A Few Questions About July Trip to DL

[LiamandMaeve]

Hi there,

Sorry if I'm asking obvious questions. I tried looking at the super thread but couldn't find what I was looking for. We'll be at DL for 3 days at the very end of July.

#1 My family will be buying tickets online for our trip. Is there any benefit to purchasing them now or should I just wait until right before our trip? It doesn't seem like the sale on online purchases will end until after our trip...what I really want to know is...do they mail us tickets or do we print something out? Also, does it matter how far in advance they are bought? Will the expire if I buy them now?

#2 I see lots of posts about hopping to DCA after morning in DL. When is this usually done? Before/after lunch? Just wondering my best time to avoid extreme crowds in both parks. Will the FP be gone for a headliners like Soarin' by the time I hop?

#3 Does anyone know if Little Mermaid will be a FP attraction?

#4 Is there a link where I can find average wait times for different rides in the time period when I am traveling?

Thanks so much to anyone who can help me!

 

[luckycharms2010]

Hi there,

Sorry if I'm asking obvious questions. I tried looking at the super thread but couldn't find what I was looking for. We'll be at DL for 3 days at the very end of July.

#1 My family will be buying tickets online for our trip. Is there any benefit to purchasing them now or should I just wait until right before our trip? It doesn't seem like the sale on online purchases will end until after our trip...what I really want to know is...do they mail us tickets or do we print something out? Also, does it matter how far in advance they are bought? Will the expire if I buy them now?

#2 I see lots of posts about hopping to DCA after morning in DL. When is this usually done? Before/after lunch? Just wondering my best time to avoid extreme crowds in both parks. Will the FP be gone for a headliners like Soarin' by the time I hop?

#3 Does anyone know if Little Mermaid will be a FP attraction?

#4 Is there a link where I can find average wait times for different rides in the time period when I am traveling?

Thanks so much to anyone who can help me!

1) If you buy them now - the ones that don't show a special price between now and April they will expire in January 2012. I was told that they sometimes do buy 3 days get 5... but I'm not sure if they will do it this year or when that deal comes out.

2) What we were planning to do is this - at about 9:45 go get in line for a ride we want to go on with longer wait times... DH will wait with the kids while I run over DCA and get fast passes (The park opens at 10am). Once I have them I'll head back to DL, once the fast pass times come we'll go over to DCA. We'll be doing that for two or maybe 3 of the 6 days we'll be there.

3) Opening date for little Mermaid hasn't been released... so nobody knows if it'll be a FP ride.

4) Best thing that I know of for average wait times is Ridemax... but wait times in July for popular rides are normally over an hour.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Hi there,

Sorry if I'm asking obvious questions. I tried looking at the super thread but couldn't find what I was looking for. We'll be at DL for 3 days at the very end of July.

#1 My family will be buying tickets online for our trip. Is there any benefit to purchasing them now or should I just wait until right before our trip? It doesn't seem like the sale on online purchases will end until after our trip...what I really want to know is...do they mail us tickets or do we print something out? Also, does it matter how far in advance they are bought? Will the expire if I buy them now?

#2 I see lots of posts about hopping to DCA after morning in DL. When is this usually done? Before/after lunch? Just wondering my best time to avoid extreme crowds in both parks. Will the FP be gone for a headliners like Soarin' by the time I hop?

#3 Does anyone know if Little Mermaid will be a FP attraction?

#4 Is there a link where I can find average wait times for different rides in the time period when I am traveling?

Thanks so much to anyone who can help me!

I think I'd wait to see if a new promo comes up!!

We went end of July last year.....we'd go to DL at opening, ride things in Fantasyland & gather FP's......around 11 or 12, we'd switch over & grab FP's in DCA. We usually hold on to our FP's until late afternoon or evening when the crowds are largest.

I'm guessing that Little Mermaid will NOT have the FP option......Toy Story Midway Mania is a non-FP ride & it really needs it!

Not sure about ave. wait times......we tended to go with the flow at the parks & if the standby line was too long....we'd move on to the next thing. We had at least 5 days in the parks....so we weren't rushed to ride everything in a day or two.

 

[HydroGuy]

Hi there,

Sorry if I'm asking obvious questions. I tried looking at the super thread but couldn't find what I was looking for. We'll be at DL for 3 days at the very end of July.

