Assistance needed on MM day and WOC

[selmer]

Our group of 5 (3 adults, two boys ages 8 and 9) will be visiting DLR with 4 day hopper passes from Thurs Oct 20 thru Sun Oct 23.

I've been to DL and DCA several times but the other two adults were last at DL in 1979 and 1989 and the kids have never been so we are trying to make the most out of the trip and see as much as we can.

We need assistance determining which day would be best for our Magic Morning and what night we should attempt WOC at DCA. Weather looks fine the entire trip so I don't think rain will be an issue.

Our initial thoughts were to do DL park on Thursday getting there early for our MM and staying the entire day. Then we were thinking that maybe it would be better to spend 1/2 day there and then hop over to DCA and see about getting FP to WOC for the 7:00 show which is the only show that night. If we did this, what time would you anticipate they run out of FP on a Thursday? Would noon be too late?

The next day (Friday) we were going to do DCA all day but then figured the park would get slammed in the evening after the Halloween party starts at DL making it tough to negotiate crowds for WOC or would that be a better night to go if we secured our FP early that day since we would be at the park all day?

I don't want to make it hard on the kids as they will be overwhelmed and I can't imagine pulling them away from DL to go get our FP for WOC on Thursday.

The other option is to do DCA on Thursday and get WOC FP that day and see the show that night and then do our MM on Sat/Sun and Fantasmic one of those nights.

All suggestions are appreciated! I've already received a lot of good advice from reading the posts on this board the past few weeks. Thanks!

 

[merrrydeath]

If you have park hoppers, I would really suggest hopping. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to stay in just one park all day long since they are so close. Get FPs for both throughout the day and use them in the busier afternoons/evenings.

If you all go into DL in the morning and you think you will have trouble pulling the kids away to get WOC FPs, you can grab all the tickets and go get the WOC showpasses for everyone. As long as they were scanned into one of the parks that morning, not everyone has to go over to get the FPs.

The common thought is that the earlier MMs are better. A 7am MM isn't going to be as busy as a 9am MM. So you might want to do a Saturday or Sunday to get the most out of your MM.

 

[skiingfast]

If you all go into DL in the morning and you think you will have trouble pulling the kids away to get WOC FPs, you can grab all the tickets and go get the WOC showpasses for everyone. As long as they were scanned into one of the parks that morning, not everyone has to go over to get the FPs.

I would do this too. And like Merrydeath also said, hopping is easy. Do it was you please. It's nice to enter DL do a few rides get a few FPs and then go to DCA to do the same. Using the FPs during the busy afternoons and evening.


For WoC it is good thinking to do it on Friday when DCA gets busy from the DL Halloween party exodus.

 

[ArchOwl]

I agree with the PP that the earlier the MM, the better it is! People have a hard time making a 7am MM, so if you can do it, you will really beat the crowds. Take a nap later in the day, go the bed earlier the day before, whatever it takes! You will be rewarded with an empty park!

I also agree that it would make more sense to parkhop every day. It only takes a few minutes and gives you maximum flexibility. I would avoid WOC on Friday night when there is a party in Disneyland, just because it will be noticeably more crowded that night. Even if you have WOC FPs, you will still have to fight the crowds to get a good standing position.

I would hop over on Thursday, grab WOC FPs and watch it that night. Then when everyone is at DCA on Friday, you won't be fighting for position at WOC. It should be noted, however, that many of the Pier rides will be closed prior to WOC, so don't attempt to ride Screamin' during WOC.

 

[skiingfast]

I would hop over on Thursday, grab WOC FPs and watch it that night. Then when everyone is at DCA on Friday, you won't be fighting for position at WOC. It should be noted, however, that many of the Pier rides will be closed prior to WOC, so don't attempt to ride Screamin' during WOC.

Since WoC Show ticket are for a viewing area with a max capacity when it fills up it isn't any busier than another day when it fills up.

The rest of the park will need to absorb the non WoC viewers. And Friday the rest of DCA will be much busier.

 

[ArchOwl]

Since WoC Show ticket are for a viewing area with a max capacity when it fills up it isn't any busier than another day when it fills up.

The rest of the park will need to absorb the non WoC viewers. And Friday the rest of DCA will be much busier.

True if the viewing area fills up. I thought latest reports were showing that WOC wasn't always filling completely up on slower days...

 

[skiingfast]

True if the viewing area fills up. I thought latest reports were showing that WOC wasn't always filling completely up on slower days...

That happens on some occasions. But there was never room left with great views and let everyone spread out. There was extra room behind people and odd angles that can result in bad views.

 

[selmer]

Thanks for your responses. I will definitely encourage the rest of the group to hop when things get crowded. It sounds like Thursday will be a good night to do WOC so if we do our MM on Thurs and they want to stay at DL while I run over and collect the passes that would work.

The MM on Thursday is at 8:00 and I see the weekends are at 7:00. We might be exhausted by the time Sat and Sun come around and I know the others might not be as energized as I will be to get up early *again*... so we'll see how it goes after our flight on Wed night and we discuss our final details for our first day Thurs morning.

Either way, we are all excited about the trip and can't wait! Thanks again.

 

[starshine514]

Since WoC Show ticket are for a viewing area with a max capacity when it fills up it isn't any busier than another day when it fills up.

The rest of the park will need to absorb the non WoC viewers. And Friday the rest of DCA will be much busier.

I agree. I would do WOC on Friday, since CA will be extra busy that night - it might as well be the night you're staking out WOC viewing.

 

[selmer]

One more question/clarification on park hopping and fast passes.

So if as a group we go through the DL turnstile, I can later leave that park and hop over to DCA with all our hopper tickets and get us all WOC FP if I want? The other 4 tickets won't have had to go through the DCA turnstile as well?

Just want to clarify. I think I read they were disconnected so I could grab WOC and Soarin or something else while I'm there and then meet my party back at Disneyland?

 

[merrrydeath]

One more question/clarification on park hopping and fast passes.

So if as a group we go through the DL turnstile, I can later leave that park and hop over to DCA with all our hopper tickets and get us all WOC FP if I want? The other 4 tickets won't have had to go through the DCA turnstile as well?

Just want to clarify. I think I read they were disconnected so I could grab WOC and Soarin or something else while I'm there and then meet my party back at Disneyland?

That's exactly right.