Max Pass Question

[TheBigErn]

I have not been to DLR since the introduction of MaxPass. If we don't have any need for PhotoPass, is there really any need for MaxPass?What would be the pros and cons of buying MaxPass if not using PhotoPass at all?

 

[Lesley Wake]

MaxPass allows you to get FPs easier and more often.

1. You no longer need to do walk all over the park, which is just so much more convenient.
2. You are able to grab another FP once your window is up, even if you are in line for another ride or taking a break.
3. You have access to a larger pool of FPs. Throughout the day, people may cancel their FPs (anyone with the app can do this now, even if you don’t have MaxPass). These FPs will go back into the pool available for people to grab them. People pulling traditional paper FPs at the kiosks do not have access to these, but MP people will. So it is not uncommon to find FPs available almost immediately even for an E-ticket attraction. Similarly, FPs will run out for rides during the day; with traditional FPs you are out of luck. With MP, you often have the opportunity to still get FPs for these rides that suddenly become available.

So, if you are the type of person who really doesn’t care about doing every ride or FPs, then you don’t need to bother. But I love MP and now cannot imagine going to DL without it-even on a low crowd day!

 

[TheBigErn]

thanks, that's good information.

 

[Winnowill]

MaxPass also shrinks your maximum window for pulling another FP from two hours to 90 minutes.

On high crowd days, MP makes all the difference in the world. We were there on 12/28 and 12/29, and we did just as much then as we did on lower crowd days. Not having to fight through crowds to get to FP machines was fantastic.

 

[az4boys]

After trying Maxpass, I wouldn't go back. Our last two visits have been very crowded and we would not have been able to do much without it. Just one example: we start at Disneyland and by the time we hop over to DCA we have multiple fast passes lined up and ready to use. Not possible with traditional fast passes. I haven't tried it on a low crowd day though. It might not be as necessary, but I am so glad we added it to our AP's this year.

 

[allgrownup]

Thank you for this question!
I totally understand the 'no need to walk to the kiosk' and 'get a new fastpass immediately while in line', but I also firmly believe that the loooooooooong stands in line are part of the experience and I don't like getting my phone out for even a minute as that usually leads to "one more thing, wait, just one more....". I have been 3 times as an adult, twice with adult/near adult companions, once with 2 other adults, a 4yo, a 5yo, and an infant. All before MaxPass. There are no bad memories associated with any of those. The most recent trip was the year CarsLand opened, and Anaheim was having a heat wave. We went through the Radiator Springs full line 3 or 4 times, FP line once.

I am going back this fall with an adult and a 10 yo, his first memorable visit as he was the infant in a previous visit. I am only thinking about MaxPass for maybe the last day, but am not even sure about that.

Thanks for letting me ramble to folks who might get it!

 

[az4boys]

I also firmly believe that the loooooooooong stands in line are part of the experience.

If you enjoy loooooooooong lines I won't complain. There are lots of people that will be in line with you. On our recent trips some of the rides like RSR were 2-3 hours long. My family would have hated it.

 

[sherilaine]

We will be in the park for 5 days in early March - I am thinking of using MaxPass for the busier days we will be in the park and maybe not having to use it for the mid week days. I guess we will have to play it by ear since using the Canadian 25% tickets deal we cannot add the MaxPass on at time of purchase. Not complaining though as the savings will more than pay for it once we do get inside the park!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I also firmly believe that the loooooooooong stands in line are part of the experience

But... but... but, why? Disneyland has so many lovely things to see and experience when you aren’t in line - watching the bands or the Dapper Dans, catching a show, even sitting on a bench having a snack... I can’t imagine purposely standing in line rather than doing any of those things!

I can understand a lot of reasons people wouldn’t use Maxpass - not wanting to spend money, not wanting to use their phone for a variety of reasons (preference, bad service, etc.), not caring about the number of rides... but actually purposefully choosing long lines is a new one for me!

 

[Niltiac]

I don't like getting my phone out for even a minute as that usually leads to "one more thing, wait, just one more....".

This was a concern of mine too - but I'm surprised to say, I spend less time on my phone with MaxPass than I did without it. This is because before I was still using the Disneyland app, but I was using it to plan when and where we would pull our FP which is more complicated than just using the phone to pull the FP.

