Fantasyland Fastpasses

[lucysdad]

This fall we will be making our first trip to DLR. We've done WDW mulitple times and from experience, the Fantasyland rides are where the lines are. But, DLR doesn't have any fastpasses for Fantasyland rides!! Not even Peter Pan!! How do you maneuver around the lines in Fantasyland or is the clog-up only in WDW?
Lucy's Mom

 

[Brooklyn]

Oh no, the clop-up is def here at DL too. There are NO fastpasses for Fantasyland rides. The best way to do them is first thing in the morning. If you are going t ohave early entry then DEF do that first. Do not waste your time on Space mountain when you can get a fast pass for that right when the park opens. Go right to FL. One you want to do right away too is Matterhorn since there is no fastpass for that either.

So if you have EE go right to FL/Matterhorn. Right when the park is supposed to open send someone in your party to get fastpasses for Space. YOu want to be there right at park opening bc that is where everyone runs too. The closer to opening u get them shorter amount of time you will have to wait till your next passes.

If it is not an EE day. Send someone with the tickets right away to Space while the other adult heads right to Fantasyland. Get the kids on the rides and meet up with them after getting the FP for Space.

Then if you want to do Nemo devote one to go on that bc u have to go there first and when you re done with it the lines everywhere else will be much longer. That ride takes FOREVER!

HAVE FUN.

 

[DLR29]

Yep, first thing in the morning and/or during Magic Mornings (early entry) if you have it. However some FL rides don't generate lines until much later and I don't recommend you ride them early on a non-Magic Morning day (on a Magic Morning, it's fine, but I wouldn't waste my morning touring time on these):
-Pinocchio
-Snow White
-Carousel

The other FL rides, you will want to hit early such as Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Mad Tea Party, Alice, Dumbo, and Matterhorn.

 

[sandiegoDeva]

I've got a question along these lines too...we are going on Tuesday and would like to do Nemo and Space Mountain. We don't have early entry. The tricky part is that we're taking our 15 month old son and will have to take turns watching him while the other rides Space Mtn. However, we would like to go on Nemo together. If we wait until after Nemo to get Space Mountain FastPasses, are they likely to be out of them? Or, if one of goes to get passes and the other stands in line for Nemo, will there be enough time for us all to be back together by the time we get to the front of the Nemo line? (Also, will people be mad at us for saving places in line?)

Thanks!!

 

[HydroGuy]

I've got a question along these lines too...we are going on Tuesday and would like to do Nemo and Space Mountain. We don't have early entry. The tricky part is that we're taking our 15 month old son and will have to take turns watching him while the other rides Space Mtn. However, we would like to go on Nemo together. If we wait until after Nemo to get Space Mountain FastPasses, are they likely to be out of them? Or, if one of goes to get passes and the other stands in line for Nemo, will there be enough time for us all to be back together by the time we get to the front of the Nemo line? (Also, will people be mad at us for saving places in line?)

Thanks!!

On busy days SM runs out of FPs by 2-3PM. But even if you get a FP at 1PM it might have a return window of 9PM which may be too late. I would say as long as you get your SM FP by 11PM you should be good to return by 6PM to ride it at the latest.

I would also say that if one of you gets in line for Nemo with the child and the other goes and gets FPs and joins you in line, most people would not have a problem with that. That is what I would do.

Not sure how long the Nemo line will be Tuesday morning after MM/EE so you can decide on that when you get there. The line for Nemo has been strange, being longest in the morning and then tapering throughout the day. Usually in the evenings it goes down a bit.

 

[HydroGuy]

Following up from what Brooklyn and DLR29 posted, the FL rides at DL are bunched much more closely together than at MK. Thus a person with an early start can get off one ride and be in line for the next one in 15-30 seconds. Hence an early start focused on FL can be very productive and allow you to do most all of FL in a little over an hour. BUT, you need to do the FL rides in the correct order on busier days.

Here is a good strategy:

1. Peter Pan first - always first
2. Dumbo
3. Matterhorn/Alice in Wonderland (either order)
4. Tea Cups/Mr. Toad (either order)
5. Pinocchio/Snow White/Carrousel (any order)

All of the above are open during MM and if get to the gates 20-30 minutes early and you hustle you can hit them all in that one hour even on the busiest of days. If you are doing FL on a non-MM day then CJRR will also be open and fits in to the number 5 line above.

Storybook Land Canal Boats is not to be missed IMO and it usually opens one hour after the park opens.

 

[sandiegoDeva]

On busy days SM runs out of FPs by 2-3PM. But even if you get a FP at 1PM it might have a return window of 9PM which may be too late. I would say as long as you get your SM FP by 11PM you should be good to return by 6PM to ride it at the latest.

I would also say that if one of you gets in line for Nemo with the child and the other goes and gets FPs and joins you in line, most people would not have a problem with that. That is what I would do.

Not sure how long the Nemo line will be Tuesday morning after MM/EE so you can decide on that when you get there. The line for Nemo has been strange, being longest in the morning and then tapering throughout the day. Usually in the evenings it goes down a bit.

Thank so much for the advice!

 

[Hound 109]

Following up from what Brooklyn and DLR29 posted, the FL rides at DL are bunched much more closely together than at MK. Thus a person with an early start can get off one ride and be in line for the next one in 15-30 seconds. Hence an early start focused on FL can be very productive and allow you to do most all of FL in a little over an hour. BUT, you need to do the FL rides in the correct order on busier days.

Here is a good strategy:

1. Peter Pan first - always first
2. Dumbo
3. Matterhorn/Alice in Wonderland (either order)
4. Tea Cups/Mr. Toad (either order)
5. Pinocchio/Snow White/Carrousel (any order)

All of the above are open during MM and if get to the gates 20-30 minutes early and you hustle you can hit them all in that one hour even on the busiest of days. If you are doing FL on a non-MM day then CJRR will also be open and fits in to the number 5 line above.

