Rope Drop DCA or Magic Morning at DL?

[torioritori]

Completely thrown by this one...

Long time vets of WDW and DLP but new to DLR for our honeymoon... flying 3 weeks today

We are in LA for ~ 6 days but doing to downtown LA on the Saturday as DLR is predicted level 9/10 crowds. Staying in Candlewood Suites but we have a 5 day ticket so have one Magic Morning.

We've got 4 mornings in the parks - Thursday, Friday, Sunday & Monday.... F, S & M all are EMH at DCA, Thurs is the only Magic Morning at Disneyland during our stay.

So. Given the choice would you rope drop DCA on the one morning you can get into the park at the same time as everyone else? Or would you do the extra hour in Disneyland without the general public?

 

[hyperminimalism]

Magic Morning DL hands down. You may not be able to get into all of the lands, but when we did our MM last year we were able to get onto about 5 rides within the span of that hour before the rush came in (after that, we had a really nice breakfast that was pretty quiet since everyone was trying to get onto rides instead of eating). None of the FPs were gone for rides at DCA since the park had only just opened, so you won't be missing out on anything. Just make sure that if you do decide to go for MM at DL that you make your way over to DCA as soon as possible to get FPs for Radiator Springs at the very least. But I think you'll get much more use out of a Magic Morning than rope dropping DCA.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I’d use your MM.

 

[torioritori]

I’d use your MM.

Even if there's no other day for me to rope-drop DCA? Because all our other days, DCA has EMH and we aren't hotel guests?

I guess I'm planning to get MaxPass at least some of the full days so if I used it that day, I could have the advantage of using MM and as soon as I'm into DL, booking a RSR FP for early on and jumping on over...

 

[avalon451]

Ditto. EE at CA is really tame, usually, since it's only the onsite guests. MM is for everybody staying onsite PLUS everybody with one MM on their tickets, like you. And while it's a golden hour for DL, it does pick up quickly. You can get a lot more done in that first hour at DL, but almost all of the stuff open at DCA is available to MaxPass. So even if you are rope dropping DCA, it's not that big an advantage over the EE crowds on Fri, Sun, Mon.

Also, don't trust the crowd calendars. They're notoriously inaccurate.

 

[torioritori]

Ditto. EE at CA is really tame, usually, since it's only the onsite guests. MM is for everybody staying onsite PLUS everybody with one MM on their tickets, like you. And while it's a golden hour for DL, it does pick up quickly. You can get a lot more done in that first hour at DL, but almost all of the stuff open at DCA is available to MaxPass.

Also, don't trust the crowd calendars. They're notoriously inaccurate.

Thanks, MM seems to be unanimous. I guess I'm so used to being an off-site guest at WDW and avoiding EMH like the plague.... but there are a tonne more WDW hotel guests!

Fair point about the crowd calendars, but it's that or nothing....at least it's something to base my plans off! Plus, of all the days we are there, I'm sure Saturday will be the busiest, no matter whether the CC's are accurate or not!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Thanks, MM seems to be unanimous. I guess I'm so used to being an off-site guest at WDW and avoiding EMH like the plague.... but there are a tonne more WDW hotel guests!

Fair point about the crowd calendars, but it's that or nothing....at least it's something to base my plans off! Plus, of all the days we are there, I'm sure Saturday will be the busiest, no matter whether the CC's are accurate or not!

Monday’s can be busier than Saturday. I always avoid Monday. I don’t know when you’re going and what conventions are going on though.

 

[torioritori]

Monday’s can be busier than Saturday. I always avoid Monday. I don’t know when you’re going and what conventions are going on though.

We land on Wed 23rd October at around 1:40pm - straight to hotel then to DL. Leave on Tuesday for Tokyo Disney Resort so last DLR park day is Monday 28th.

I have been keeping an eye on convention calendars and luckily I haven't seen any....but could be looking in the wrong places - I'm a DL newb!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Monday might be busier than Saturday.... but’s it’s your last day so you will have done a lot already by then. Definitely use your Magic Morning for DL on Thursday to hit Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. And when it’s over, head to Adventureland/New Orleans Square and take advantage of the only time of day that section of the park is near empty.

 

[VandVsmama]

If you're not staying at an on site hotel, the only place you can use your Magic Morning entry is at DL on a Tues, Thurs, or Sat.

 

[VandVsmama]

Also, I think you should use your MM entry early in the trip. Do it on Thursday. You'll have more energy at the start of your trip compared to 4-5 days later after successive days in theme parks.

