Should I buy MaxPass for 3pm arrival?

[reba2121]

We cannot get to DL until 3pm on our arrival day. Do you think it's worth buying MaxPass for that day?

 

[smartlabelprint]

I’d wait and see what’s available when you get there.

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

Two days I started late (3 or after) and I did not buy Maxpass for those days as most fastpasses were gone. The other three days I started early and Maxpass was awesome - rode everything I really wanted before noon or 1 pm! When not using Maxpass the single rider queues are not a bad option, and I used that time to do afternoon parades and evening shows and fireworks.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

As PP noted, you can wait and see what’s available when you get there.

This thread may give you an idea of what you might see (there’s a second afternoon listed on page 2): https://www.disboards.com/threads/maxpass-availability-throughout-the-day.3683766/#post-59248016

Other factors will matter - are you doing evening entertainment? What time does the park close? If you only have 2-3 days and some of the FP rides that are less popular (and therefore available later) appeal to you, and you’re not doing evening entertainment and have your whole night free until midnight or something... well, that may be worth it. But if you’re seeing Fantasmic, fireworks, and then leaving, that’s only 5 hours of ride time, including dinner and such - probably not worth it, you know?

 

[PHXscuba]

I wouldn't buy the MP for that short of a day.

You can still get traditional FPs by walking to the machines for whatever you want. My opinion: When the FPs are hours apart and not minutes like early in the day, walking to the machines in the course of touring is less of a time sink. Unless it's a busy day, there should still be quite a lot of FPs at 3:00 in afternoon. Example: sitting here checking the app at 3:05 on a busy Sunday Memorial Day weekend: Haunted Mansion has a 4:05 FP, Big Thunder has a 4:55 FP, Roger Rabbit 4:30. Small World is almost immediate at 3:20! Everything in DL still had a FP although Space was 10:25.

If I knew I had a 3:00 arrival, I'd check the app when I arrived and send someone to Big Thunder for a Fastpass maybe an hour in the future, then grab a snack, ride the Mark Twain, ride Pirates of the Caribbean. Or get a Small World FP and pick off the shorter few lines in Fantasyland or Tomorrowland. Whether it's FP or MP I would get the closest time for anything you want to ride so you can get more later.

Ultimately you have to decide whether getting 3-4 FPs for (probably not headliner) rides is worth the money. If you only a have 2 full days after your arrival day it might help you knock out some of the ones I listed above, but every hour later in the day the FPs also get farther out. So by the time your 4:00 Haunted Mansion can be redeemed and you can get another, now Big Thunder is at 6:30. Then at 6:30, the next one you want is at 9:30, etc. ... and you're all tired from traveling.

PHXscuba

 

[az4boys]

We've added MP to our AP's so it is a little different for us, but I have liked having MP even when we arrive later. We arrived about 3:30 the first week in January. It was still the holiday season and Deluxe AP's were just unblocked the day before so it was fairly busy. I felt like MP helped us get more done and enjoy the partial day more. A few questions to ask yourself: Is the extra money going to strain your budget? How many FP are available when you get there? How late is the park open? Are popular rides important to you on that day?

Sometimes you can get FP through MP that are earlier than the ones being distributed through the kiosk, but you won't know if any of those are available unless you buy MP for the day.