Lightning Lane Strategy Before Noon - Help!

[TikiWiki33]

Hi all! We're headed to Disneyland next week for the first time in 6 years (!) We used to be locals and have APs, but now I'm super rusty on Disneyland crowd patterns, especially since a couple of recent WDW trips rewired my brain, lol.

How do we best use LLMP during the morning hours when many things are a relatively short wait, and many LL return times are almost instantaneous? Do we book something random when the park opens and modify as needed? Do we just not worry about it until later in the morning?

FYI, we're using a touring plans sub and thrill-data . Current plan is to rope drop Fantasyland and get to the canoes at 10am (yes, canoes is at the top of the must-do list, lol). Disneyland-specific attractions are a priority, along with Thunder (WDW thunder is closed for at least a year!)

 

[LKing]

I'm not sure what a touring plans sub is.

LLMP at Disneyland is very similar to the old Genie + at WDW.

The best strategy is to book a popular attraction that you want to ride (not something random) for later in the day. Set the timer on your phone for two hours and book a second LL. Repeat every two hours and modify times as needed. Once you start using your LL, you can book another LL without having to wait two hours.

You will be able to accomplish a lot between 8 am and 10 am (canoe time). Will you have park hoppers?

 

[DLRExpert]

At Disneyland fish for the Multiple Experience Pass. You do not need to start booking LL at DL until 10-11am
At Disney California Adventure also fish for the Multiple Experience but you want to book the Guardians LLMP by 9-930am.
No need to rush to the canoes so early. Before 12pm should be the target.
Touring Plans is not great when it comes to the Disneyland Resort.

 

[TikiWiki33]

I'm not sure what a touring plans sub is.

LLMP at Disneyland is very similar to the old Genie + at WDW.

The best strategy is to book a popular attraction that you want to ride (not something random) for later in the day. Set the timer on your phone for two hours and book a second LL. Repeat every two hours and modify times as needed. Once you start using your LL, you can book another LL without having to wait two hours.

You will be able to accomplish a lot between 8 am and 10 am (canoe time). Will you have park hoppers?

A subscription to touringplans.com. They generate step-by-step plans to (theoretically) get around crowds.

No park-hoppers; we have a single day at each park. I'm hoping if we go hard the first few hours we can save enough time to ride Indy twice!

 

[irlandaise]

At Disneyland fish for the Multiple Experience Pass. You do not need to start booking LL at DL until 10-11am

They probably don't actually need to use LL for the first couple of hours, but as LKing said, they should start booking rides as soon as they enter the park to take advantage of every timed booking opportunity. They can always move the rides to a later time if they don't want to go on them in the morning.

 

[LKing]

Oh, okay. Not familiar with touring plans.

When are you going to be here? Will you have 7:30 am rope drop or 8 am rope drop?

At Disneyland, one can't book their first LL until after they pass through the turnstile. Often people get excited and walk half way down Main Street before they remember to book a LL. Indy is often not open first thing in the morning. Some try to book Indy as their first LL with the hope that they will get a MEP.

Does your list of DL specific or "similar but different" attractions look anything like this? How would you modify this list for what you want to accomplish? Also, do you have plans/thoughts on meals and entertainment?

Fantasyland
Snow White's Enchanted Wish
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Mister Toad's Wild Ride
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Alice in Wonderland
Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
It's a Small World (LLMP)

Toontown
Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin (LLMP)
Chip & Dale's Gadget Coaster

Tomorrowland
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
The Matterhorn (LLMP)
Space Mountain (LLMP)
Autopia (LLMP)
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (LLMP)

Adventureland
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye (LLMP)
Enchanted Tiki Room
Jungle Cruise

New Orleans Square
Pirates of the Caribbean (LLMP)
Haunted Mansion (LLMP)

Bayou Country
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Canoes
Tiana's Bayou Adventure (LLMP)

Frontierland
Big Thunder Mountain (LLMP)
Mark Twain
Columbia

 

[irlandaise]

Oh, okay. Not familiar with touring plans.

Touring Plans is a long-established company with a good reputation for providing helpful information for both DL and WDW. However, everything I've read on this forum since DL reopened after the pandemic is that the professional planners haven't gotten a handle on the new DL traffic patterns. Maybe that's finally improving, I don't know.

@TikiWiki33, as a former local, you know that DL's crowds are much more affected by local residents than by out-of-town visitors. As you've noted, you can get a lot done in Fantasyland before the late-morning crowd arrives. Use your LL slots as LKing advised and I think you'll be fine. Welcome home!

