Last Minute, First Time Disneyland Trip - Now What?!?!

OMG!!! U guys just keep the awesomeness coming the further i read down the post!!! Your breakdown of the hotel situation is 2nd to none and will be my starting point.

No worries! I neglected to mention that we’re planning a trip to DL with the larger family in 2022. So whatever we don’t hit during this trip, definitely will be able to enjoy during our circle back.

After reading through every1’s post, i’m seriously thinking about renting another stroller depending on how close i can score our hotel. To be continued…

Totally get it. The whole concern based on my original question around park hopping was waisting money… I would hate to buy it and not use it which would bother me as much as not buying it, feeling limited, & wishing i had. Followup questions to this - If the predicted crowd levels are 2 - 5, & i choose not to park hop, what’s the chances that we won’t be able to score a BG for RotR/WS? And, if i customize a touring plan, do they take into consideration park hopping to optimize time/attractions?

VERY good advise. Thanks!

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Ditto - hope your trip exceeds ALL expectations!

@Jeff_AZ definitely realizing that DLR doesn’t get as much love here. :pleading_face:
But, for those of u who do show love, your advice is truly invaluable!

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So does this mean u cannot secure fastpasses via the DLR app? Only thru the MaxPass app?

VERY good to know.

Which brings up another question, does securing fastpasses the same day bump up against trying to secure BG’s? And if so, how do u suggest we maneuver through that conundrum?

iirc DLR didn’t have FP’s through their app. It was paper through distribution points only.

Maxpass is a paid option where you do the FP’s through the Disneyland app. It includes unlimited photo pass picture downloads as well.

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Oh goody! This really does make my heart sing. It’s a smaller footprint to be sure and doesn’t have the grandiose factor of the 4 WDW park icons, but it’s home & dear to my heart so I love to see all Disney die-hard fans see it (and return if/when they can).

As long as you read up on the awesome thread for how to obtain a BG, and prioritize being available when the BGs drop I think you’re very near certain to score a BG at least once each day. Without hoppers, if you get a BG at 7am then you’ll be free to forget about the noon drop. And if by some fluke/glitch/error you don’t get a BG at 7am, even without hoppers you’ll have the noon drop as a back-up.

What hoppers add are the ability to maximize the number of times attempts if you are lucky enough to score a BG 7am and have it be a low enough number to be scanned in before noon (thereby freeing you up to try again at noon). So if you are ok with a max of riding one on each day (and having a 2nd attempt at a BG available for that opportunity), then you can forgo the hoppers. And knowing that you’ll be back, unless you have huge Marvel/Star Wars fans, I think it would be ok to de-prioritize these somewhat. But they are well worth trying for IMHO.

Unfortunately, no. However, the plans at DLR are much less reliable and aside from hitting a few of the big E-tickets early on in the day, can be used as much more of a checklist while you use the DL app to look at wait times and go where the low posted waits are. It’s hard to fathom after planning WDW so well, but it really does work that well and gives you a lot of flexibility in the execution of your plan. I still make TP after TP with copious notes to myself on what steps to start checking the conditions on-the-ground/wait times on the app and adjust accordingly.

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What @Bubblez said about MaxPass/fastpass. Without paying for it you can only do the machines with paper. Paying for it allows your Disneyland app to do it.

Technically you have an hour grace period with both fastpass and BG so you should be able to swing both even if they have the same period. However, what I’d do is screenshot everything from your BG to your FP and if a breakdown or slow BG or FP line prevents you from making it you can explain the situation to the cast member. And if you have photographic evidence it helps your case.

Also I’d take any risks with the FP attraction over the BG attraction since FP attractions always have standby worst case.

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Following along as well, as we have a one-day possible trip planned in a few weeks, as we are bringing our daughter back out to school in mid-August. Last time we were there was summer of 2012 during the grand opening of Carsland / Radiator Springs. Really planning to focus on one full day in Disneyland this time around.

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When FP were available the grace period for FP was most definitely only 15 min after (I believe once upon a time it was way more lenient but that was not our experience from 2014-2019). I’ve had more than a few CMs chide me and often ask what happened, why are you late while I’m attempting to herd children to the FP line (after having rushed them out of their strollers at the stroller parking to hustle to the FP line) if we arrive anytime after 15 min from the end of our window.

I would definitely prioritize the BG attraction if there is a conflict. And you can always let any CM who assists with rider switch/FP scanning (i.e. holding one of the pads that will scan them onto your tickets) that there is a conflict and depending on their willingness, they may accommodate by shifting around one or the other timeframe.

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I meant that both FP and BG have one hour time windows. I mentioned earlier the 15 min grace period at the end and 5 min early one. But yes it’s just 15 min over that 1 hour windows. :slight_smile:

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Ahh, ok. Gotcha! I am anxious to figure out what they roll out once they bring paid FPs in. I don’t believe it will be Maxpass/FP how we had it, but I will be pleasantly surprised if that’s what they institute.

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Me too, I love MaxPass but do not like WDW’s last version.

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Good to know. Thanks!