First day in the park (9/18) some thoughts and tips

[vonnie87]

This is my first September trip and I love the Halloween decorations! I think this is a perfect time to go for many reasons. I was a little surprised at the crowd level as all the info online pointed to it being a low time of year. It felt a little crowded to me, HOWEVER the lines were short I don't think I waited more then 15 minutes for any ride.

I highly recommend maxpass! It was awesome. It was really nice not having to run and find fast pass kiosks. We were able to get a new one immediately.

 

[Frozen2014]

Sounds great. Must be so fun with all the Halloween stuff up. We tried MaxPass for 3 of our 4 days and loved it too. Totally agree with your comments.

 

[IntoDeNile]

The Halloween period at DL officially started on 9/15 and as it's only been the 4th day of the Halloweentime on the 18th there was bound to be more crowds. I was there yesterday too and compared to reports of the first couple of days the wait times were a bit lower than the beginning of Halloweentime.

I'm glad to hear that you had a great time at DL yesterday!

 

[vonnie87]

I did not have quite the same experience today at DCA with maxpass. I don't know if it's because there were more people or if DCA is always this way, but maxpass was a waste of money today. I arrived at opening and was able to get a guardians fastpass at 12. Then the next fast pass for anything was not available until 4:30. I had dinner reservations ar 5 so basically I paid $20 for one fastpass...lol oh well I am having loads of fun anyway!!!!

 

[julesann]

What you are saying doesn't make sense about not getting another fp for 4-1/2 hours so I thought I would post this wisdom from a fellow Disboarder (Skygirl1999)--I don't know how to link to another thread. She says:

I am at DL and have explained this about 873 times today (we are with a large group). I thought I'd make a post. There are three options:

1. The "general" rule is that soon as a FP window opens, you can pull a new one. If you pull a FP at 10:00 with a return window of 10:45-11:45, you can pull your next one at 10:45.

2. There is a maximum wait time of 90 minutes with Maxpass and 2 hours with regular FP. So if you pull a FP at 10:00 with a return time of 2:30-3:30, the "maximum" rule comes into play and you can pull a new one at 11:30 with MP or 12:00 with regular FP.

3. There is a minimum wait time of 30 minutes UNLESS you scan in and use the FP before that. So if you pull a FP at 10:00 and the return window is 10:15-11:15, you can pull a new one at 10:30 OR scan in at 10:15 and then immediately pull a new one. This is obviously most efficient with Maxpass, but we did it today with a runner using regular FP and it also worked.

*Note that there is a "5 minute early" grace period, so in option 1 above, you could scan in at 10:40 and then pull a new one, or for option 3, you could scan in at 10:10 and do the same thing.

**Also note that you can't hold two FP for the SAME ride simultaneously. You MAY scan the FP and then immediately pull another one for the same ride, though.

 

[lcp9]

I did not have quite the same experience today at DCA with maxpass. I don't know if it's because there were more people or if DCA is always this way, but maxpass was a waste of money today. I arrived at opening and was able to get a guardians fastpass at 12. Then the next fast pass for anything was not available until 4:30. I had dinner reservations ar 5 so basically I paid $20 for one fastpass...lol oh well I am having loads of fun anyway!!!!

@julesann posted above and it sounds like maybe you missed some of how that works, but I'm wondering if you tried to get another FP at 12, and all the return times were later than 4:30? For every single ride that has FP - Soarin, cali screamin', RSR, Toy story? That's crazy if it's true. (That said, once you pulled your GOTG FP, you should have been able to get another FP for any other ride 90 minutes after that, and I doubt they all would have been gone by then.)

 

[Jenis]

Monday was our first day also and I feel the same way about the crowds. It's not like I expected the parks to be empty but they are way more crowded than I was expecting.

 

[vonnie87]

Just an FYI I know exactly how maxpass works. Not my first rodeo. We had no issues whatsoever in DL the day before. Maybe I didn't write it clearly (always clearer in my head...lol), I Was ABLE to pick a fastpass right at noon after redeeming Guardians , but the return times that came up as available weren't until late. One was available at 4:30 the rest on the list had 6:00 return times. They seemed to go through them faster there. Still had fun. Not complaining just an observation

 

[jenbright]

Hi Vonnie87! I have a question on this....not picking on you at all! I'm going in Dec with my boys so just want to make sure I understand MP correctly It sounds like if you pulled a fastpass at park opening (8 or 9am) then you should be able to pull the next one at 9:30 for an 8am open or 10:30 for a 9am open. @julesann am I understanding correctly? I'm really excited to try out MP!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Hi Vonnie87! I have a question on this....not picking on you at all! I'm going in Dec with my boys so just want to make sure I understand MP correctly It sounds like if you pulled a fastpass at park opening (8 or 9am) then you should be able to pull the next one at 9:30 for an 8am open or 10:30 for a 9am open. @julesann am I understanding correctly? I'm really excited to try out MP!

I think some of your confusion may be because the park opened at 10. So if you're in the park before opening, you can generally pull your first FP for a return time between 10:30 and 11, and then as soon as that window opens, pull another one. I've been at DCA specifically for a few 10am openings during the last week and a half, and we have successfully gotten FP to RSR, Guardians, and Soarin' each time by pulling one before 10, one when that window opens (has been 10:35-10:55, we try to scan it 5 minutes early so we can pull the next one ASAP), and then the third 90 minutes after that.

If the park does open at 8 or 9 (and when Soarin' isn't down to one theater) it's a lot easier.

 

[jenbright]

Thank you for the clarification! I love knowing all the tips before I get there!