watch from Central Plaza or Main Street, and on busy days people begin camping out on the curbs there an hour or more before step-off time. The viewing area in front of It’s a Small World will fill up last, so we recommend checking there if you need a spot.

Any spot along the parade route will offer the same experience, so you shouldn’t worry if you can’t see the parade on Main Street. Once the parade has started, count on gridlock all along the route, especially on Main Street. Due to aggressive crowd-control restrictions on the sidewalks, you’re best off entering or exiting the park via the backstage breezeways (if open) or Emporium shops.

Keep an eye on your children during parades and give them explicit instructions for regrouping in the event that you get separated. Children constantly jockey for better viewing positions. A few wiggles this way and a few wiggles the other, and presto, they are lost in the crowd. Finally, be especially vigilant when the crowd starts dispersing after the parade. Thousands of people suddenly strike out in different directions, creating a perfect situation for losing a child or two.

Table of Contents

List of Maps

Acknowledgments

Introduction

• Why “Unofficial”?
• How This Guide Was Researched and Written
• Disneyland Resort: An Overview
• Critical comparison of attractions found at both parks
• Attractions found only at Disneyland Park

PART ONE: Planning Before You Leave Home

• Gathering Information
• Timing Your Visit
• Getting There
• Where to Stay
• The Best Hotels and Motels Near Disneyland
• How the Hotels Compare
• Making the Most of Your Time

PART TWO: Essentials

• The Bare Necessities

PART THREE: Disneyland with Kids

• The Brutal Truth about Family Vacations
• Mental and Emotional Preparation
• Basic Considerations: Is Disneyland for You?
• The Age Thing
• Attraction Minimum Height Requirements
• About Inviting Your Children’s Friends
• A Few Words for Single Parents
• “He Who Hesitates Is Launched!”: Tips and Warnings for Grandparents
• How to Childproof a Hotel Room
• Physical Preparation
• Developing a Good Plan
• Logistic Preparation
• Remembering Your Trip
• Trial Run
• Strollers
• Babysitting
• Disney, Kids, and Scary Stuff
• Small-child Fright-potential Table
• Waiting-Line Strategies for Adults with Small Children
• Lost Children
• The Disney Characters

PART FOUR: Dining and Shopping In and Around Disneyland

• Dining in Disneyland Resort
• Disney Dining 101
• Theme Park Counter-Service Restaurant Mini-Profiles
• Disneyland Resort Restaurants: Rated and Ranked
• Disneyland Resort Restaurants by Cuisine
• Dining outside Disneyland Resort
• Anaheim-Area Full-Service Restaurants
• Anaheim-Area Restaurants by Cuisine
• Shopping at Disneyland

PART FIVE: Disneyland Park

• Arriving and Getting Oriented
• Main Street, U.S.A.
• Adventureland
• New Orleans Square
• Critter Country
• Frontierland
• Fantasyland
• Mickey’s Toontown
• Tomorrowland
• Live Entertainment and Special Events
• Unheralded Treasures at Disneyland Park
• Traffic Patterns at Disneyland Park
• Disneyland Park Touring Plans

PART SIX: Disney California Adventure

• A Most Anticipated Sequel
• Arriving and Getting Oriented
• Buena Vista Street
• Hollywood Land
• Pixar Pier
• Paradise Gardens Park
• Cars Land
• Pacific Wharf
• Grizzly Peak
• Live Entertainment an Special Events
• Unheralded Treasures at DCA
• Traffic Patterns at DCA
• DCA Touring Plans

PART SEVEN: Universal Studios Hollywood

• Gathering Information
• Timing Your Visit
• Universal Studios Hollywood Small-child Fright-potential Table
• Arriving and Getting Oriented
• Universal Studios Hollywood Attractions
• Live Entertainment at Universal Studios Hollywood
• Dining at Universal Studios Hollywood
• Universal Studios Hollywood One-Day Touring Plan
• Additional Area Attractions

Appendix

• Readers’ Questions to the Author
• Index
• Clip-Out Touring Plans

List of Maps

• Southern California at a Glance
• Around Disneyland
• Disneyland-Area Hotels
• Downtown Disney
• Disneyland Park
• Disney California Adventure
• Universal Studios Hollywood

Editorial Reviews

“If you’re looking for a reliable guidebook, the leader is the Unofficial series.”
--The Mail (London)

“A Tourist’s Best Friend!”
--Chicago Sun-Times

“Indispensable”
--The New York Times

From the Publisher