Need clarification on park hopping and WoC FPs

[Panonim]

Arrggh. My brain is confused, and I am having trouble putting my questions in to words here! Sorry, bear with me, hopefully someone can understand and help me.

1. What is the park hopping "process"? When leaving DL, to go to DCA, do we still have to stand in the park entrance line, and go through the same admission process as anyone else walking in from the parking lot? Or is there a quicker back & forth type of entrance/exit between the 2 parks?

2. How long of a line up is there typically for WoC FPs right at park opening? (I am asking specifically for Thursday September 23, so lowish season weekday, if that makes a difference). I need to get FPs but need to spend as little time as possible in the lineup (yeah, I know, same as everyone else!)

Thank you!!

 

[PinkBudgie]

You go through security once. This puts you in giant area with DCA on one side and DL on the other. You then pick which gate you want to go to. When you leave one park, you walk straight across to the entrance of the other park and must show your ticket/pass again.

In Aug. the lines for WOC FP went all the way back to the sun courtyard after opening which is a pretty long line. I didn't see the line before DCA opened because we went to DL first. I don't know too much about that because we decided we would do the dinner package and forget the long line. You could also do the cheaper picnic dinner and still skip the FP line.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

1) Yes you do have to go through the same entrance as everyone else. The one thing you don't have to do is go through security again. So after going through security you will see one park to your left and one to your right. There are turnstyle entrance lines for both parks and you will have to go through both if you choose to hop. However it's really not so bad because most people pick one park and stay there for a good amount of time before going over to the other park. So by the time you're ready to hop, the main rush of the day is over. And there is not a big mob of people waiting to go to the other park. If this makes sense? Every time we've done this we've never had any problem waiting in another entrance line.

2) I would get to DCA as early as possible to get in line for WOC fast passes if this is the way you want to go. I personally will not stand in line for 45+ minutes when there is a better option. We chose to do the picnic lunch option and got our fastpasses that way. They also have a dinner package that includes fastpasses with premium viewing spots. That was a little too expensive for us however. The lunches are pretty good and we were able to pick them up when we wanted to and didn't have to wait in any horrendous lines. They were $15 a person and we would probably have spent that anywhere else anyway.

Good luck planning and have a great time.

 

[Colfireman]

Arrggh. My brain is confused, and I am having trouble putting my questions in to words here! Sorry, bear with me, hopefully someone can understand and help me.

1. What is the park hopping "process"? When leaving DL, to go to DCA, do we still have to stand in the park entrance line, and go through the same admission process as anyone else walking in from the parking lot? Or is there a quicker back & forth type of entrance/exit between the 2 parks?

You will have to stand in line to enter DCA but it should not be more than 5-10 min to get in depending on the time and day you enter.
You will not have to pass thru security if thats what you were wondering about

2. How long of a line up is there typically for WoC FPs right at park opening? (I am asking specifically for Thursday September 23, so lowish season weekday, if that makes a difference). I need to get FPs but need to spend as little time as possible in the lineup (yeah, I know, same as everyone else!)

Havent been to WOC so you will have to wait for a responseThank you!!

No Problem

 

[Panonim]

1) Yes you do have to go through the same entrance as everyone else. The one thing you don't have to do is go through security again. So after going through security you will see one park to your left and one to your right. There are turnstyle entrance lines for both parks and you will have to go through both if you choose to hop. However it's really not so bad because most people pick one park and stay there for a good amount of time before going over to the other park. So by the time you're ready to hop, the main rush of the day is over. And there is not a big mob of people waiting to go to the other park. If this makes sense? Every time we've done this we've never had any problem waiting in another entrance line.

2) I would get to DCA as early as possible to get in line for WOC fast passes if this is the way you want to go. I personally will not stand in line for 45+ minutes when there is a better option. We chose to do the picnic lunch option and got our fastpasses that way. They also have a dinner package that includes fastpasses with premium viewing spots. That was a little too expensive for us however. The lunches are pretty good and we were able to pick them up when we wanted to and didn't have to wait in any horrendous lines. They were $15 a person and we would probably have spent that anywhere else anyway.

Good luck planning and have a great time.

Thanks for the replies! I was wondering about the park hopping for the purposes of running into one park to grab FPs (while the rest of my family is in the other park) and then running back. So I'm glad to know it shouldn't be too long of a line to hop.

As for the WoC Picnics, yes, I think that would be my first choice for WoC. But I need a gluten-free meal, and I was just told on the phone by Disney Dining that there is no gluten-free picnic option. But you know, I just had a revelation, and I think this might work. We have a 2yo who we don't have to buy a picnic for, but he does need to be counted for the FP. So I can buy 3 picnics for DH, myself, and DD4. DS2 is free, but will get a FP. I can then give my picnic to DS, and we still end up with 4 tickets to WoC. I just have to go buy myself some sort of meal somewhere else. I will confirm this with Disney Dining before I order the picnics, but do you all think this plan makes sense and will work?

