Afternoon delights?

[ByTheHook]

We're planning a Fri. arrival at DL in a few weeks (a sold-out weekend at all 3 of the Dis. hotels, unfortunately) but won't get into DL until 3 or so.

1.) Are Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours and Space Mountain likely to have given out all of thier FASTPASSes by 3 pm on a Fri., from your experiences?

2.) How crazy are the lines for other big-draws like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, Tarzaan's Treehouse, Many Adventures... Pooh, King Arthur's Carousel, small world, etc. likely to be after 3 on a Friday?

3.) Fantasmic's not on that night, so should we expect longer lines for everthing else that afternoon/ evening, or will we likely see fewer people in the park (who'd rather wait til Sat. and Sun. for the show)?

Thanks for any help/ anecdotes!

 

[minnietoo]

what weekend is it? what else is going on that the hotels are sold out?

 

[Sherlee]

I don't know the weekend of the OP, but our weekend of October 19 - 23 is soldout at all three hotels.

 

[ByTheHook]

(skip down to next reply, sorrry...)

 

[ByTheHook]

.....

 

[minnietoo]

Columbus Day weekend. --Not sure if it's a school holiday (Mon.) all over or just a popular weekend there for the Postal Service's families.

Ah - a holiday weekend. http://www.scottware.com.au/theme/guide.htm

Not as bad as summer, Thanksgiving, or Christmas - but still up there in expected attendance

 

[ByTheHook]

Ah - a holiday weekend. http://www.scottware.com.au/theme/guide.htm

Not as bad as summer, Thanksgiving, or Christmas - but still up there in expected attendance

Okay, so what about the questions I have above, then? Any suggestions/ experiences to share?

 

[minnietoo]

Okay, so what about the questions I have above, then? Any suggestions/ experiences to share?

Lines are less than summer - I don't know what else to say. Anyone else?

I was there this WE and Fantasmic was showing on FRI and Sun at 9 PM and Sat at 9 and 10:30. Hm m m - I don't know what to tell you re: that. I know someone said the online lists were incomplete.

Fireworks are Fand S only - not listed for Sunday (this WE).

I went on the Friday of Mem Day weekend and the crowds were very light - many rides had NO lines (including HM) - the whole weekend was unexpectently light.

If you have a three day park hopper - just go. You'll be able to find something to do.

 

[DLR29]

1) Probably Space's FP will be gone by then. Indy's and Splash's might have really late return times. BLAB shouldn't be a problem w/o FP. Star Tours no longer offers FP.

2) Haunted Mansion Big Thunder, and PotC lines move VERY fast so don't let a long line discourage you. MAoWtP and Tarzan's Treehouse almost never have lines even during peak seasons. JC, IASW, and King Arthur Carrousel might have 20-30 minute lines. Enchanted Tiki room is a hit or miss. If you get there at the right time, you shouldn't have to wait at all. But if you show up when the show just began, you could have to wait another 15-20 minutes.

3)I don't think people will NOT come to the park just because Fantasmic is not showing. As the night goes on, the people slowly head out of the park wilth a big rush at closing. I suggest you wait unitl after closing to head back to the hotel. You can do some shopping or grab a late night snack or even try to hit another ride. (At President's week I got on BLAB and Indy after "official" closing time)

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Ah - a holiday weekend.

yeah but still...for all the DLR hotels to be sold out? Ive been there loads of time throughout the entire month of Oct and its not been sold out...something else must be going on as well

 

[silence]

We were there the Friday before Labor Day, during the "holiday" weekend.

At 8:00PM on Friday, they still had Fast Passes available for Space Mountain, though the return time was like 11:20PM. We were using our FP that I had collected at 10am.

 

[pppiglet]

We were there today and didn't need fast passes. We practically walked right on everything. In fact I didn't even see any fast pass line open for HM, Pirates, Thunder Mountain, or Jungle cruise. 10 min wait at most for Pirates.

 

[mystic_path]

yeah but still...for all the DLR hotels to be sold out? Ive been there loads of time throughout the entire month of Oct and its not been sold out...something else must be going on as well

What weekend are you going??? In a few weeks time I am going as well, and I just found out that it is "Gay Pride Day Weekend". An event that goes on every single year. Its happening October 6-8th (Friday to Sunday) or something like that. So if your going during the 6-8th and dont want to be hit on by the same gender, I dont suggest wearing a red shirt during those days. *just a heads up*

Its a big hit every year. And then after that the halloween events start and that will bring in a large crowd.

 

[Shelebeen]

The weekend of the 15 - 17 has the half marathon going on.. is that the weekend?

 

[DLR29]

We were there today and didn't need fast passes. We practically walked right on everything. In fact I didn't even see any fast pass line open for HM, Pirates, Thunder Mountain, or Jungle cruise. 10 min wait at most for Pirates.

That's because HM, Pirates, and JC don't even have FP!

 

[minnietoo]

Figured it out - Gay Days is that same weekend. They (gay days organizers) are expecting a crowd of about 30,000

 

[Judy from Boise]

at DL, closing time means you may no longer enter the queue.. so, any headliner you want to ride , just get in the queue 20 minutes prior to park closing, and you will get on. It is wonderfully spooky Indy to walk through the queue very late at night.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Figured it out - Gay Days is that same weekend. They (gay days organizers) are expecting a crowd of about 30,000

see? I knew something had to be going on for the hotels to be sold out

 

[dizzyami]

I knew I had run across a schedule a while back while looking for disneyland secrets - here is the link - it gives a schedule by hour of where they are going to be meeting, so you might want to check it out, and plan accordingly. It looks like Saturday is DL day and Sunday is DCA day.

http://www.gaydays2.com/html/schedule.html

As for the initial question of getting there at 3pm, DCA is typically less crowded then the afternoon, so if things look too crazy you might go there if you have park hoppers. Otherwise you might still be able to grab a FP for space/splash or indy, and then wait for HM or Pirates, these lines usually don't get nearly as long.

 

[minnietoo]

see? I knew something had to be going on for the hotels to be sold out

And Choc walk - with an expected turn out of an additional 12,000 folks.
http://www.choc.org/chocwalk/walk_main.cfm