May 27 - Jun 3 crowds + fastpass?

[Zeek]

Hola folks...

First time in this group, what an awesome resource this is! I'm hoping to get a question answered. Been to D/L five times, twice as a kid with my family back in the 70's, twice as a teen with school groups (80's) and once with my wife (90's)... except for my most recent visit, I found the crowds and line-ups to be very hard to handle (yeah, yeah, I know... welcome to the club, waa, waa, waa LOL).

Lesson learned when I went with my wife, we went in November '96, park was an absolute pleasure, very few line-ups (except for Indiana Jones which was all of 45 minutes wait, whoopee), packed more activity into one day (and we had 5 days!) than I could've packed into a week on previous trips.

Ok so we're now planning a trip to D/L with our 6-yr old son who's finally tall enough to go on all the good rides. Problem is our only window is the last week of May '06... I figure it's either gonna be slow with school still in session, but then again it could be a zoo with travelling school groups and such. My inside voice is screaming "GO IN THE SLOW SEASON YA MOOK!!!" but this is our only window of opportunity this year.

So... questions...

1) Is there anyone who might give me an indication as to expected crowds in the last week of May? The boy is totally stoked to go to D/L (as are his parents ) but I'm wondering if it would be better to hold off until slow season?

2) How exactly does this new FASTPASS thing at D/L work?

Cheers,
Zeek

 

[hlbtimes2]

The worst part about the dates you are looking at, is that its Memorial Weekend. Anytime you throw a holiday into the mix, it adds more people! I would try to plan it so you have as many week days as possible, and less weekend time. Be sure you take advantage of early entry when its offered. That extra hour in the park makes a huge difference. If you book through AAA (more on that in a minute) or disney travel you also get a voucher for toon town morning madness. If you have that option- use it! It is also a good time saver.

As for fast pass-It is a system that some of the bigger rides have (Space Mountain, Buzz Astro blasters, Thunder mountain, splash mountain, cartoon spin (not a big ride, but had it anyway), and in DCA- Soarin, grizzly river rapids, screamin' and tower of terror- I may have missed a few, but you get the picture). You stick your park ticket in a machine. It spits out a fast pass. There is a one hour return time on the ticket. You may return anytime after the starting return time (dont worry about the ending time). You will get in the fast pass line, and give the fast pass to the CM working there. You will then bypass a large portion of the ride. Your wait on most rides will be less then 15 min.

You may only get a new fast pass after the start time has came up or 2 hours have passed since you've gotten the last fastpass. Unless, you have booked a package through AAA. If you booked through them AND are staying at one of the 3 disney hotels, you will have enhanced fast pass. With EFP you'll be able to get a FP for each ride that offers one. You can't get a 2nd for the same ride until the return time comes up or 2 hours pass.

You'll want to get Space mountain fast pass first, as it runs out first (early in the day). Cartoon Spin is not networked with the other machines. So, you can get a pass there even if you have one for another ride.

 

[iceskatejen]

Memorial Day weekend will be very crowded, but if you can avoid that, then it shouldn't be horribly crowded.

Fast Pass (or FP for short) is reletively simple, once you understand it. There are some nuances, though. It will dramatically shorten your wait times for the most popular rides and allow you to do more if you use it right. It basically allows you to bypass the vast majority of the line for a ride that offers it. You will likely still encounter anywhere from a 5-20 minute wait, depending on the ride (Buzz will be 5, Indy will be 15-20).

First off, it is free to all park guests. What you do is go to whichever ride (let's say Space Mountain) and you go up to the area that says FastPass distribution (it is clearly marked, though many people miss it entirely) and you go to the machine and stick your park ticket in. Wait for the little light to come on then pull your ticket out. Out will come your FP ticket. On it will be the name of the ride, your return window (which will be a 1 hour window--more on this later), the date, and at the bottom in smaller print when you can get another FP. Pay attention to this as when you can get another FP may not be when your return window opens. You can get a new FP (for any ride that offers it and still has them, including a ride you already have a FP for) either when your return window opens or 2 hours later, whichever comes first. I.e.--I go to Space at 8:10 am and get a FP--the return window is 8:50-9:50am. That means I can get another FP at 8:50am. I go back to Space at 3pm. The FP window is from 9-10pm. I can get another FP at 5pm.

When your return window opens up, that doesn't mean you need to rush back to that ride right then. Your return window might say 1-2pm, but what that really means is 1pm until park closing. DLR is not picky on FP return times so long as you don't try to use it before your window opens.

The two parks' FP systems are not connected. That means that even if I'm holding FPs for rides in DL, I can go over to DCA and get FPs for rides there. Also, in each park there is one ride disconnected from the rest of the system. In DL that's Roger Rabbit. In DCA it's Grizzly River Run. What that means is that you can have a FP for each of those rides, plus a FP for any other ride in each park.

What you can't do with FP:
1. You can't come back before your return window opens.
2. You can't get a FP for one ride and try to use on another (ok, you can try, but they won't let you).
3. You can't get FPs for people not in the park--you can't take their tickets that haven't been scanned at the gates and go get them FPs.

What you can do with FP:
1. You can come back even after your return window is over and use the FP.
2. You can get FPs for the same ride all day.
3. You can see a lot of other things rather than stand in line all day.

 

[Zeek]

Many thanks for the feedback and the advice on Memorial Day weekend. We've adjusted our times accordingly to miss the weekend and will be flying out of Victoria (BC) on Mon May 29 to the John Wayne Airport (I haaaaates LAX) for 5 days in Disneyland, leaving on Mon June 5th. We'll be staying at the Tropicana (who needs anything fancy, I just want a clean bed, good enough for me).

It's an eight-day trip for us, 2 days are travelling days, 5 days are Disney days, now we just have to decide what to do on the last day. In past trips we've just hit Knotts, but I want to do something different this time. Any suggestions? My first thought was Universal Studios but I don't know how much my 6-year old will get out of it. Is Sea World in San Diego do-able as a day-trip? Worth it in anyone's opinion? Suggestions...

Cheers,
Wade

 

[Pir8girl]

I highly recommend www.ridemax.com - a computer program that schedules your ride times.

I was raised near Disneyland and spent much of my (misspent) youth at the park. I've never gone on as many rides in one day as I did using ridemax a couple years ago. Now I use it everytime I go, mostly for my kids. I've been on the rides many times, but my kidlets haven't.

This way we can do a day or two of slamma jamma rides, go back to the hotel, swim, come back for fireworks. The rest of the time we can just go at a leisurely pace and enjoy the other wonderful things the park has to offer.

If you go to San Diego and do Sea World, go to Legoland too. I haven't been, but a friend lived near there and said it was wonderful.
I think Universal is geared for older kids. I haven't taken DD10 or DS6 there yet.
Good luck and have fun!