I may be an expert in all things Disneyland, but even I’ve made a silly mistake or two when visiting the theme parks.

Just because I’ve been visiting Disneyland Resort for over three decades doesn’t mean I’m immune to making mistakes. In fact, sometimes all of my park expertise goes out the window and I make a mistake that’s just plain embarrassing like double-booking myself with in-park experiences or forgetting what time park hopping begins.

Worried you’ll make a major mistake during your visit to Disneyland Resort and its two theme parks? Don’t be. I’m sharing five of the big, kind of silly mistakes I still make as a pro so you can avoid them.

1. Buying a One-Park, One-Day Ticket

Okay, technically this isn’t a mistake I’ve personally made, since I’ve been either an Annual Passholder or Magic Key holder for many decades now. But it’s a mistake my out-of-town friends have all made once: Buying a one-park, one-day ticket for Disneyland Resort.

If you’ve ever visited Disney World, Disneyland and discovering just how little space its two theme parks occupy in Anaheim can seem far, far smaller. And while it absolutely is smaller, in my experience too many people underestimate just how much is packed into its compact space.

It’s easy to spend an entire day (or two) at Disneyland Park or California Adventure alone. So, if you’re hoping to see it all in one day, you won’t be able to. Each theme park requires at least a day of its very own.

And if you’re tempted to buy a one-park ticket, I think it’s a mistake. Unlike Disney World’s parks, which aren’t within walking distance of each other, you simply need to cross the esplanade to get from Disneyland to California Adventure (or vice versa). Many guests underestimate just how short that walk is, but it adds just a minute or two to your total walking time throughout the day.

Plus, it’s easy to avoid crowds with a park hopper ticket. If one park is seeing more crowds, you can just head over to the other for more breathing room and completely different attraction options.

2. Arriving Mid-Day on Weekends

If you’re planning to visit Disneyland Resort on a Saturday or Sunday, you’re going to want to get to the parks early very early. As someone who’s strolled in mid-day on the weekends only to discover the longest line in history at the parking lots, security gates, and park entrance gates, I’m here to tell you it’s an all-too-common mistake.

While you might think most Disneyland guests show up ready to rope drop the parks, the opposite is usually true. Aside from an initial rush right when the parks open, crowd levels generally stay pretty low until about 10:30 or 11:00 AM most days. That means if you arrive early (early enough to beat the 8:00 or 9:00 AM rush right at opening), you’ll have nearly two full hours or longer to walk right onto many rides.

Most locals start arriving at Disneyland around mid-day, especially on the weekends. So, if you show up between 10 and 11, odds are you’re going to get stuck in crowds. The lines for Mickey & Friends and Pixar Pals Parking Structures tend to get long, security gets backed up, and queues for both theme park entry gates form.

Save yourself time and score low wait times by waking up and arriving early even on Saturdays and Sundays. In my experience, you’ll be able to do so much more by lunchtime!

3. Overplanning: Booking Too Many Things in a Single Day

There’s always some level of rushing at Disneyland. After all, there’s so much to see and experience that it’s hard to slow down, especially if you’re hoping to hit popular attractions before mid-day crowds arrive. But as someone who’s overplanned a day at the parks before, I highly recommend spacing out your plans.

In years past, I’ve overplanned and overbooked myself and that ultimately makes for a rushed, stressful day at Disneyland. While it’s tempting to book as many dining reservations as you can, make plans to catch parades and shows, and schedule Lightning Lanes, odds are you’ll find yourself overwhelmed with all of that planning.

Disneyland is more laid-back than Disney World, where a lot more advance planning is required. Technically, you could show up with nothing but a park reservation booked and have a perfectly wonderful day. So, if you go the opposite route and plan your day down to the minute, you’re unlikely to have a great time.

As someone who’s personally booked overlapping dining reservations, planned to catch a parade at the same time as a Lightning Lane Single Pass, and wound up having to split up her party to do two activities at the same time, I’m solidly on team “plan less.” I recommend planning just these essentials:

One table service dining reservation

One must-do entertainment option (like a parade or Fantasmic!)

3 attractions you absolutely can’t miss

With these planning bones in place, you’ll have enough flexibility to accomplish everything (without paying for Lightning Lane Multi Pass, most likely!) and still find time to either ride more, see more, or take your time in the parks.

4. Forgetting the Park Hopping Start Time

This is probably one of the most embarrassing (and silliest) mistakes I’ve ever made in my 30-plus years of visiting Disneyland Resort. Ever since Disneyland reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, guests have faced park hopping restrictions. Choose your starting park Disneyland or California Adventure and you can’t head over to the other until 11:00 AM.

In the earliest years of the park hopping restriction, the start time was 1:00 PM. But it’s not like the park hopping start time has changed often enough to be confusing. And Disney makes it very clear when you book a theme park reservation.

However, I’ve completely forgotten about the park hopping restriction on at least two visits. Once, I booked a lunch reservation at Blue Bayou Restaurant right at 11:00 AM when my starting park was California Adventure totally failing to remember it’d be impossible to get through the crowds at the gates of Disneyland and into New Orleans Square at that time.

I’ve done the same with friends, too, forgetting to ask about their starting park and making plans (or worse, reservations) before or right at park hopping time. If you’re hoping to avoid this silly mistake, I highly recommend booking your party’s park reservations at the same time. And in my experience, it’s better to book your lunch reservations for 11:30 AM or later, just to be safe.

5. Relying Solely on the Disneyland App for Wait Times If you’ve ever visited Disneyland or California Adventure, you know little is more annoying than walking all the way across the park or worse, both theme parks and the esplanade to jump on a ride with a seemingly low wait time. The Disneyland app is helpful, but it’s not exactly accurate all of the time… and that can leave you frustrated during your visit as you try to navigate crowds, lengthy wait times, and your must-ride list.

That’s why I much prefer the Rope Drop Guide app. Designed by Disney experts, this app will help you plan a seamless day at Disneyland Resort. It’s your guide to planning insights, real-time info on wait times, walk-up dining availability, and even entertainment like parades and character meet and greets.

Best of all, you can leverage the information of Rope Drop Guide to better plan your route for the day. If you don’t want to pay for Lightning Lanes, this is the app you need to set alerts, keep a close eye on accurate wait times, and ride more.

While the Disneyland app is essential for Mobile Orders, using any discounts attached to your account, and Lightning Lanes, it’s really not very helpful for much else. And as someone who’s stood outside the gates of Disneyland frustrated by the app when it wouldn’t open or sat frozen on an unhelpful screen, trust me: Rope Drop Guide is so much smoother and more intuitive to use (and it hasn’t failed me yet!).