Disneyland Resort (DL, DLR, DCA) Discussion Thread

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Get there at park open, snag a fastpass for something right away, jump into another line...over two days you should still be able to see everything. But rest assured it will be PACKED.

 

This. Get there 30 minutes or so before opening, utilize Fastpass as much as possible, bring your patience and you'll be fine.

 

Also, download the Disneyland App, it will help a lot with what rides to go to and available FastPass time ECT. Christmas morning wont be horrible though, the crowds show up after everyone has opened gifts, sees the got a pass, then goes to the park. Both parks opens at 8am both days, so on Christmas day, crowds will be there around 10-11 if your'e lucky. Enjoy the MAYHEM!

[Risky]

^ Just give up now. There is no saving that trip unless you go somewhere else. Trust me

 

Gonna try to convince the family to go to Knott's instead ("Discount Disneyland" as I call it.)

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Knotts will be just as busy... And they dont have fastpass. You can buy the Fastland pass though. But it will feel just as crowded.

[dippindotsguy8]

^ Just give up now. There is no saving that trip unless you go somewhere else. Trust me

 

Gonna try to convince the family to go to Knott's instead ("Discount Disneyland" as I call it.)

 

 

What Coaster Freak 11 said. Plus I believe Silver Bullet is down to 1 train right now for rehab, so beware.

[BlahBlahson]

I seem to suddenly be going to MM, Disneyland/DCA, and Knott's for the first time ever Jan 8th to 11th...and I was wondering about a few attraction closures at that time.

 

1. Magic Mountain won't have Revolution, but is there anything else that is known? I'm expecting a pretty dead park, 1 train ops and maybe 3 coasters down for Six Flags reasons. Twisted Collossus being down would total deal-breaker on going there versus a sightseeing day at Getty Museum/Hollywood/or Pacific Pier. I also want to make sure I get on Viper/Goldrusher//Ninja/Green Lantern if SFMM were to remove any those in the next few years.

 

2. Disneyland is closing half the park practically for long refurbs starting the 11th, hence the reason for the visit. Haunted Mansion Holiday/Jingle Cruise should be running through the 10th if the Disney site says they close on the 11th right? I only see Soarin' being down which is totally fine since Orlando has the clone.

 

3. Knott's will have Ghostrider down but nothing else is listed, so it should be all clear and a pretty slow day at the park on a January Monday?

[KBrylczyk]

^ Magic Mountain is a completely Russian Roulette kind of place. You go there blind because there is no advance warning for anything being open or closed or when they'll open.

 

Disneyland you should be golden. You'll miss the psychotic holiday crowds but you'll still have to deal with locals, though that isn't horrible as long as you like single rider lines. Haunted Mansion Holiday is incredible and worthy of multiple rides. Jingle Cruise gets a lot of flack but personally, I loved it. I've always been a massive fan of The Jungle Cruise and the bad jokes and Jingle Cruise just changes the jokes and adds pretty decorations. Ride it more than once to get different skippers so you can see the range of hilarity. When I visited a few weeks ago we got a skipper who was extremely into it and I was in tears laughing, then we went back at night and got a skipper who was playing it up as a tired, bored, veteran and I was still in tears because he delivered the lines with perfect timing and inflection. "Yeah, Jingle Cruise, that's what we're doing...for the holidays...yup...jingle cruise...yay..."

 

Knott's will be deserted. Go wild.

[laqueefa]

Hyperspace Mountain currently has a 120min wait for the fast pass line....

[Jew]

I feel like I am going to have to post this over and over again, but it still rings true: thank goodness they did up the price of the AP's. 120 min wait for fastpass?!?!

[cfc]

Hyperspace Mountain currently has a 120min wait for the fast pass line....

 

This would be my signal to go do something else.

[Nrthwnd]

Um, wouldn't a 120 minute wait, wipe out the entire FastPass distribution for the day?

 

I saw it happen at the Paris WDS for Ratatouille, and all the FastPasses were gone by say, noon?

[zombi3elephant9]

Hey y'all. I'm going to Disneyland/California Adventures for Christmas this year, and I wanted to know what it's like. I've heard things... I just wanted to know if there's anything (good or bad) that I should be prepared for.

 

Just give up. Instead of going to Disney buy tickets to see an Anaheim Ducks game so you can watch those guys lose and have yourself a Merry Christmas

[Nrthwnd]

^

 

But true, sad but true.

[KBrylczyk]

Um, wouldn't a 120 minute wait, wipe out the entire FastPass distribution for the day?

 

I saw it happen at the Paris WDS for Ratatouille, and all the FastPasses were gone by say, noon?