And go to Fantasyland first. If you're at the main gate about 20 min before the start of the MM hour, they start letting people in before MM actually starts. You can easily get on 5 rides in Fantasyland in that first hour. For example:
- Dumbo
- Alice in Wonderland
- Mr Toad's Wild Ride
- Matterhorn
- Carousel, Snow White, or Pinocchio

 

[torioritori]

If you're not staying at an on site hotel, the only place you can use your Magic Morning entry is at DL on a Tues, Thurs, or Sat.

I know, for us that means only Thursday, but my point is that every day other than Thursday on our trip is EMH at DCA... since we aren’t eligible for that, Thursday is both the only day we can get into DCA at the same time as everyone (this avoiding the queues that will have already formed once we arrive at public time on an EMH day) but it’s also the only chance we have for MM at DL. If that makes sense?

 

[tzeitel]

MM for sure, we have done DCA on EMH days (as non resort guests) and it is not a huge deal. One of us goes to get FP for RSR and then comes back and we ride Soarin' (usually a walk in or minimal wait). After that it is pretty easy to get around.

DD and I did a MM morning last year around your dates and we did all of Fantasyland with no waits and not rushing at all. It was so nice We usually rope drop but MM is something else!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Thanks, MM seems to be unanimous. I guess I'm so used to being an off-site guest at WDW and avoiding EMH like the plague.... but there are a tonne more WDW hotel guests!

Fair point about the crowd calendars, but it's that or nothing....at least it's something to base my plans off! Plus, of all the days we are there, I'm sure Saturday will be the busiest, no matter whether the CC's are accurate or not!

Don't make the mistake of making your DLR plans according to your WDW grid! WDW is WDW; DLR is DLR. Keep your mind open and don't assume that because you know how to plan for the one, that you can apply the same plans to the other. We have posters here who get into trouble that way and then come back here to complain and blame. This classic thread has lots of helpful info for your trip planning: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets. Regarding crowd calendars, they really work best for WDW and are pretty hopeless for DLR. This thread should help explain: Most accurate crowd calendars?. And it's really not crowd calendars or nothing -- you have other resources at your disposal that are much, much more helpful for DLR: first and foremost, you have this board where you can get up to date, real time information about conditions in the parks from people who visit weekly and may even be in the parks today to report back; you have the AP Blockout Calendars which are a very important resource for predicting crowds -- use this!; and you have threads on this board that keep you up to date on conventions, school breaks, in park events, holidays, etc. (e.g. 2019 Calendar of Events & School Breaks and DLR by @figment_jii
https://www.disboards.com/threads/2019-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3708938/). Don't be too worried about the Saturday just because it's the weekend -- check for AP Blockouts, check for conventions and park events -- then estimate crowd levels. Over the past few years, Saturdays were actually good days if the lower passes were blocked. And Mondays were the crowded days. Crowd calendars didn't predict that -- but it was well publicized on this board. And with MP and good planning, you can get a lot done even on crowded days!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I know, for us that means only Thursday, but my point is that every day other than Thursday on our trip is EMH at DCA... since we aren’t eligible for that, Thursday is both the only day we can get into DCA at the same time as everyone (this avoiding the queues that will have already formed once we arrive at public time on an EMH day) but it’s also the only chance we have for MM at DL. If that makes sense?

Are you sure that Thursday is the only day DCA won't have EE during your stay? I don't see it on the calendar for Saturday, the 26th, since DL will have EMH/MM that day. You should be able to RD DCA on Saturday and use your MM on Thursday. And don't worry so much about not having EE at DCA -- the other posters are correct that EE isn't as big a deal at DCA as EMH/MM is at DL. EE is only available to on site guests -- a far smaller number of people than the group that is eligible for EMH/MM at DL (= on site guests and anyone else with a 3+ day ticket). Doing RD at DCA on a day when you don't have EE won't put you that far behind everyone else, especially if you have MP. And remember that you can start using MP as soon as you activate your ticket at DL on your MM. So if you want to start booking FPs for DCA as soon as you go through the gates at DL, go ahead!

 

[torioritori]

Are you sure that Thursday is the only day DCA won't have EE during your stay? I don't see it on the calendar for Saturday, the 26th, since DL will have EMH/MM that day. You should be able to RD DCA on Saturday and use your MM on Thursday. And don't worry so much about not having EE at DCA -- the other posters are correct that EE isn't as big a deal at DCA as EMH/MM is at DL. EE is only available to on site guests -- a far smaller number of people than the group that is eligible for EMH/MM at DL (= on site guests and anyone else with a 3+ day ticket). Doing RD at DCA on a day when you don't have EE won't put you that far behind everyone else, especially if you have MP. And remember that you can start using MP as soon as you activate your ticket at DL on your MM. So if you want to start booking FPs for DCA as soon as you go through the gates at DL, go ahead!

