Some logistical help on trip planning from the vets please.

[Stefan]

Hello all,

We will be in Anaheim Aug 21 - 29, 2010. I have a couple of questions for which I would like opinions on please.

We will be there with my family (4) as well as in-laws (2).
We have purchased the 5 day park hopper
AND we are getting there just when the summer AP blocks come off!

Questions I have:

1. Sat Aug 21 - We arrive in the afternoon, this is the LAST day for AP black outs. Should we venture down for the evening, or instead use this day for mid week? Curious if I am still better off early day say Tuesday vs Saturday evening crowd wise considering circumstances...?

2. Fast Pass - have heard they are enforcing time windows on FP's now, is this the case? We were planning on early mornings with mid days off, but back for eveinings during the week to use up FP's.

3. MM - Any difference on using on the Tuesday or Thursday AM??

4. Parking - best lot to park in?

5. Best days to go during the week?

I am sure there will be more questions! Thanks in advance

Stefan

 

[blackjackdelta]

Hello all,

We will be in Anaheim Aug 21 - 29, 2010. I have a couple of questions for which I would like opinions on please.

We will be there with my family (4) as well as in-laws (2).
We have purchased the 5 day park hopper
AND we are getting there just when the summer AP blocks come off!

Questions I have:

1. Sat Aug 21 - We arrive in the afternoon, this is the LAST day for AP black outs. Should we venture down for the evening, or instead use this day for mid week? Curious if I am still better off early day say Tuesday vs Saturday evening crowd wise considering circumstances...?

2. Fast Pass - have heard they are enforcing time windows on FP's now, is this the case? We were planning on early mornings with mid days off, but back for eveinings during the week to use up FP's.

3. MM - Any difference on using on the Tuesday or Thursday AM??

4. Parking - best lot to park in?

5. Best days to go during the week?

I am sure there will be more questions! Thanks in advance

Stefan

I have not heard or seen anything about the FP situation changing at the DLR. That would be a major change in how we tour. I think week days are always the best days. As far as Tues vs Thur, I would do Tuesday. Good luck with the unblocked AP's.

Jack

 

[HydroGuy]

1. Sat Aug 21 - We arrive in the afternoon, this is the LAST day for AP black outs. Should we venture down for the evening, or instead use this day for mid week? Curious if I am still better off early day say Tuesday vs Saturday evening crowd wise considering circumstances...?

My two cents...

If you want to spend five days at DLR I would not waste a day on a half-day.

2. Fast Pass - have heard they are enforcing time windows on FP's now, is this the case? We were planning on early mornings with mid days off, but back for eveinings during the week to use up FP's.

These rumors pop up every six months or so. Not true.

3. MM - Any difference on using on the Tuesday or Thursday AM??

Nope.

4. Parking - best lot to park in?

I would do Mickey & Friend because of the tram. Better is to get a walking distance hotel and not worry about it. But I am not a parking expert.

5. Best days to go during the week?

Do you want five straight days? Saturday Aug 28 would be a good day to go with a blockout. Friday has the lowest AP blocked. If I had to skip one day Mon-Sat it would be Friday probably. I would also skip Sunday Aug 22.

So if it were me, here it goes:

Monday - Focus on DL

Tuesday - Use your Magic Morning and hop to DCA at 10AM and focus on DCA

Wednesday - best day to visit DL - midweek and no MM

Thursday - MM day at DL but if you only have one MM you cannot do MM. Good day to sleep in and just go straight to DCA at 9:30/10AM. If you still have lots of energy do DL at 8AM first before DCA. But avoid Fantasyland because the MM people will be there before you.

Friday - skip DLR and go to the beach or hang around DTD and watch a movie

Saturday - MM day - bad day for Fantasyland. But SoCal APs blocked so crowds should be decent.

 

[Hound 109]

Hello all,

We will be in Anaheim Aug 21 - 29, 2010. I have a couple of questions for which I would like opinions on please.

We will be there with my family (4) as well as in-laws (2).
We have purchased the 5 day park hopper
AND we are getting there just when the summer AP blocks come off!

Questions I have:

1. Sat Aug 21 - We arrive in the afternoon, this is the LAST day for AP black outs. Should we venture down for the evening, or instead use this day for mid week? Curious if I am still better off early day say Tuesday vs Saturday evening crowd wise considering circumstances...?

