10. Park Strategy, Part 3 - Both Parks in a Day!

I'm only going to be there for a day, but I want to do the best of both parks - Help!!

Okay don't worry I'll help you out here. Doing both parks in only one day is tough and exhausting, but I've been there too! I've definitely got some suggestions to make the most of your very short time, and hopefully you won't have to sacrifice too much magic!


Overall time-saving tips:

• Check the park hours! Get there as soon as the parks open! Park hours can be found here. Try to have an idea of how long it will take you to get to the parks in the morning and your mode of transportation (driving/parking, walking, bus, etc.) and then give yourself extra time just in case. I personally try to be there about 15-20 minutes before the parks open, to allow for security, and getting through the park gates. Being there for the rope drop is fun and it ensures you are squeezing every minute out of your day! 
• Do your shopping before or after your day at the parks. If your travel plans leave you with a free evening or a morning and you need to kill time, use that to go to Downtown Disney and get your park merch! The World of Disney store in Downtown Disney has almost all the stuff you'll find in the parks, in one convenient place. They even have a ton of candy. Do this and you won't have to worry about spending time to poke around and purchase things while you're in the parks. 
• If shopping the day before or after your Park day isn't doable, I would recommend doing all your shopping at the end of the day. The shops stay open an hour after the rest of the park closes! Hit up the Emporium in Disneyland for the biggest selection on the park.
• Take advantage of the FastPass system! A couple posts back I detailed the FastPass system. Make sure you use it! If you use Disneyland's app you can even see what times are being distributed on the current FastPasses. 

Speaking of the Disneyland App...

I want to take a moment to talk about the Disneyland app and how much I love it. This may sound dramatic but it has transformed the way that I do Disneyland. It saves me SO MUCH TIME and walking and I could not be grateful enough! Let me break it down feature by feature.

So many wait times!!

• It checks wait times for you. You just pull up the Disneyland map (which is the first screen that opens) and locate the ride you might want to ride next, and boom it shows the wait time. Which is nice to know in advance before you make your trek across the park just to find out that Star Tours is a 90-minute wait! 

• It tells you what the return time is for the FastPasses currently being distributed! Fantastic! It will also let you know if there are no more FastPasses for the day.
• It gives you all the ride information you might need. I'm talking hours, ride type, height restrictions, and potential closures (such as Fantasyland rides closing for fireworks performances).
• It tells you where you can meet characters. At the top there's a little side-scroll menu, where you can select "characters" (among other categories). Each category looks similar, bringing up an area of interest on the map that you can click on for details. 
• It shows you where restaurants are, their price point, and their menu. This comes in handy for me all the time, when my buddies and I all want a particular type of food but we're not sure where to find it. 

• It keeps all your park goodies in one place. By that I mean, that if you have dining reservations, park tickets, or PhotoPass pictures, they're all on the app. Just sign in with your Disney account and you're ready to go! If you have an annual pass, that links to the app as well and you can view your blackout days and discounts!
• Side note: Although you can use the app to scan your annual pass/park ticket to enter the park, you will still need a physical pass to get FastPasses and your Passholder discounts! 
• Speaking of PhotoPass photos... Those with an annual pass (or those who purchase the day pass to download the PhotoPass pictures) will be able to view all their pictures on the app. You can also download them directly to your phone. Some take a few hours to show up, while some pictures will show up minutes after they're taken. It's pretty awesome.
• Entertainment schedules are also available on the app (of course) so you never have to miss an awesome show again! 

As you can see, I have a giant crush on the Disneyland app. You can download it for free on iOS and Android! Once you've done so, and you've checked the park hours for the day you're going, I have some other time-saving tips when it comes to park hopping.

• This might sound a little odd, but... park hop as little as possible. A park hopper ticket is definitely valuable so you can ride all your favorite rides in both parks in a single day, but honestly, going back and forth between the parks takes a LOT of time. What I've taken to doing is splitting my day just about in half. That way you're not spending as much time getting out of one park and into another.
• Keep each of the parks' closing times in mind. Typically California Adventure will close before Disneyland. When this happens, I'll usually start my day there so that once I'm done I can stay in Disneyland for the rest of the day/night. 
• There are instances where Disneyland might close before DCA so make sure to always check for special events! For example, in September and October during Halloween Time, there are a couple nights a week where Disneyland closes early for Mickey's Halloween Party. After the early closing, only those with tickets to the special event will be allowed in the park! On a day like that, I'd start at Disneyland and make the switch to DCA after the early closing.

