Disneyland cast members share insider tips on making the most of trips

If there ended up at any time a golden (or in honor of Disney100, platinum) opportunity to pay a visit to Disneyland, this is it.

Not only is the Southern California resort celebrating 100 years of the Walt Disney Company with two new nighttime impressive reveals and other particular choices, but Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway just opened, the beloved “Magic Happens” parade just returned, Disney California Experience Food stuff & Wine Competition runs March 3 as a result of April 15, and Mickey’s Toontown is reopening March 19 after a big overhaul.

To make the most of a journey to the “Happiest Position on Earth,” we turned to a few people who know Disneyland inside and out: cast users who grew up as annual passholders.

From what to avoid to what not to pass up, below are their pro tips.

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What to do

Like quite a few Disney cast members, Michael Parisi fell in love with the parks as a kid.

“Specifically it was the Haunted Mansion stretching rooms that would constantly truly get me psyched. It set up the tale for the attraction, and it includes the cast member,” he smiled. “I loved viewing them perform that role and so ever since I was small, I usually precisely wanted to do the job the Haunted Mansion.”

He acquired his desire and then some performing in sights ahead of shifting into a servicing response specialist job at the resort. He even now loves Haunted Mansion and Rise of the Resistance, which he rides routinely and highly endorses to visitors.

“You will find just so lots of specifics and so several issues to glimpse at that you can go on it dozens of occasions and you may possibly discover anything you did not detect the time prior to” he claimed. “It just by no means gets previous.”

He also endorses Indiana Jones Adventure, which just isn’t accessible at Walt Disney Globe. “That is a different just unbelievably immersive attraction that just tells the story so evidently and definitely will make you come to feel like you’re really part of the entire world,” Parisi said.

Nostalgic fans could also appreciate yet another of his favorites, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, which is one of the primary opening working day rides at Disneyland and which closed in Florida decades ago.

“It has the attraction of traditional Disney,” Parisi said. “You can really feel a whole lot of Walt’s hand in the storytelling and just progression of the attraction and how a lot like and awareness to detail it has … And the good news is it under no circumstances has much too long of a wait.”

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Parisi’s go-to tip for initial-time attendees is to use Disneyland’s free app to look at wait around instances at attractions. “That is usually how I strategize my working day,” he mentioned. “Also the really initially point in the early morning or the quite past point at night, commonly individuals are shorter wait around situations, so you can variety of prioritize the sights that are a little bit a lot more well known.”

He tackles the parks portion by segment, hitting up anything he would like to do in one before transferring on to the up coming, instead of traversing back and forth all day.

“The more amount of time that you happen to be strolling from location to location, that’s just not squandered time, but that is in essence time you can benefit from for other points,” he mentioned, including a person caveat. “If an attraction has a shorter wait time than it normally does, that’s normally when I just e book it more than there as fast as I can.”

An additional tip he shares is to engage with cast users all through the working day. “A lot of the cast users that do the job in the vacation resort are really passionate about the enterprise, the job, their function in all the things and so they’re constantly seriously psyched to discuss about it,” he reported. “They always have some of the finest guidelines doable, specifically around at Galaxy’s Edge … All the cast users on Batuu have their own tales that they have incorporated with their show, and so you happen to be equipped to have these seriously one of a kind, entertaining interactions.”

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What to see

When Esteban Valerio isn’t operating, he likes to sit in the parks and soak everything in.

“Just immerse by yourself. Concentration on the small things,” the guest relations manager said. “There is certainly a little something so incredible to me when it will come to just comforting on a park bench on Principal Street or on the Hub, wanting at Sleeping Magnificence Castle.”

His love for Disney “goes back again genuinely all the way to the 90s, developing up with Disney on VHS tapes” and visiting the parks. “I’ve always regarded Disneyland to be my house.”

He is aware many friends arrive with a prolonged checklist of points to do.

“My idea for folks who have the checklist: analyze the checklist at dwelling, but when you are at Disneyland, end and odor the roses. Halt and scent the churros,” he laughed. “And just take pleasure in that you are listed here for the reason that for some of all those family members, they may well have saved for 5 many years to go to our parks and that moment when they are eventually in this article, take pleasure in that minute.”

Just one of Valerio’s favored methods to sluggish down is to savor the various entertainment choices across the resort.

“Definitely I failed to layout any of the demonstrates, but you will find a enormous pleasure that I get when I hear people respond,” he said. “I do not imagine any individual, such as myself, ever receives tired of observing Fantasmic!”

Throughout the vacations, he enjoys the dwell performances of Disney California Adventure’s Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Currently, he’s into the new nighttime amazing Wondrous Journeys. “I want to be equipped to look at it from all the little distinctive vantage points and just be able to see all the hidden Easter eggs and all the tributes to all of our movies that are in the present.”

All showtimes can be uncovered beneath the Entertainment tab of the map on Disneyland’s application. “It’ll present you in which all these shows are likely to be, whether it’s a massive nighttime spectacular like Entire world of Shade – A person or the Dapper Dans (barbershop quartet) on Key Road, U.S.A.,” he spelled out.

There are two items he advises from: watching spoiler videos prior to your pay a visit to and having disappointed if you you should not get to everything when you might be there.

“One particular of my philosophies when it will come to touring, in basic, is if I do not see it, I’m capable to take pleasure in this (now), and it presents me a purpose to ideally appear back one particular day,” he stated.

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What to consume

Aprille Hwang tries to try to eat every little thing she can when she visits the parks as a guest.

“I always try to approach what I’m likely to try to eat before I go,” she said examining up on foodie guides and weblogs. “Gotta enhance my trip, get as substantially food in my belly as feasible.”

The advertising strategy manager always knew she desired to do the job at Disneyland and claims she however has to pinch herself sometimes working guiding “it can be a modest globe.”

Ahead of commencing her career at the vacation resort, she often got three staples all through visits: clam chowder in a bread bowl, Plaza Inn’s famous fried chicken and “naturally churros,” which she’s certain are “magically dusted” and which appear in a rainbow of flavors like sweet and sour and lemon raspberry pie.

“I love that Disneyland proceeds to cycle out new flavors and offerings and normally takes new requires on vintage goods,” she mentioned. “For case in point, you can find this truly very good toasted birria sandwich at Jolly Holiday getaway … I basically didn’t have birria prior to birria currently being introduced into Disneyland. I don’t know if that negates me from staying a foodie by stating that.”

She encourages attendees to be open to unfamiliar cuisines. Friends can attempt eight different dishes with a shareable Sip and Savor Pass during Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. Hwang likes to share with pals to be ready to try more flavors.

She also cell orders, when possible. “I’m a big admirer of not waiting in line so that I can improve my foodie adventure.”