Single rider: The ultimate guide to visiting Disneyland alone

Disneyland has constructed its model since 1955 as a spot to go to with pals and family members. I’d by no means dispute the enjoyment of going to Disneyland with household or a associate. However I’ve additionally lengthy held the assumption that any Disney fan with the means to take action ought to do themselves the favor of visiting the park solo no less than as soon as. Sure, alone.

It’s not bizarre. Effectively, perhaps it may be a little bit bizarre at first. However that feeling quickly goes away while you uncover the liberty that comes with exploring the park at your personal tempo, together with the conclusion that nobody is definitely taking note of you.

Over time, I’ve written extensively about visiting Disneyland as a solo visitor: the feelings behind it, the motivations to take action. However the first time I ended up there alone was considerably by chance.

About 15 years in the past — lengthy earlier than I might afford an annual move — I visited the park with pals on a day when rain was within the forecast. We anticipated passing sprinkles. However as soon as it began raining, it didn’t cease. It poured. By midafternoon, my companions had determined to bail. Since I had the possibility to get to the parks solely a few times a yr at the moment, I opted to stay it out.

I bear in mind bolting straight for Pirates of the Caribbean and feeling scared after I acquired to the entrance of the road and needed to say, “Only one.” However 20 seconds of awkwardness quickly was changed by having my very own row on the boat, and the chance to easily get misplaced in my ideas amid the life-size dioramas of drunken marauders. It was revelatory. I started to deal with the attraction in methods I hadn’t earlier than, noticing little particulars that had beforehand eluded me. As a lot as I had loved Disneyland with pals, there was all the time a schedule to maintain, a dialog available or a nostalgic story to inform. In solitude, it was simply me and the park. Immediately, I felt like I used to be actually seeing it for the primary time.

By yourself, there’s no must rush from journey to journey. You possibly can actually deal with Disneyland as a park. It’s a sensation I encourage each fan to expertise.

Immediately, alone is usually my most popular approach to go to the park. Alone, Disneyland turns into not only a theme park but additionally a murals. Or a spot to work, make amends for a ebook, get pleasure from a protracted lunch or simply journey a favourite attraction a number of occasions in a row (thanks, single-rider line at Radiator Springs Racers).

After a couple of decade of visiting Disneyland a few occasions monthly, I’ve put collectively the final word solo day.

10 a.m.: Seize a espresso and discover the key spots most visitors ignore
I like to start out my day by with a cup of espresso, both at Foremost Avenue, U.S.A.’s Jolly Vacation Bakery or Frontierland’s Stage Door Cafe, whichever has the shorter line (it received’t be Starbucks), after which deciding on a bench in entrance of the fort. If it’s a workday, I’ll spend time checking and answering emails, ultimately hopping on the horse-drawn streetcar again to the entrance of the park. Then it’s time to both stroll the outlets of Foremost Avenue or hop on the Disneyland Railroad.

Beginning the day by steeping your self in Disneyland’s previous may help floor you. If traversing Foremost Avenue, take a second to replicate on areas most visitors will stroll previous, comparable to aspect alleys ringing with the frenzy of the make-believe dentistry. Or hop within the Market Home — the Starbucks — and head to the classic vintage telephones on the wall. Choose one up and pay attention to re-creations of turn-of-the-last-century occasion traces. This has been right here for many years, however I’d wager even most Magic Key holders have hardly ever paused to hear. At a spot visited by so many thousands and thousands, Disneyland doesn’t actually have any secrets and techniques anymore, but it surely does have small particulars most of us simply stroll previous.

Then, head to Foremost Avenue’s Penny Arcade to have the Nice Esmeralda inform your fortune. It prices solely 1 / 4 and provides you a easy memento of your day. Later, head to New Orleans Sq. and examine your Esmeralda fortune with one from Fortune Pink. I can’t vouch for his or her accuracy, however I belief Esmeralda greater than my each day horoscope.

11 a.m.: Bask in a cute couple exercise — together with your pet

No, don’t deliver your pet. However simply since you’re solo doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t participate in cutesy couple actions like having a caricature carried out in New Orleans Sq.. A pal not too long ago instructed this to me and I used to be horrified that I didn’t consider it myself, however you’ll be able to load up some photographs of your furry pal again dwelling and have considered one of Disneyland’s advantageous sketch artists create a murals with you and your pet. Simply get there early. Slots are inclined to replenish.

