How I Did Disneyland & California Adventure in Two Days

I recently got back from a five-day, four-night trip to California for the first RunDisney weekend in seven years. The last time I was at Disneyland was in 2016 for the Marvel themed RunDisney weekend. Now that RunDisney is back, I had to go do the races there!

We flew into LAX on Thursday and headed to Anaheim immediately after. I got an amazing deal staying at the Sonesta Resort, which is a deluxe Good Neighbor Hotel for Disney, and then we went to Downtown Disney and Disneyland. My aunt and mom had never been, so I was really excited to show them everything.

As a WDW Annual Pass Holder, I am the first one to admit that Disney Genie isn’t always necessary. There are very selective times where I will advocate that you spend the extra money for Disney Genie +, one of those times is the 2-days I had in the parks. This post is going to go over how I got a majority of Disneyland and California Adventure done within a day and a half at the parks.

Once we finished at the RunDisney expo at the Disneyland Hotel, we headed over to Disneyland. We went in through Tomorrowland so we could ride the monorail and from there we went straight to our first reservation, the Matterhorn. Once we rode the Matterhorn, we walked up to Main Street to take pictures at the Castle and eat dinner at the Carnation Cafe (BEST burger I’ve ever had). After dinner, we had a reservation at Space Mountain. We ended the first night by shopping at the Emporium, where I of course bought a bunch of new things I didn’t need (but I got anyway, because DUH).

On Friday, we started the day by having breakfast at the Grand Californian Hotel at Storyteller’s Cafe. From breakfast, we went to Disney’s California Adventure for the morning. At DCA, we started with a reservation at Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! (hands down my favorite ride) followed by Radiator Springs Racers, and then the Incredicoaster. My goal for the trip was to do as much as we could, that is not also in Walt Disney World, while still getting to sightsee the differences in the parks. Once we finished the three rides in DCA and took a bunch of pictures, we hopped over to Disneyland for the remainder of the day. At Disneyland, we started with a walk down Main Street for more pictures (especially in front of the castle) followed by a reservation at Space Mountain, then Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, Haunted Mansion Holiday, and Pirates of the Carribean. Small World was closed both days we visited which totally bummed me out because I love the Disneyland Small World, but we did get a lot of the big stuff done.

I will say that I appreciated the fact that Disney Genie in DLR works for BOTH parks without an additional cost. I wish this was something they would do in WDW, but I guess they’ve got to make money somehow. After we finished at the parks, we went to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping. I can proudly say that I found the Tigger pullover sweater I was on the hunt for! It was like it was made for me. The manager told me they had JUST put it out on the floor after someone returned it and I wrestled it out of a man’s hand to take it home with me. I was SO happy I could cry (I actually think I did). For dinner we ate at the Mexican restaurant at Downtown Disney, Tortilla Jo’s. I had eaten here before so I knew my mom and aunt would love it. The food was delicious, and we totally hoarded our leftovers and brought them back to the hotel room.

Do I wish we had one more day at the parks? Definitely, but I’m very happy with everything we did get to go on. Also, we got super cute pictures with characters and got to experience Toon Town again. I absolutely love Toon Town and I wish they never got rid of it at World, so when I go to Disneyland it’s a must do. Considering we had a day and a half in the parks, the Disney Genie service was a lifesaver and was how we were able to experience all the popular attractions with minimal wait times in between.