I'm A Theme Park Expert Who Took An Actual Disneyland Family Vacation For The First Time In Years. Here’s One Thing That Was Worth The Money And One That Absolutely Wasn't

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I’ve been a theme park fan all my life, to the point that today, writing about them has become my actual job. I’m not afraid to call myself a theme park expert. I’ve learned a lot about how they work, from the behind-the-scenes attraction design to the operational aspects of major parks like Disney World and Universal Studios. And yet, even I can occasionally learn something new.

You see, because writing about theme parks is my job, most of my trips over the last several years have been work-related. When there's something new at Disney World to cover, like the opening of Tiana’s Byou Adventure, or I'm invited to Universal Studios Hollywood to experience Super Nintendo World, I head off solo or with work colleagues to do the job.

There's usually time in there for me to enjoy the parks as a fan too, but it's different. Getting to do a ride before everybody else often means little or no line. Things like food are usually given, so I don't need to pay for much. It's not exactly a "normal" theme park experience.

But recently I decided to try and show my kids why I love theme parks so much by going on an actual Disneyland vacation with my family. I didn't ask for any favors, we paid normal prices for everything out of our pocket. This required a level of planning I previously had never needed to worry about. I decided to splurge and spend money on just about everything that was available that I thought would make the trip easier or more fun for everybody. Some of that money was very well spent. Some of it, as it turned out, was a complete waste.

Lightning Lane Multi-Pass Was Money Well Spent

One of the weird things that happens when you visit the same theme parks often is that you discover that attractions, the reason most people go to theme parks in the first place, become less necessary. I love Space Mountain as much as I ever did (though Disneyland had closed it for refurbishment on this trip), but I rarely feel I must ride it on any given trip. I probably rode it last time, and if I don’t get to this trip, there’s always the next one.

But my seven-year-old daughter hasn’t ridden everything. The last time she went to Disneyland, she was still too small for many rides, and too young to care. Now she's tall enough to do everything but drive an Autoipia car by herself, and old enough to know what she's missing. Because I wanted to be sure we could ride as many things as she wanted, I went ahead and spent the money for what was called Genie+ when I bought it, but had been renamed Lighting Lane Multi-Pass by the time I used it.

To be clear, I hate as much as everybody else that the old FastPass system now costs money. The system is less confusing at Disneyland than the recent changes at Walt Disney World. In fact, little but the name has changed when compared to what Genie+ used to be. For a family of four, buying this for everybody is essentially equal to buying a fifth ticket every day, but as much as I hate it, it was worth it.

We went on about 10 attractions over the course of our day at Disneyland Park. We also watched the Magic Happens parade, Fantasmic and the fireworks, and had a table service lunch at the Blue Bayou. We went on a dozen attractions at Disney’s California Adventure. We also had a table service lunch at Lamplight Lounge, saw World of Color, and the kids spent some time running around the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Many of these rides we technically did twice due to rider swaps on anything the toddler couldn’t go on.

I can say with certainty that there was no way we would have done so much in two park days in the summer without the Lightning Lane. I wouldn’t have minded standing in lines and doing fewer attractions. I haven’t gone so hard on rides like that in years, but my kids were happy and probably even happier they didn’t have to stand in long lines.

Buying Park Hopping Tickets Was A Waste Of Money

I spent the money on the Lightning Lane because my goal for the trip was to maximize options. I wanted to be able to at least have the ability to do basically whatever was necessary to help everybody have fun. For that reason, I also spent money on park hopper tickets, giving us the ability to jump between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, within the rules of the 'I can’t believe it’s still in place' reservation system. This was a waste of money. We literally never used them.

Back when we had our annual passes, my wife and I used to park hop all the time. The two parks of the Disneyland Resort are yards away from each other. It’s so easy. I think park hopping at Walt Disney World is largely a waste because transportation between parks usually takes too long, but at Disneyland, it’s a breeze.

However, because we easily found a Lightning Lane-induced groove of one attraction after another on both days, it was just easier to stay where we were. On the first day at Disneyland, we kept saying, “We can come back on Thursday and do that.” We did not.. not even once.

Between Lightning Lane And Park Hopper, Pick One

My situation was, of course, not the one that every single person visiting Disneyland might have, but I’d wager that is the situation that a lot of families visiting the park might find themselves in. Certainly, if you’re not visiting with kids and/or are interested in things other than attractions, this advice might not necessarily work for you.

But we all know that a lot of families are planning these sorts of big trips and trying to do everything Disneyland Resort has to offer at once. If that’s you, perhaps keep this advice in mind. There are ways to spend money that can make the experience better, but it’s also not worth wasting money on things you don’t need. That money can be spent elsewhere on your Disney vacation.

The real answer is that spending money on both of these things at the same time is what likely won't be worth it for most people. If you're like my family, and looking to do lots of attractions, then grab the Lightning Lane, but then save on the Park Hopper and do as many attractions in each park as you can separately. If attractions aren't your goal, there may be more reason to park hop, but save the Lightning Lane money.