Originally Posted By Shere Khan Now I am going to try the un-imaginable, mayhaps even impossible: Hit the big e-tickets in a day! I will be going with a 'friend' who is not a fan and has not been to disneyland since he was a toddler. He grew up on six flags and such, therefor the great nostalgia rides we love will not impress. (although I will insist on PoTC for obvious reasons) Any sugestions of the best strategy? Also any ideas on the fastpass system and if there are any networking incongruities that currently allow multiple fastpasses? And finaly what rides would be the most exciting/impressive if you remove the factors of disney-fandom and nostalgia? We are going this tuesday, friday or saturday. I know im even more limited if i go on friday. Should we just do DCA? I know most of my family who are not gaga for disney love DCA (so do I, although my heart will always be at disneyland) If i were to go i wouldn't mind going on only 2 or 3 rides on a busy day.. Maybe watch a couple shows of billy hill.. lol. But i want to share my love of the park with this person. Hope this made some sense, thanks.
Originally Posted By Momtoo2 I just had to laugh at the rum and coke comment.. As to fastpass strategy...I know I have in the far distant past read one written by darkbeer (I don't know the link or how to post one but maybe do a search). The thing is the fastpass stuff has really changed. From what I have read Star Tours is no longer Fast Pass capable (used to be one off system), Pirates is no longer Fast Pass and neither is HM (except for Holiday I think). SO I guess your best option is to get there early and hit the big rides first...Matterhorn first since no fastpass and then maybe Space and grab fastpass for later and then on over to BTMR and ride then POC or JC and Fast pass Indy at this point and then POC or JC (whichever missed), HM and then lunch or break. FP Splash and then do Indy with FP and do a show, stand in a line for something not FP and do Splash and then take train back over to TL and do Space again. Could work?
Originally Posted By Shere Khan Sounds like a great plan, at least some good ideas in there.. It so imposible to do it all in a day but it will be fun to try.. Wish i could do both parks as I love them both. I know lots of people hate DCA but i love the shows, the rides, and (gasp) the theme/environment!
Originally Posted By gadzuux My plan is slightly different. I prioritize FPs by level of difficulty, with space mountain and splash mountain being the most important. Buzz, roger rabbit, and the others are second tier. And remember that you can return any time that day after the start time. Get your 'space mountain' passes first thing. If you're early enough and also want to ride stand-by, have at it. Your next priority is 'splash mountain', but you may have to wait a bit before it's available. This would be a fine time for pirates, star tours, buzz, jungle cruise and/or haunted mansion - as long as you keep moving the party in the direction of 'splash'. While over in 'critter country' consider the canoes if it's a weekend. It's a "non-disney" kind of ride. Next on the agenda are 'big thunder' and/or 'buzz'. My limited experience says BTM and buzz don't need an FP except on the busiest days. Finally you can either get an FP for 'roger rabbit', tough it out in the stand-by queue, or skip it altogether. With the exception of 'roger rabbit', 'space mountain', and 'buzz', all the FP locations are around the edge of the river. Once you and your guests have visited the biggies on the west side, the only one left is 'space mountain', which you can now visit at your own convenience. I like it as the final ride of the day, but whatever works best for you.
Originally Posted By markedward My two cents worth: Any time you take thrill park fans to a Disney park and try to please them with the most thrilling rides, they'll come away complaining of such incredibly long lines for such tame rides. So rather than try to mimic a thrill park experience, show them what it is that makes people love Disneyland. Sip a lemonade on a park bench while you watch children happily interact with Goofy or one of the horses on Main Street. Lots of people who could care less over meeting Cinderella or Peter Pan get all happy as they watch little kids do it. Go for the really impressive attractions that are nothing like a thrill park ride - Haunted Mansion, Soarin, and Indiana Jones come to mind. Probably Pirates, but then you're fighting their probable "I don't know what all the fuss is about" factor given all the hype at the moment. Splash Mountain, one of the greats, will be confused for a flume ride and will be pronounced too kiddie. Until the menu change I'd have said to eat at the Blue Bayou. Now I'd fear it'd be pronounced "not worth the price". How about dinner at one of the second tier New Orleans Square eateries and a late dessert at Blue Bayou. We recently went to Six Flags Marine World - a solid theme park - and heard recorded up tempo rock and pop music, often way too loud, at every conceivable opportunity. If the trash can group, the Dapper Dans, the Main Street pianist, the Disneyland Band performing on the river boat, and the jazz bands in New Orlean Square don't impress your friend, then give it up and stick him on California Screamin'. If that fails there's always the Hearthstone Lounge or the Lost Bar. But, to summarize, show him what makes Disneyland awesome. Not what makes Disneyland sort of qualify as a thrill park.
