Disneyland lines compared to Disneyworld lines

You also need to realize that Disneyland Park has way MORE attractions than Magic Kingdom. It seems to disburse the crowd better. We went in June and I think our longest wait was 45 minutes for the Nemo subs. And that was because my Mom was using an ECV and that line was longer. We used the Lines App from Touringplans.com and just went to whichever ride close to use was shortest.

I also noticed that the OP said they went in February which is an historically low attendance time (with the exception of Presidents Day weekend).
 
I realized too that another thing to consider and perhaps the bigger question is would you rather be at Disneyland or Disneyworld when Galaxy's Edge opens? Because both dates we have selected will be after that.. so will the crowds be more insane at DW or DL?
 
Disney World allows people to reserve fast passes 1 to 2 months in advance of their trip. Disneyland uses paper fast passes picked up on day of visit on a first come first serve basis. Reason for the difference? Disney World relies mostly on people planning their vacation long in advance. Locals make up a small % of visitors. The opposite is true of Disneyland where locals are the main visitor. The % of Disneyland guests with annual passes dwarfs that of Disney World. Thus reserving fast passes months in advance would make no sense. So Disney has done what works best for each resort. Extra fee for Maxpass is great but reduces the number of free fast passes available to others and increases the standby wait time. The cost of Maxpass will undoubtedly skyrocket over the years to where the wealthy will be the only ones who can afford to not wait in long lines.
 
Disney World allows people to reserve fast passes 1 to 2 months in advance of their trip. Disneyland uses paper fast passes picked up on day of visit on a first come first serve basis. Reason for the difference? Disney World relies mostly on people planning their vacation long in advance. Locals make up a small % of visitors. The opposite is true of Disneyland where locals are the main visitor. The % of Disneyland guests with annual passes dwarfs that of Disney World. Thus reserving fast passes months in advance would make no sense. So Disney has done what works best for each resort. Extra fee for Maxpass is great but reduces the number of free fast passes available to others and increases the standby wait time. The cost of Maxpass will undoubtedly skyrocket over the years to where the wealthy will be the only ones who can afford to not wait in long lines.
A lot of speculation there.
 


You also need to realize that Disneyland Park has way MORE attractions than Magic Kingdom. It seems to disburse the crowd better. We went in June and I think our longest wait was 45 minutes for the Nemo subs. And that was because my Mom was using an ECV and that line was longer. We used the Lines App from Touringplans.com and just went to whichever ride close to use was shortest.

I find overall the wait times at DLR is about the same as WDW. On a busy day lines at DLR will easily be over an hour for the major rides. Worst line I ever saw was when Indiana Jones opened. We went a few months after and lines midday were over 4 hours long and stretched all the way through the park to Small World.
 
A lot of speculation there.

Not really. There is no way to sell MaxPass without reducing paper fast pass allocations or increasing standby wait times. The rides capacity isn't increased. Same number of people per hour. My other point about Disneyland's visitors being mostly locals or short distance travelers versus Disney Worlds being few locals and mostly those planning longer vacations is well documented and not speculation. Yes its speculation that Disney will raise the price of MaxPass but not much of a long shot based on past trends.
 
...When is a "slow time" do visit DL in your guys' experience?

The saying around here is that there really aren't any predictably slow times at DLR any more! Whenever the crowds start to dip, Disney manages to offer a promotion to bring everyone back. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't any times that are better than others. We advise people to pick a few times that are best for their schedules, e.g. work, school, sports, etc., then come back here to check which set of dates will work best with the DLR calendar. There are threads here that list the local school schedules and other events that can affect the crowds at DLR. Other unofficial events, like Gay Days or Dapper Days, can bring a big upswing in visitors for certain weekends each year. Certain holidays are more crowded than others. Choose a few date options, then come back here to ask for feedback. Then you'll be able to decide which dates are best for you.
 


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!

I've only been to Disneyland once in 2016, I'm going for my second trip in just 37 days BUT, I absolutely agree with everything you just said. Disneyland may not be as big and as flashy, but it's such a better experience in my opinion. I'm really looking forward to trying the MaxPass system, it sounds way better than FP!!
 
It is possible at DL to ride everything with a wait time of less than 20 minutes even at the most crowded time of year with judicious touring and use of MP. If you're good at it, you won't need to wait for something unless you choose to (i.e. "We don't have anything planned for the next hour - let's hop into this 45-minute line for Soarin' even though we rode it an hour after the park opened.")
 
