Extra Magic Hour-but not for me

Update: Interestingly, the Disneyland calendar says that both Friday (8am) and Saturday (7am) are Extra Magic Hour at DCA. (Disneyland just opens at 8 both days). So I may be at a disadvantage either way.

Hello,
I’m planning to visit June 9 & 10. Crowd predictor is a 6 for Friday 6/9 and a 7 for Sat. 6/10. I was leaning towards going to DCA on the Friday and DL on the Saturday but that would have me going to each park on days that there were Extra Magic Hours that I will not qualify for.

Does getting in after some have had a head start negate the lower predicted crowds?

Also, both days are grad nights, is that going to be madness?

-Christine

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We are dealing with the same issues! Our trip is June 14th to 21st. Three grad nights in there and still trying to put together each day. We have been looking and grad night seems like it will not be an issue. Especially if you plan the parks right. More teens in the park for sure, but when you engage with them, teens end up being a lot like the rest of us! Just finding their way while having a good time. I will admit both DW and DH are school employees! And we have three teens! But we all know kids cause we’ve been there right?!? I’m betting grad night will be easy because folks are avoiding the teens…perfect!

Regarding early entry…it will make a difference, but if you cannot make it then you just go! It will still be as totally awesome as you make it! We have had great times without taking advantage of magic/early mornings! Hope your trip is great!

I would swap your days, do DL on Friday and DCA on Saturday. You really need to avoid early entry days if you cannot participate. Both parks are now distributing fastpasses during early entry, for those with access. This is causing even more of a backlog for those who enter behind them. With the opening of GOTG this past weekend, things are really crazy in DCA right now (hence the predictions of 9’s and 10’s). The crowd calendar has been way off for almost 2 years now, many days are 2 levels above what was predicted. There is hardly a difference between a 6 and a 7 or a 9 and a 10. It is much more important to be there early, with a good plan, and not behind the early entry folks if at all possible.
As for Grad Nights, the Grads tend to hang out in DL most of the day, and then head to DCA at night since they get to stay there long after the park closes to the regular guests. We had no issues when we were there during them, but did try to do headliners early in the day since they tend to overwhelm those rides later in the day. Have fun!

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Hello @Wahoohokie, thanks for the heads up. Just to clarify as we have not been back since 2015, Fastpass are now available during early entry? The current plans/book do not reflect that so I wanted to make sure (unless I missed it! I’ll look again tonight!). Mostly concerned because that will change how we work our days. Thanks again! I look forward to hearing back!

FPs are not available during early entry. For some rides, like RSR, people will line up, but they don’t pass them out until opening.

@dukes2disney and @lmbc, this is a new thing that has been going on for a few weeks. Disney is absolutely letting onsite guests get fastpasses during early entry now. Yesterday there were FP’s available during EMH at DCA for Soarin, TSMM, and GOTG for onsite guests. Most of us Liners are over on DLR chat, it is much more active than the DL stuff here on Forum. I suggest you head over there to read and ask questions, as the info is much more up to date there.
There have been quite a few changes lately, World of Color is the ONLY fastpass you can now have with another FP. Buzz can no longer be gotten at the same time as another. The 2 parks have been connected recently, so you can no longer hold fast passes in both parks. Toy Story and Matterhorn now have fastpasses. I am happy to answer any questions you have if you decide not to head over to Chat. That is where the current day to day changes are announced though.

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@Wahoohokie - Thanks for the update. That is really new, as we were just there in March/April. That confirms, not going to the park with EMH is a better bet too. I can see that the resort is making more of an effort to add benefits to stay onsite.

I can read the DLR chat outside of the app? I only use the app when I am actually at the park. I really dislike having to use my phone all the time for it.

Yes, just go to www.touringplans.com, click Disneyland at the top, then under the Lines tab choose Disneyland browser app, then click on DLR chat. Easy to do on a computer, and much easier to read!

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I found it! Thanks!

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Great info! Thank you very much. I am also heading to the DLR chat. I appreciate the pointers!

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Interestingly, the Disneyland calendar says that both Friday (8am) and Saturday (7am) are Extra Magic Hour at DCA. (Disneyland just opens at 8 both days). So I may be at a disadvantage either way.