Example: Say we're wrapping up lunch at Cafe Orleans and trying to decide where to go next. Before, I would pull up the app and say, the wait time for haunted mansion isn't bad. But then we would realize we'll be eligible for a FP soon and we want to use it for Space Mountain, but if we're going to walk all the way to Space Mountain to get the FP maybe we don't want to come back to Haunted Mansion, so let's change the plan. But by the time we get over there to pull the FP the return time might be too late, so we need a backup plan, etc. Our immediate plans are contingent on where we need to be to pull our FP for later. With MaxPass, I pull up the app, see Haunted Mansion has a good wait time, and go ahead and grab our Space Mountain FP for later without walking over there, and we're done (then I put my phone away because I hate wasting battery). Plans are much less complicated which results in less time spent on the phone.

Now, if your touring style is such that you weren't doing that kind of planning in the first place - say your style is to keep your phone put away and actually walk around and see the wait times and decide what to do on the fly, then adding MaxPass might make you feel pressure to pull out your phone and start planning (since you paid for it), which it doesn't sound like what you want. But if you were already using the app to check wait times and plan your next steps, you might find that MaxPass makes that process quicker.

 

[allgrownup]

I am a dedicated people watcher.
Part of the Disney magic for me is to "Let It Go". If that means standing in line and being patient and talking about the day, then that's what I will do.
Like I said, maybe by our last day I will not be so thrilled to stand, but for at least the first day or so...............I will relax, enjoy the down time required to wait, and be Happy.

 

[allgrownup]

This was a concern of mine too - but I'm surprised to say, I spend less time on my phone with MaxPass than I did without it. This is because before I was still using the Disneyland app, but I was using it to plan when and where we would pull our FP which is more complicated than just using the phone to pull the FP.

Example: Say we're wrapping up lunch at Cafe Orleans and trying to decide where to go next. Before, I would pull up the app and say, the wait time for haunted mansion isn't bad. But then we would realize we'll be eligible for a FP soon and we want to use it for Space Mountain, but if we're going to walk all the way to Space Mountain to get the FP maybe we don't want to come back to Haunted Mansion, so let's change the plan. But by the time we get over there to pull the FP the return time might be too late, so we need a backup plan, etc. Our immediate plans are contingent on where we need to be to pull our FP for later. With MaxPass, I pull up the app, see Haunted Mansion has a good wait time, and go ahead and grab our Space Mountain FP for later without walking over there, and we're done (then I put my phone away because I hate wasting battery). Plans are much less complicated which results in less time spent on the phone.

Now, if your touring style is such that you weren't doing that kind of planning in the first place - say your style is to keep your phone put away and actually walk around and see the wait times and decide what to do on the fly, then adding MaxPass might make you feel pressure to pull out your phone and start planning (since you paid for it), which it doesn't sound like what you want. But if you were already using the app to check wait times and plan your next steps, you might find that MaxPass makes that process quicker.

Totally understand! As of right now, there will be no app (my phone won't download it anyway), and chances are very great that I won't even have it on my person. Our group of three will not separate, and the youngest doesn't have a phone, so contact won't be an issue.

 

[Niltiac]

Totally understand! As of right now, there will be no app (my phone won't download it anyway), and chances are very great that I won't even have it on my person. Our group of three will not separate, and the youngest doesn't have a phone, so contact won't be an issue.

In that case, it sounds like MaxPass would be disruptive to your plan/touring style. I would probably skip it if i were you. Unless you think the price is worth it for the shorter FP wait (with MaxPass the max wait to pull your next FP is 1.5 hours, without MaxPass it's 2 hours). If you purchase MaxPass for that purpose, you can still leave the phone behind and pull paper FP. You're not required to use the app to pull FP, you just have the option to.

 

[Winnowill]

Our idea of a LOOOOONNNG line is 45 minutes, which is how long we waited to ride Soarin' once on 12/28. Typically, we do not wait longer than 20 minutes for anything. Without MP, we could not have done nearly as much as we did - we did RSR twice with FP (one of which we got for 9:30 pm a good two hours after all of the RSR FPs were officially gone). The standby wait was a solid three hours all day, and even the single rider line was at least one. On that one day, one of the busiest of the year, we did every FP attraction at DCA except GRR and GSS (which DD9 rode in the SR line) at least twice, plus Animation Academy, WOC, and a few other minor attractions. The following day with similar crowd levels, we hit every major attraction, some twice. No way we could have done that without MP. We never waited longer than 20 minutes for anything that whole day.