 

[LKing]

Touring Plans is a long-established company with a good reputation for providing helpful information for both DL and WDW. However, everything I've read on this forum since DL reopened after the pandemic is that the professional planners haven't gotten a handle on the new DL traffic patterns. Maybe that's finally improving, I don't know.

Thanks. Sorry, I should have been more clear. I have heard of TouringPlans.com. I'm just not familiar with what type of touring plans they give for DLR.

 

[TikiWiki33]

Our (admittedly weird) to-do's (very close to your list @LKing ) Matterhorn and Tiki Room are down, sadly.

Fantasyland
Snow White's Enchanted Wish
Mister Toad's Wild Ride
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Alice in Wonderland
Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
It's a Small World (LLMP)

Toontown
Chip & Dale's Gadget Coaster

Tomorrowland
Space Mountain (LLMP) I'll use the single rider line. My kids are scared to go on, despite having loved Cosmic Rewind at Epcot. Husband thinks Space is better at WDW. They are all crazy.
Autopia (LLMP)
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (LLMP)

Adventureland
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye (LLMP) .....maybe twice?
Jungle Cruise (LLMP)

New Orleans Square
Pirates of the Caribbean (LLMP)
Haunted Mansion (LLMP)

Bayou Country
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Canoes
Tiana's Bayou Adventure (LLMP)

Frontierland
Big Thunder Mountain (LLMP)
Mark Twain
Railroad (doesn't have to be here, just want to ride once around)

Galaxy's Edge
Ride of the Resistance - DH is a huge fan; we'll see how big of a fan b/c we are NOT paying for this LL, lol.

Food
Lunch: Plaza Inn
Dinner: Rancho (Fantasmic! package)

Entertainment
Small World projections (I love Mary Blair!) and 10:30 showing of Fantasmic!



We're staying at an off-site, walkable, hotel. Rope-drop is 8am on June 25th.

 

[DianaSparrow]

Oh, okay. Not familiar with touring plans.

When are you going to be here? Will you have 7:30 am rope drop or 8 am rope drop?

At Disneyland, one can't book their first LL until after they pass through the turnstile. Often people get excited and walk half way down Main Street before they remember to book a LL. Indy is often not open first thing in the morning. Some try to book Indy as their first LL with the hope that they will get a MEP.

Does your list of DL specific or "similar but different" attractions look anything like this? How would you modify this list for what you want to accomplish? Also, do you have plans/thoughts on meals and entertainment?

Fantasyland
Snow White's Enchanted Wish
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Mister Toad's Wild Ride
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Alice in Wonderland
Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
It's a Small World (LLMP)

Toontown
Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin (LLMP)
Chip & Dale's Gadget Coaster

Tomorrowland
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
The Matterhorn (LLMP)
Space Mountain (LLMP)
Autopia (LLMP)
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (LLMP)

Adventureland
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye (LLMP)
Enchanted Tiki Room
Jungle Cruise (LLMP)

New Orleans Square
Pirates of the Caribbean (LLMP)
Haunted Mansion (LLMP)

Bayou Country
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Canoes
Tiana's Bayou Adventure (LLMP)

Frontierland
Big Thunder Mountain (LLMP)
Mark Twain
Columbia

Does Jungle Cruise have Lightning Lane???

 

[LKing]

I can't take credit for the comparisons of the two parks. I just modified a list by @BrianL and sorted by land.

Are you doing the 8:45 Paint the Night and then Wondrous Journeys by Small World?

Single Rider at Space Mountain is very CM dependent. Sometimes it moves quickly and other times it doesn't seem to move at all. Maybe your husband and kids can go on Autopia while you do SM.

Does Jungle Cruise have Lightning Lane???

Oops. No it doesn't. I will correct it.

 

[afan]

Does Jungle Cruise have Lightning Lane???

I've been able to use an MEP there before. Is that not allowed any more?

 

[VandVsmama]

Hi all! We're headed to Disneyland next week for the first time in 6 years (!) We used to be locals and have APs, but now I'm super rusty on Disneyland crowd patterns, especially since a couple of recent WDW trips rewired my brain, lol.

How do we best use LLMP during the morning hours when many things are a relatively short wait, and many LL return times are almost instantaneous? Do we book something random when the park opens and modify as needed? Do we just not worry about it until later in the morning?

FYI, we're using a touring plans sub and thrill-data . Current plan is to rope drop Fantasyland and get to the canoes at 10am (yes, canoes is at the top of the must-do list, lol). Disneyland-specific attractions are a priority, along with Thunder (WDW thunder is closed for at least a year!)