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

You know I don't think your two year old will need a fast pass for WOC. Someone else here can correct me if I'm wrong, but 3year olds and younger don't need park tickets or FPs. So you could do what you've planned, but I think it might be overkill. Someone else will need to clarify this.

 

[Disneyland 1951]

1. Parkhopping is very easy, The line to get in the gates are only long before opening time for either park. Two weeks ago I took my sister and family to DLR. We went to Disneyland, then I took the tickets over to DCA at 9:40 to get WOC Fastpasses, and the line was about 25 minutes, got 1st show Yellow Fastpasses.

2. Currently you will need to get to DCA before the 9:30 rope drop to get 1st show Blue, 9:45-10:00 to get Yellow, and 10:10 to be sure to get a fastpass (Red) for the 1st show. If two shows are scheduled if you get there between 10:25 to 11:15 you will get 2nd show. The lines are much shorter now, usually only 20 minutes minutes at opening. After 10:00 the lines are less than 10 minutes, with no lines after 10:30 if there is a second show scheduled.

Notes:
Fastpasses are distributed in this order: Blue, Yellow, Red.

Picnic lunches will get you Blue or Yellow "PICNIC MEAL" Fastpasses.
(Also called "Reserved Dining") But are the exact same sections as the normal Blue or Yellow distributed earlier in the day at Grizzly River Run.

Dining ($40 at Ariels or Wine Country) will get you a Fastpass for the center Preferred Dining section,

 

[skiingfast]

You know I don't think your two year old will need a fast pass for WOC. Someone else here can correct me if I'm wrong, but 3year olds and younger don't need park tickets or FPs. So you could do what you've planned, but I think it might be overkill. Someone else will need to clarify this.

I agree with this. If you don't have a park ticket you can't get FPs for anything else. I don't think buying a meal that a 2yo attends would get them an actual FP.

 

[SurfinTX]

1. Parkhopping is very easy, The line to get in the gates are only long before opening time for either park. Two weeks ago I took my sister and family to DLR. We went to Disneyland, then I took the tickets over to DCA at 9:40 to get WOC Fastpasses, and the line was about 25 minutes, got 1st show Yellow Fastpasses.

2. Currently you will need to get to DCA before the 9:30 rope drop to get 1st show Blue, 9:45-10:00 to get Yellow, and 10:10 to be sure to get a fastpass (Red) for the 1st show. If two shows are scheduled if you get there between 10:25 to 11:15 you will get 2nd show. The lines are much shorter now, usually only 20 minutes minutes at opening. After 10:00 the lines are less than 10 minutes, with no lines after 10:30 if there is a second show scheduled.

Notes:
Fastpasses are distributed in this order: Blue, Yellow, Red.

Picnic lunches will get you Blue or Yellow "PICNIC MEAL" Fastpasses.
(Also called "Reserved Dining") But are the exact same sections as the normal Blue or Yellow distributed earlier in the day at Grizzly River Run.

Dining ($40 at Ariels or Wine Country) will get you a Fastpass for the center Preferred Dining section,

Could I ask when do you think the second showing runs out if at all on the weekdays (Mon-Thur) currently?

 

[skiingfast]

Could I ask when do you think the second showing runs out if at all on the weekdays (Mon-Thur) currently?

Right now there is no second show during the week, just one. The weekends have two shows. If you take a look Disneyland 1951 noted the times for a second show's FPs.

 

[Panonim]

You know I don't think your two year old will need a fast pass for WOC. Someone else here can correct me if I'm wrong, but 3year olds and younger don't need park tickets or FPs. So you could do what you've planned, but I think it might be overkill. Someone else will need to clarify this.

Wait, let me clarify.... so kids under 3 don't get park tickets at all? And they don't need FPs?

Either way, myself, DH and DD4 still need a FP each for WoC. So 3 FP. If we do the picnics (which I would like to do), we need 3 picnics. DS2 gets in without a FP right? So I can order 3 picnics, that gives us the 3 FPs to WoC. I can't eat the picnic, but that doesn't really matter, I'll give the food to DS.

Does that sound right, or am I misunderstanding what you're saying?

 

[SurfinTX]

Right now there is no second show during the week, just one. The weekends have two shows. If you take a look Disneyland 1951 noted the times for a second show's FPs.

Sorry. Didn't realize they had gone to a single showing in Sept. According to the calendar they have two showings on Oct. 15th. Although it does look like they don't run out before noon it will be iffy for 3:30 pm when I expect to arrive. I'll just have to stay tuned and see as we get closer to that time.

 

[HydroGuy]

Sorry. Didn't realize they had gone to a single showing in Sept. According to the calendar they have two showings on Oct. 15th. Although it does look like they don't run out before noon it will be iffy for 3:30 pm when I expect to arrive. I'll just have to stay tuned and see as we get closer to that time.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights are "weekend" nights and as Skiingfast was saying there are two showings on weekends and one on weeknights. This appears to be the schedule for Sept/Oct.