Two questions to help a Disneyland novice...

[donald...really]

I am much more familiar with the WDW fastpass system and I can use a refresher about how the fastpass system works at Disneyland, especially with the recent changes. Could someone fill me in or point me to the basic information I will need to know? I am heading to Disneyland next weekend and want to make sure I am prepared.

Also, is Disneyland totally gridlocked at night with crowd control for shows/parades/fireworks? I have no interest in the shows, etc but would love to walk around the park at night. If it will be too crowded/congested I will skip it. Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Steven G]

https://disneylanddaily.com/a-fastpass-guide-for-disneyland-and-california-adventure/

It can get busy during and after parades and fireworks, but usually manageable. Note that they close most of Fantasyland during and after fireworks.

 

[SteveMP]

I am much more familiar with the WDW fastpass system and I can use a refresher about how the fastpass system works at Disneyland, especially with the recent changes. Could someone fill me in or point me to the basic information I will need to know? I am heading to Disneyland next weekend and want to make sure I am prepared.

Also, is Disneyland totally gridlocked at night with crowd control for shows/parades/fireworks? I have no interest in the shows, etc but would love to walk around the park at night. If it will be too crowded/congested I will skip it. Thoughts?

Thanks!

The crowd control can be pretty obnoxious on the main parade routes and surrounding areas, roped off areas, herding you onto one side of main st etc. Now that our kids are older we tend to stay away from that area around parade time and head to tomorrowland or go on Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc.

 

[cmwade77]

Ok, primer on Disneyland's FP system:

• There is none of this obnoxious book 30+ days in advance, they are day of only.
• For many attractions the return time can be immediate, even when the standby line is 30-60 minutes.
• There is a grace period of 5 minutes before your return window opens to 15 minutes after your return window closes.
• If you do not buy MaxPass you have to go to each attraction to get a FP.
• At the bottom of your FP it will say when you can get your next FP, note that this time only applies until you have used the FP.
• When returning to the attraction, you scan your park ticket, not your paper FP, so make sure your park ticket is out. You cannot scan the paper FP reminder anymore.
• You can only get a FP if your ticket has been scanned into one of the parks that day, so everyone in your party must have entered one of the parks before getting a FP and this applies to both paper FP and MaxPass
• You can link tickets to your Disneyland App and scan them from your phone when returning, but this is slower than just each person scanning their tickets.
• Additionally you can cancel FPs from the app if you change your mind and then get a FP for another attraction before using that FP (again, if you don't have MaxPass, you have to do this from each attraction)
• You will be scanning twice at most, if not all attractions, once when you first get there and once again at the merge point, so keep your pass out until the second time.
• Be sure to cancel a FP if you aren't going to be able to use it, this allows others to be able to claim the FP even if there are not more FPs for that attraction, which is essentially the new equivalent of handing your paper FP to someone when you aren't going to use it. This also frees your ticket up to get another FP. NOTE: Only those with MaxPass can access these canceled FPs.
• If a ride breaks down during your return window and you have not already used the FP, it will be converted to a FP that can be used for any ride at any time. NOTE: Any FP you have that has a specific return time for the attraction you are going on will get used before the any ride FP if you are within your return window. There may be other times you get these, such as doing a DVC tour, CM pixie dusting it to you, etc.
• Rider Swap has now gone digital as of today, so everyone including the non riding person needs to go to the front of the attraction before getting a ride swap added to their tickets.
• If the return time is immediate or close to it, get a FP even if the standby line looks short, you can always get another FP for the same ride after you use the first one, but they take a lot more people from the FP line than the standby line, I have seen them do one party of 5 from the standby line for every 30 people or so from the FP line at some attractions.

MaxPass specific information, the following only applies if your purchase MaxPass:

• This allows you to get FPs from the Disneyland App on your phone.
• You will not get a paper reminder with this option, but it will show in your App on your phone.
• The cost is $10 per person per day and includes photopass digital downloads. If you want to add it for the entire year to an annual pass, it is $75.
• You can get another FP as soon as you use he one you are currently holding and to be considered used, it is after the first scan at that attraction. Also, there will be a time listed you can get another FP, this time only applies if you have not already used the FP as described above, otherwise using the FP overrides this time and you are eligible to get another FP after that. Yes, that means you can get a FP for the next attraction while in line for the first attraction, minimizing how long you have to wait before using it.
• If there are Magic Mornings and you have MaxPass, you can get a FP due ng Magic Mornings, even if you don't have Magic Mornings as long as you have entered one of the parks.
• You can get a FP for either park from the app if you have park hopping privelleges
• You can access canceled FPs from the app, so even if an attraction is out of FPs, keep checking in case someone cancels their FP.
• Always get another FP as soon as you are eligible, you can always cancel it if you aren't going to use it.
• Using MaxPass you should be able to do around 40% more attractions than those not using it. This is just a guess based on personal experience by the way, but this is what we have seen being able to do because we are waiting the FP return line while time passes for our next return time.
• And for a killer feature, as long as you have been into one of the parks you can get a FP for another ride from anywhere, which means you could head back to your hotel or home for a bit and get a FP from there before leaving and have it ready when you get back to the parks.

I am sure I have missed something, but that is the basics of how FP and MaxPass works, hopefully it makes sense and helps.

 

[cmwade77]

Basically as far as crowd control at night just avoid

• At Disneyland
  • New Orleans Square
  • Critter Country
  • Parade Route (Until MSEP stops running next month, then just avoid Main Street)
  • Fantasyland (During Fireworks and for about 30 minutes after or until park closing if park closing is an hour or less after the fireworks end)
  • Toontown does close about an hour or so before the fireworks starts and does not reopened after, so you will have to avoid this area.
• California Adventure
  • World of Color Area
  • Paradise Pier (Soon to be Pixar Pier)
  • Parade Route (After Paint the Night starts running at DCA)

Avoid these areas and it will be good, although at DCA it is easier to get through these areas than at Disneyland since DCA has wider walkways.

Taking the train around Disneyland can be a lot of fun at night by the way and can be used to get around some of these areas. Same goes for the monorail, especially if you can get up front with the driver, the monorail is more of an attraction than transportation out here though.

 

[Mome Rath]

Also, is Disneyland totally gridlocked at night with crowd control for shows/parades/fireworks? I have no interest in the shows, etc but would love to walk around the park at night. If it will be too crowded/congested I will skip it. Thoughts?

We returned from our first trip earlier this month, and the way the crowd was handled was different than at WDW. We found it a bit overwhelming on Main Street in a different way than in WDW. They split the sidewalk for parades and keep the half to the curb for those standing to watch the parade, and the remaining sidewalk for those moving with the flow of traffic. The huge difference was that the areas are narrower than in WDW and it is next to impossible to navigate if you have no wish to keep going down the sidewalk and there was stern CM pressure to move, and move fast, even if you aren't trying to go that way nor stand to watch the parade.

You don't mention if you'll have parkhoppers, but if so, I'd switch off parks as the other got congested/busy at certain times at night. If you are in the right places, it's pleasant at night, but I don't know the layout good enough to make walking around manageable, but I do think riding the train is an excellent idea.

 

[tarheelalum]

When the parades and fantasmic starts, crowd management becomes overbearing. From my experience it gets pretty awful so you need to be in an area that you want to stay in before it really gets going. Basically the Frontierland side or Tomorrowland side. You can get across between the parade and fireworks but it gets very stressful.

 

[cmwade77]

When the parades and fantasmic starts, crowd management becomes overbearing. From my experience it gets pretty awful so you need to be in an area that you want to stay in before it really gets going. Basically the Frontierland side or Tomorrowland side. You can get across between the parade and fireworks but it gets very stressful.

You can get around this now that the train is running (unless it is too windy for them to run the trains during the fireworks), but generally speaking it is good advice and I would say stick to the Tomorrowland side.

You can also use Big Thunder Trail to Fantasyland again now and avoid Main Street.

Overall as of this weekend the park got much easier to navigate at night.

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

They do open up the pathways behind the buildings on main street, so if you are trying to get in our out, avoid the sidewalks on mainstreet, and go behind the buildings. They are one way though. Right side going toward the castle, left side leaving the park. We made the mistake of walking down main street, and it was NUTS! Sooo many people, and you can only "exit" the herd at certain points.

 

[tarheelalum]

They do open up the pathways behind the buildings on main street, so if you are trying to get in our out, avoid the sidewalks on mainstreet, and go behind the buildings. They are one way though. Right side going toward the castle, left side leaving the park. We made the mistake of walking down main street, and it was NUTS! Sooo many people, and you can only "exit" the herd at certain points.

Sometimes they do open the path but often they don't. It makes no sense not to unless from Disney's perspective I could see them thinking they might lose a dollar in sales if people are walking down the path without access to the stores.