 

When I was there in November, Hyperspace Mountain was in it's third day of operation. It opened on Monday, I was there on Wednesday. We got into the park 5 minutes before the rope drop and EVERYONE was going straight into Tomorrowland. We went directly to Hyperspace standby because the Fast Past distribution line was already down to the old Peoplemover hub. Got on the ride within 10 minutes. When we got off we immediately circled back round to grab a fast pass for later. The line was gone but our fastpasses were for 2:30pm. It was 9:15am at this point.

 

You can guess how much longer it was until there were no more passes for the day.

 

Moral of the story, jump in standby first thing then get your fastpass after your first ride. You'll get two rides on it and hardly have to wait.

[Garet]

Moral of the story, jump in standby first thing then get your fastpass after your first ride. You'll get two rides on it and hardly have to wait.

 

Yep, I've never understood why some people will stand in an hour line for fast-pass to avoid a standby line that normally isn't too much longer or run to a line for a ride that opens an hour after the park if that ride normally only has that same time for waiting. Last time we were at Everland, most of the crowd ran to Lost Valley which wouldn't open for another 40 minutes to grab a space in line. So 40 minutes wait for the ride to open and then another 20-25 minutes for the people in front to ride. Except the line never jumped higher than an hour all day and when we rode at lunch after most people had gone in the morning we waited 20 minutes.

[Jew]

It's part of the so cal passholder ego mentality. "I'm cooler than you because I have fastpass!!!"

[Wingwright]

Hyperspace Mountain currently has a 120min wait for the fast pass line....

 

I love Disneyland. I grew up going there every year and it holds a ton of amazing memories for me.

But THIS is why my wife and I stopped buying an annual pass. Not the money, but the never-ending crowds. I don't know if we are jaded, introverted, or just plain misanthropic but the crowds on the roads, parking lots, turnstiles, restaurants, rides and shows became too much for us.

 

I realize it's Christmas and Star Wars, but 120 minutes for a fast pass is so far beyond insane, it's comical.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Ok, before everyone freaks out because of a 120 minute fast pass time, there's stuff you need to consider. First, that's not normal, not even for a busy ride. Something went wrong here, very wrong. FastPass is designed to allow you to walk up and have a relatively short line. So, if there was a 120 Min wait, that means the ride was down for quite some time, and when the ride reopened, all the people then came back to use their FastPass.

 

As well, Disney does not display the wait time for the FastPass line... so, I am not sure where the OP got the 120 Min wait from. They display the standby wait time, and the return time for FastPass. And there is no actual way for any Cast Member to tell you how long the FastPast line is.

[gisco]

I kind of wonder if it wasn't the stand by line that had the 120 min wait, not fastpass.

[cfc]

I kind of wonder if it wasn't the stand by line that had the 120 min wait, not fastpass.

 

I think you're right.

[Jew]

I would be willing to believe the downtime theory as well...that also seems possible if the ride was down and they had to honor expired tickets while still balancing the regular queue with FP.

 

In any case, Disney is still terrible about managing crowds at Disneyland. It's not entirely their fault, as the park design was most likely never intended to hold as many people as it currently does. I'm guessing their mentality all these years was "well, we added another attraction, so that means we can add this many more people!" without realizing or caring that the infrastructure needed major upgrades as well. Fastpass only made those problems worse, as it kept more people out of lines and into tight midways, stores, and restaurants.

 

With Star Wars coming soon, I hope they are also planning major infrastructure upgrades (similar to what USH is doing now) to better handle the crowds.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

I was at the park yesterday and got a FastPass for Space Mountain at 10am for a return time of 5:10pm -6:10pm. Got in the FP line at 5:10pm and it took 40mins to get on the ride. When I got in line for my FP the posted standby wait was 130 mins.

[laqueefa]

I kind of wonder if it wasn't the stand by line that had the 120 min wait, not fastpass.

 

I think you're right.

 

No, this was confirmed by someone I know with a fast pass, waiting in line at that time.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

I kind of wonder if it wasn't the stand by line that had the 120 min wait, not fastpass.

 

I was there Saturday at about the time the post about a 120min FP wait time was made. As I recall, the posted stand-by wait was 150min. So I can believe a 2 hour FP wait, even though that wouldn't be displayed anywhere. Star Tours nearby had a 90min stand-by wait time. Both point towards a period of downtime earlier in the afternoon.

 

The whole park was slammed pretty good. Not 4th of July or New Year's Eve levels, but still pretty busy. There are definitely some pinch points that need to be addressed in order to benefit crowd flow. The Astro Orbitor in the middle of Tomorrowland's entrance first and foremost. The sooner that thing gets the axe, the better.

[Jew]

Add the peoplemover track to that list...need to get rid of it if they don't plan to use it ever again.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

I kind of wonder if it wasn't the stand by line that had the 120 min wait, not fastpass.

 

I think you're right.

 

No, this was confirmed by someone I know with a fast pass, waiting in line at that time.

 

Again though, we all know this is not the norm. If there was any type of significant FP line, no matter the wait, its cause the ride broke down.