Storybook Land Canal Boats is not to be missed IMO and it usually opens one hour after the park opens.

If you follow the HydroGuy strategy (above) on steps 1 - 4, you'll be able to do 6-7 rides the first 40 min. These 6-7 rides would take 2-3 hours on a busy late morning/or afternoon.

After step 4, I sometimes do step 5.....or (as DLR mentions) I sometimes go do Buzz & SM the final 20 min. of MM. & ALWAYS pick up a FP at SM or Indy on the hour mark (Gen. Adm. Opening).

But....Steps 1-4 are the proven FL method.

Thankfully, most folks head to Nemo during this time.


Hydroguy.....Storybookland Canal Boats open 1 hour after MM (EE) opening? or 1 hour after Gen. Adm. opening?

(no wonder I keep missing it. )

 

[bumbershoot]

Hydroguy.....Storybookland Canal Boats open 1 hour after MM (EE) opening? or 1 hour after Gen. Adm. opening?

(no wonder I keep missing it. )

I've noticed it opens an hour after the park opens to the general public.

 

[Danauk]

I'm confused about story book lands canal boats opening times too. My ridemax plan has me going to it 1st at 8:05. But if it opens an hour after park opening surely this can't happen??

 

[lucysdad]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for all this advice. Is there any chance Fantasyland will be added to the fastpass list? This just doesn't make sense to me! Well, we were planning on staying at the Marriott. At WDW only Disney hotels get EE. Is it that way at DLR, too? Maybe we need to rethink our hotel. Our favorite rides are in Fantasyland, but naivgating crowds makes me cranky. We're going October 3-10. Is that a low crowd time? We were hoping so.
Lucy's Mom

 

[Hound 109]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for all this advice. Is there any chance Fantasyland will be added to the fastpass list? This just doesn't make sense to me! Well, we were planning on staying at the Marriott. At WDW only Disney hotels get EE. Is it that way at DLR, too? Maybe we need to rethink our hotel. Our favorite rides are in Fantasyland, but naivgating crowds makes me cranky. We're going October 3-10. Is that a low crowd time? We were hoping so.
Lucy's Mom

Lucy's Mom, you are going at a wonderful time & will have a wonderful time no matter where you stay......BUT......I recommend you click on HydroGuy's tip thread in his posts. Read all of his threads. The DLR primer.

IMO, you should consider either a DLR hotel OR a Harbor Blvd Motel (near the crosswalk) or if you're there 7 days maybe both? A 3day/4day stay.

- The ability to WALK to & from the motel to the gates is a huge benefit.
- At a DLR hotel you get multiple days of MM/EE.
- Don't book the hotel until you read those tip threads.

Have fun planning a trip to Walt's Park.

 

[DLR29]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for all this advice. Is there any chance Fantasyland will be added to the fastpass list? This just doesn't make sense to me! Well, we were planning on staying at the Marriott. At WDW only Disney hotels get EE. Is it that way at DLR, too? Maybe we need to rethink our hotel. Our favorite rides are in Fantasyland, but naivgating crowds makes me cranky. We're going October 3-10. Is that a low crowd time? We were hoping so.
Lucy's Mom

It's not that easy to just add a ride to the "Fastpass list", plus the execs at DLR are not as keen on it as at WDW. For WDW it was easier because of the set up of the Fantasyland rides. At DLR, Fantasyland looks VERY much different and FP just isn't possible with the que line configurations and compact space.

It is not mandatory to stay onsite if you want Magic Mornings (early entry). Here's a thread I made explaining everything about MM/EE:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403

Early October is a low crowd time, so you won't see very many crowds, except for maybe on weekends. DLR draws a lot of locals so weekends are packed, whereas WDW is mainly tourists.

 

[lucysdad]

Oh my goodness, after all of our trips to WDW, I thought a DLR trip would be a breeze to plan. These two experiences are very different. I'm completely confused about this hotel situation. Is there a hotel superthread site with reviews and perks?
Lucy's Mom

 

[HydroGuy]

Hydroguy.....Storybookland Canal Boats open 1 hour after MM (EE) opening? or 1 hour after Gen. Adm. opening?

(no wonder I keep missing it. )

I never ride SLCB first thing in the morning and am not sure. I thought it opened an hour after actual park opening but if RideMax has it opening with the normal park hours then RM is probably right.

 

[HydroGuy]

Oh my goodness, after all of our trips to WDW, I thought a DLR trip would be a breeze to plan. These two experiences are very different. I'm completely confused about this hotel situation. Is there a hotel superthread site with reviews and perks?
Lucy's Mom

No super thread really. This thread has several hotel links in it:

"HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862

One link in the above thread shows hotel locations and has lots of reviews by "Bret"

"Bret's Disneyland Lodging Map" www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap

 

[tinkermell]

This fall we will be making our first trip to DLR. We've done WDW mulitple times and from experience, the Fantasyland rides are where the lines are. But, DLR doesn't have any fastpasses for Fantasyland rides!! Not even Peter Pan!! How do you maneuver around the lines in Fantasyland or is the clog-up only in WDW?
Lucy's Mom

Once you set foot into DL's FL, you will see why it is next to impossible to have Fastpass distribution centers there. It is not spread out like the MK's FL. DL is very compact, and they pack in alot of attractions. At every corner there is something to see. And not just in FL. That is the way it is in the whole park. Be sure to read Hydroguy's Stickey. It will give you a good insight on the differences between WDW and DL.

Have fun!

I think you will like DL despite the fact of no Fastpasses at FL!!