On this post I detailed the best things to do in Disneyland, and in this one I discussed California adventure. Combine those with my time-saving tips and you should have a fine time with a single day at the Disneyland Resort! 

If you have any time-saving tips that I forgot, let me know in the comments!

9. Park Strategy, Part 2 - DCA

Question 9: What if we want to spend the day in California Adventure?

There is actually plenty to be done in California Adventure these days. With the addition of Cars Land, as well as plenty of other attractions, DCA has become a place that is easy to spend all day in. So if you have an entire day to spend there, here are my tips to get you everywhere you might want to go in the park!

• Where to go first: There are a couple of things that you're going to want to do before doing anything else in DCA, especially if you have only one day in the park. Both of those things have to do with FastPasses. 
• Radiator Springs Racers: Near the entrance to Bug's Land, you'll find the FastPass machines for Radiator Springs Racers. These go incredibly fast. I'm talking gone within the first couple hours of park opening fast. If not faster. RSR is a truly awesome ride, and those FastPasses are really valuable. If you hope to get one, you're going to want to send somebody there very first thing when you get to the park. Don't worry though, not all hope is lost if you don't make it in time. There are other ways to get on that ride quickly, but I'll get to that later.

These pretty babies aren't easy to come by!

• World of Color: These aren't necessarily as urgent as the Radiator Springs Racers FastPasses, but I still always make sure to get these earlier in the morning. Although you can still see World of Color from areas that aren't designated seating, you really do get the best experience if you get a FastPass...which actually is just a ticket to the viewing areas, rather than a normal FastPass. The machines for the World of Color tickets can be found next to Grizzly River Run. 
• Breakfast: If you're on the park early in the morning you might want to grab a quick breakfast. There are a few places on the park that are great, however a lot of my favorite breakfast items in DCA are seasonal. 
• Cozy Cone Motel in Cars Land is one of my absolute favorite places to eat when I'm in DCA. They don't have a ton in the way of breakfast, unless you want churro bites (which I may or may not have eaten for breakfast before...). However, when I went in December a couple years ago the Cozy Cone had breakfast cones! They had scrambled eggs, pico de gallo, chorizo and more all wrapped up in a yummy bread cone! I went the next February and they didn't have them however. I think they were seasonal, for the Feliz Navidad celebration.
• Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Cafe is essentially a Starbucks on Buena Vista Street. It has a bunch of breakfast sandwiches and pastries, and it is definitely the place to go if you need any kind of coffee. Their cinnamon rolls are awesome!
• Fillmore's Taste-In, also in Cars Land, is a great snack shack, and an awesome place to stop if you want some fresh fruit or juice for your breakfast.
• Flo's V8 Cafe is the place to hit if you want a homestyle breakfast. With items like french toast and scrambled egg platters, you'll want to stop here to get a full hearty meal early in the morning. 
• Pacific Wharf Cafe has awesome pastries and breakfast sandwiches to start your day with a light yet filling breakfast.
• Schmoozies in Hollywoodland has a selection of smoothies and blended coffee beverages for something quick and fruity!
• Lunch: After you've gone on some rides in the morning, you're probably going to be looking for some lunch! I've got a few places I really like:
• Cozy Cone Motel. Yes I'm going to put this place down for basically every meal. They've got so much to offer for any time of day! For lunch, I really like their garlic pretzel twists with a Redd's Apple Freeze. 
• Award Wieners in Hollywoodland has some really creative hot dogs! 
• Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta - exactly what it sounds like. They have salads too! I end up here a lot, because their Caesar salads are super good and huge!
• Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill is pretty tasty but I would recommend taking it easy for a bit after you have a meal there!
• Corn Dog Castle is my 15-year-old brother's favorite place to eat in the park. Which I actually don't blame him for, because their corn dogs are huge and really delicious! And it's the only place in the resort to get a spicy corn dog :) 
• Paradise Garden Grill is awesome if you like Greek food!
• Smokejumpers Grill (formerly Taste Pilots' Grill) is an awesome burger joint located in Grizzly Peak (formerly Condor Flats). Their burgers are awesome, and I like their onion rings too!
• Entertainment: There isn't a ton of entertainment right after lunch, like there is in Disneyland. But there is still a TON to do besides riding rides in California Adventure!
• Animation Academy: There is SO MUCH to do in this little place! It's a favorite of my family's, we spend hours here every time we go to the park. And it's so beautiful too. You can draw your own animation strip, you can take a quiz in Beast's library to see what Disney character you are, and you can even add your own voice to Disney movie clips in Ursula's grotto! You can also learn to draw various disney characters and depending on the time of year you can meet special characters too, such as Anna and Elsa. Plus, Turtle Talk with Crush is in the animation academy. That's always fun to see! Wow. Lots to do! Even with all of that though, my family and I just like to take a seat in the lobby and listen to the music. They project scenes and concept art on the walls and play really beautiful arrangements of the music from the movie being projected... if that makes sense. It's just really awesome in there.

