Critique this Newbie's Disneyland Plan & MM Fastpass Question

[baketank]

Fellow Dis'ers -
So I am getting to Disneyland on March 17th staying at the Disneyland Hotel and we will have 3.5 days at the parks and 4 nights at the parks. We will be at the parks at noon on Wednesday and then should hopefully be at rope drop on Thursday (Magic Morning) and Friday, with hopefully Saturday saved to repeat some favorites.

I have read all the super-threads and stickies, most a few times now, to familiarize myself with the tips and the park. They have been VERY helpful in giving me a basis for touring the parks etc. As a DVC member and someone who goes to DisneyWorld two or three times a year, I already have a plan in my head that I follow at DW, so I am just trying to get a rough idea for Disneyland.

Question 1: Do they give out fastpasses during Magic Mornings?

Maybe I am just confused from reading HydroGuy's thread "Getting the Most Out of FastPass During High Season," but in it he states "There were two days when we got into DL at the 8AM opening. One was the MM day when we were in by 7AM. On these days I made a beeline to one of the popular FP rides (it was SM on both days) to get FPs." and then later he states, "We were in the park for MM (7am)... and at 8AM when the FP machines opened I was at SM and got FPs for a window that opened at 8:45AM."

Maybe I am just confusing myself but it seems one of those insinuates that you can head straight to Space Mountain at opening for Magic Mornings and get a fastpass, but it wont be valid until after the park officially opens. Ex. if you get a fastpass at 7am, it will be for 8:45am. And the other one says that the fastpass machines dont open until 8am during a 7am Magic Morning and that you have to wait until 8am to get a fast pass and that your return time would then be for 8:45am. I guess I just want to know which one is correct, so that I can figure out if I need to be at Space Mountain at 8am and not on a ride to get one of the first fastpass return times or if I can go right there when MM starts like I would at DW for EMH?

Question 2: Is this rough morning itinerary seem smart?

For Thursday morning during the Magic Morning, we plan on starting with Fantasyland. Since I dont know the popularity of the Fantasyland rides except that Peter Pan is the most popular, I would love for any advice as to which order to do them. I was thinking.

1. Fastpas Space Mountain if you can do that during MM, then ride Peter Pan
2. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
3. Pinocchio's Daring Journey
4. Alice in Wonderland
5. Snow White's Scary Adventure
6. Tea Cups
7. Depending on the time, do the Matterhorn Bobsleds
8. Fastpass Space Mountain if you need to wait until 8am.
9. Then head to do Nemo Submarine Voyage. (Maybe a 30 min wait now?)
10. Autopia maybe, and then start winging it from there and collecting fastpasses for the rides that they are available on, like Indy etc.

Please let me know if there is a better order or if I won't be able to reasonably get the first 6 or 7 done during Magic Morning. Thanks a bunch. I am sure I will have more questions as I get closer but any help with this would be much appreciated. Thanks!!!!

 

[DLR29]

I recommend my MM superthread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403

It answers #1 straight up:

Are Fastpasses offered for Space or Buzz during MM?
No, FP machines will begin operating at official park opening.

As for #2, this is the general plan that many of us use:
1. Peter Pan (always first, always. Failing to line up within the first 10 min can cause a 30 min wait)
2. Dumbo (although this can be skipped based on desire
3. Matterhorn (definitely after Peter Pan, the line shouldn't be that long, you can probably ride both sides relatively quickly)
4. Mr. Toad/Alice/Teacups (in any particular order
5. Snow White/Pinocchio (the least popular of the FL rides)

Your plan right now has a lot of walking within FL (Pinocchio-Alice-Snow White-Mad Tea Party is like crossing FL twice, not that it is a large area, but it still takes time). The above eliminates some of it depending on which order you ride the rides in #4 and #5.

You also should be able to finish this above plan in about 45 min or less if you are one of the first people in the park.

 

[liesel]

I've never done MM, but I wanted to answer at least part of your question. I believe when a ride opens for MM, the fastpass machine for that ride is also open. Indiana Jones and Splash are popular rides that uses fastpass and is not open during MM. Many people that do a few MM rides also position themselves at the adventureland/frontierland rope drop at the regular park opening to get a fastpass there, which might be what Hydroguy was talking about.