Midday: Embrace your cellphone and discover the app

Once you’re at Disneyland by your self, the cellphone is your pal. One of many many gripes of visiting on this fashionable period is that one has to spend an excessive amount of time on their system. Alone, nevertheless, the cellphone generally is a key profit. The Disneyland app is dwelling not solely to the line-skipping characteristic Genie+, which typically begins at $25 (costs fluctuate primarily based on crowds), but additionally is the place one could make eating reservations or be taught some park information. Genie+ may be purchased as an add-on when one buys their ticket or may be bought at any time from throughout the park. It’s, nevertheless, potential for Genie+ to promote out on the busiest of days. For first-time customers, the Disneyland app generally is a bit complicated, so I’d suggest downloading it prematurely and getting acquainted with its free sections earlier than arriving on the park.

I additionally suggest shopping for Genie+ to navigate the traces. It’s pricy if you happen to’re springing for a full household, however positively value the additional value for one. By utilizing single-rider traces (extra on that under), together with Genie+, I can often get on 14-plus points of interest on a solo day — that’s, if I’m not simply spending the day studying or working. It’s value noting that Disney’s PhotoPass program is presently included within the buy of Genie+. Meaning your on-ride pics, or any pictures shot by Disneyland’s skilled photographers, are included in the price of Genie+.

Additionally packaged with Genie+ are high quality audio excursions that may name out design particulars and tales behind the park’s numerous points of interest and lands. One might want to scroll down to seek out them, however these so-called Audio Tales vary from a historical past of Sleeping Magnificence Fortress to tales of constructing New Orleans Sq.. Over in Disney California Journey, one can hear from Disney’s designers on the landscaping in Vehicles Land or how the parks use framing to inform tales with structure. Convey a pair of headphones and take heed to the tales, which one can actually do provided that visiting the parks solo; we wouldn’t encourage anti-social conduct amongst buddies.

1 p.m: Snag a spot at your favourite Disney restaurant

Snaring a eating reservation right here generally is a battle. They usually replenish 60 days prematurely at in-demand eateries, although the app can let you know whether or not any walk-up slots can be found. I hardly ever have bother as a solo visitor if I’m prepared to refresh the app for a couple of minutes. Simply click on on “examine eating availability” and see what’s out there for a celebration of 1. If nothing is obtainable, hold refreshing, as slots will come up often at in-demand locales comparable to Oga’s Cantina in Galaxy’s Edge.

Tip: If it’s a spot with a bar, comparable to Lamplight Lounge or Carthay Circle, go straight to the host stand and plead your case as a solo diner. Further tip: When checking for a reservation, strive looking for a celebration of three. You possibly can modify your occasion when checking in through the app, so reserve a desk for 3 and switch it right into a desk for one while you get the notification that it’s time to examine in.

2 p.m.: Pace by way of your favourite rides within the single-rider line

If you happen to spring for Genie+ and use single-rider traces all through the park, you’ll be able to accomplish fairly a bit as a solo visitor. Not each attraction has a single-rider line, and so they could not all the time be up and working, however usually, one can discover single-rider availability in Disneyland for the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run and the soon-to-be refurbished Splash Mountain. (It was once often supplied for Indiana Jones Journey, however Disneyland has presently curbed that. Right here’s hoping that it returns some day.) Quite a few points of interest in California Journey additionally provide single-rider traces, together with Net Slingers: A Spider-Man Journey, Radiator Springs Racers, the Incredicoaster, Grizzly River Run and Goofy’s Fly Faculty.

On the time of writing, Disneyland had been testing a single-rider possibility for House Mountain, however this one presently runs a little bit in a different way. As a substitute of filling in open seats, singles can be paired with a bunch earlier within the line. That is barely much less fascinating, because it forces events to awkwardly hang around for a couple of minutes earlier than getting on the attraction. However the extra single-rider traces, the higher, and I consider their use lessens any stigma that these going to the park solo could really feel.

4 p.m.: Play a recreation

The Play Disney Parks app, which is separate from the Disneyland app, is stuffed with exploration-focused video games, particularly for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Whereas one might want to buy a Magic Band+ (about $40) to play a video games like Star Wars: Batuu Bounty Hunters, it may be a worthwhile funding if you happen to’re planning to go to the parks greater than as soon as as a solo visitor. I like the sport, which is actually a digital scavenger hunt. Galaxy’s Edge is stuffed with particulars you received’t discover in case your group is all the time sprinting to the subsequent attraction. Batuu Bounty Hunters permits you to faux to be Boba Fett or Din Djarin and spend time exploring its nooks.