Scenes and art from Tarzan, accompanied by a lovely rendition of "Two Worlds"

• Five and Dime is a travelling show, and it's so much fun to see. A five piece jazz band, accompanied by their singer, Dime, cruise Buena Vista Street in their old jalopy. Every once in a while they'll stop in the Carthay Circle and Dime will hop out to do the Charleston with a zoot-suited Goofy! 

This is probably my favorite show on the whole park, besides World of Color!

• It's Tough To Be A Bug is a really cute 3D show in Bug's Land. You get to meet all the different bugs and there are awesome effects!
• Depending on what is going on in the world of Disney movies, you may or may not actually get to watch It's Tough To Be A Bug. Lately, Disney has been showing sneak previews of upcoming movies in that theater, such as Zootopia or the new Jungle Book! They even use the effects available in the theater for the sneak preview, so it's still a great experience.
• The Pixar Play Parade is really the only parade I like to stop and watch in its entirety. The Pixar movies are the ones I loved most as a kid, so that's just what resonates with me. And the parade is just so much more fun than any other, in my opinion! This usually only runs once a day so if you want to see it make sure you plan ahead! Additionally, the parade is a little different each day (by way of including/not including some of the floats/characters) so don't be afraid to watch it more than once if you really loved it!

This was one of my favorite elements, but there are lots of really awesome floats from almost every Pixar movie!

• Places to explore: There might not be as much to do here in DCA as there is in Disneyland, but there are still some really cool things to see.
• Boudin Bakery Tour. DCA makes some really dope sourdough bread, and you can tour the bakery where they do it! Plus you get a free sample :)
• Blue Sky Cellar. This is a cool place to check out the ideas for upcoming projects for the Disney parks.
• Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is an awesome park to explore! There are lots of things to do in there and things to climb on, and if you do all the right challeges Russel and Dug will make you a Wilderness Explorer!
• Must-hit rides: California Adventure has been expanding pretty quickly since it's overhaul a few years ago! There are tons of rides to ride, many of them more intense than the ones you'll find in Disneyland. But don't worry, there are plenty for the small kids to go on too! Remember, if there's a certain seat you want on the ride just ask for it :)
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Oh man this one is so much fun, and just the right amount of creepy! Would not recommend right after a meal, this one shakes you up quite a bit! (And seeing Rod Serling in the intro video is a delight)
• Saddest update EVER: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror will be leaving us soon :( It will close its doors January 2017 and later that year will open up as a Guardians of the Galaxy ride. I have many, many feelings about this, none of them good, but what's done is done. In the meantime you can catch the "late check-out" on Tower of Terror and experience it in complete darkness. Kinda cool, but I'd rather keep the ride forever please and thank you.
• California Screamin'. This is one of my absolute favorite roller coasters of all time. You blast off from 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds, with Neil Patrick Harris there to psych you up. No joke, it's his voice that narrates anything on the ride from how to put on your restraints to "Five, four, three, two, one, SCREAM!" It's so amazing. For real. And if the line is long, consider the single rider line!