As for the MM plan, I've noticed from the regular park opening that Peter Pan's line does build the fastest. Dumbo, Casey Jr, and Storybookland also have longer lines because they are slow loaders. I've been able to ride both Alice and Teacups 45 minutes after park opening with only a 5 minute wait, so those can be saved until the end. I like riding Peter Pan, Snow White, Mr. Toad, and Pinocchio all in a row since they are next to each other. Matterhorn's line builds quickly so I would ride it before teacups and alice. Nemo's line is getting shorter, but there is a initial rush during MM I believe. I've also been able to ride that 15 minutes after park opening with a 15 minute wait (many prefer to ride at the regular opening since it is a 15 minute ride and use precious MM time in Fantasyland). ISAW loads quickly and is about 5-10 minutes the first couple of hours of the day.
At opening, we've had a runner go to SM while the rest of the group goes to the first ride of the day with some success (although they sometimes have technical problems with getting SM up and running first thing in the morning so this doesn't always work). Once we rode Autopia shortly after opening and they were opening an additional lane of cars. This process takes several minutes and we found that we'd rather wait until the whole ride was up and running than watch the poor CMs struggle to get all the cars started. The line moved much faster then.
Fantasyland is pretty doable until around 10am (11 during less busy times of year), so even if you don't get through your entire list during MM, no worries, especially if you take on the slow loaders before the lines build. I hope this helps, I'm sure the MM vets will chime in (I have an AP so I've never done MM before).

 

[DLR29]

I've never done MM, but I wanted to answer at least part of your question. I believe when a ride opens for MM, the fastpass machine for that ride is also open. Indiana Jones and Splash are popular rides that uses fastpass and is not open during MM. Many people that do a few MM rides also position themselves at the adventureland/frontierland rope drop at the regular park opening to get a fastpass there, which might be what Hydroguy was talking about.

As for the MM plan, I've noticed from the regular park opening that Peter Pan's line does build the fastest. Dumbo, Casey Jr, and Storybookland also have longer lines because they are slow loaders. I've been able to ride both Alice and Teacups 45 minutes after park opening with only a 5 minute wait, so those can be saved until the end. I like riding Peter Pan, Snow White, Mr. Toad, and Pinocchio all in a row since they are next to each other. Matterhorn's line builds quickly so I would ride it before teacups and alice. Nemo's line is getting shorter, but there is a initial rush during MM I believe. I've also been able to ride that 15 minutes after park opening with a 15 minute wait (many prefer to ride at the regular opening since it is a 15 minute ride and use precious MM time in Fantasyland). ISAW loads quickly and is about 5-10 minutes the first couple of hours of the day.
At opening, we've had a runner go to SM while the rest of the group goes to the first ride of the day with some success (although they sometimes have technical problems with getting SM up and running first thing in the morning so this doesn't always work). Once we rode Autopia shortly after opening and they were opening an additional lane of cars. This process takes several minutes and we found that we'd rather wait until the whole ride was up and running than watch the poor CMs struggle to get all the cars started. The line moved much faster then.
Fantasyland is pretty doable until around 10am (11 during less busy times of year), so even if you don't get through your entire list during MM, no worries, especially if you take on the slow loaders before the lines build. I hope this helps, I'm sure the MM vets will chime in (I have an AP so I've never done MM before).

Sorry, that is not the case. Also, Casey Jr. and Storybookland are not open for MM.

 

[liesel]

Sorry, that is not the case. Also, Casey Jr. and Storybookland are not open for MM.

Sorry if it is implied that Storybook and Casey Jr are open for MM, I was just trying to say that they are slow loaders and its better to do them earlier in the day.

 

[liesel]

I did check Hydroguy's thread that you are referencing and it does clearly state that the Faspass machines do not open until park opening, as well as DLR29's helpful thread. Sorry about the confusion, based on what you wrote, I assumed the thread stated that these machines were open. That's what happens when I try to be helpful, apparently. As for the rest, I was just trying to give you an idea of wait times of other rides in the area. Many people criss cross the park to lessen wait times, but I've found with small children that sometimes compromises have to be made. I was also just trying to say don't worry if you don't get through your entire list in one hour, you'll get through these rides with little wait if you start early.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

This is our order on mm days:

1. Peter Pan
2. Dumbo
3. Alice (often do this #2 if dd wants to skip Dumbo, if so, sometimes we do it 2x cause the line gets so long!)
4. Matterhorn
5. Teacups
6. Mr. Toad
7. Snow White
8. Pinocchio

Then usually about this time we can go over to Casey Jr and Storyboats... if we still have time to burn we do Snow again, as dd loves Snow White!!

 

[HydroGuy]

For clarity since my thread caused some confusion, DLR29 is correct that FP is not available during MM. The machines are turned on when the park officially opens.

HOWEVER...

DLR does have one twist in this regard. For at least the last five years DCA has unofficially opened 30 minutes early and unofficially opened only one ride 30 minutes early - Soarin Over California. And that ride has had for several years now - maybe all five years - don't know - FP open 30 minutes early too.

That may all change when DCA park hours change soon from 10AM opening to 9AM.