Good news is the window for dining reservations is much shorter, only 60 days out so you have time to plan any you might want and a good chance of snagging them. Blue Bayou is probably the most popular and if you do it I would suggest aiming for lunch instead of dinner, not because you'll save money that way because you won't the prices for lunch and dinner are the same. But around lunch time the area near pirates is much less busy, when you get closer to dinner and the Fantasmic rush that area becomes a pain the backside to deal with. In fact I would suggest you do any rides and attractions that are going to be near the Fantasmic area before 5:00pm so you can avoid that part of the park.
I know some people love Fantasmic and think the DL version is much better than the one at WDW, And that may be true but it isn't such a big difference that I would bother with it because of the crowd. Also don't waste your time with a viewing package for Fantasmic, they used to be a decent deal when it included actual seats but when the took away the seats they really removed any reason to spend money on it.
If you plan on doing the World of Color then go get your fastpass for it early so you'll have a chance for the best viewing section. And don't worry about it taking up your fastpass because it doesn't count as a fastpass and stop you from getting another until it is over.
Also the best way to get into the parks is the following. For Disneyland walk to the monorail station near the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney the lines are generally shorter and quicker than going through the main gate and the monorail will drop you off right near the submarines for the Nemo ride (which is a cheesy ride but does bring back some memories of the submarines they used to have at WDW. It will also give you a chance to ride in the front of the monorail if you are willing to wait until an opening presents itself. If you want that I suggest you do it in the morning as it is easier to get in the front then than later in the day.
If you are going to California Adventure then enter through the Grand California Hotel. But make sure you have your hotel room key with you as I know in the past they have not allowed non-Disney hotel guest to use the hotel entrance to the park. But it does give you a quicker access to the California Adventure and the fastpass distribution is right there when you enter the park through that entrance.
If you are on a budget and want to save some money on food and drink know that you can easily walk outside of DL and get reasonable food just across the street. This doesn't mean go to downtown Disney because the prices there are just as bad as in the park but if you go out the maingate of DIsney and turn left instead of right you will walk past the bus stops for parking to Harbor Blvd which has lots of regular places to eat. McDonald is left on Harbor and unlike the McDonalds near the WDW resorts it doesn't charge insanely high prices just because its near Disney.
Also During that part of May Disney will have their Grad Nite going on which happens at the California Adventure and results in it closing to regular guests at 9:00pm. But because one of the options for kids going to Grad Nite is a park hopper ticket the days that it happens will tend to be busier at both parks as one of the ticket options is both parks during regular hours plus the Grad Nite. Unfortunately you are going there when they hit full force. In May the days they happen are 4, 5, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 29 and 30... so be ready for extra business on those days. Expect California adventure to be very crowded the entire day as while the regular Grad Nite ticket only gets the students in at 8:00pm for less than 10 dollars more they get the park during normal hours as well... So on those days expect crowds to start getting very heavy mid afternoon on. If you are there multiple days I would try to avoid CA on any of the days listed above unless you want to experience the DL equivalent of Brazilian tour groups.