As you can see, my family is very photogenic on roller coasters.

• Toy Story Midway Mania is probably one of the best things to happen to DCA. The line is always really long, and it doesn't offer FastPasses. But it is so worth it! You're flinged around, stopping at different stations to play virtual midway games. That might not sound super amazing but I promise you it is so much fun!
• Ariel's Undersea Adventure is an awesome darkride. You sit in little shells and it takes you through the story of the Little Mermaid. It's pretty new, so the animatronics are really good!
• Mickey's Fun Wheel is the most terrifying ferris wheel I've ever been on. It has some swinging cars that put you right on the edge of the wheel hanging over the bay. It's fun, it's just a little scary at first! But it has a breathtaking view of California Adventure, it's totally worth it.
• Radiator Springs Racers is pretty incredible. It takes you through Radiator Springs, and you get either new tires or a new paint job on your car! Then the best part is at the end when you race with another car, which was either in front of you or behind you depending on your timing. It's so much fun! And I'm obviously not the only one who thinks so because its FastPasses are always gone within an hour of park opening. If you want to get on the ride faster and you weren't able to score a FastPass however, consider the single rider line. You definitely aren't going to be riding with your party, but you still get to go on the ride and that's what matters (to me at least)! Since the cars have rows of 3, and it's really common for a party to have even numbers, there are lots of extra seats. That's where the single rider line comes in, they'll just throw you into whatever seats are empty. The line moves really fast. If you're not too concerned about getting a picture with your whole group, or even riding with your group at all, I would definitely recommend the single rider line.

Once again, my photogenic family...

