Which side would you start on?

[midnight star]

My aunt and I will be going to the parks on the Fourth of July. She will be using the discounted 1 day hopper tickets I can buy with my annual pass, so it won't be a multi day trip for her. This particular day, DCA has MM/EMH.

I've read on a few threads here, that it is best to start on the side that doesn't have MM/EMH. However, this week when I was stalking the app, I noticed that the fastpasses on DCA run out much faster than DL. So with that said, would it be a good idea to start at DCA on this day even though there is MM/EMH to try and get everything done early on? Do those who do MM/EMH also have early access to Maxpass? We are only interested in RSR, Guardians, Soarin' and maybe TSMM. I will for sure add maxpass to her ticket (I have it on my pass already). Since it is a holiday, I am planning on the parks to be pretty busy.

Also adding to the craziness, we have an 11:50 am reservation for Blue Bayou. I wanted a later reservation, but my aunt knows she will be hungry by 11. So I know we are going to have to hustle in the morning. After lunch, we are planning to do DL and stay for Fireworks.

 

[Winnowill]

Assuming that DL regular open and DCA EMH start at the same time (which is usually the case), I'd start at DL. You can start getting DCA FPs as soon as you scan into DL, putting you at the same level, FP-wise, as the EMH people. Spend the hour doing some of the short waits in Fantasyland, then move over to DCA when it opens.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I'd start at DL but start booking DCA FPs once they hit mid-afternoon, and head over there then.

This depends a bit on what you want to do at DCA, and of course, DCA FPs are about to change up quite a bit once Incredicoaster is added and TSMM is back to full-time.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

To expand on that: what we usually do is start at DL and hit Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Big Thunder, maybe Star Tours (often throwing Buzz in there) in the morning, when the FP return time wait is minimal. (My daughter is too short for Indiana Jones, so that's not in our rotation). If you can get an 8:30 Space Mountain return, then you can easily knock all of those out in a couple of hours of FP usage, with Fantasyland and things like Pirates or Jungle Cruise thrown in between your FP return times. (You could also book Indiana Jones FP 1st and then do Space with single rider?) Space and IJ are the only two that will run "late" in the morning; most of the rest of those will have return times within an hour for the first hour or two. Keep in mind that you can scan in up to 5 minutes earlier than the time listed and pull a new FP immediately.

Anyway, we usually have FPs for all that stuff above in a couple of hours, at which point I'll pull RSR (which will usually be for mid-afternoon by then), and then I incur a "90 minute wait" and move over to pulling DCA rides (at the moment, GOTG is always our next priority). If you're lucky, Incredicoaster and RSR will both be popular and keep FP return times from spiraling late super fast, but that strategy may need to change depending how Incredicoaster changes FPs over there.

Keep in mind that DCA only has 5 FP rides at the moment, and one of them is Grizzly, which is one of the least popular FP rides at either park. Incredicoaster and TSMM will bump that up to 7, and those two should be quite popular, so it will be interesting to see how FP availability plays out.

But yeah, for sure start at DL, which is so much more manageable in the morning! Since you can pull FPs for either park, there's no FP advantage to starting at DCA.

 

[smartlabelprint]

What ap do you have? Can you go in dL?

 

[midnight star]

Thanks for the responses! Looks like I'll change my game plan to start at DL that day. After the pier opens next week, I'll stalk the app again and see how the fastpass situation goes with more rides in the mix! My aunt got sick on the roller coaster when it was California Screamin', so that means Incredicoaster is out! So that takes away one popular ride we aren't going to do.

 

[midnight star]

What ap do you have? Can you go in dL?

Yes! I have the signature plus pass!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Yes! I have the signature plus pass!

Awesome! With their last minute date changes...

 

[midnight star]

Assuming that DL regular open and DCA EMH start at the same time (which is usually the case), I'd start at DL. You can start getting DCA FPs as soon as you scan into DL, putting you at the same level, FP-wise, as the EMH people. Spend the hour doing some of the short waits in Fantasyland, then move over to DCA when it opens.

yes they both open at 8 am that day!

 

[midnight star]

Awesome! With their last minute date changes...

The unblocking of some of the dates? Yes! That was shocking. I have friends with those passes. They were happy to get unblocked, but since they thought they would be, they made other plans and can't take advantage of it lol