Large group: MaxPass? Touring Plan?

[winklet]

Advice needed please!
We are a group of 10 people (5 adults, 2 teens, 3 kids - aged 5, 8, & 9) on a tight budget, going to DL for one day only on a busy Sunday (Dec 16). We will not have park hoppers, so no DCA. Almost everyone (except DH and I) is a first-timer. I want to get this right...

*How much of a difference will MaxPass make vs regular FP?
We will definitely have at least one person (me!) with MP to take advantage of the photos, but I'm torn about whether to get MP for the whole group... I've been reading lots here, on Disneyland Daily blog, and in Unofficial Guidebook. All the sources have me pretty convinced that MP is going to save us hours of waiting in lines. If it's going to make a big difference, I'm thinking of treating the whole group to MP, but $100 is a lot so only want to do it if it means we'll be reducing our wait times substantially. I'm worried that without park hoppers (just staying at DL), the benefits of MP are a bit reduced. Do you agree?

*Who has best touring plan for a big group?
I've noticed some differences between Disneyland Daily vs Unofficial Guidebook touring plans and wondering if anyone has compared various touring plans? Who has your favorite touring plan? I think that we will be avoiding most of the little kid stuff. We'll go early, take a mid-day rest at hotel, then probably end up staying late.

Background: We'll be arriving for rope drop and staying close by at DI&S. This group is a laid-back bunch, I'm the closest thing to a task-master in the crew. I'm thinking it would be everyone's preference not to split up very much and stay together most of the day (just mentioning in terms of MP vs FP strategy). We are all relatives who don't get to see each other much. I can't picture the group being keen on continuously sending one person as a "runner" to collect traditional FP for the group, for e.g. (though it's fine by me!)
My family of 4 (DH, 5 year old, 8 year old) will be staying 2 additional days (we'll do one day at DCA and a second day at DL) after the rest of the crew leaves, so we'll do any little kid stuff on those days rather than on our big group day.
Is anyone still reading this far? ...if so, thanks for bearing with me.
And BIG thanks in advance for any advice you might have!

 

[mom2rtk]

MaxPass is pretty awesome, but I'm not sure if I could spend $100 for one day. Take a look at the list of FP rides in DL and decide how important it is to you to ride those. And how important it is to ride them more than once. However, if you're not willing to send a runner to get the paper FPs, you might not have a choice. On a very busy day it's hard to move a large group through the crowds.

On second thought, it might just be worth the $100 just to be sure you ride Small World after dark.

 

[winklet]

Thanks for this advice. I would feel better about treating everyone to MP if we all had park hoppers... but maybe it's worth it just at DL? I just don't know. I'm assuming Dec 16 is going to be REALLY busy. I guess I could always volunteer to be the FP runner, but I doubt anyone else would be comfortable with it since they don't know their way around at all. Besides the four of us in my family (DH, DD8, DD5), the rest in our group are all my in-laws so I can't boss them around as much as I could if it were my own siblings, ha ha. They are all tight on money and I just want them to have a great day on their very first visit to DLR, and feel like it was worth it despite the crowds.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Especially with a big group I’d pay the $100. A runner would miss out. Plus, you get a new maxpass at least every 90 minutes. Paper is 120 min. That should add up to a couple more ride soon than with papers.

 

[TINA BAILEY]

I cant speak to how well MP works in a busy period. We used it in the first week of August this year and loved it. Some things to consider:

• You get FP on MP every 90 minutes. By paper its every 120 minutes.
• Through MP you can see a definitive time you can get your next FP. That definitely helps you maximize your FP. My next FP times were sooner than I thought through the app. I set an alarm for when I could get my next FP so I didnt waste any time.
• You can see what the current return times for all FP are when choosing. If you really want to do Indy and Small World and you can see that the FP return times for Indy are 8 PM and Small World 2 PM, you would want to choose Indy first and save Small World for your next FP. That might be something you can view without the MP in the app though.
• I was in line for Peter Pan booking Indy MP this summer. It was awesome not to have someone run across the park.
• You do get photopass with MP. That gets you electronic versions of all your ride photos in addition to any you have photographers take. Now you could just buy a MP for one person in your group to get this benefit. It's cheaper than buying a photopass. Having destroyed 2 cameras at Disney, I would get just for that benefit. LOL

 

[mom2rtk]

You're right that it will be a very busy day. Is anyone else willing to split the cost for you? If you're getting Photopass anyway,that's "only" $90 more. There aren't a ton of rides with FP, but they are the ones that tend to have the longest waits. Are those the sort of rides everyone will most want to do?

 

[winklet]

You're right that it will be a very busy day. Is anyone else willing to split the cost for you? If you're getting Photopass anyway,that's "only" $90 more. There aren't a ton of rides with FP, but they are the ones that tend to have the longest waits. Are those the sort of rides everyone will most want to do?

True, it's extra $90 not really $100 because I was going to get one MP anyway. I think the MP rides will be the ones everyone wants to do (except maybe the two youngest kids, who will skip Space Mtn and youngest will skip IJ and Haunted Mansion). We should def have a family meeting before I pull the trigger and confirm that everyone is up for doing some "scary" rides. I always am, so sometimes forget that it's not everyone's cup of tea. This is great advice.

 

[winklet]

I cant speak to how well MP works in a busy period. We used it in the first week of August this year and loved it. Some things to consider:

• You get FP on MP every 90 minutes. By paper its every 120 minutes.
• Through MP you can see a definitive time you can get your next FP. That definitely helps you maximize your FP. My next FP times were sooner than I thought through the app. I set an alarm for when I could get my next FP so I didnt waste any time.
• You can see what the current return times for all FP are when choosing. If you really want to do Indy and Small World and you can see that the FP return times for Indy are 8 PM and Small World 2 PM, you would want to choose Indy first and save Small World for your next FP. That might be something you can view without the MP in the app though.
• I was in line for Peter Pan booking Indy MP this summer. It was awesome not to have someone run across the park.
• You do get photopass with MP. That gets you electronic versions of all your ride photos in addition to any you have photographers take. Now you could just buy a MP for one person in your group to get this benefit. It's cheaper than buying a photopass. Having destroyed 2 cameras at Disney, I would get just for that benefit. LOL

Thanks so much, all good points! I've never used MP before so this is very helpful info to have.

 

[TINA BAILEY]

You can create groups too so you all dont have to do the same ride. If you split up, just take screen shots of the FP ans send them to an individuals phone that will be with the other group.

Your group can just right down, we took photos, their ride photo number too and when you are back together again you can add the photo to the account. Screen shots of the photopass ID also work if you split so they can add to the account.

 

[tarheelalum]

Max Pass is like air conditioning or a cell phone. Once you use it once, you will never go back to regular fast passes. Running around to get all of those fast passes for a big group would be very time consuming and stressful. If you can afford the extra expense, max pass is absolutely worth it. It so much less stress and work when you have it. Also its a lot faster. I cannot recommend it enough.

 

[smartlabelprint]

https://disneylanddaily.com/a-fastpass-guide-for-disneyland-and-california-adventure/

You’ve probably read this but it’s a helpful review.

 

[Winnowill]

I have used MaxPass during very busy times (12/28 (DCA) and 12/29 (DL) last year - we did not have hoppers, either), and it was a godsend. We did everything - some things more than once. Just be aware that FPs will run out for just about everything (except, possibly, late returns for Splash) by late afternoon. After that point, almost nobody cancels FPs anymore. Since it was hard to move around in the more congested areas, not having to have a runner was a definite plus, as was the ability to get FPs immediately upon the window opening.