• Soarin' Over California is a family favorite. It's so beautiful. You go into a big room, sit on some glider benches, and take off into the California skies! I absolutely love it. The music is just golden. I would recommend buying a Disneyland soundtrack (found in plenty of shops around the parks) just for the music from this ride. 
• Update 2016: This ride has gone through some amazing changes and is now Soarin' Around the World. At first I was sad that it was going to change, but it's so much better now. You'll visit places all over the world (obviously) and you'll experience new smells compared to the old ride! There are transitions between the scenes now, instead of a jarring cut to the next place! The best part however is that the new footage is in HD. They used a 5-camera system, invented by Disney Imagineers, to capture the footage. Some of it is the most high-definition footage in the world! Don't worry, Patrick is still your chief flight attendant, and the music has the same theme as the last ride. Definitely improvements, I'm very pleased with Soarin' Around the World.
• Dinner: There are some awesome eats in Cars Land! Once again I'm going to recommend Cozy Cone Motel and Flo's V8 Cafe for another meal. At the Cozy Cone you can score a Chili Cone Carne, garnished with fritos and served in a warm bread cone. Flo's is going to have some homestyle meals, like fried chicken or chicken pot pie. It's all delicious. Another recommendation I would make for dinner is to eat somewhere that offers a World of Color package. If you purchase meals at Ariel's Grotto, Carthay Circle Restaurant, or Wine Country Trattoria you can score preferred viewing areas when you go to see World of Color. Each of those restaurants are a little pricier (especially the Carthay Circle Restaurant) but if you're fine with that and you want to see World of Color, definitely go for that dining and show package. Those really do get the best view for the show, so it's totally worth it!
• Nightly Entertainment: In case you haven't already noticed, I really love World of Color. Just make sure that you plan ahead for that one so that you can get your tickets! Either use the FastPass machines in the morning or get a dining package sometime during the day. Just go see that one, okay? But there are other fun things to see at night! Aladdin's Musical Spectacular is pretty awesome. It's just Aladdin, in musical form. But it's done really well. They even have some original songs that aren't in the movie! This runs all afternoon too, so you don't have to wait till after dinner. It's a nice way to get off your feet for a while. But if you want to get a little bit crazy at night, make sure to stop by the Mad T Party in Hollywoodland for a sweet concert dance party! They also serve fun light-up alcoholic beverages there for those that want to get super crazy.
• Update March 2016: I'm so sad about this but Aladdin's Musical Spectacular is no more. It is in the process of being replaced by a Frozen musical. Nobody knows for sure if this is permanent, I hope it isn't, but starting in May 2016 (I think...) you can see the Frozen show. As of March 2016 though, there are not any shows at the Hyperion Theater as they prepare for Frozen.
• Update July 2016: Okay so I saw the Frozen Musical Spectacular. I can assure you that it is quite aptly named. I loved that Aladdin show, but seriously I'm not even mad about it anymore. The effects in the Frozen show are breathtaking, the performances are amazing. I cried twice. It was so much fun to watch, and the puppeteering for Olaf was seriously impressive! If you're at DCA, SEE THIS SHOW. Make sure you get tickets, they look like FastPasses and they're just north of the Hyperion Theater. 
• Shopping: See the previous post (Disneyland park strategy) for all my tips on shopping in the parks.
• Snacks: Believe it or not *sarcasm*, all my favorite DCA snacks are in Cars Land. Seriously that entire land is just incredible. You can hit up Fillmore's Taste In for some fruit, and you can go to Flo's V8 Cafe for some dessert treats. But for me the best snacks are at the Cozy Cone Motel. You can get churro bites with a yummy dipping sauce. You can get "popcone" that has different flavors every day! They also have just regular buttered popcorn too, don't worry. You can get a pretzel twist, but I would only really consider that as a snack if you're sharing it...it's pretty big! You can also get a soft serve ice cream cone on a hot day (or really any day). But my FAVORITE things at the Cozy Cone are the drinks. They have a few different drinks that are just ridiculously good. You can get Ramone's Pear of Dice Soda, which is pear-flavored. You didn't know you even needed that, did you? But trust me, you definitely need it. There's the Red's Apple Freeze, which is like an apple cider slushie. They also have Doc's Wild Grape Tonic, and "route" beer floats. But my favorite beverage there is easily Fillmore's Fuelin' Groovy Pomegranate Limeade. I'll drink four of those in a day and still want more! My entire family loves 'em. 
• FastPass System: I talked a lot about FastPasses during this post... I went into detail with them on my Disneyland strategy post, but I'll put the important stuff here too.
• Remember the two hour rule: When you get a FastPass for a ride, you can get a new one either when your current one is active or two hours later, whichever comes first. When in doubt, look at the FastPass; printed right on there is the time that you're eligible for your next one.
• FastPasses are limited. Only a certain amount will be made available for each time slot. That is why the more popular rides have return times much farther away from the current time... the earlier ones have all been taken! 
• If you have a large group, it might be easiest for you go give one person all the park passes and have them make a run for FastPasses. Think about the system and which rides you want to FastPass and devise a strategy. 
• Since the World of Color FastPasses are actually just tickets, you can get those whenever you want and it shouldn't interfere with your other FastPasses (i.e. you can go get a FastPass for a ride immediately after you get one for World of Color).
• Although I have not confirmed this myself, I've been told that you can simultaneously hold FastPasses for rides at Disneyland and rides at California Adventure. Go ahead and try this if you're all about park hopping, but don't make your plans completely bank on this fact unless you can confirm that first.

Well, those are my tips/reviews/what have you for California Adventure. There's a lot to do there now, and that park is still growing. It's really come to be something amazing. Have fun over there, and keep reading on to the next post for my ultimate park hopping tips!

Happy planning!

2. How Many Days?

Question 2: How long will I be at Disneyland?

Alright, you found a time when you can take a trip! Congratulations, that is one of the toughest parts of planning. The next step is far easier, I promise. You now need to decide how many days you want to spend in the parks. 

This doesn't have to be a difficult decision, but there are other factors that contribute other than just "how long do I want be in the parks?"

For instance, something you need to figure out is how long you can afford to escape real life. Do you have a week? Two weeks? Three days? 

After you figure that out, you need to sort out your transportation. Will you be flying or driving? And how many days will travel consume? Being in Utah, I am lucky enough that it never takes me more than one day to travel to California. However, if you are close enough, you can even fly into California and go to Disneyland on the same day. I'm not sure I would recommend this, but it depends on your own travel needs. I've done it before, and it was a little tough. It requires getting up really early. I mean REALLY early! You've got to make sure you have time to get out of the airport and to your hotel and THEN into the park. I'm the type that likes to get to the parks right when they open, which is why I don't always take that option. Another thing to consider is that many hotels do not allow check-in until after around 3:00pm. I remember that the time I flew in in the morning the hotel allowed us to store our luggage there, but they charged us a fee. Not every hotel will charge a fee, though! You can always call when reserving your hotel and ask about that. 

