So does anyone actually go to DisneyLand?
On big tip for Disneyland... the fastpass system works a little different than in FL, so plan your day accordingly.
If you have little kids that would want to do the Fantasy Land rides (Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Snow White, etc...), do them early in the morning. Do Peter Pan first, that line gets to be the longest in the park. Only "It's A Small World" should you consider doing later in the day, as that line keeps moving and it's never very long. Otherwise, everyone with a toddler will be in Fantasyland pretty much all day, so that area gets
packed as the day goes on.
While one parent is in the lines with the kids, if possible send the other (with everyone's park admission tickets) to go collect one or two fastpasses. The fastpass rides at DL are: Autopia (not even worth it), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (ride line usually very short after dark anyway), Haunted Mansion Holiday (Halloween thru about MLK weekend only, when 'Nightmare Before Christmas' redress is done), Indiana Jones, Roger Rabbit, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Star Tours.
The longest wait times are for Star Tours (since it's new), Splash Mountain (when it's hot out), and Space Mountain (year round). If you want to go on one of those, get fastpasses for everyone as soon as you can, ideally you'd send one parent over as soon as you enter the park while the other one starts running the kids through Fantasyland.
When you get a fastpass, say at 9AM, it'll read something like "Space Mountain: Return between 11AM and 12 PM", and in little type, it'll say "You can get another fastpass at 10:30AM". Generally, the system works so you don't have multiples at the same time, unless the return wait is more than 2 hours.
However, and this is key to the planning of your day, you
do not have to ride the ride during the time window at the California parks (this is for both DL and California Adventure next door). So if your pass said "return between 11 and 12", you can ride
any time that day after 11AM. So you can rack up rides on the non-fastpass kids rides all morning, and start collecting fastpasses for the afternoon and evening when you don't want to stand in any more lines.
Second, you can get a fastpass for Roger Rabbit's ride at any time, regardless of the delay printed on your other tickets. For some reason, the Roger Rabbit system isn't connected to the main ticketing system, it's on it's own. So even if your fastpass says you can't get any more until 11AM, go over to Roger Rabbit and get one anyway and it'll be valid. So you can start your day with 2 fastpasses for each of the visitors. Just scan their ticket barcodes at the machine. So you'll start the day with 2 of the 5 fastpasses worth having (Roger Rabbit plus one of Space Mtn, Splash Mtn, Star Tours, or Indiana Jones). If your kids aren't going to go on Splash Mountain (the flume ride), then you're halfway through the day on fastpasses right away.
So collect them all morning & mid-day when they are available, and save them for the afternoon. Also, if you're park-hopping back and forth between DL and DCA all day(you don't really want to do this, but you can, it's
a lot of walking, you'd rather spend a few hours at each park at a time instead of running back and forth one ride at a time), the fastpass system of one park is independent from the other. So if you've picked up a fastpass at DCA that says you can't get another one for two hours, you can still go to Disneyland and get one. The exclusion is for that park only.
The fastpass rides at California Adventure are: California Screamin' (rollercoaster with one loop), Goofy's Sky School, Grizzly River Run (water ride, you will get soaked), Soarin' over California (hang-gliding simulator), Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (free-fall drop), and World of Color. World of Color is the night-time water & light show, you have to get a fastpass early in the AM and then come back at night, so it's not one of the fastpasses that prevents you from getting another. The longest line is usually for Soarin', so that's the most worthwhile fastpass to get.
I've gone enough I have the system pretty well down, it's not difficult at all to get in 15-20 rides in a day, with an hour lunch & dinner breaks as needed. For a first timer, it shouldn't be difficult to get 10-12 rides in. It's mostly just thinking about your time and some walking to what's available, rather than what's right there next to what you just finished.