If it were me, I would:

• book a LLMP while walking down Main Street right after your group has all scanned in and are in the park. Choose Space Mtn, Star Tours, BTMRR, IJ, Matterhorn or ROTR.
• if starting at rope drop, head to Fantasyland first and go on (in this approx. order): Dumbo, Mr Toad, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Pinocchio.
• Try to get on IJ before lunch.
• Same for Haunted Mansion, POTC.
• If LLMP return time is >2 hr after the time you booked it, set an alarm on your phone for 2 hr from the time you reserved the LLMP. That's your reminder to book the next LLMP.
• If LLMP return time is <2 hr after time you booked it, book your next LLMP after you've scanned into the LLMP you already have reserved.
• 2 reasons for ignoring the advice to wait until later in a.m. to book a LLMP: (1) you paid the $$ for LLMP, you might as well use it; (2) as people start to pour into the parks ~10 am-12 pm, LLMP return times will be later in the day; and (3) this way you'll have more time to go on all the rides you want to that day.

 

[Tasscrapper]

I just want to wish you the best of trips after a six year break. We haven't been for 3 . . . although we did do Disney World for the first time as a family last year. My daughter and I will be going in August and I find myself in the same boat as you of trying to refamiliarize myself to someplace that once felt like home.

 

[DLRExpert]

I've been able to use an MEP there before. Is that not allowed any more?

The MEPs can no longer be used on non-LL attractions.
However, some Cast Members may allow it on non-LL attractions (it's random)

 

[DLRExpert]

For Disneyland

- Security entrances open at 7am and sometimes earlier. Try to be in the security line by 650am.
Note: if in the area the day before, walk to DTD and get an idea where things are located and how long it takes you to get there.
- Try to be at the park entrance by 715am.
- As soon as you enter the park get as close to the Rope Drop area and the actual rope drop on the right side of the Walt Mickey statue hub and close to the Tomorrowland Entrance.

MEP stratgy
- As soon as you are at the rope, book LL for Indiana Jones Adventure and fish for the MEP. You will most likely not be using that IJA LL return time.
- When the park opens and you are in line for your first attraction, look in the app for the IJA status and see if any other attraction is down. If you see something else down, you want to modify IJA to the down attraction to get an MEP asap.
Note: Keep an eye on IJA, Tiana, MMRR, and Space Mountain for the Gold Tier MEP. Big Thunder, Small World, and Roger Rabbit for the Silver Tier MEP

Ride Order Strategy
- If very close to the Rope, make Peter Pan first. When the rope drops, walk briskly to the Pan attraction and get in line.
- After Pan or you skip Pan, Alice in Wonderland is second, then Dumbo, followed by Mr Toad, Snow White, and Pinocchio
- Goal is to be in Toontown before 840am (you can skip Snow White and Pinocchio if time is an issue as theose Standby wait times are not bad later in the day).
- Once in Toontown the order usually is Chip and Dale coaster, Roger Rabbit, MMRR.
Note: Start booking LL while in Toontown. Look for Pirates, Inidiana Jones and Haunted Mansion, Tiana LL first. Whichever gives you the earlier time and what you want to ride most at the time.
- Goal is to be out of Toontown by 945am, head to Adventureland
- Jungle Cruise first to finish the main non-LL attractions. Then order should be...
Either... Indiana Jones LL, Pirates LL, Mansion LL, or Tiana LL. Add Pooh and the Canoes around the time before or after you experience Tiana and Mansion. Use them as filler if you have to wait to use LL.
- Goal is to experience IJA, Pirates, Mansion, Tiana, before or just after lunch.
- Then move to Big Thunder, Falcon, and Rise. If booking LL for IJA or Tiana is hard, book them as the last attraction in that surrounding area after Rise.
- Then by around 2pm-4pm you can head over to Tomorrowland.
- Nemo and Astro Orbiter are the non-LL attractions in the area but the SB wait times are usually not bad the later the day gets.
- Small World is a very easy LL to book.

You can skip anything listed above, but try to follow the plan as closely as possible.

 

[TikiWiki33]

Thank you all so much! This is amazing information. I knew talking to someone who had "boots-on-the-ground" would be a good idea! I feel so much better about our approach and I'm confident we can outsmart the crowds a bit and get the most out of our day! I'm so excited to be coming home .

 

[afan]

The MEPs can no longer be used on non-LL attractions.
However, some Cast Members may allow it on non-LL attractions (it's random)

Do the MEPs still work as they did 2 years ago? I've tried following the info but having seen anything other than to still fish.