Originally Posted By Shere Khan well i am hopeing my company will be enough to keep him from noticing the long lines.. hehe.. anyway that is some good advice and I must say I don't disagree..
Originally Posted By FerretAfros If you are planning on doing both parks, you can have a FP for each park at the same time. I also believe that Grizzly River Run is not connected to the system. I'm not sure, so I would suggest getting another one first, and then going over and checking if you can get one for it. Except for really crowded or hot days, the lines for that seem pretty managable. I would also suggest the single rider line for Splash Mountain, if you don't mind getting split up. You really woudn't be talking to eachother on the ride anyway, and you probably wouldn't get a picture with just the two of you, so it would be a solution to using a FP on it. Also, if you would like to ride together, do it with FP. If you guys like it and would like to do it again, then use the single line, so you don't feel like you're missing anything.
Originally Posted By Shere Khan yeah i seem to have heard rumors of GRR and Rodger Rabit as well.. Don't know if its true. Where is Darkbeer when you need him? Maybe he got tired of doing the fastpass list.. more likely it stoped changing at one point. I think i will take your splash mountain advice.. I have never understood the 2+ hour lines almost every time! I love the ride but have never done the 2 hour thing since fastpass!
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Here is a link to the current FASTPASS guide, it is at a place that I can change it with ease if anything changes... <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g29092-c3632/Anaheim:Californiaisneyland.FASTPASS.tips.html" target="_blank">http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tra vel-g29092-c3632/Anaheim:Californiaisneyland.FASTPASS.tips.html</a>
Originally Posted By Shere Khan Wow! the famed darkbeer. Thanks, just what i was looking for! (8.5 thousand + posts! quite the expert
Originally Posted By karlg After reading and understanding Darkbeer's rules some key points: - All the cast members seem to check for is that you don't come back too soon and don't care how late you are (in fact they will say things like "those with come back time of hh:mm or earlier"). This is a BIG help in not running your feet off. It also works like a "time shift" machine. The best strategy is to COLLECT fast passes as fast as you can early in the day and USE them later. - If you think about it, you DON'T want to use a Fastpass when it come due but rather later in the day when the park is crowded. - The time of the "next" F.P. either when the current one's window starts or 2 hours whichever comes first. If you get to the park early (VERY IMPORTANT)there come-back times will be relatively short (but I think the minimum is something on the order of 45-minute or so). Early in the day you can collect a F.P. roughly every hour. - Early in the day you want to go on attractions that will have long lines but no F.P. PeterPan is the classic attraction that fits this bill (but maybe not for a theme park enthusiast). - Once the park fills up, then you can start "spending" your F.P.'s. - With this strategy you want to plan the order of picking up FP's. Probably Space Mountain, then Splash and then Indiana Jones is a pretty good starting order. The order is based on COLLECTION efficiency and not the order you want to go on the attractions. - Nothing, repeat nothing, beats getting there before the park officially opens. It helps big time with the FP collection as you can collect more FP's. If you get there too late, then you will be able to pick up at most 1 every 2 hours. - If you get there early, it is easy to ride every FP attraction at least once in a day and generally several times even on a busy day. The hard thing to do is to ride the more popular non-FP attactions.
Originally Posted By markedward <you want to plan the order of picking up FP's. Probably Space Mountain, then Splash and then Indiana Jones is a pretty good starting order.> I hear people do Iron Man competions because they aren't up for Disneyland. If Splash Mountain's Fastpass line was any farther from Space Mountain, it'd be in Tijuana. I've tried out darkbeer's advice, and sure enough, I was able to get a Roger Rabbit Fastpass before the window of another Fastpass we were holding. BUT ... with one day to win over a Disneyland critic, I don't imagine you'll be setting foot in Town Toon.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Actually, I've used the Disneyland FP strategy (run around the park collecting and getting in short lines, then run around later and use them) in the Magic Kingdom in WDW, and let me tell you, Splash to Space in DL is nothing. After the day at MK, I thought I would die. So really, Space and Splash are nothing at DL compared to their distance at MK.
Originally Posted By Shere Khan not a fan didn't mean un-fan.. In my family its hard to know what that is. But they do exist. People who only know disney for the fact that it makes movies.. And don't see how Disney parks would be any different than universal or paramount's parks. (Gasp, i know!) Thanks for all the sage advice.. I will show him why disney parks kick ass! (pardon my language)