As for driving, you're going to have to live pretty close to drive to anaheim the morning of your first day on the parks. If you don't live that close, you'll need to take an extra day or two just for travel. This could cost you more for your hotel as well as cost you in terms of days you can spend in Disneyland. Make sure to do the calculations and figure out which option works for your vacation time, as well as your budget. 

Now let's say you figured out your travel days. How many days can you afford to spend in the parks? I'm sure you've heard by now that you can't do Disneyland in a day. If a day is all you have, don't worry,  I will help you out. But if at all possible I would recommend going for at least 3 days.

After you figure out how many days you will be there, there's one last choice. Park Hopper passes or One-Park-Per-Day passes? Each has its benefits. The Park Hopper, as you can probably guess, allows you to go back and forth between Disneyland and California Adventure as many times as you want throughout the day. This is nice because you can get a change of scenery, and you can also hit all of your favorite rides every single day! However, since the expansion of California Adventure, the OPPD passes are gaining value. They are less expensive, typically by about $40 per person depending on how many days you are going for. Again, as the name hints at, you can only go to one park per day with these passes. It doesn't matter to them which park, but once your ticket is scanned into one park you cannot enter the other for that day. The benefit, other than the cost, is that you don't feel so rushed to do everything in one park and then do everything in another. You can take a leisurely stroll through one park, knowing that you have all day there. It's a lot of peace of mind that you're gaining with these tickets. However, if you are going at a time of year that is a little slower, the biggest entertainment won't be happening during the week, only on weekends. Sometimes park hopping is necessary to see all the best stuff, because you might only have one night to see both World of Color and Fantasmic, or something like that. Just make sure you consider that before making your decision. I personally think that having the Hopper passes is worth the extra money.

Now here's an example of all this craziness. My friends and I had never been at Christmas time, so we want to go in December. We decide on the first week of December, since crowds are low but we still get all the Christmas decorations and entertainment. We have about a week that we can spend away from home. We decide to drive rather than fly, so that's one day each way. We want to do four days on the park (with Hopper passes), during the middle of the week to get the best hotel rates and low crowds. Now, since two days travel + four days park only totals to six days even though we have a week to travel, we decide to split up our park days with a day off in between. I'm talking driving day, two days at Disneyland, day off, two more days at Disneyland, and then a day to drive home. That way we have a day to rebuild some stamina, seeing as how we are the type that gets to the park early and stays till it's closed. We also get to see some other California sights, to get even more out of our trip. 

Well, hopefully this can help you to decide the length of your trip. Fear not, the boring stuff is almost done! 

Happy planning!

1. When To Go

Question 1: When are we going?

This might seem like a super obvious question, but the date of your Disneyland trip is so important. There are lots of things to consider; time of year, holidays, whether or not the kids are in school, California temperature, cost... Yes, different times of year can have different costs. 

The first thing I always consider is the size of the Disneyland crowds. There are times of the year that are so crowded you can't take normal-sized steps, and there are times that are so empty you can frolic throughout the land with your eyes closed and you won't bump into anyone for at least 10 steps. If you want to get a fairly detailed crowd index for the exact dates you want to go, head over to TouringPlans for some easy-to-follow stats. You may have to pay for a subscription though. If you just want a general idea of the best and worst times to go, just keep reading.

