I’m new to this section of the forum, just back from a trip to WDW and UOR and thinking about a road trip to California next April to include a short trip to DLR.
I’m just trying to get my head around the Max Pass system. - What do you all think of it? How does it work? Are there any Liner tips for how to get the best from it?
How good is the Wifi at DLR? It was very unreliable at WDW and I don’t want to pay the extra money for 5 of us to find I can’t actually get on to the app to book the fast passes!
We visited DRL last October, and used the MaxPass for our family.
It was a definite game changer for its convenience and reliability.
We had no issues with WiFi at DL or CA.
You don’t have to pre book Fps 60 or even 30 days out.
App is easy to use.
It’s worth the extra money because you can get a FastPass wherever you are instead of running all over the park.
It’s California Chill!
We are spoiled and will not do DL without MP now. As @Hoopsters says, it really is a game changer. It is very reliable with wifi, however the app will suck your battery dry! Make sure you bring a portable charger. If you are having any difficulties, go to Guest services and they will get you squared away. Once in a while the app can be a little glitchy, but a uninstall/re-install usually takes care of it. In the nearly 2 years I have used it, I have only had to that once or twice. I recommend that everyone go on YouTube before they go and watch a video tutorial. It makes it a bit more understandable.
My usual strategy is to enter the park, step to the side and purchase MP (I don’t have to do that now, as I added to my AP) and select our first FP. Then we do our hour of EE/EMH (we usually stay on site) and then head over to our first FP once the lines start to build. Once we scan into our first FP, I select our next one and so on… If you get a FP more than 90 minutes out, you can select another FP at 90 minutes (sometimes sooner, so make sure to take note of when you can get your next fp and maybe even set a reminder or take a screenshot of when you can make your next fp).
Also in addition to being able to make a FP where ever you are in the parks, you can also make Fps from your hotel room or where ever, as long as you have already scanned into the parks.
My experience has been a little different. MaxPass can be a good value, and I agree it’s a game changer, but for 5 people at $15/person/day it really adds up. There are so many factors that go into it. I’ve found that the greatest advantage to using MP occurs if you are able to be there for RD and start pulling MP right away. I had a day where I didn’t enter the parks until between 11 am and noon (it was my arrival day). On that day, I was only able to pull 2 MP because of the attractions I selected and the times that were available. By 3 pm, all of the MP were gone because they were all distributed. I have friends who have complained about similar experiences when going to Anaheim for conventions and not bring able to enter the parks until later in the day.
MP is convenient and gives you a small time advantage, but you can still obtain fast passes the old fashioned way by scanning your ticket at a distribution location, this can increase the amount you walk, but the app does list what fast pass times are available so you can plan around this.
My experience with WiFi in the parks is that it is unreliable. I will at times turn off the WiFi on my phone because it’s draining the battery searching for a WiFi connection. Now it may be that I’m just going to the parks at the wrong the of year (summer, Christmas, and spring break).
Timing is everything…We loved the MP during our visit in early October 2018. We never entered the park before 11am and were able to get Fps for all attractions we wanted with the ease of the MP. $15/pp can hurt. It was just the 3 of us for two days so we found it worth it.
We will be there in April, not sure when exactly as we haven’t got flights yet and then we’ll need to work out whether we should do our Disney days at the beginning or end of our trip. I’m at the very beginning of researching this trip but I don’t think we’ll get more than a 3 day ticket.
Our boys will be 11, 12 and 15 at this point so I think they will be interested in SWGE and the attractions that are not in WDW or DLP, as well as Space and BTMRR. As time will be shortish I thought MaxPass might be worth it despite the additional cost.
Although we are not generally morning people the time difference coming from the UK makes it easier to rope drop! Do you use the first hour or so to do rides which don’t have FP? Or try to to get multiple rides on the ones that do?!
I like the idea of not having to organise everything so far in advance but I’m struggling to get my head around how to tour the DLR parks after WDW!
Thanks for all your help, I imagine I’ll be back with lots more questions
This isn’t MP related, but here it is anyway: I found DL’s Early Morning Magic and Extra Magic Hour to be a little confusing. Here’s the rundown:
Extra Magic Hour is only for guests staying at one of the 3 DL hotels. This privilege means they can get into a park one hour early on each day of their visit. DL offers the early admission Tues, Thurs and Sat. DCA offers it Mon, Wed, Fri and Sun.
Magic Morning is available to anyone who buys a 3 day (or more) park pass, and it is ONLY for DL on Tues, Thurs and Sat.
I definitely agree that for a short trip, especially if you won’t be coming back for a long, long time again, you should absolutely get MaxPass!
The best tip I have of it is to pay attention to the one sentence “This party can make their next FP selection” (or something close to that wording) and set an alarm on your phone for that time so it doesn’t go by un-noticed. As soon as that time comes up, make your next FP selection (you don’t need to scan in to whatever other FPs you have even if their windows have just started) and if you follow this instruction you can stack several FPs (it’s not uncommon to have 2-4, and it’s possible to have more if anything goes down & turns into a Multiple Experience pass that is good for the rest of the day on any attraction listed usually within the same park as the FP that you got). Also, know that you can continue to make FPs if you leave for a midday break- there’s literally no range on it so long as you have scanned in your park ticket for the day you can make them from anywhere later in the day. The you get to come back to a later afternoon/evening with some guaranteed attractions.
As for WiFi, I find the network to be very spotty, incomplete & usually turn it off so as to avoid my phone battery draining searching for it constantly and I do find the app works for me slightly better without the WiFi. That being said, if you need the WiFi (if international), then it’s definitely doable & the app does list WiFi hubs (I think under Guest Relations) so you can scope those out & work to be near those if the WiFi isn’t cooperating when you are not at hubs. Also bring some charging power with you to keep your phone battery through the day (the Fuel Rods in the park are a great option as they are easy to carry around & can be exchanged your whole trip anytime one is low & you need a full one).
This weekend I think it would’ve needed to be an Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy signal of some sort as we were powering through all the Marvel movies we have missed these last few years so we can watch Endgame in theaters before we hear a spoiler!
We’ve finished watching all of the Avengers movies and I don’t know if I could really tell you anything that would be akin to a summoning signal. They just kind of all get together & cause mayhem while saving the world/universe.