Thursday is the only day for us - we already have plans in downtown LA on the Saturday so that's the day we are planning to skip the parks.

Gosh I'm even more confused now. I'm using TouringPlans crowd calendar and I looked at the historical data for our dates the past few years and they seem to have been pretty accurate. I would've thought something as well recognised as TP would have used things like holidays, blockouts and conventions in their analysis!

Thanks for those links LuckyRabbit. I never have imagined it to be the same as WDW - one of the reasons I'm looking forward to it so much is it's more of a locals park. I hate how touristy and regimented WDW has become. Good to see what to expect though!

 

[VandVsmama]

I know, for us that means only Thursday, but my point is that every day other than Thursday on our trip is EMH at DCA... since we aren’t eligible for that, Thursday is both the only day we can get into DCA at the same time as everyone (this avoiding the queues that will have already formed once we arrive at public time on an EMH day) but it’s also the only chance we have for MM at DL. If that makes sense?

EMH @ DCA is really not nearly as well attended as EMH/MM is at DL. It would be silly to pass up your EMH day at DL because of that. Go into DL first on Thursday. Then go to DCA first on Friday and you'll be fine. Just trust us on this....it's different than at WDW, where you have to battle it out with the throng of thousands and thousands of other WDW on site visitors. At DL, there are only 3 on site hotels compared to dozens of them at WDW.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... Gosh I'm even more confused now. I'm using TouringPlans crowd calendar and I looked at the historical data for our dates the past few years and they seem to have been pretty accurate. I would've thought something as well recognised as TP would have used things like holidays, blockouts and conventions in their analysis!...

TP is really geared to work for WDW where most of the guests are non-locals. At DLR, the TP algorithms don't work well at all. When the demographic is predominantly local, the crowd patterns can change very quickly based on one tweet or Parks Blog announcement about new merchandise, a giveaway in the parks, a parade, something filming, change in weather, etc. TP data cannot keep up with that kind of dynamic change. If you look at posts here about crowd calendars and TP, you won't find many enthusiastic recommendations. There are good reasons for that based on repeated poor experience.

 

[torioritori]

TP is really geared to work for WDW where most of the guests are non-locals. At DLR, the TP algorithms don't work well at all. When the demographic is predominantly local, the crowd patterns can change very quickly based on one tweet or Parks Blog announcement about new merchandise, a giveaway in the parks, a parade, something filming, change in weather, etc. TP data cannot keep up with that kind of dynamic change. If you look at posts here about crowd calendars and TP, you won't find many enthusiastic recommendations. There are good reasons for that based on repeated poor experience.

Fair enough, but I have to plan around something - if random things can change it, it doesn't really matter what I do when!

Oh I hope it gets really busy because DLR suddenly announce the immediate return of PtN parade.....or any parade for that matter. Not having tickets to Oogie Boogy, I can't honestly believe that the first time I go to Disneyland there will be no parades.

Since meeting my husband I had taken him to WDW and DLP x 2.... it won't be until we leave LA and journey across the ocean to TDR for the next leg of this trip that he will FINALLY see some sort of nighttime parade. Shocking!

 

[Lauren in NC]

TP is really geared to work for WDW where most of the guests are non-locals. At DLR, the TP algorithms don't work well at all. When the demographic is predominantly local, the crowd patterns can change very quickly based on one tweet or Parks Blog announcement about new merchandise, a giveaway in the parks, a parade, something filming, change in weather, etc. TP data cannot keep up with that kind of dynamic change. If you look at posts here about crowd calendars and TP, you won't find many enthusiastic recommendations. There are good reasons for that based on repeated poor experience.

And I believe TP relies mainly on ride wait data, right? A lot of locals will come to just watch the evening parade, grab a snack, and maybe ride one or two rides. That doesn't up the ride wait times a lot, but it definitely makes the parks *feel* more crowded, and it makes navigating the park more of a headache.

Mornings are golden at DL - I'm one of the ones who always recommends using your MM to hit the Fantasyland rides. They're close to each other, are short, and are generally slow loaders with boring queues - so you want to do them as quickly as possible! It's pretty reasonable to knock out everything in Fantasyland (besides PP) in that first hour. And like previous posters have said, it's a great time to grab a FP for something over in DCA that you'll likely have to wait out that "time until your next FP" window for (looking at you, RSR). If you're not interested in the Fantasyland rides, there's always Space Mountain, Star Tours and Buzz.