Some Useful Tips

[Vacation Dad]

Good morning everyone. We (myself, my wife, and 3 teenaged children) went to So. California Sunday – Friday last week. We went to DLR Sunday evening, Monday & Wednesday of the week, and there were many things we learned that made the trip go smoother. Some of these I already knew, some I learned here before the trip, and some we learned along the way. Hopefully these are of use to some folks out there.

Be ready for additional Entrance lines to be opened up right before park opening. On Wed., 11/21, not an early entry day, we arrived at the park at 7:30am and were about 25th in line – the park opened at 8am. We lined up at Gate 21 which was the open line farthest to the right side (east) at the time. Between 7:45 & 7:55, 3 additional entrance lines were suddenly opened up to the right of that line by a CM bringing up people from the back of other lines. We moved over quickly as we saw this happening, and we ended up being the 2nd family through the gates at one of these lines.

See Fantasmic! the easy way. There is a stack of speakers in front of Pirates that appears to be blocking the view of most of the Fantasmic show, but about 10 minutes before the show starts these speakers rise up in the air and you have a great view of the show. We got there at 8:40pm on Sunday, 11/18, 20 minutes before the start of the first show and got a great spot right behind the speakers. At about 8:50 the speakers raised up in the air, and this empty spot filled up within seconds. I want to mention that the speaker pole (about a foot wide) does block some of the view of Mickey’s activity on the island if you are directly behind it. If you can stand a little off to the side of the actual pole it is good. We also enjoyed watching Fantasmic from the Hungry Bear restaurant area one night and it was not busy at all. You are watching from the side, but the view isn’t bad and you can see some of the behind-the-scenes activities that you don’t notice from in front of the show.

All 3 days, Splash Mountain was almost a walk-on from about 9:30 until park closing (midnight), and the water level seemed to be a bit less at that time of night. It is definitely cooler at that time of day, but since we are from near Seattle the colder temperatures still seemed warm. If your schedule doesn’t allow you to get to this ride earlier in the day, give it a try late in the day. I think the chillier evenings these days keep people away, but for others it creates a “quality ride opportunity”.

If you come across a ride that is closed for a while, do not despair! Try walking past again a little later, if it has opened up you might be in for a shorter wait than normal. On Sunday, we walked past Indy about 7pm and it was closed. We continued on to ride on Pirates, and then went back to check on Indy. It was open then, so we only had about a 15 minute wait. By the time we were off the ride the wait time was back up to 45 minutes. On Wed., 11/21, we went to Splash about 10am and the wait time was only 5 minutes because it had just recently opened back up.

The PhotoPass photographers are happy (or at least willing) to take pictures with your personal cameras. We often asked them to take our picture with our personal camera, and they were always as cheerful as possible to do it. It is nice to have some pictures with all of us, rather than just 4 out of 5. We also let them take some with their cameras, it doesn’t cost anything unless you eventually buy something, and they might take that one picture that captures your trip perfectly.

We bought a CityPass and also went to Universal Studios and Sea World. We all especially enjoyed Universal Studios. The Citypass coupons for both those 2 parks were accepted directly at the entrance gates, we did not have to go through a ticket booth of through will call.

I will make a posting in the trip report area within the next day with that type of information, but I thought this information might be of use here. If I happen to think of any other useful items, I will add them here. Have fun!

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Thanks so much for the tips. I'll be there in a few weeks.

I tried to figure out the viewing area behind the speakers last year and I didn't really see exactly what people were talking about but I have heard of it before. I'll try again this time.

 

[Hound 109]

Great tips.

I wonder if the "open two extra lines a couple min. prior to opening" is an everyday type thing. Anyone?

Also, I don't remember them doing this at EE, but maybe it's because i line up typically in the middle (furthest from the DTD & also from Harbor) & didn't see the new lines forming.

Based on what you are saying, It would make sense to get in the line closest to Harbor Blvd. (even if a little longer) in the hope a new line forms.

Any other opinions on this??

