Disneyland lines compared to Disneyworld lines

friedela

DIS Veteran
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Can someone explain to me how Disneyland lines work? We did WDW last Feb and did everything as a fastpass and waited no longer than 30 minutes for anything. I heard that Disneyland has a maxpass system but that not every ride has an option to use a maxpass, so you are often waiting in long lines in the heat. Is this true or false?
 
Disneyland has fastpass and MaxPass. MaxPass is like Magic Bands at WDW in that you reserve a return time without needing to be at the ride. Paper fastpasses require you to go to the ride kiosk, which may not be at the ride, to get the return ticket.

Both WDW and DL have lines so no getting are around that. If you are using MaxPass or fastpasses you are going to reduce your wait time, considerably in some cases.

I would say the time you spend waiting for non-FP rides is going to depend on a lot of things such as time of day, time of year, special events, etc...

Having been to WDW and DL, I’d pick waiting in DL heat over WDW heat but that’s just me. ;)
 
So you would say that the system at Disneyland is just as good as the system at Disneyworld?
 
So you would say that the system at Disneyland is just as good as the system at Disneyworld?

I would suggest to read other topics on Maxpass in this section. I think the general consensus is that Maxpass functions better than Fastpass Plus.

And about the other lines, download the app and judge the lines of the non-Maxpass rides you are interested in, to der when they have short lines.
 


I would suggest to read other topics on Maxpass in this section. I think the general consensus is that Maxpass functions better than Fastpass Plus.

And about the other lines, download the app and judge the lines of the non-Maxpass rides you are interested in, to der when they have short lines.

So DW has a fastpass option for every ride and attraction.. is that also true of Disneyland?
 
So DW has a fastpass option for every ride and attraction.. is that also true of Disneyland?
No, basically only e-ticket rides at DLR have FPs. Please see below for which rides have FPs


Disneyland Park
  • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
  • Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
  • Haunted Mansion / Haunted Mansion Holiday
  • Indiana Jones™ Adventure
  • “it’s a small world” / “it’s a small world” Holiday
  • Matterhorn Bobsleds
  • Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
  • Space Mountain / Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy
  • Splash Mountain
  • Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Disney California Adventure Park
  • Goofy’s Sky School
  • Grizzly River Run
  • Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! / Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark
  • Incredicoaster
  • Radiator Springs Racers
  • Soarin’ Around the World
  • Toy Story Midway Mania!
 


No, basically only e-ticket rides at DLR have FPs. Please see below for which rides have FPs


Disneyland Park
  • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
  • Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
  • Haunted Mansion / Haunted Mansion Holiday
  • Indiana Jones™ Adventure
  • “it’s a small world” / “it’s a small world” Holiday
  • Matterhorn Bobsleds
  • Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
  • Space Mountain / Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy
  • Splash Mountain
  • Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Disney California Adventure Park
  • Goofy’s Sky School
  • Grizzly River Run
  • Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! / Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark
  • Incredicoaster
  • Radiator Springs Racers
  • Soarin’ Around the World
  • Toy Story Midway Mania!

So for the rides that don't have fastpass options, are you pretty much waiting in line for hours? For DW we didn't do anything without a fastpass except meeting Stitch, in which case we waited 30 mins to see him. But because we had a fast pass for everything else we did we didn't wait longer than 15 minutes for anything which was awesome! The system worked so well and made it so that we saw lots without wasting all of our time waiting in lines. My concern is that there is going to be a lot more waiting around at Disneyland.
 
Can someone explain to me how Disneyland lines work? We did WDW last Feb and did everything as a fastpass and waited no longer than 30 minutes for anything while doing all the top rides. I heard that Disneyland has a maxpass system but that not every ride has an option to use a maxpass, so you are often waiting in long lines in the heat. Is this true or false?
It’s amazing you managed to wait no more than 30 minutes for anything at WDW. Serious FP mojo about you to get all the best ones, couldn’t get FOP FP or 7DMT FP for the life of me last year! For that reason I adore MP for allowing me access to all the best FP rides that I’m usually locked out of at WDW.

As others have covered, FP is less prevelant at DL. How long the lines are depends on when you go. You went at a slow time to WDW, if you go at a slow time to DL with MP you can do most everything with 30 min wait or less. Fantasyland rides like Peter Pan and Alice won’t have FP because there is literally no space for it. Waits will be up 45 mins.

“Long lines out in the heat” when are you going? Heat isn’t 24/7... if the line doesn’t look like it has enough shade come back at night. (Top WDW shade tip: the new Toy Story Land is reported to have basically zero shade. Just an FYI for your next WDW trip.)
 
It’s amazing you managed to wait no more than 30 minutes for anything at WDW. Serious FP mojo about you to get all the good ones, couldn’t get FOP FP or 7DMT FP for the life of me last year! For that reason I adore MP for allowing me access to all the best FP rides that I’m usually locked out of at WDW.

As others have covered, FP is less prevelant at DL. How long the lines are depends on when you go. You went at a slow time to WDW, if you go at a slow time to DL with MP you can do most everything with 30 min wait or less. Fantasyland rides like Peter Pan and Alice won’t have FP because there is literally no space for it. Waits will be up 45 mins.

