Just Back -- Some Comments on Tickets, MaxPass, Rider Swap, Crowds & Waits

[EmJ]

Ok, this might sound crazy. But as far as learning the timing of when to pull fps, and how soon they run out, and balancing all that- I play Fantasy Disneyland Day sometimes. I'll have an idea of what area of the parks I want to be in that day, what I want to do. Then at park opening (consider any time change), I go into the app and "book" a fp and get in a line. Really, I'm just checking what time the next fp is available and how long the standby wait is for my first ride. I make note of these. Then, when it would be time to do another ride, or book another fp, I get back on the app and check the times. Doing this, you get a feel for what times you'll be able to get which fast passes, and which rides you should do at different times of day.
I leave chunks of time open for meals, meeting characters, etc. I work in the schedule of any shows/parades I want to see.
When I'm planning a trip, I try to play FDL (fantasy Disneyland) for the same day, and the right park, or area of the park, that I'll be in during my trip. Otherwise, mm or emh will skew the numbers.
I expect SWGE to change up all sorts of the numbers that I'm used to seeing. Different times of the year will change the flow if things, too. So, the most accurate numbers you'll get will be the few weeks right before your trip.
But it's fun to do anytime you'd rather be in Disneyland.

This does not sound crazy, lol. I've thought about doing it; glad to hear a testimonial from someone else!

 

[gerilyne]

Ok, this might sound crazy. But as far as learning the timing of when to pull fps, and how soon they run out, and balancing all that- I play Fantasy Disneyland Day sometimes. I'll have an idea of what area of the parks I want to be in that day, what I want to do. Then at park opening (consider any time change), I go into the app and "book" a fp and get in a line. Really, I'm just checking what time the next fp is available and how long the standby wait is for my first ride. I make note of these. Then, when it would be time to do another ride, or book another fp, I get back on the app and check the times. Doing this, you get a feel for what times you'll be able to get which fast passes, and which rides you should do at different times of day.
I leave chunks of time open for meals, meeting characters, etc. I work in the schedule of any shows/parades I want to see.
When I'm planning a trip, I try to play FDL (fantasy Disneyland) for the same day, and the right park, or area of the park, that I'll be in during my trip. Otherwise, mm or emh will skew the numbers.
I expect SWGE to change up all sorts of the numbers that I'm used to seeing. Different times of the year will change the flow if things, too. So, the most accurate numbers you'll get will be the few weeks right before your trip.
But it's fun to do anytime you'd rather be in Disneyland.

Not crazy... kindred spirit!

 

[smartlabelprint]

What would be your strategy for Indy? That is the one and only ride DH and I want to go on that our son is not tall enough for. My plan was to have one parent go on Indy very first thing while the other takes him to Tarzan treehouse, and then the second parent go while the first parent takes him to Tiki room. Will the standby line be too long for the second parent, and in that case, would it be better to Fastpass+child swap?

What we would do...both adults have a maxpass. One rides with maxpass while the other plays with the kids. Then maybe or maybe not the other parent can ride. Our kids have a really hard time with sensory stimulation in the park.

We don’t use child swap.

 

[agamble]

Yes, rider swap is still a time suck. When we tell people with just one baby or little kids they can get FP for different rides and then use rider swap people say that is cheating the system. But...it's not. Rider swap uses the FP queue. So if someone is just going to do FP, then rider swap becomes useless (unless you have older kids too). It really does take just as much time as riding a ride twice. Now if you were riding without a FP there could be a good time savings as the second person will go through FP line. But in the morning CM will sometimes not give rider swap times because the wait is low. That is silly as the wait could change by the time someone gets off the ride. Also the new timing of rider swap is annoying. I realize people were holding their swap passes creating an influx in the evening, however they should still give people a 2 hour window or something. We had an experience with rider swap where the timing was so bad that our swap time was over when the first party got off. The CM were helpful, but still. Our youngest is nearing 42", so we're getting to the end of swapping all the big rides.