Visited last week. 10/18-19. My thoughts.

[lotrisneat]

Quick background. We have ALWAYS gone to Disneyland during UEA. Our last trip was four years ago, the previous trip was two years before that. It is me, my DH, DD12, DS10, and DD8. Our first trip we had four days, the last trip was five. This trip, we were only going to have two days at Disneyland due to added first-time visits to Universal Studios and Legoland.

First of all, this was BY FAR the busiest that it has ever been on any of our trips. It was very difficult to move around the park and lines for the most popular attractions easily exceeded 90 minutes and up at various times throughout the days.

Since we only had two days, I decided to splurge for MaxPass, and even though it went down for a few hours on our second day, I do not regret it one bit. Someone on another thread said something about only being able to go on four rides a day. Definitely not true. You just have to plan it right.

We wanted our very first ride to be Indy since our youngest two have never been tall enough to ride it before. We got in the park at about 8:20 (opening was at 8:00) and beelined over there, only to find out that it wasn't open yet. Technical difficulties. So here's our ride order for the beginning of the day.

Jungle Cruise (not only a walkon, but we had an entire boat to ourselves)
PotC (walkon)
Haunted Mansion (walkon)
Splash Mt (walkon)

At this point we checked Indy again. Still down. By now, I have fast passes lined up using MaxPass at Star Tours and Splash Mountain.

Star Tours (FP)
Get a FP for Buzz.
Space (FP)
Finally, Indy seems to be open, so I grab a FP.
Buzz (FP)

The Indy FP isn't valid til 11:25, so we ride the teacups and Small World with short (less than 10 minute) waits.

Indy (FP)

It is now 11:30. We have ridden 10 rides, with the longest wait being for the teacups, about ten minutes. We take a break for lunch at Red Rose Taverne (poutine flatbread and grey stuff were both really good.) While eating, I get a FP for Matterhorn, which we were able to use immediately after lunch. As soon as the FP time arrived, I got a FP for Grizzly River Run.

After the Matterhorn, we headed over to DCA.

GRR (FP)
California Screamin (10 minute wait)
Little Mermaid
GRR (FP)

Grizzly River Run is a family favorite, by the way.

At this point, we headed back to DL. I can't remember the exact order, but the rest of our day included an entire trip around the park on the train, more rides on Matterhorn and Space Mountain, as well as a ride on Autopia. We also got some soup at the Harbour Galley. I'll talk about the next day on the next post.

 

[Butterfly123]

You got a lot done! It just goes to show that even if you visit during a busy time if you start early you can accomplish a lot! I appreciate you sharing that.

 

[lotrisneat]

Okay, day two. We started out at DCA this time, and managed to make it there by opening. As soon as we got in the park, I grabbed a FP for RSR with a return time of 8:30. We did a quick walk on at Soarin', then headed over to Carsland. We hopped on to Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, then rode RSR, snagging a FP for GotG on the way.

We had a bit of time before the GotG FP was valid, so we headed over to meet the Frozen characters, as well as Spider-man. My DH, DS10, and I were the only ones to ride GotG. I have no idea what song I got or what the scenes were. I was too busy trying not to die. I really hate those drops, but wanted to try the new version. Still awful!

After the GotG FP went valid, I immediately pulled one for RSR for 1:30. At that point, the MaxPass went down. I headed over the information and she gave us a multiple experience pass that could be used immediately. So we just headed straight back to RSR. We ate lunch at Flo's(good ribs, by the way), then I actually had to WALK (poor me) over to GRR to grap some FPs manually. The rest of our time at DCS included another ride on Screamin' (short wait), Monsters Inc (maybe 20 mins), GRR, and some time spent at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. We also did Tough to Be a Bug and rode the Chew Chew Train, but I can't remember the order of all of this.