“Long lines out in the heat” when are you going? Heat isn’t 24/7... if the line doesn’t look like it has enough shade come back at night. (Top WDW shade tip: the new Toy Story Land is reported to have basically zero shade. Just an FYI for your next WDW trip.)

Haha! We knew the system really well and were super prepared! LOL. We did 7DMT first thing because we had a pre-park opening reservation which allowed us to be first in line for it. For all the other popular ones we just refreshed the ap every few seconds until our desired rides came available! We weren't interested in FOP or any of the Pandora ones so we didn't even try for those.

For when we are going we were initially planning on WDW for Feb 2020 but now we are considering DL in November 2019 instead.
 
Why do you think you will wait for hours for minor rides? Where did you hear this?

Again, download the app and see for yourself.

This screenshot I took just now of a part of Fantasyland with mainly rides that are not included in Fastpass.
Like in any Disneypark Peter Pan equals to long lines.

207oxvs.jpg
 
Why do you think you will wait for hours for minor rides? Where did you hear this?

Again, download the app and see for yourself.

This screenshot I took just now of a part of Fantasyland with mainly rides that are not included in Fastpass.
Like in any Disneypark Peter Pan equals to long lines.

207oxvs.jpg

I can't remember where I heard it! Maybe it was a youtube channel I believe? It was comparing WDW to DL saying that DL is going to have longer lines because there aren't as many FP options but I am happy to be corrected! I would love to try DL because flights to CA are hundreds of dollars less than FL because of where we live. I didn't know that DL had the ap too! I will for sure download it! You guys are getting me excited about the idea of a DL trip instead! :) :) :)

When is a "slow time" do visit DL in your guys' experience?
 
So for the rides that don't have fastpass options, are you pretty much waiting in line for hours? For DW we didn't do anything without a fastpass except meeting Stitch, in which case we waited 30 mins to see him. But because we had a fast pass for everything else we did we didn't wait longer than 15 minutes for anything which was awesome! The system worked so well and made it so that we saw lots without wasting all of our time waiting in lines. My concern is that there is going to be a lot more waiting around at Disneyland.
Most rides without fp will run between 5-30 minute waits. There are a few outliers with that though. Peter Pan is the big one that can usually be a 45-60 minute wait most of the day. Pirates is another one that varies greatly.
 
Most rides without fp will run between 5-30 minute waits. There are a few outliers with that though. Peter Pan is the big one that can usually be a 45-60 minute wait most of the day. Pirates is another one that varies greatly.

That's ok, we did Peter Pan at DW and it was just alright! We wouldn't wait in line for it anyway. Pirates was closed when we went.
 
Disneyland is So. Much. Better. In. Most. Every. Way. My opinion only, of course! MaxPass is far superior to FP+ in that you don't have to book ahead of time therefore when you arrive you have a HUGE array of available FPs which you can keep booking all day long. There are no tiers at Disneyland so get whatever FPs you want. And the park hopping is literally a HOP between parks. You don't waste an hour waiting for and riding a boat, bus, or monorail! You can get SO MUCH DONE in SO LITTLE TIME. There is FP for all the major headliners except Pirates (they have it but don't seem to use it) and as for the rest, the lines won't be bad. I'm a WDW vet who has been to DL five times in the last five years because I now prefer it. Go and have a great time!
 
WDW has fastpass for a few more rides than DL and half of their characters while we don’t have fastpass for any characters. I much prefer the booking system of maxpass over fastpass+ myself but there are pros & cons to each. If you plan well there’s no reason you should be waiting for more 5-20 minutes for any non fastpass rides or character meets (exceptions being Peter Pan’s Flight & meeting Mickey at his house but you can usually meet him on main st with a short line instead). It’s a different experience at DL than at WDW for sure but that doesn’t have to mean it is a negative thing. You will definitely have a less positive time at DL if you go into it with such a crummy mindset though.
 
WDW has fastpass for a few more rides than DL and half of their characters while we don’t have fastpass for any characters. I much prefer the booking system of maxpass over fastpass+ myself but there are pros & cons to each. If you plan well there’s no reason you should be waiting for more 5-20 minutes for any non fastpass rides or character meets (exceptions being Peter Pan’s Flight & meeting Mickey at his house but you can usually meet him on main st with a short line instead). It’s a different experience at DL than at WDW for sure but that doesn’t have to mean it is a negative thing. You will definitely have a less positive time at DL if you go into it with such a crummy mindset though.

Obviously I have been ignorant to the benefits of DL having never been! Thanks everyone for all the tips and advice!
 
Can someone explain to me how Disneyland lines work? We did WDW last Feb and did everything as a fastpass and waited no longer than 30 minutes for anything. I heard that Disneyland has a maxpass system but that not every ride has an option to use a maxpass, so you are often waiting in long lines in the heat. Is this true or false?
We rode many of the no FP rides in Disneyland during Extra Magic Hours, and spent the rest of the day burning through MaxPass FPs. Waited in no really long lines during our weekend there.
 
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