Birnbaum's 2024 Disneyland Resort: The Official Vacation Guide
160
Birnbaum's 2024 Disneyland Resort: The Official Vacation Guide
160Paperback
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Overview
As Disneyland continues to grow and evolve, trust Birnbaum as your 2023-2024 guide for:
- There's a new way to enter theme park attractions: Lightning Lanes. This new service offers expedited wait times for favorite shows and attractions at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. Rely on Birnbaum for an accurate description of this time-saving program. (Fees Apply).
- Mickey's Toontown has been refreshed and revitalized! We give the scoop on this re-imagined realm.
- Disneyland Park welcomes back the popular Magic Happens parade in 2023, and Birnbaum tells you all about it.
- There's a whole new land at Disney California Adventure theme park: Avenger's Campus! Look for details about this adventure zone.
- A new year brings new dining experience. Turn to Birnbaum for coverage of eateries such as Din Tai Fung and Paseo and Centrico.
- Character meals are back! We tell you where and how to dine with your Disney pals.
- To help celebrate the Disney100 celebration, we've rounded up classic recipes from several Disneyland nosh spots--so you can whip up a bit of Disney magic at home.
- Includes money-saving coupons on dining, merchandise, and entertainment at Disneyland Resort.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781368083713 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Disney Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 09/19/2023 |
| Series: | Birnbaum Guides |
| Pages: | 160 |
| Sales rank: | 36,136 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d) |
About the Author
Our expertise, however, is not achieved by being escorted through back doors of attractions (although we would enjoy that). Instead, we wait in lines with everyone else, always hoping to have a Disney experience like that of any other guest. While the Disneyland Resort has vastly expanded, and so has our knowledge of one of the most popular vacation destinations on the planet. We believe the best way to gather useful advice for a Disney park guest is to be one. Over and over again!
—Jill Safro, editor
Read an Excerpt
A WORD FROM THE EDITOR
Walt Disney, the man who pioneered the realm of family entertainment, was at once an artist, entrepreneur, and creative visionary. He was also a dad. And, like many of the folks who visit Disneyland each year, Walt treasured the time he spent with his kids. In fact, while his two daughters were growing up, Walt would accompany them to carnivals, zoos, and local amusement parks. It was something of a Saturday tradition for the Disney family. During these outings he’d often make the same observation: The youngsters were happily entertained, but the adults didn’t have much to do. It didn’t seem right that he’d be stuck sitting on a bench while the kids had all the fun. To his way of thinking, a park should appeal to the sense of wonder and exploration in guests of all ages. His bold vision became a reality on July 17, 1955, when Disneyland had its opening day in Anaheim, California.
These days, more than ever, it seems many of us long for the classic escape that’s uniquely Disney. Walt’s original park is as beloved as ever—and it continues to grow and evolve. Disneyland park has an exciting new attraction in a re-imagined land—Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a popular new smile inducer deep in the heart of the newly refreshed Mickey’s Toontown. This cheery realm also boasts the new CenTOONial Park, complete with a majestic tree under which guests are encouraged to dream like Walt. Of course, Disneyland park continues to delight guests of all ages with cherished classics such as It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan’s Flight, Fantasmic!—the park’s nighttime extravaganza, plus the new guest-favorite known as the Magic Happens afternoon parade.
Across the esplanade from Disneyland, Disney California Adventure is firing on all cylinders. Attractions such as Soarin’ Around the World, Guardians of the Galaxy—Mission: BREAKOUT!, and Radiator Springs Racers helped put this place on the map, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to a super land dubbed Avengers Campus, guests are treated to an array of attractions and entertainment bearing that distinctive Disney Parks stamp. Among them are Toy Story Midway Mania!, Incredicoaster, and the splashy (wildly popular) nighttime spectacle, World of Color.
When Steve Birnbaum launched this guide, he made it clear what was expected of anyone who worked on it. The book would be meticulously revised each year, leaving no attraction untested, no meal untasted, no hotel untried. First-hand experiences like these, accumulated over the years, make this book the most authoritative guide to the Disneyland Resort. Our expertise, however, was not achieved by being escorted through back doors of attractions. Instead, we have waited in lines with everyone else, always hoping to have a Disney experience like any other guest.
Of course, there’s so much more to the Disneyland Resort than the theme parks. There’s also a dynamic dining, shopping, and entertainment zone known as the Downtown Disney District, and three Disney hotels (with one having received an exciting Pixar make-over). It all adds up to a total that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. And, though it has nearly seven decades of history under its belt, this is still just the beginning—as per its founder’s wishes: “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”
TAKE OUR ADVICE
In creating this book, we’ve considered every possible aspect of your trip, from planning it to plotting day-by-day activities. We realize that even the most meticulous vacation planner needs detailed, accurate, and objective information to prepare a successful itinerary. To achieve that lofty goal, we encourage the submission of factual information and insight from Disneyland staffers—but the decision to use such information is entirely at the discretion of the editor.
