Using LLMP during busy holiday crowds - info and advice needed!

[Beast40]

Season’s Greetings everyone!

We will be at the BCV from 12/22-12/28 this year and are looking forward to trying LLMP. We will have 5 day park hopper tickets. A couple of questions:

1. I am curious about busy times (like Thanksgiving) how many LL’s did most folks get with their LLMP per day? We’re any of these additional tier 1 rides separate from the one they prebooked (7 or 3 days out)?

2. We are going to purchase LLMP on 2 days during our stay because we are DVC and have been many times. We also like to do things other than just rides. It has been difficult to decide to “pay extra” for faster access to rides we used to access with free FP but I’m willing to give it a try given how busy it will be and based on people’s positive experiences posted on DIS. What would be the better option- front load the passes on 12/23 and 12/24 when crowds might be slightly lighter or split the LLMPs to one day before Christmas and one for 12/26 or 12/27 because the whole week will be crazy busy?

Thank you for any and all info. I learn a lot from these boards and GREATLY appreciate the collective knowledge .

 

[scrappinginontario]

I don’t have an answer to your first question but personally, I would purchase LLMP for later in your trip.

When we first arrive we’re excited to be there, ride our favourites again and don’t mind waiting in lines. As the trip goes on, the ‘treat’ of skipping some of the lines is nice.

Also, it would be harder for me to wait in longer lines later in the trip if I skipped all those lines earlier.

It’s all about spending time together, including time in lines, but for our family, we save LLMP for later in the trip.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Just got back from Thanksgiving week. I used LLMP twice - Animal Kingdom on Monday, Nov. 25 and Magic Kingdom on Thanksgiving. I also did LLSP for Guardians on 2 different days. For Animal Kingdom: I booked Safari, Lion King, and Navi (my aunt's request) as my initial 3. The Safari was our first one at 9:15. I started checking right away for another as soon as we scanned in. Dinosaur was available at 5pm. Everest was down all day. There was nothing else we wanted so we just had our original 3 and that was it. I did try refreshing and checked frequently, but nothing for dinosaur ever came available while we would be there.

Thanksgiving I had Pirates at 8:30, Haunted Mansion at 9:30, and Space at 10:30 for my originals. As soon as I scanned into Pirates, I was able to make one for Big Thunder at 12:15. As I scanned into Haunted Mansion, I looked again. At this point, all LLMP's were into the evening hours. Once my friends got to MK, we looked again (they are CMs so they couldn't book much in advance.) I think this would have been about 10:45. There was nothing we could get until like 7pm and we weren't staying that late. I may have been able to refresh and get 1 more, but it didn't make sense to do it without them at that point.

My takeaway is: I don't think I will use LLMP for Animal Kingdom (or Epcot) in the future. I will buy it for MK and HS. For really busy times, it is worth it to guarantee 3 rides with minimal wait but I wouldn't count on there being a lot left to get a 4th or 5th (unless you are staying well into the evening.) I didn't have a lot of luck with refresh but I also wasn't making the refresh a priority. I will ALWAYS do LLSP for Guardians as long as it exists. Let me know if you have questions.

 

[Beast40]

I don’t have an answer to your first question but personally, I would purchase LLMP for later in your trip.

When we first arrive we’re excited to be there, ride our favourites again and don’t mind waiting in lines. As the trip goes on, the ‘treat’ of skipping some of the lines is nice.

Also, it would be harder for me to wait in longer lines later in the trip if I skipped all those lines earlier.

It’s all about spending time together, including time in lines, but for our family, we save LLMP for later in the trip.

Thank you for your suggestions. We definitely had not considered some of those things! We are leaning toward putting one on 12/24 and the other at the end of the week now. Your insights and suggestions are greatly appreciated

 

[Beast40]

Just got back from Thanksgiving week. I used LLMP twice - Animal Kingdom on Monday, Nov. 25 and Magic Kingdom on Thanksgiving. I also did LLSP for Guardians on 2 different days. For Animal Kingdom: I booked Safari, Lion King, and Navi (my aunt's request) as my initial 3. The Safari was our first one at 9:15. I started checking right away for another as soon as we scanned in. Dinosaur was available at 5pm. Everest was down all day. There was nothing else we wanted so we just had our original 3 and that was it. I did try refreshing and checked frequently, but nothing for dinosaur ever came available while we would be there.

Thanksgiving I had Pirates at 8:30, Haunted Mansion at 9:30, and Space at 10:30 for my originals. As soon as I scanned into Pirates, I was able to make one for Big Thunder at 12:15. As I scanned into Haunted Mansion, I looked again. At this point, all LLMP's were into the evening hours. Once my friends got to MK, we looked again (they are CMs so they couldn't book much in advance.) I think this would have been about 10:45. There was nothing we could get until like 7pm and we weren't staying that late. I may have been able to refresh and get 1 more, but it didn't make sense to do it without them at that point.

My takeaway is: I don't think I will use LLMP for Animal Kingdom (or Epcot) in the future. I will buy it for MK and HS. For really busy times, it is worth it to guarantee 3 rides with minimal wait but I wouldn't count on there being a lot left to get a 4th or 5th (unless you are staying well into the evening.) I didn't have a lot of luck with refresh but I also wasn't making the refresh a priority. I will ALWAYS do LLSP for Guardians as long as it exists. Let me know if you have questions.

Thank you so much for all these details! It is exactly what I have been wanting someone to post about. It sounds like I need to plan on just getting my guaranteed 3 LLs and consider anything after that gravy . I will keep my expectations low given the crowds and hope to be pleasantly surprised. I hear you on the LLSP for Guardians. That is our favorite ride at WDW right now . Out of curiosity, did you try for the VQ at all for that ride or not worry about that given you had LLSP?

Thanks again for the great info!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Out of curiosity, did you try for the VQ at all for that ride or not worry about that given you had LLSP?

I did not try for the VQ at all. I figured my LLSP would do it for me. I also timed my wait with the SP. The first day, my LL was for 12:15-1:15. I scanned in at 12:10. It took 40 minutes to get through the ride. On Friday, my LL was for 9:10-10:10. I scanned in at 9:05. It took 20 minutes to get through. Both times, the VQ line was much longer. I think I'll stick with just the LLSP if I can get it each time. Yes, it costs more but time is money at Disney sometimes and that $25-$30 can save me 20-40 minutes in line which allows more time for other things.