Walt Disney was a genius and a visionary, and it is hard to believe this theme park was essentially built within one year from the ground breaking. Disneyland was designed in a hub design with all the different lands connecting to the central hub which is the center of the park.
After entering the gates of Disneyland, you are in the Main Street section of Disneyland that represents the Southern hub of the park. As you exit Main Street, you are in the center hub of the park that allows access to all the lands within Disneyland. As you are facing Cinderella’s castle, you will have Adventureland and Frontierland to your left. On your right is Tomorrowland and immediately in front of you, through Cinderella’s castle, is Fantasyland.
As you walk through Adventureland, you’re heading west, and as you continue through Adventureland you will come to New Orleans Square and eventually, Critter Country. Just a little north of the Adventureland hub is access to Frontierland. From FrontierLand you can also access New Orleans square, Critter Country and if you hang a right by Thunder Mountain, you can access a walkway that will loop around to Fantasyland.
From the center hub of the park and to your right, or east, is the Tomorrowland hub access. Within Tomorrowland you will find attractions like Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain and Nemo’s Submarine Adventure.
Directly in the front of you in the center of the park is Cinderella’s Castle which is the North hub access. From here, as stated earlier, you can walk through the castle and into Fantasyland. Through Fantasyland, you can also access Mickey’s ToonTown which is just a little North of the Fantasyland area.
Of course there are many ways to navigate through and around the park and not just the main hubs mentioned above. Study the routes on the Disneyland maps and you should feel comfortable navigating from land to land in no time at all.
One other thing I want to point out is that in the center of the park just outside the access hub to Adventureland is the Disneyland ride queue posting board. The ride queue board is useful to check upon entry to get a feel of the wait times at most of the Disneyland major attractions. These posted times should give you a feel for the line queue times and help you decide which areas of the park or attractions are the least congested or how long you will be waiting for your favorite attraction.