If you've heard about the long waits (ninety minutes or more) at the popular theme park rides, it may seem as though you'll have to spend four or five days just to experience all Disneyland and California Adventure have to offer, but you don't. With ticket costs counting for a large part of your Disney travel budget, reducing the number of days you spend there is one of the easiest ways to cut your trip costs.

You can cut your wait time (and visit time) in half, and you don't have to sacrifice a minute of Disney magic to do it. Using a software program called RideMax, you can create customized touring plans that take you to each ride when the lines are shortest. You can read more about how RideMax works in Chapter 7, but if you use this $15 tool, you can easily enjoy every Disneyland ride and attraction in two days. Add one more day for California Adventure and you're done.

A family of four with one child over ten years old can save more than $100 by buying three-day tickets instead of five-day ones. Stay longer to enjoy Southern California's beautiful beaches and other attractions if you want, or shorten your whole trip and save even more on hotels and other costs.