The way it works: As soon as we formally join and have a bounty, our Magic Band+ will change colours relying on whether or not we’re nearing our goal or getting farther away. Seize and return, and we’ll be rewarded with a brief animation as we level-up our bounty hunter selves. It’s reasonably easy, when you get the grasp of it, but it surely’s distinctive in that it additional turns Galaxy’s Edge right into a residing recreation board, and also you’ll probably discover that dozens of others are working round Galaxy’s Edge additionally taking part in. It’s a great way to keep away from traces, get in a little bit strolling and perhaps even meet fellow gamers.

For many who don’t need to spring for the Magic Band+, there are different free video games to be performed all through Galaxy’s Edge. Open the Star Wars: Datapad throughout the Play Disney Parks app to entry a sequence of mini-puzzles that permit visitors to hack droids or faucet into radio towers. Some will encourage small interactions within the land. Don’t overlook the capturing gallery in Frontierland or the carnival video games at Pixar Pier in California Journey. These are an added value however a great way to interrupt up your day with playful exploration.

5 p.m.: Loosen up in a quiet spot

In a park identified for crowds, there are a shocking variety of serene spots. Disneyland has free Wi-Fi, and lately, it’s comparatively stable — stable sufficient for me to do my job from the park. I like to write down in Vehicles Land, at a desk behind Flo’s V8 Cafe. However I even have pals who will discover a seat on the Disneyland Railroad and simply journey the rails half the day with their laptops. Different good spots to work: the tables close to the boarding of the Mark Twain and Crusing Ship Columbia riverboats or Fowler’s Harbor on the border of New Orleans Sq. and Critter Nation. The latter is value a stroll by way of if you happen to haven’t already, because it’s a well-themed nook with views of Disneyland’s Rivers of America.

If you happen to don’t need your job to intrude in your time on the Happiest Place on Earth, learn a ebook, take heed to music or simply people-watch. The objective right here is to get pleasure from a second of whole peace and quiet, one thing most individuals by no means get to expertise whereas they’re within the parks.

6 p.m.: Discover the accommodations

The California Craftsman-inspired foyer of the Grand Californian is an efficient place to chill off and seize a small snack (it has cookies on the menu). The bar off the foyer, Hearthstone, typically will get packed within the early night, however it’s a terrific possibility for a walk-up meal, even when there’s a quick wait. The Disneyland Resort is dwelling to the very best bar on the resort, Dealer Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar. An outside seat is less complicated to attain — use the app to examine the walk-up wait occasions for inside — after which let the bartenders make you a customized tropical-inspired drink.

8 p.m.: Skip the fireworks

By now, it must be time for one of many resort’s nighttime exhibits. That is time I like to make use of to get on some points of interest, as there’s an honest likelihood there’s a shorter wait whereas folks discover a spot for night fireworks. Star Excursions and Jungle Cruise are often good bets to examine round this time. Be warned that on fireworks nights, some points of interest in Fantasyland will shut, however after the present, waits listed below are often a little bit shorter. Attempt one thing you’ll have missed earlier within the day, comparable to Dumbo the Flying Elephant. It belongs to households within the morning and afternoon, however waits are minimal later within the night. It’s a pleasure to expertise the nighttime glow of Sleeping Magnificence Fortress and King Arthur’s Carousel from a peak, because it provides to the fairy-tale nature of the realm.

One closing tip: One of the best factor you are able to do solo at Disneyland, no matter what’s in your agenda, is to permit your self to really feel. Disneyland is a spot the place feelings are heightened, a world of fantasy tales and excessive drama. We see humanity’s sins on Pirates of the Caribbean, grapple with mortality within the Haunted Mansion and witness the thrill of affection after trauma on Snow White’s Enchanted Want. There are life classes in all these rides, and so they attraction to us not merely due to the fortunately ever after; we relate to the drama, because the drama is what’s actual and what we expertise outdoors the gates of the park.

Going it alone additionally may be a possibility to replicate on previous moments we’ve shared within the parks, with pals or family members or long-lost relations.

A number of months in the past, as an example, I used to be standing in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and I began to cry. I had stood in practically the identical spot just a few weeks earlier with my then-significant different, who discovered a nook to tuck herself into for a break. I dug up the picture I had snapped of her and basked within the reminiscence, and I misplaced it. A Disneyland forged member was quickly at my aspect, asking if I used to be OK. I used to be. I feel.

As a lot as I missed the second, I used to be comfortable it had occurred. And whereas I had felt actually alone at that second, Disneyland allowed me to regroup. Wanting round, I used to be surrounded not simply by folks from all walks of life but additionally pals, lovers and possibly some soon-to-be-ex-lovers (Disneyland may be demanding too). I used to be a part of not only a group however a Southern California custom. If you happen to permit Disneyland to the touch you emotionally, these reminiscences will stick with you eternally. Embrace them each time you go.

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