At this point, MaxPass comes back up, and we head back over to DL. We stopped in at Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We had a FP booked for Indy at about 4:30, but when we got there, the ride was down. The cast members told the people ahead of us that the FPs would automatically convert to Multiple Experience passes shortly. As we're sitting there debating whether or not we want to grab food or use the FP for something else, the ride comes back up. So we use the FP to head on in. Meanwhile, I'm grabbing a FP for Space for abut 7:00. Ninety minutes later, I get one for Matterhorn for 6:55. We use that time to do all the FantasyLand Rides. Peter Pan was our longest wait of the entire two days, at 37 minutes. As I'm double-checking our FP times, I notice that we still have a multiple experience pass. Apparently, they gave it to us in addition to the Indy FPs that we had already used. We were able to ride Matterhorn, Space, and Star Tours all in a row with FPs during the busiest part of the day. Then we rode Winnie the Pooh with a five minute wait. We then walked over and did a 30 minute wait for Pirates as our final ride of the day.

So just a few random thoughts:

When we say "Get there early", we mean it! It made a HUGE difference in the number of attractions we were able to ride, especially the first day as we were able to walk on to almost every ride on the left hand side of the park.

Disneyland toilet paper is the worst toilet paper I've ever used. If you have a sensitive butt, bring your own. I'm not even kidding.

MaxPass was soooooo worth it. To be standing in line at Peter Pan and booking FPs for Space Mountain is almost priceless. Also, this was our first time with PhotoPass. I was able to put my camera away during the character meets, and just enjoy the moment with my kids. Also, priceless.

The whole family also agreed that our next visit will not be during Halloween, as that is the only time we've ever been. In particular, I want to experience Space and the Haunted Mansion without the overlays.

Disneyland truly does require several days to enjoy everything. We never saw the parade. The only show type things we did were Mr. Lincoln and Tough to Be a Bug. We never even made it into ToonTown. But with MaxPass and prioritizing, we were able to do our favorites (Indy, Pirates, Space, Star Tours, Matterhorn, Screamin, RSR, and GRR) multiple times. Despite the crowds, we had a GREAT time, and everybody had tons of FUN!

 

[stlm]

We were there on Thursday and Friday (Oct 19-20) and used Maxpass too, totally worth it IMHO.
Extremely crowded, lines 60-75 minutes for TSMM and GG. At Disneyland POTC 45 minutes, but we had Maxpass for almost all the rides.
Been there at te same time previous years as we go for my daughter´s birthday and it was more crowded than before, summer like crowds.
Nice weather though.

 

[az4boys]

We were there 11-14 and it would have been miserable without Maxpass. My kids think I'm pretty awesome because they never had to wait in lines that were clearly over 2 hours long for many big rides.

 

[Mintycake]

Great trip report! And you didn't even use early entry! Both my DH and DD hate lines so Maxpass is a must for us! It sounds even better than the WDW system.

 

[whitneyebz]

Sounds awesome! You guys have all the same favorites we do, it seems. We are still debating about maxpass...it would add another $180 to our trip and I guess it's not much compared to what we have already spent on tickets and hotel, lol. Our first day is a thursday so I am hoping it will be okay to do it the old way for one day and then see how we feel. We will be there 3 full days- the last 2 trips we left early evening on the 3rd day and I just felt like we needed more time! We've only been in late winter, so mid-fall is a new thing for us. We are missing Halloween but we did that on purpose because October is still too hot for us and I was worried about crowds. I'm going to suggest your ride schedule to the family but I hope to see a show and fireworks (we never do because my husband hates that stuff, haha!)

 

[NannyBeBe]

Enjoyed reading your report. I agree about the toilet paper. It disintegrates as you use it. Disgusting. I actually did take my own on our last trip.

 

[lcp9]

We go around the same time every year (day or two before Halloween - couple days after Halloween) and it's always been fine, so all the trip reports have had me thinking maybe crowds have exploded in the last year! Glad to hear it was still manageable - I figured it would be with MP.

Also, we have a bidet at home and I seriously think people must develop rear end calluses and get used to it - because now I cannot stand hotel TP and disneyland isn't much better!!

 

[VandVsmama]

Sounds like you had a great trip! I've been debating about whether or not to pay the extra for Max Pass and after reading your report of how it went, I am pretty certain that it will help keep the Theme Park Fatigue at bay for my DH!