 

[Vacation Dad]

We purposely went in that line hoping this would happen. On our last trip to DLR 4 years ago they flipped over some "exit" signs to say "entrance" just as the gates opened, and people ran to those gates. This time it was more controlled as they started them up gradually a few minutes before opening. I'm guessing that this is only done on non early-entry days, and maybe even only at busy holiday times too. This is a guess though, I don't know that for sure. I do know that it sure was nice to get it so quickly!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

They've been doing this for as long as I can remember. We end up just staying in the line we're in as everybody else runs over to the open lines and we move up considerably without getting involved in the rush.

 

[bouncy54]

Great tips.

I wonder if the "open two extra lines a couple min. prior to opening" is an everyday type thing. Anyone?

Also, I don't remember them doing this at EE, but maybe it's because i line up typically in the middle (furthest from the DTD & also from Harbor) & didn't see the new lines forming.

Based on what you are saying, It would make sense to get in the line closest to Harbor Blvd. (even if a little longer) in the hope a new line forms.

Any other opinions on this??

We were standing in line a couple of weeks ago and they opened up 2 "Exit Only" lines for entrance right next to us...the 2 at the end closest to Harbor. As soon as we saw what they were doing, we hopped on over to that line.

 

[Lou-Ann]

Thanks for your thoughtful post.

 

[HydroGuy]

I wonder if the "open two extra lines a couple min. prior to opening" is an everyday type thing. Anyone?

The lines are typically at all the odd numbered gates, or all the even numbered gates. There are two lines which have trees which obstruct the line about 10-15 back from the gate. I believe it is standard practice to open up the adjacent even numbered gate (on odd days) or odd numbered gate (on even days) at these two particular spots. I cannot remember exactly which gates they are. We did this once in 2005 when we moved from tenth in line to second in line. The lady in front of us knew about this trick and asked the CM if they would open up the tree obstructed gates - and when she was told "yes" she got in line there.

In general be careful about line hopping. If someone starts a false line you could lose your place. Whenever we line hop - which has only been once in truth - we leave someone in our old spot until we know for sure that our new line is a valid line.

 

[Vacation Dad]

The way they opened up the lines this time around was much safer than how they did it 4 years ago. It was a mini Nemo when they opened up the new lines at opening back then. This year a CM was leading the people up to the new gate, so it was pretty obvious it would be a valid line. I don't know how often they do this, but it never hurts to be aware of this if you are way back in a line at opening.

 

[DevilDuckie]

A couple additions, especially for those with bigger kids:

For some reason the entry lines in the middle are generally a bit shorter than those at either end. It's worth taking a quick look.

Splash Mountain is one of the rides with a Single Rider Line. If everyone in your group is old enough and doesn't mind splitting up, this is a really good way to bypass the huge lines. We also doubled our FastPass value this way- the grownups with the kid took the FPs and the other 3 grown ups did SRL and we all got to go twice.

The crowds in Fantasyland go down after dark and after the first Fantasmic show. Many families with little kids go home at that point, making it our favorite time of day to do Fantasyland with smaller lines and fewer tantrums.

 

[pixiedust8302]

Thanks for the great tips I will keep those in mind when we get there next week

 

[kkheburn]

great tips. We need to rent a stroller but we want to get there early to make a mad rush for Nemo. How early can you be there? I thought Main Street was open for shopping in the morning before the rope drop?

 

[LOVEDISNEYLAND]

Thanks for all the helpful hints! Especially for the one about fantasmic!!!

 

[DLR29]

great tips. We need to rent a stroller but we want to get there early to make a mad rush for Nemo. How early can you be there? I thought Main Street was open for shopping in the morning before the rope drop?

8AM opening (normal day)- entire park opens at 8

8AM opening (EE day)- FL and select TL rides open at 7AM for EE guests. Entire park opens at 8 for EE and non-EE guests.

10AM opening (normal day)- Main Street (only) opens at 9:30 for all guests. Entire park opens at 10.
10AM opening (EE day)- FL and select TL rides open at 9AM for EE guests. Main Street opens at 9:30 for non-EE guests. Entire park opens at 10 for EE and non-EE guests.

For 9AM openings, I have heard different things. If the crowds warrant it, they may (though not always) open up Main Street at 8:30 so not as many people are in the esplanade.