Hi all, sorry for the long-term absence! I've booked a last minute trip to DLP for me and my mum and my 4 nephews/nieces and as I'm expecting DLP to be busy I thought it might be best to get a game plan. We are staying at Sequoia Lodge for 3 nights and will have 2 day hoppers. My plan is to spend 1 day per park with the possibility of hopping over later on the WDSP day. Because things will be so crazy I'm thinking we'll get to each park early, break off around lunchtime, possibly head back to the hotel for a swim etc. and then go back to the parks mid/late afternoon. My plan is to give each kid 1 priority attraction which we will do regardless of line length (although we'll aim to do them early or late if they're popular attractions) and then go from there working down the list of second and third choices. With Star Tours and BTM closed I'm worried that two big people eaters are out of action causing crowds to be worse than usual. Mum is eligible for a special assistance pass (or whatever the technical term is) so we'll make use of that, but I know it's not the instant fast pass it once was. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to play the game smart to minimize crown issues?!!!
Make use of the EMH and so as much as possible in Discoveryland and Fantasyland. SM, Buzz and the smaller rides in Fantasyland should be no problem in the early morning. Then I would hop over to WDSP to do Ratatouille and Crush. PM and POTC in Disneyland should be fine in the evening. Do your nephes and nieces like thrill rides, or are they too young for that?
I would suggest trying Crush first thing at opening since they don't have FP+ (at least they didn't last year), and the lines can get pretty long quickly. You should be able to grab FP+ for Ratatouille and be able to park hop like you do at Disneyland, right @dagobert ?
My nephews and niece range in age from 9-13. Most are big enough for the thrill rides, but not all and one isn't mad for coasters etc. so we have a mix. If we do EMH at DLP will the line for Crush be stacked before we get to WDSP?
It is quite possible that Crush will be pretty well stacked. My DH and I were there for rope drop, and simply stood in line for Crush until it opened. I have to admit that it was one of my favorite rides for that park, and I'm glad we got there early to stand in line before it got crazy. You might have okay luck right before the park closes, but @dagobert would probably know better than me since it's his home park.
@u k fan usually knows his way around the parks too, because it's also his homepark So I'm not sure if I can give him so much advise.
@dagobert I'm happy to taker advice from you as you've been much more recently than me. I'm expecting Crush to be one of the things we just have to accept a wait for. Is it likely that crowds will diminish that much in the evening at WDSP given the earlier closing time and no night time to show to draw crowds away?
I'm not so sure, if I can give you that many advices, because we always went off season. We alsways did Crush in the morning. Right after the EMH we headed over to WDSP and did Crush. Usually we had to wait 30 minutes, which was acceptable. WDSP turned into a really great park attraction wise. The theming is bad, but with Crush, Ratatouille, ToT, RnRC, RC Racer, CineMagique and now Mickey & The Magician the park has a very good line up and offers a better experience attraction wise than EPCOT, DHS and DAK. WDSP has 7 good to great attractions. EPCOT has five attractions with Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, Frozen and O'Canada. DHS offers six good attractions with Star Tours, ToT, RnRC, TGMR, BATB and Fantasmic. In DAK there's Dinosaur, EE, the Safari, A Bug's Life, Lion King and Finding Nemo. If only WDSP's theming would be good.
We normally go off season too, but I have been at some seriously busy times as well. Does Disneyland park offer EMH every day? If not, the idea of doing EMH then park hopping could be pretty shrewd as parks tend to be busier on EMH days.
O'Canada counts but Reflections of China doesn't? And I guess Impressions de France is completely off the table then, even though it's one of the best film attractions Disney's ever done? (Along with another half-dozen rides in Future World that rarely have waits, but are mostly worthwhile)
I guess I should start trying to get a general plan for my upcoming trip too. Due to the races, we won't be able to get to the parks right when they open; we'll likely enter an hour or two later on Saturday and 3+ hours later on Sunday. Is there any hope for Crush's Coaster? Didn't they add a single rider line a while back? That would definitely work for our group, assuming it's any faster than the regular queue I assume Ratatouille has FP? In DLP, Big Thunder, Indy, and Star Tours will be down, so it will be interesting to see how the park does with so many E-tickets missing. Hopefully it will be a quiet enough time of year that it won't be too bad When do the Halloween festivities usually start? Is the last weekend in September too early to see any of it?
I think the last week of September will be right on the cusp of the Hallowe'en stuff. That's my big concern for going in a couple of weeks - that so many E-tickets will be down the park will be swamped with people that should be in line elsewhere. I can't properly remember, but I thought the single rider at Crush went because it made the traditional line even worse, but I could be wrong. Rat... does have FP - I'm hoping to use that to my advantage.
@u k fan Have you already done Ratatouille, or will it be your first time. If it is, I would give it a higher priority than other rides at WDSP. @PNWTigger, @u k fan, @FerretAfros If you can't be there rigt after opening, FP is the best way to go. @FerretAfros Yes, Crush has a single rider line. We didn't notice any difference between the regular line and single rider line, since the vehicles sit four passengers, two by two. Single rider woks better with odd numbered rows.
@dagobert, we haven't ridden Ratatouille before. I'm thinking we'll fastpass that and do Crush first thing.
We must have just missed it. We probably wouldn't have done the single rider since it was our first time, but we might have gone on it again had it been available.