The not-so-good times to visit Disneyland are as follows:

• All summer. Not only will the park be busy, but it gets extremely hot! I suggest not going in the summer unless it's your only option.
• Update: I just went at the end of July in 2016 and it actually was not very busy at all. I don't know why, it just wasn't. We were even there on the weekend. I would keep an eye on more current crown indexes during the summer to make your decision, but I guess the summer at Disneyland shouldn't be feared anymore. It was still extremely hot though!
• Weekends. Year-round, the weekends get pretty busy at the DLR. However, a lot of the time Annual Passes are blocked out on Saturdays. Click here to go to the calendar on the Disneyland website - you can see annual pass blackouts there. If passes are blocked, it's probably going to be a busy day! However, since many passes are blocked on Saturdays rather than Sundays, I would recommend going on a Saturday if you're going to go on a weekend. 
• Major holidays. If you want to be able to see the ground under your feet, I would recommend staying far away from Disneyland on Thanksgiving Weekend, as well as the week before Christmas up until New Years. If the kids are out of school for the holidays, families will be flocking to the DLR. If you want to visit during a holiday, I'll post more about how to safely do so below.
• Other holidays, namely ones that boast 3-day weekends. I'm talking holidays like Memorial Day, Labor Day, President's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Veteran's Day. And even though it doesn't have a long weekend, I would also be wary of visiting around Easter.
• During special events. MouseSavers has a good page about various DLR special events. Not every event will draw a huge crowd, but some will. Be careful.
• Some lesser-known events. Things like Dapper Day, Bats Day, and Gay Days can bring in huge crowds. There are also Grad Nights (mid-May through mid-June) and lots of conventions through February. Do your research and find out what is going on when you're trying to go to the park. 

And now for some good times to visit:

• September-December, but not during holidays. Once those kids go back to school, Disneyland empties out. And this is your way to go during the holidays but not have insane crowds. Starting in mid-september is Halloween Time. Haunted Mansion goes all Nightmare Before Christmas on us at this time, and I can personally tell you that it is a treat. I've been during Halloween Time a few times, and I love it. Mid-November brings the Christmas decorations. The trick is to go after Thanksgiving, but BEFORE winter break. Or you could simply go before Thanksgiving. The kids might miss a little school, but if the Christmas celebrations minus the crowds are worth it to you then I say go for it. 
• Mid-January through March. I mentioned before that there tend to be conventions in February, but don't be too worried; I've been twice in February and it's really not that bad, as long as you go mid-week. But even though the crowds are smaller, it's not always the best option to go at this time of year as there tend to be more rides closed for refurbishment. You can head here to once again check out Disneyland's calendar. This will show you which rides are scheduled for refurbishment. And remember, watch for 3-day weekend holidays in January and February. 
• Rainy days and weekdays. Bad weather seems to deter a lot of crowds, and as long as it's not raining too hard the rides typically stay open. The more exposed rides, such as Dumbo, may close if it starts pouring but will reopen once the rain calms down. And Disneyland typically sees smaller crowds in the middle of the week. Tuesday and Wednesday seem to be the slowest, by my personal observations.

As you may have guessed, it is actually more expensive to go when the parks are expecting big crowds. Hotels are less available, and therefore cost a lot more. Similarly, hotels cost more on weekends as opposed to the middle of the week. Anyone who has tried to fly anywhere during holidays will know that airfare goes way up. Travel tends to be more expensive in general throughout the summer, whether you are flying or driving. Just make sure you look into hotel reservations and prices far, far in advance to make sure you get the best rates, as well as the best ideas in regards to crowd levels. 

Second day of Halloween Time - these crowds aren't so bad!

In summary, there is a lot to consider when planning your DLR trip. You just need to prioritize. For me, the most important thing is crowd levels. For those of you with children, you need to consider school and if you are willing to let your kids miss some of it just so you can have a less crowded trip (in my experience, totally worth it). It can all take a lot of research and planning, but that's what I'm here for! This may seem like a lot of trouble, but I can guarantee you that it is always worth it to experience the magic the way you want to. 

Happy planning!

*UPDATE MARCH 2016*
Disneyland has adopted a tiered ticketing system for the one-day tickets! The "value" tickets are cheapest when the park is slowest, coming in at $95, or $155 for a park hopper. The "regular" tickets, for days that crowds will pick up a little, are $105, or $160 for a hopper. And the "peak" tickets are a whopping $119, or $169 for park hopper. See, I told you it pays to go on slower days! You can find a calendar displaying which days allow you to attend for the different types of tickets on Disneyland's website. However, the tiered system is only for the one-day tickets. The tickets for two consecutive days and up, have consistent prices year round.