I'm a Southern California AP holder and went on Friday, expecting crowds to be through the roof since it was the last day SCAP holders were allowed before blackouts. I was wrong. Crowds were totally manageable and the ride waits weren't bad. Space Mountain averaged between 30 and 60 minutes when we checked during the day, and the fast pass machines didn't run out everywhere like they usually do on crowded days.
It got me thinking - for the last few years, we have gone during the week when Southern California Select AP holders are blocked, but Southern California passes aren't. We haven't had the terrible crowding experience during that week that the weeks before have reported. So, in my very unscientific experience, it seems the SCSAP's might affect crowd levels more than the SCAP holders do. I tend to see crowding trends like this: if there is an unexpected low crowd during a specific period where large crowds are expected, I see it as my good luck. If it happens two years in a row, I see it as really good luck. If it happens three years in a row or more, I start to see it as a pattern. Just something to think about when planning and checking blockout days.
Star Tours - we made the mistake of getting in line for Star Tours first thing at rope drop, then, about five minutes in, figured we'd be better off getting FP's instead. Bad decision. The FP line was very long as well. So, make sure going in that you have a plan to either get in line for the ride or grab fast passes - don't change your mind in the middle. And I wouldn't advise trying to send someone to the FP line when you get in line for the ride. It is chaos over there with ropes everywhere and very little space to move around. It would be hard to hook up with your party after grabbing the FP's without pushing through the line.
So - we started off with Star Tours. After our little planning faux pas, we were in line for about 40 minutes. Had I stayed in line, however, I still would have been there for about 25. The ride was totally worth the wait.
After that we grabbed fast passes for Space then headed over to Frontier Land for TMRR. We were able to grab fast passes every half hour most of the morning - even on the big wait rides like Indy and Splash. We rode Pirates and HM and then stopped for lunch at Rancho Del Zocalo. Food was freshly made at opening, which made a big difference (but stay away from the cheese enchiladas, they were gross).
We went to DCA and rode Screamin' twice - 10 minute wait. Ariel's was only a 30 minute wait. Goofy's Sky School is Mulholland Madness painted blue. I believe it's the exact same ride, which makes me happy because I loved it. We ended up buying one of those little fan squirt bottles - TOTALLY WORTH IT. GRR was not running and so we headed back to DL.
The rest of the day is kind of a blur. I know we used our fast passes and got more fast passes, did some shopping and lots of snack eating. We ate yummy burgers at Rain Forest Cafe. If you join their safari club, your wait time is cut in half and you get 10% off the meal. Something to consider. Monorail was a crazy wait as they were only running one train (??), so we hoofed it. We rocked out to the Army Band for awhile in DTD and then went back to DCA. Passed on WOC but stayed for Tron and danced our hearts out for a bit before heading back to DL and more fast pass useage.
There were several rides down during the day for short periods - Splash, HM, SM, Matterhorn and GRR. But it didn't impact things much for us. We just moved on to something else and came back.
Sadly, we won't be back until the passes unblock in August when more huge crowds are expected. However, last year we had good luck and there were no crowds, so I'll make sure and report back if my good luck holds this year. Crowds might have been worse in years past because Disney unblocked the passes mid-August rather than late August. Since many local schools are back in session when the passes unblock now, I'm wondering if we might see reduced crowding during that first unblocked week going forward.
Happy summer everyone!
It got me thinking - for the last few years, we have gone during the week when Southern California Select AP holders are blocked, but Southern California passes aren't. We haven't had the terrible crowding experience during that week that the weeks before have reported. So, in my very unscientific experience, it seems the SCSAP's might affect crowd levels more than the SCAP holders do. I tend to see crowding trends like this: if there is an unexpected low crowd during a specific period where large crowds are expected, I see it as my good luck. If it happens two years in a row, I see it as really good luck. If it happens three years in a row or more, I start to see it as a pattern. Just something to think about when planning and checking blockout days.
Star Tours - we made the mistake of getting in line for Star Tours first thing at rope drop, then, about five minutes in, figured we'd be better off getting FP's instead. Bad decision. The FP line was very long as well. So, make sure going in that you have a plan to either get in line for the ride or grab fast passes - don't change your mind in the middle. And I wouldn't advise trying to send someone to the FP line when you get in line for the ride. It is chaos over there with ropes everywhere and very little space to move around. It would be hard to hook up with your party after grabbing the FP's without pushing through the line.
So - we started off with Star Tours. After our little planning faux pas, we were in line for about 40 minutes. Had I stayed in line, however, I still would have been there for about 25. The ride was totally worth the wait.
After that we grabbed fast passes for Space then headed over to Frontier Land for TMRR. We were able to grab fast passes every half hour most of the morning - even on the big wait rides like Indy and Splash. We rode Pirates and HM and then stopped for lunch at Rancho Del Zocalo. Food was freshly made at opening, which made a big difference (but stay away from the cheese enchiladas, they were gross).
We went to DCA and rode Screamin' twice - 10 minute wait. Ariel's was only a 30 minute wait. Goofy's Sky School is Mulholland Madness painted blue. I believe it's the exact same ride, which makes me happy because I loved it. We ended up buying one of those little fan squirt bottles - TOTALLY WORTH IT. GRR was not running and so we headed back to DL.
The rest of the day is kind of a blur. I know we used our fast passes and got more fast passes, did some shopping and lots of snack eating. We ate yummy burgers at Rain Forest Cafe. If you join their safari club, your wait time is cut in half and you get 10% off the meal. Something to consider. Monorail was a crazy wait as they were only running one train (??), so we hoofed it. We rocked out to the Army Band for awhile in DTD and then went back to DCA. Passed on WOC but stayed for Tron and danced our hearts out for a bit before heading back to DL and more fast pass useage.
There were several rides down during the day for short periods - Splash, HM, SM, Matterhorn and GRR. But it didn't impact things much for us. We just moved on to something else and came back.
Sadly, we won't be back until the passes unblock in August when more huge crowds are expected. However, last year we had good luck and there were no crowds, so I'll make sure and report back if my good luck holds this year. Crowds might have been worse in years past because Disney unblocked the passes mid-August rather than late August. Since many local schools are back in session when the passes unblock now, I'm wondering if we might see reduced crowding during that first unblocked week going forward.
Happy summer everyone!
