Does 10am Start=lower crowds?

[RG3]

Hi all!
Headed to Tokyo DisneySea the last week of Jan.
If I am reading the calendar correctly,
On Tuesday, Jan 28th, the park is open from 8am to 7pm, and on the 29th and 30th, it is open from 10am-7.

Going on Tuesday is not ideal for us, as we will have just arrived in Tokyo, but it is doable.

Has anyone been on a 10am opening-time day? Is there a chance that they are *less* crowded because people want to go on the longer day? Does FP strategy chance at all on a 10am start day?



I am also scared that we will plan for a 10am park opening and then they will somehow open earlier without us knowing, thus ruining our FP strategy .

 

[indoshakespeare]

I bought a ticket for a day that originally opened at 8.30 and a few days before my trip, they changed it to 8.00 and it was very crowded (got an E rating in asumirai crowd calendar). A later opening time might suggest they're expecting a lower crowd.

 

[nono]

I am also scared that we will plan for a 10am park opening and then they will somehow open earlier without us knowing, thus ruining our FP strategy .

Put a reminder on your phone to check the daily calendar the evening before so you will see the latest opening times. You may be very distracted once you arrive. It's an exciting place.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Late park openings usually mean fewer people. They may open the gates up to 30 minutes early although that's quite rare at Disneysea.

The fastpass strategy doesn't change per se, but because you have fewer hours, you may be unable to obtain as many fastpasses.

 

[Agent 86]

January is a pretty good time to go.

Our friends were at Disneyland this week and didn't wait any longer than 30 minutes for any of the rides all day long. They rode Space Mountain four times (!!!!) without using Fast Passes.

 

[Linkura]

January is a pretty good time to go.

Our friends were at Disneyland this week and didn't wait any longer than 30 minutes for any of the rides all day long. They rode Space Mountain four times (!!!!) without using Fast Passes.

Yeah, I updated the app earlier this week and saw the wait times. The problem is I'm in MA so there's always a sizable risk of flights being canceled due to snow this time of year,

 

[Agent 86]

Our friends were at Disneyland this week and didn't wait any longer than 30 minutes for any of the rides all day long. They rode Space Mountain four times (!!!!) without using Fast Passes.

An update on this. So, although Disneyland was a breeze with low crowds and short wait times, DisneySea on the following day was another story. Standby times blew out to two hours on almost everything as soon as the park opened and our friends had a hard time riding anything. The first Fast Pass they managed to get upon opening was for Toy Story Mania at 1pm. There was no explanation for the huge difference in crowds (i.e. it was on a weekday, no "new" shows, decorations, merchandise, etc). And it was raining, which would normally be a reason for the locals to stay away.

So, it seems that crowd levels can still be crazy in January!

 

[gelatoni fan]

An update on this. So, although Disneyland was a breeze with low crowds and short wait times, DisneySea on the following day was another story. Standby times blew out to two hours on almost everything as soon as the park opened and our friends had a hard time riding anything. The first Fast Pass they managed to get upon opening was for Toy Story Mania at 1pm. There was no explanation for the huge difference in crowds (i.e. it was on a weekday, no "new" shows, decorations, merchandise, etc). And it was raining, which would normally be a reason for the locals to stay away.

So, it seems that crowd levels can still be crazy in January!

Most likely, there was a late Disneyland opening the days your friends went: If Disneysea opened at 8 and Disneyland opened at 9, there will be significantly more guests who go to Disneysea instead of Disneyland.

Disneysea has fewer rides and capacity so as a baseline, it has longer lines. Two hours is not long on a normal day and is actually short for Soaring. Journey, Raging Spirits, Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones also regularly hit two hours. Right now, the park is closing early at 7PM which means you won't have short waits on rides in the evening (10PM closings are more "normal"). This means that you both won't be able to experience the shorter lines in the evening and more people are going on rides during the day further increasing daytime waits. The main effect would be one hour waits for Nemo and 20,000 Leagues when they would normally have much shorter weekday lines.