Questions about the Southern California ABD

[sayhello]

Hi - my dad and I did the trip last August and truly enjoyed it. We were sadly the next to last group to be able to tour Jim Henson Studios. I know others have replied but thought I would contribute if it helps in any way.

The Lightning Lane situation was a bit confusing for me; I suggest talking with your Adventure Guide to get clarification (as I did even after they told the group what to do - ha ha), but when on the ABD, you get an exclusive list of rides that are available to you that I don't believe are available to day guests (i.e. you can walk through the exits of some of the Fantasyland rides like Alice in Wonderland, Storybook Land Canal Boats, etc., and they will let you use one of your Lightning Lanes). We were told to have this list at the ready if we got any push back from the Cast Members. I liked using the paper ticket for park entry, but it kind of slowed me down at times, and I eventually realized it was better to load it into the Disneyland app on my phone for ease of use with the Lightning Lanes, too. I cannot recall how many Lightning Lanes we were given each day, but I don't believe we ever got 10 a day (unless things have since changed).

My dad and I did extend and went to the parks on day 6. I don't recall needing a park reservation. We had no issue going from park to park.

Day 3 we did have the welcome dinner at Storytellers Cafe around 5:30 p.m. before our visit to Walt's Apartment. We also went on 2 rides afterward. The park was PACKED. Some in our group stayed till the park close, but we were quite tired. There are some very early mornings on this trip and a TREMENDOUS amount of walking (I hit 22,000 steps one day), so it's really good to pace yourself.

We were given a dining gift card (maybe $25) at one point to use for meals, but I do believe we were on our own for dinner on one of the nights (likely Day 4), so we did make a reservation.

Day 1 Welcome Dinner was around 6:30-6:45ish I want to say.

I highly, highly, highly recommend you do the Dolby Theatre tour if you can. My dad and I enjoyed that experience more than some of the other theatre tours, and it's not part of the ABD, of course. With our stay at the Loews hotel, there was a flyer or postcard I think in our check-in materials that gave a discount code to use for purchase of tour tickets; we had to present it at the Box Office when purchasing our tickets and got $5 off each of our tickets. Hope they still offer that option. To be able to walk on the Oscars stage was quite a fun experience. I personally don't understand why ABD doesn't include this, especially with no longer offering Jim Henson Studios. We got in on the last tour time on Day 2 (4 p.m.)

Hope this helps, and have a fantastic time!

Thanks for this information!!

Sayhello

 

[jimmymc]

The Lightning Lane situation was a bit confusing for me; I suggest talking with your Adventure Guide to get clarification (as I did even after they told the group what to do - ha ha), but when on the ABD, you get an exclusive list of rides that are available to you that I don't believe are available to day guests (i.e. you can walk through the exits of some of the Fantasyland rides like Alice in Wonderland, Storybook Land Canal Boats, etc., and they will let you use one of your Lightning Lanes). We were told to have this list at the ready if we got any push back from the Cast Members. I liked using the paper ticket for park entry, but it kind of slowed me down at times, and I eventually realized it was better to load it into the Disneyland app on my phone for ease of use with the Lightning Lanes, too. I cannot recall how many Lightning Lanes we were given each day, but I don't believe we ever got 10 a day (unless things have since changed).

More information on this: the passes you get are technically multi-experience passes. So you can use them on any attraction except ones specifically excluded by the pass. We did both Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland by talking with a cast member near the exit. They would scan out passes with a phone or iPad and have us board through the exit.

 

[LKing]

FYI, for people who walk up with paper admission printed off the Internet, the CM at the entrances will issue paper tickets about the size of a credit card with different characters on each to help a group keep them straight.

When was the last time you tried this at Disneyland? According to Plan Disney, they no longer offer paper tickets at the turnstiles.

"Unfortunately, Cast Members no longer print out a physical ticket at the turnstyles."

"If you prefer a physical card, you can always print off your eTicket or a screenshot of your digital ticket in the app to create your own ticket. I have seen other Guests do this and place it in a plastic ID holder and wear it on a lanyard."

In California/Disneyland, the Magic Bands cannot be used to open the resort doors or for purchases. You can use the Magic Bands to enter the park, to scan in for rides, and to scan for photographs.

And just clarifying what "scan for photographs' means. At WDW, the attraction photos auto detect guests wearing MB. At Disneyland they do not. If you want a copy of your attraction photo, you need to jot down the code on the displayed photo as you exit the ride. Many people take a picture of the displayed photo and code. Then you need to enter the code into your Disneyland app to be able to download the photo.

MB+ does work for PhotoPass photographers throughout Disneyland.

Assuming I have a MB+ which is linked to my account at WDW, will that link to the DL app as well?

Some run into problems. To be safe, unlink it from your WDW account and then link it in your Disneyland app. After your visit, you can remove it from the Disneyland app and re-link to your WDW account.

 

[tgeorge]

Thanks! That's very helpful.

Assuming I have a MB+ which is linked to my account at WDW, will that link to the DL app as well?

Yes, my MB+ is linked in both my WDW and DL app. Won't be an issue. Have fun!

 

[LKing]

In case you have problems switching your MB+ from WDW to DLR app, here are some reports of what people have done to solve the problem.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/magic-band-not-staying-paired-w-phone.3957029/post-65826598
https://www.disboards.com/threads/another-magic-band-question.3932425/post-65107480
https://www.disboards.com/threads/magic-band-plus-connection.3941547/

 

[SonnyEclipseFan]

Sorry, I am getting into this conversation late. We did this adventure in November 2024. Here is the link to our experience
https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...a-adventure-just-ok-november-10-2024.3957810/