 

[sherilaine]

This was a concern of mine too - but I'm surprised to say, I spend less time on my phone with MaxPass than I did without it. This is because before I was still using the Disneyland app, but I was using it to plan when and where we would pull our FP which is more complicated than just using the phone to pull the FP.

Example: Say we're wrapping up lunch at Cafe Orleans and trying to decide where to go next. Before, I would pull up the app and say, the wait time for haunted mansion isn't bad. But then we would realize we'll be eligible for a FP soon and we want to use it for Space Mountain, but if we're going to walk all the way to Space Mountain to get the FP maybe we don't want to come back to Haunted Mansion, so let's change the plan. But by the time we get over there to pull the FP the return time might be too late, so we need a backup plan, etc. Our immediate plans are contingent on where we need to be to pull our FP for later. With MaxPass, I pull up the app, see Haunted Mansion has a good wait time, and go ahead and grab our Space Mountain FP for later without walking over there, and we're done (then I put my phone away because I hate wasting battery). Plans are much less complicated which results in less time spent on the phone.

Now, if your touring style is such that you weren't doing that kind of planning in the first place - say your style is to keep your phone put away and actually walk around and see the wait times and decide what to do on the fly, then adding MaxPass might make you feel pressure to pull out your phone and start planning (since you paid for it), which it doesn't sound like what you want. But if you were already using the app to check wait times and plan your next steps, you might find that MaxPass makes that process quicker.

This makes perfect sense - our last few trips I always used my phone to see what wait times were around the park and what FP returns time were before heading to get one when we were deciding how to plan our next move - that being the case you have your phone out anyway and are now able to do something with the information you see. We do exactly what you describe above and honestly just reading that has me sold on it for at least the longer days we are at the park.

My only downside I see is I was always the FP runner - which was fine as my family would go on some ride I didn't care for while I ran off to get a FP and man it was GREAT exercise and it gave me a chance to walk, very quickly mind you, through the parks alone. I guess I'll have to just rely on the other 15,000 steps to get me through my day!!

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

We will be in the park for 5 days in early March - I am thinking of using MaxPass for the busier days we will be in the park and maybe not having to use it for the mid week days. I guess we will have to play it by ear since using the Canadian 25% tickets deal we cannot add the MaxPass on at time of purchase. Not complaining though as the savings will more than pay for it once we do get inside the park!

I am not able to get the Canadian discounted tickets, but was curious about your comment about adding MaxPass when purchasing your tickets. Is that possible to buy MaxPass at that time? My understanding was that you couldn't purchase MaxPass until the day that you entered into the parks. It would be great if you can prepurchase it!

 

[sherilaine]

I am not able to get the Canadian discounted tickets, but was curious about your comment about adding MaxPass when purchasing your tickets. Is that possible to buy MaxPass at that time? My understanding was that you couldn't purchase MaxPass until the day that you entered into the parks. It would be great if you can prepurchase it!

When you go on the Disneyland site to purchase tickets, after you select the number of days and number of guests and then further select if you want one park per day or park hopper tickets, you are provided with an option to add on the Max Pass for $10/person/day - so for a 5 days PH for 4 people it would be an extra $200.

When you buy the tickets using the Canadian residence option, this MaxPass option is not provided. But you should be good!!

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

When you go on the Disneyland site to purchase tickets, after you select the number of days and number of guests and then further select if you want one park per day or park hopper tickets, you are provided with an option to add on the Max Pass for $10/person/day - so for a 5 days PH for 4 people it would be an extra $200.

When you buy the tickets using the Canadian residence option, this MaxPass option is not provided. But you should be good!!

Okay this is good to know. I was planning to purchase tickets through Get Away Today. Is that an option through them as well?

 

[Tabarr06]

Very helpful thread. I have been thinking of the value of maxpass myself but am now sold on it.

 

[Winnowill]

Okay this is good to know. I was planning to purchase tickets through Get Away Today. Is that an option through them as well?

No - MaxPass can only be pre-purchased if you buy your tickets directly from Disney.