I’ve been getting this question pretty frequently, so I think it’s time to address it!
Can you do all that Disneyland has to offer in just one day?
Short answer: No. Not even close.
You can’t do everything Disneyland has to offer in an entire week!
BUT! You can get a lot done in one day at Disneyland if at the right time of year, and if you go in with a plan! And that’s what I’m here to talk about today!
Depending on the age of your kiddos, you will have a different set of priorities for your visit to Disneyland. If you have teenagers, you’ll want to focus on getting as many of the bigger thrill rides done as possible. Younger kids might like the kiddie rides and meeting the characters, or you might want to go just for the snacks and photo opps!
In this post, I am talking about How to do Disneyland in one day IF your priority is meeting characters!
General tips you should ALWAYS FOLLOW:
1. Get to the park for rope drop
2. Do not go in the peak months (mid-June-mid August) Too many people to get anything done and it’s way too hot.
3. Get a feel for the park layout beforehand, so you don’t have to constantly be looking at a map.
4. Go with, and stick to a plan! 
Priority: Character Meet n Greet
If you want to see lots of characters during your visit, there are several ways to see multiple characters at once!
If you want to mix character meet and greets with kid rides, I would refer back to this post and follow it for about 45 minutes. Then head to Toon Town about 15 minutes before it opens (one hour after Disneyland opens). All character locations and wait times are visible on the Disneyland app as well.
If you want to mix characters with dining, the Minnie & Friends Breakfast at the Plaza Inn is the one to go to! You get to meet the most characters and the prices are decent. You will need to make a reservation for this 2-3 months in advance!
-When you walk into the Disneyland park, go through the tunnel on the right. You will start to walk around this round a bout that takes you to Main St., but before you get to Main St. you will see a light blue set of barn doors off to your right. Different characters come in and out of those doors throughout the day, so if you feel like camping out for a bit, that’s a good place to be!
-When Toon Town opens, several of the Mickey and friends characters come to the gates to welcome the visitors to Toon Town! Note: this doesn’t always happen when it’s a Magic Morning, so be sure to check that!
-In Toon Town, you can walk through Mickey and Minnie’s houses and meet them at the end. It’s also very common to see Pluto and Goofy in different areas of Toon Town throughout the day!
-The princess meet and greets tend to have a really long line, so definitely get in this line early on in the day. The upside is you get to meet several princesses after waiting in just one long line!
-The Winnie the Pooh meetup is a favorite of mine because you can go on the ride, then hop right in line to meet the characters! You get to meet Eeyore, Tigger, and Pooh in the same line.
-If you’re going to California Adventures, the Ana and Elsa meet up line is always between 60-90 minutes long. I recommend watching the Frozen show instead, but I refuse to wait in a line longer than 30 minutes!
The important thing with meetups again is to prioritize which ones you really want to do, and focus on getting that done first! Then anything that comes after is a bonus.