There is no way to sell MaxPass without reducing paper fast pass allocations or increasing standby wait times.
Your logic is slightly flawed. MaxPass and Fastpass draw from the same allotment of FPs. They did not reduce FPs. The nice part is sometimes when party A decides to cancel their FP, party B can pick it up and the time will be earlier than what is at the machines.
 
Your logic is slightly flawed. MaxPass and Fastpass draw from the same allotment of FPs. They did not reduce FPs. The nice part is sometimes when party A decides to cancel their FP, party B can pick it up and the time will be earlier than what is at the machines.

Not flawed at all. I'll clarify my statement. If they sell MaxPass then FP's available to everyone who doesn't buy Maxpass will be reduced. They cannot sell MaxPass without reducing FP's to everyone else or increase standby wait time.
 
Not flawed at all. I'll clarify my statement. If they sell MaxPass then FP's available to everyone who doesn't buy Maxpass will be reduced. They cannot sell MaxPass without reducing FP's to everyone else or increase standby wait time.
MaxPass pulls from the same allotment of FPs as the machines do for the free paper FPs. The only thing that MP gets that the machines don’t is if someone cancels an fp a person with MaxPass can pick that up.
 
It is possible at DL to ride everything with a wait time of less than 20 minutes even at the most crowded time of year with judicious touring and use of MP. If you're good at it, you won't need to wait for something unless you choose to (i.e. "We don't have anything planned for the next hour - let's hop into this 45-minute line for Soarin' even though we rode it an hour after the park opened.")

Even before MP we rarely waited for any ride more than 20 minutes using the old style paper FP's. But that was when they never expired and the two parks were not linked. There were also some rides within CA not linked such that we could hold several FP's at the same time.
 
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MaxPass pulls from the same allotment of FPs as the machines do for the free paper FPs. The only thing that MP gets that the machines don’t is if someone cancels an fp a person with MaxPass can pick that up.

Can't anyone do that at one of the digital FP kiosks?
 
There are no digital FP kiosks in DLR. You either use the paper machines which can’t go back in time on distribution or use the DLR app which pulls from the same allotment as the paper machines except for canceled FPs.

Disney calls them Digital Kiosks because you insert your park ticket and the FP is digitally assigned to it unlike the old system of paper FP's. While it prints a reminder slip its not needed as your park ticket is now your FP. Those slips will most likely be discontinued in the not too distant future.
 
Not flawed at all. I'll clarify my statement. If they sell MaxPass then FP's available to everyone who doesn't buy Maxpass will be reduced. They cannot sell MaxPass without reducing FP's to everyone else or increase standby wait time.
Using your logic, there would be fewer people competing for the FPs at the "digital" kiosks, so that would balance your concern on reduction.

Reality is, there is a specific number of FP assigned to a ride on a day. These can be distributed to whoever pulls them, MaxPass or "digital" kiosk.

No, FP that are canceled on MaxPass cannot be redistributed by "digital" kiosks, only MP.
 
Disney calls them Digital Kiosks because you insert your park ticket and the FP is digitally assigned to it unlike the old system of paper FP's. While it prints a reminder slip its not needed as your park ticket is now your FP. Those slips will most likely be discontinued in the not too distant future.

If you want to get truly technical, Disney actually calls them "FASTPASS machines". The term digital is only used with MP.

  • If the Return Time works for you, insert your valid Disneyland Resort admission ticket or Annual Passport into the FASTPASS machine.
  • The machine will generate a FASTPASS receipt with your Return-Time window.
 
Not flawed at all. I'll clarify my statement. If they sell MaxPass then FP's available to everyone who doesn't buy Maxpass will be reduced. They cannot sell MaxPass without reducing FP's to everyone else or increase standby wait time.

MaxPass pulls from the same allotment of FPs as the machines do for the free paper FPs. The only thing that MP gets that the machines don’t is if someone cancels an fp a person with MaxPass can pick that up.

Correction, Maxpass users get a next available fastpass after 90 minutes vs 120 minutes for paper users (nonmaxpass). That right there gives the advantage of maxpass users to theoretically pull more fast passes in a day than paper users. You also, have to take into account how many fast passes paper users didn’t pull because it was too inconvenient to walk across the park. You also have to take into acccount the 10-15 minutes to walk across the park to actually get a particular fastpass if you really want it. Because of these factors, maxpass users have the ability to pull even more fast passes than paper users on a side by side comparison level.

So yes, maxpass users can and probably are grabbing fast passes at a faster rate than paper users, thus reducing the pool of fast passes available to paper users. I know I purchased maxpass and used the heck out of it.
 

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