Just back - Carsland exp, PP+ & wheelchair access

[starshine514]

We just got home last night from a Saturday night - Tuesday visit. We managed to ride RSR three times. We got a FP on Sunday morning at 8:58. Return time was 5:25 pm. We attempted again on Monday morning (10:00 open) at 10:52 and they were already gone. We ended up riding standby later that afternoon w/ a 70 minute wait (60 min posted). My mom rode with us that time and we found the handicapped entrance to only take slightlu longer than the regular standby line (we saw the people about 4 groups behind us getting off at the same time as we did). I found out the long way that if you exit from the handicapped are and want to get the ride picture, you need to head up a flight of stairs in the 'wrong' direction to get there. You will not pass it just following the exit signs. I am not sure how a handicapped person would get there (my mom only rode the one time, so I didn't get a chance to investigate further). Also, if you have kids and want the photo, have them sit in the back seat. My girls were not visible in the photo when in the front seat.

We did the PP+ and were able to get most of our ride photos added (with the exception of one TOT photo which 'did not meet Disney's standards' - my guess would be an obscene gesture) and this was generally very quick. I picked up our card around 10:00 on Sunday morning and had no wait at the center in DCA. On Wednesday morning, I was in the Kodak store in DL (some non-ride picts from the day before hadn't made it onto our card, so I needed to get them added) and there was a line w/ several people purchasing or redeeming their vouchers. I would recommend either waiting until a little later in the day (who wants to spend that first magic hour waiting in a photo store line?) or redeeming in DCA instead.

Also, back to RSR, we sent a runner and got FPs at DCA regular opening on Tuesday. Return time was 2:20 - 3:20, but I don't recall the time she actually got to retrieve the FPs. The rest of the group managed to ride Toy Story (15 minute wait), Silly Symphony Swings, and GSS before meeting back up with her (but I think she visited FFP for Starbucks before rejoining us for LM).

 

[starshine514]

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[starshine514]

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[starshine514]

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[ArchOwl]

We were there about the same time you were. I also had PP+ and used the handicapped line for RSR. There is a phone underneath the ride pictures at the handicapped exit. You pick it up and talk to the CM and tell them which photo you want. I guess there was some kind of problem, so the CM ended up coming to the handicapped area to pick up my PP+ lanyard and then added the photo and brought it back. I think normally you do it over the phone? Not sure, but they don't expect the handicapped person to go up the stairs.

I was a dummy and went into the parks on Friday night to pick up my PP+ lanyard. I should have gone to DCA, but I went to DL and waited in a long line. So, note to everyone else, don't do that. DCA had a much shorter line when I went there to add some photos from Ariel's that hadn't made it onto my account.

I didn't enter the parks on Tuesday, was it still busy?

 

[kkmcan]

thanks for the reviews Starshine! We'll be there next week during the crazy Gay Days, Columbus day and fall breaks. We also bought the pp+ so it should be fun! We've never bought ride pictures before so the kids will love that we get those.

 

[cari12]

We were there about the same time you were. I also had PP+ and used the handicapped line for RSR. There is a phone underneath the ride pictures at the handicapped exit. You pick it up and talk to the CM and tell them which photo you want. I guess there was some kind of problem, so the CM ended up coming to the handicapped area to pick up my PP+ lanyard and then added the photo and brought it back. I think normally you do it over the phone? Not sure, but they don't expect the handicapped person to go up the stairs.

I was a dummy and went into the parks on Friday night to pick up my PP+ lanyard. I should have gone to DCA, but I went to DL and waited in a long line. So, note to everyone else, don't do that. DCA had a much shorter line when I went there to add some photos from Ariel's that hadn't made it onto my account.

I didn't enter the parks on Tuesday, was it still busy?

At Ariel's, do you just get the one picture with Ariel on the PP+? Or is there more?

 

[ArchOwl]

At Ariel's, do you just get the one picture with Ariel on the PP+? Or is there more?

At Ariel's they give you the photo package prints, which are a large print (8x6) and three 4x6 prints in a nice paper frame.

They added two pictures from Ariel's to our PP+ account as well.

 

[starshine514]

We were there about the same time you were. I also had PP+ and used the handicapped line for RSR. There is a phone underneath the ride pictures at the handicapped exit. You pick it up and talk to the CM and tell them which photo you want. I guess there was some kind of problem, so the CM ended up coming to the handicapped area to pick up my PP+ lanyard and then added the photo and brought it back. I think normally you do it over the phone? Not sure, but they don't expect the handicapped person to go up the stairs.

I was sure there was another way to do it, but since my mom only rode once, I really only encountered it the one time.

I was a dummy and went into the parks on Friday night to pick up my PP+ lanyard. I should have gone to DCA, but I went to DL and waited in a long line. So, note to everyone else, don't do that. DCA had a much shorter line when I went there to add some photos from Ariel's that hadn't made it onto my account.

I didn't enter the parks on Tuesday, was it still busy?

Tuesday was the least busy day we were there. Some of the usual rides still had decent lines throughout the day, but ToT and LM were walk-on by mid-afternoon and RSR only had a 50 minute standby line wait time posted at around 4:00 pm. I think I've grown accustomed to longer hours my last two trips (one in mid-May when hours were 9:00 - 10:00 and during Spring Break when hours were 8:00 - 12:00) because even with the smaller crowds, the end of the day sneaked up on me really fast on the days the park closed at 8:00.

 

[starshine514]

thanks for the reviews Starshine! We'll be there next week during the crazy Gay Days, Columbus day and fall breaks. We also bought the pp+ so it should be fun! We've never bought ride pictures before so the kids will love that we get those.

We hadn't ever done the ride photos before either. The big thing I'm noticing is that most of the picts have other people in them and if I crop them in the editor on the PP website, I end up losing the neat borders and don't have a way to replace them. So, not as cool as I had hoped, but at least I have a Splash, RSR and CS without anybody else in them!

And I can't emphasize enough to check the account (either on your laptop at the hotel or by going in to the photo store) to make sure all your pictures are there. We only did PP picts in Carsland on Tuesday, and then they weren't on the card when I checked them that night. So, I had to go into the park on Wednesday morning (so glad we have APs, as otherwise my PH would have been up by then as it was our driving home day and then I would have been communicating via email instead) to get them added. Finding them was a bit of a challenge - I was very glad I had snapped a pict of just the girls before the PP started, because then I had a timestamp and a pict to show the CM in the store (rather than just a vague, it was in Carsland yesterday afternoon).

I hope you guys have a great time!