Are DL Fastpasses just like WDW Legacy Fastpasses?

[kollerbear]

Long time WDW planner, first time visitor to Disneyland! I'm going with my DH and 6 month old daughter in early October and we'll have 1 day for each park. I'm trying to get a sense for which Fastpasses to go for first, second, etc.. Everytime I look up a description of a touring plan, people seem to describe getting several Fastpasses within (what seems to me to be) the space of an hour or so, which is very very confusing to me, since you could only collect a second legacy FP either when your first FP return time began or after the space of something like 90-120 minutes. Can someone explain to me how return times/eligibility work at Disneyland?

Additionally, if anyone has any expert tips for me on what to prioritize I'd be super grateful. Would love to check out the best unique-to-Disneyland attractions while also seeing the better-at-Disneyland attractions, too. (If we miss Midway Mania or The Little Mermaid dark ride, for example, I know I'll see it again in FL.) Also, first time visiting a Disney park with a baby--is Single Rider or Rider Switch generally faster for 2 adults?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE, YOU WONDERFUL DISNEYLAND EXPERTS!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

With rider switch you can double your fp for rides the little one can't do. Your dh can fp space while you fp star tours and then you can ride with fp and get a switch card for the second adult (they will need to see the baby though so don't forget to approach the line together)

 

[figment_jii]

In general, yes, DLR's FP system is similar to WDW's Legacy FP system. You'll insert your ticket into the FP machine to get the FP; they do post the current return time so you'll know if it works for you or not before getting the FP. You can also check the official Disneyland App, which will give you the current return time. Unlike WDW, there is no official grace period (either early or late), so plan on returning during the time window printed on the ticket. Also, DLR does enforce return times, so plan to use your FP within the time window printed on it.

Once you've obtained a FP, you can collect your next FP two hours later or when the FP window opens, whichever comes first. Let's say it's 9:00 am and you obtained a FP with a return time of 10:15 am to 11:15 am. You'll be able to get your next FP at 10:15 am (when the time window for the most recent FP opens). On the other hand, let's say it's 9:00 am and you obtain a FP with a return time of 2:15 pm to 3:15 pm. You'll be able to get your next FP at 11:00 am (two hours after you pulled your most recent FP). (Caveat: You cannot hold two FPs for the same attraction, so if you already have a FP for an attraction, but it's time window has not yet opened, you cannot get another FP for that attraction even if you're eligible to get more FPs.)

A few other notes:

• There are a handful of "disconnect" FPs. You can obtain these FPs and they do not limit/impact your ability to get another FP immediately. The only "disconnected" attraction FP is for Buzz Lightyear. WoC and Frozen Live at the Hyperion are also "disconnected" FPs. In other words, you could go get a WoC FP and then immediately go get a RSR FP. F!, when it was being presented also used the FP system, but it is dark for the rest of 2016.
• The two parks are "disconnected" from each other. Meaning you can collect a FP in DL and then immediately hop over to DCA and collect a FP there. For example, if you are in DL and pull a FP for Space Mtn, you can immediately go over to DCA (assuming you have park hopper tickets) and get a FP for RSR.
• Once a park ticket has been used to enter a park, you can obtain FPs in either park. So let's say your party all enters DL in the morning. You can then have one person (aka "the runner") hop over to DCA to get FPs in that park. (It's worth noting, I've only ever done this with park hopper tickets, so I don't know if works if someone had a one-park-per-day ticket). This is one of the biggest differences from WDW when it was still using the Legacy FP system.
• There aren't a huge number of attractions at DLR that use the FP system. Mostly they are the thrill rides and a few of the more popular non-thrill rides. Disneyland.com has a list of the attractions that currently use the FP system: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/#/fastpass/

 

[kollerbear]

With rider switch you can double your fp for rides the little one can't do. Your dh can fp space while you fp star tours and then you can ride with fp and get a switch card for the second adult (they will need to see the baby though so don't forget to approach the line together)

Wow-- they don't check to see if everyone has a fastpass?! That's so surprising to me!!

In general, yes, DLR's FP system is similar to WDW's Legacy FP system. You'll insert your ticket into the FP machine to get the FP; they do post the current return time so you'll know if it works for you or not before getting the FP. You can also check the official Disneyland App, which will give you the current return time. Unlike WDW, there is no official grace period (either early or late), so plan on returning during the time window printed on the ticket. Also, DLR does enforce return times, so plan to use your FP within the time window printed on it...

BRILLIANT!!! Thank you so so so much. So the accounts I was reading were probably referring to WOC and maybe doing more of a theoretical account rather than a real time account. They discussed doing RSR, then Soarin', then Grizzly Gulch and WOC and then Tower of Terror, pretty much before 2-3 pm. I don't know, that sounded ambitious to me. But I might be thinking of WDW crowd levels and return times, which typically used to be past that 2 hour window for most popular rides.

 

[figment_jii]

Wow-- they don't check to see if everyone has a fastpass?! That's so surprising to me!!

They will generally require a FP for each person that wants to ride the attraction at that point (the only consistent exception is for children under 3 that are tall enough to ride, but do not yet need a ticket to get into the parks). However, in the example, you're using a Rider Switch/Baby Swap card, which is kind of like a FP. Basically, pull the FP for Space. When the time window opens up, all three of you return to Space. Show the baby to the CM and ask for a Rider Swap/Rider Switch/Baby Swap card. One adult will go ride Space (using the FP you have). Then when they are done, they switch off with the adult that did not ride. That adult then returns to Space with the Rider Swap/Rider Switch/Baby Swap card to get into the FP line. The biggest different is that the Rider Swap/Rider Switch/Baby Swap card does not have a return time, but you do have to use it on that same day. So the suggestion is for one person to get a FP for Space and the other person to get a FP for Star Tours because you can use the Rider Swap/Rider Switch/Baby Swap card like a FP for the second person's ride.

BRILLIANT!!! Thank you so so so much. So the accounts I was reading were probably referring to WOC and maybe doing more of a theoretical account rather than a real time account. They discussed doing RSR, then Soarin', then Grizzly Gulch and WOC and then Tower of Terror, pretty much before 2-3 pm. I don't know, that sounded ambitious to me. But I might be thinking of WDW crowd levels and return times, which typically used to be past that 2 hour window for most popular rides.

Depending on the day, you can probably get most all of those done by 3:00 pm using a combination of FPs and Stand-By Lines.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Be sure to use the baby centers. Great AC for when baby gets cranky.