#1 My family will be buying tickets online for our trip. Is there any benefit to purchasing them now or should I just wait until right before our trip? It doesn't seem like the sale on online purchases will end until after our trip...what I really want to know is...do they mail us tickets or do we print something out? Also, does it matter how far in advance they are bought? Will the expire if I buy them now?

Wait until 2-3 weeks before. They do not expire until the end of the year. But do order them ahead of time online as that is cheaper.

#2 I see lots of posts about hopping to DCA after morning in DL. When is this usually done? Before/after lunch? Just wondering my best time to avoid extreme crowds in both parks. Will the FP be gone for a headliners like Soarin' by the time I hop?

There is no "usually". It depends on crowds and park hours. Is that day a Magic Morning at DL? Will you be going to MM that day? In July DL will open at 8AM and DCA typically at 10AM. Many people hop to DCA when it opens at 10AM.

IMO the best way to think about it is to consider DL and DCA as one large park with two gates. With that mindset your question is sort of like "when should I hop from Frontierland to Tomorrowland"? There is no good answer to that. There are times when Frontierland is more crowded than Tomorrowland and vice versa, and that can influence when is a good time to go from place to another.

We hop to catch shows at certain times, rides, to get FPs, to eat, etc., and have been known to hop back and forth between DL and DCA as many as five times in a day. Again, sort of like Frontierland and Tomorrowland.

See "Why I ParkHop at DLR" by Hound 109 www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1491961

#3 Does anyone know if Little Mermaid will be a FP attraction?

I do not think Disney has said officially but to support FP then a FP area needs to be built. It has not. Reports from usually reliable sources say no FP for LM.

#4 Is there a link where I can find average wait times for different rides in the time period when I am traveling?

IMO the best bet for that is to invest $15 and buy a subscription to RideMax. See www.ridemax.com.

 

[LiamandMaeve]

Thanks as always for just the information I needed!

 

[MemoriesintheMaking]

#1 My family will be buying tickets online for our trip. Is there any benefit to purchasing them now or should I just wait until right before our trip? It doesn't seem like the sale on online purchases will end until after our trip...what I really want to know is...do they mail us tickets or do we print something out? Also, does it matter how far in advance they are bought? Will the expire if I buy them now?

When I bought our tickets online, I got an email with a link to print out full page tickets for each of us. Our first morning/entry, we handed the printed pages to the gate person, they scanned them, and then our smaller tickets printed there at the spot. Those were then the tickets we used for the remainder of the trip, for getting fastpasses, etc. I was worried beforehand about it being a delay that first morning, since we hadn't gone through the process before, but it was very quick and easy. Hope that helps!

 

[LiamandMaeve]

When I bought our tickets online, I got an email with a link to print out full page tickets for each of us. Our first morning/entry, we handed the printed pages to the gate person, they scanned them, and then our smaller tickets printed there at the spot. Those were then the tickets we used for the remainder of the trip, for getting fastpasses, etc. I was worried beforehand about it being a delay that first morning, since we hadn't gone through the process before, but it was very quick and easy. Hope that helps!

Perfect help! Thanks

 

[Love Tink]

Quote:
2) What we were planning to do is this - at about 9:45 go get in line for a ride we want to go on with longer wait times... DH will wait with the kids while I run over DCA and get fast passes (The park opens at 10am). Once I have them I'll head back to DL, once the fast pass times come we'll go over to DCA.

Is DR set up to allow this? At WDW you can't do this because the tickets will not allow you to get a FP unless they have been used at that specific park gate that day. Is this not the case in CA?

Sure would make things easier.

 

[HydroGuy]

Quote:
2) What we were planning to do is this - at about 9:45 go get in line for a ride we want to go on with longer wait times... DH will wait with the kids while I run over DCA and get fast passes (The park opens at 10am). Once I have them I'll head back to DL, once the fast pass times come we'll go over to DCA.

Is DR set up to allow this? At WDW you can't do this because the tickets will not allow you to get a FP unless they have been used at that specific park gate that day. Is this not the case in CA?

Sure would make things easier.

Not the case. Once the tickets are scanned at either park they can be used at the opposite park for FP collection. Done it many times myself...

For example see "Getting the Most Out of FastPass During High Season" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=885132

 

[Love Tink]

Oooooh, that is good intel. Thank you!

My husband is an All-World FASTPASS runner. I can't wait to tell him he gets to literally run from park to park and collect them!

 

[brookies_mommy]

oooooh, that is good intel. Thank you!

My husband is an all-world fastpass runner. I can't wait to tell him he gets to literally run from park to park and collect them!

lol!