We have also packaged handy bits of advice in the form of “Hot Tips” throughout the book. These helpful hints come directly from the copious notes we have taken during our countless trips to the Disneyland Resort and the surrounding Anaheim area. We have also used our “Birnbaum’s Best” stamp of approval wherever we deemed it appropriate, highlighting our favorite attractions, shows, and restaurants—the crowd-pleasers we feel stand head, shoulders, and ears above the rest.
You, the reader, benefit from the combination of our decades of experience and access to inside information from the Disneyland staff—that makes this guide unique. We like to think it’s indispensable, but you be the judge of that 150 pages from now.
THE LAST WORD
Finally, it’s important to remember that every worthwhile travel guide is a living enterprise; the book you hold in your hands is our best effort at explaining how to enjoy the Disneyland Resort at the moment, but its text is not etched in stone. Details change often—especially these days! Disneyland is always changing and growing, and in each annual edition we refine and expand our material to better serve your needs. Just before the grand opening of Disneyland, Walt Disney remarked that the main attraction was still missing: people. That’s where you come in.
Have a wonderful time!
—Jill Safro, Editor
Table of Contents
7: GETTING READY TO GOHere’s all the practical information you need to organize a Disneyland Resort visit down to the smallest detail: when to go; how to get there—and get around (once you arrive); which theme park tickets to buy; how to make park reservations, strategies for saving money on lodging, food, and transportation; and helpful advice for planning your vacation budget. There are specialized tips for parents of young kids, adults on their own, singles, older visitors, and travelers with disabilities, plus lots more indispensable, time-saving advice. Insider tips reveal how to plot a day-by-day itinerary, use Genie+, access Lightning Lanes, avoid the crowds, and much more.
41: ACCOMMODATIONS
Choosing comfortable lodging convenient to the theme parks is uppermost in the minds of those planning a trip to the Disneyland Resort. This can be tricky when the hotel is selected sight unseen, as is often the case. Rest assured—we only recommend accommodations that were carefully selected, including every price and lodging category. In this chapter, we feature the three Disneyland Resort hotels (and explain the advantages of staying on-property) as well as more than a dozen of our favorite Good Neighbor hotels (all conveniently located near the Disneyland Resort). Choose the one that suits you best.
53: DISNEYLAND PARK
It’s called the “Happiest Place on Earth,” and the reason why is evident in the host of attractions and amusements that fill this, the most famous enchanted kingdom in the world. Our detailed land-by-land guide describes all the park has to offer (drawing special attention to what’s new and to our own particular favorites), when and where to catch a live show, and what you may discover in each shop.
95: DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE
From the glittering lights of Hollywood, to the peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains, to the thrill rides of an amusement pier, Disney pays tribute to the glories of the Golden State in this, Disneyland’s sister theme park. Our insider coverage reveals all there is to see and do—follow our advice and Hot Tips on how to tour the area like a pro, and be sure to catch the new additions and all of this theme park’s greatest hits.
113: GOOD MEALS, GREAT TIMES
Whether it’s a simple snack or a multi-course feast, the Disneyland Resort offers something for nearly every palate and pocketbook. Our dining and entertainment section reflects Disneyland Resort’s extensive range of possibilities, from the spirited nightspots in the Downtown Disney District to theme park dinner shows, birthday celebrations, and the ever-popular meals hosted by Disney characters.
135: SPORTS & RECREATION
Perhaps you dream of catching the perfect wave, hiking along cliffs above the Pacific coast, polishing your tennis serve, or taking in a spectator sport. It’s a cinch to fulfill your fondest athletic fantasies in the land of sun and surf.
WHAT’S NEW?
To spotlight the various attractions, shows, shops, and restaurants making their debut, some listings are marked with the “new” icon shown here. Look for it throughout this book. Here are a few highlights for 2024:
62: Adventureland Treehouse
119: Cafe Daisy
76: CenTOONial Park
77: Chip ’n’ Dale’s GADGETcoaster
86: Eudora’s Chic Boutique
77: Goofy’s How-to-Play Yard
129: Jazz Kitchen Coastal Grill & Patio
90: Magic Happens Parade
78: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
46: Pixar Place Hotel
129: Porto’s Bakery & Cafe
104: San Fransokyo Square
112: World of Color—ONE
91: Wondrous Journeys