With a 5 Day Hopper you could go in that first Saturday.....or not.

But if you do, I'd definitely plan on seeing the Fireworks in DL that night (in case weather or other plans prevent you from seeing them later in the week.

2. Fast Pass - have heard they are enforcing time windows on FP's now, is this the case? We were planning on early mornings with mid days off, but back for eveinings during the week to use up FP's.

As BlackJack says.....this is HUGE informational tidbit you've thrown out. Post a link where you have "heard" this. No one here has posted anything about not being able to use FPs past the windows. This is a touring method used by most everyone here....if it EVER changes, this board will be littered with posts discussing any change (& ramifications of the change).

If you didn't "hear" about the change here, then I'd assume the info is not accurate.

3. MM - Any difference on using on the Tuesday or Thursday AM??

I would assume that the Thursday morning MM would be less crowded than the Tuesday morning MM. But DO utilize MM to it's full advantage no matter which morning you decide.

4. Parking - best lot to park in?

Don't know....are you not staying walking distance??


5. Best days to go during the week?

For sure Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday....but more importantly get there EARLY each day.

I am sure there will be more questions! Thanks in advance

Stefan

Have a great time at Walt's Park, Stefan!

 

[Stefan]

Thanks for the quick repies and great feedback.

On the FP concern, It must have been ove at Mice chat a couple of weeks agao there was extensive conversation on a thread about the rules being enforced with WoC etc.

Seem to recall several confirmations about this being true with several also saying they had no issues.

I will try to find the thread regarding this!

Thanks and keep it coming.

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for the quick repies and great feedback.

On the FP concern, It must have been ove at Mice chat a couple of weeks agao there was extensive conversation on a thread about the rules being enforced with WoC etc.

Seem to recall several confirmations about this being true with several also saying they had no issues.

I will try to find the thread regarding this!

Thanks and keep it coming.

There some anti-FP people on MC. In fact, most MC people are anti a lot of things. Some people like to stir things up. The same kind of threads happen around here a couple times a year. It usually starts with "a CM at Disneyland told me..." and then on to some outrageous thing about FP being cancelled or Disney is going to start charging money for FP or Magic Morning changing in some significant way. Lots of folks get stirred up on the forum for a week and then it just fades away. I would not even spend a moment worrying about it.

 

[Eeee-va]

On the FP concern, It must have been ove at Mice chat a couple of weeks agao there was extensive conversation on a thread about the rules being enforced with WoC etc.

The one they mentioned that did seem perhaps plausible (I won't say likely) is that Splash Mountain was maybe sometimes enforcing--the reason being that particular FP line gets especially long and slow. But you're going enough days that even IF you happen to be turned away from Splash Mountain once, it shouldn't be a huge problem, IMO. Plus if you're grabbing your FPs and then using them in the evening, I imagine Splash Mountain wouldn't be high on your list of rides to do after dark anyway. (And if it is, the line generally gets drastically shorter as the park nears closing time... )

Have a great trip!

 

[GrandBob]

Went last week. FPs are still good all day long. We used morning FPs in the evening all the time, including for Indy and Splash.

We got on Indy at a little after 10PM with a FP for 10:20AM.

CM: "Sorry, you're a little early".

Just as I was about to point out the FP time, he said, "Oh, I see it's 10:20 AM. Sorry, go ahead, have a great ride!"

-Bob

 

[jtown]

1) You're there long enough to get full days out of your tickets. I wouldn't waste one by starting on a Saturday afternoon.

2) They only care about the start time of the fastpass, not the end time. If you show up 3 minutes early, you'll have to wait. (I've seen it.) If you show up 2 hours late, you're fine.

3) No idea. I don't get up that early if I don't have to be at work.

4) The best lot is the one they direct you to. I like to park in the parking structure because the car is (usually) out of the sun and the tram is more Disney than the bus but it really doesn't matter. FWIW, the walk to the tram can be LONG if you're directed to a spot on the far corner of the parking structure.

5) The days Disneyland is open are the best days to go. (That means all days are good.) DLR is open from 8am to midnight every day you're there and DCA is open from 10am to 11pm every day. The only major thing missing on any during that time period is the parades in DCA on Thursday. Fireworks, Fantasmic, World of Color, etc. all happen every day/night.

I guess I'd go Sun Mon Wed Thu Sat to put a couple breaks in the schedule.