The customized plans are programmed to optimize your wait time based on the rides you want to ride. Strictly speaking, you may have shorter waits by riding standby in the morning vs. using a LL, so that’s why the computer is directing you to do that.
However, there is an added level of complexity to this that the programming can not easily process: i.e., you may want to get a LL for a headliner later to ride it twice, so you need to maximize the number of LLs you pick up by still booking them in the morning, even if you modify them to later.
This takes in-person practice to get it right. But basically here is what I would do:
Always book a LL as soon as you are eligible. (Take advantage of the 2-hour rule.)
Try to get the higher demand LLs earlier in the day to knock them out. (Use the Order of Priority from the lead post - quoted below)
I usually try to get IJ first thing in the morning because it is often down at park open and converts to an MEP.
Don’t use a LL during the first 1-2 hours the park is open or whenever lines start getting longer. Instead take advantage of shorter standby waits and keep modifying your LLs back if they are coming due.
Use your customized TP as more of a rough guide. Either force it to use LL return times you choose (see the Advanced options) or choose not to use LL for purposes of the plan and consider time you will save via LL as a buffer for snacks, bathroom breaks, gift shopping, etc.
Extra credit: See the La Cava section of the forum for a pinned thread about Drop Times at Disneyland.
Does PotC leaving LL and going back to standby change much in terms of overall strategy? Is it worth worrying about when in the day to ride it now, or is the impact minimal?
Seems like a wash where the penalty may be an extra 10-30 min of waiting (depending on day and time of day), but the benefit is greater flexibility and margin of error with the other LL’s.
DLR regulars, any nuances to this that would be helpful?
LL has been bad for PotC. It has made the standby wait unnecessarily long and kept a large portion of the queue out of the shade. There should still be plenty of times when it has a relatively short wait. It is a good rope drop option if you are not at the front of the pack and want a low-key first ride.
Totally agree with this! I love rope-dropping BTM (which is also relatively low-key and helps you get multiple rides in a day which is always a goal for my kids since it’s one of their favorites) and then hitting up Pirates and JC early on in that first hour. It’s such a low-key morning overall. When HM isn’t on it’s Halloween makeover, it’s also a good option to throw in there to get accomplished within the first couple of hours of park time.
I do tend to avoid New Orleans Square particularly around Pirates after about 11am and if Fantasmic is going, up until about 10-15 minutes before the first show of the night starts. Just before & during the Fantasmic! (usually 9pm-ish) is a great time to catch a very low/walk-on wait for it. BUT you have to be prepared to exit to gridlock traffic if you don’t make it out before the show ends. Then you’re stuck in the worst gridlock of two-way traffic. You can “hideout” in Adventureland in the Junge Cruise queue/Tiki room and even Indy queues if you don’t want to make your way through it.
Or if you make it out before the show is done, get to Bayou Country/Galaxy’s Edge for a much quieter corner. Or if you want to watch FWs but don’t want to stake out a spot, after Fantasmic ends, they do allow people to walk up to the viewing areas to watch fireworks from the Rivers of America and they should be using the same water screens to show projections and you can get a view of the bigger bursts that go off beyond BTM and are easiest to see from closer to the HM side.
Visiting DLR for 2 days next week. Haven’t been for more than 10 years.
Anyway question about the LLPP:
I’m on the fence but leaning towards splurging one day since I’m celebrating my 50th birthday. We will at least do the LLMP and both LLSPs. I was thinking we’ll do the LLMP the first day and see how we do and then decide about the premier pass the next day. I’m planning for the costs so it’s pretty likely we’ll got for it.
Anyway, since if I purchase the LLMP in advance I have to do it for the length of the ticket, does this mean I should wait and purchase it day of? I’m mildly nervous because I would hate to not be able to get either the MP or PP. And we are late night people and there is no way we will get to the parks before 10:30am (Please don’t tell me to go earlier. I will never EVER do a rope drop and I would not enjoy my time there if I had to wake up early).
I saw someone ask about a credit for the LLMP if we upgrade to the PP. Anyone had success getting that? And if not, would I technically have BOTH the MP and PP for the same day? I.e. could I book times for the MP as usual and use the PP separately. Thus enabling me to ride our favorites twice?
Yes this is how it would work. I mean, you could always use PP and MP in conjunction and get two rides in one day. (Yes, this is allowed.)
I’ve never had trouble buying LLMP on the day of, and that’s the case for 99% of days. Unless you are going during Christmas or New Years, etc. you should be fine. But if that’s important for you, get length of ticket.
I don’t know if you can apply the cost of MP to PP. Not a lot of data points for that but seems plausible.
Jeff: I believe you are incorrect in saying you are eligible to book another LL one hour after your window opens. You are only eligible 2 hours after you booked, or upon scanning in, whichever occurs first. Or have I missed a major change? Have you actually booked your next LL less than 2 hours after you booked, other than when you have scanned in?
I’m not able to see what you’re responding to but I think where the 1 hour comes in is if your LL is for less than 2 hours away, you can book a new one as soon as your current one expires (which is one hour after the beginning of the window). That’s kind of a rare situation but not unheard of. Normally you’d try to use the LL before it expires and you’d be able to book a new one then.
That said, I get confused with the differences between WDW and DLR rules, so it’s entirely possible that I am wrong!
I’m inept at understanding how to respond to a post and have it show as a response to the specific one. I was responding to the post that was in list form.
The DL app states you can book your next LL under the 2 circumstances I mention above. If you are correct (and that would be a little trick of the system), one should be able to book IJ at 7:50 for 8:30, and the book the next at 8:31. You’d then modify the IJ booking, unless you can’t modify when you are in the grace period. If that’s the case, I don’t see how your scenario could ever happen. I’m going to try it when I’m there next month, though I’m pretty sure that must be WDW thing. I wish the systems worked the same in both parks! Less confusion.
I have no experience with LL since the last time we bought any skip the line at DLR it was still Maxpass. BUT the situation you’re wondering about was how paper FastPasses worked and how Maxpass worked.
It’s less advantageous because it means, for whatever reason you’re not tapping into to your allotted timeframe for an LL (that 8:30-9:30am IJ in your example), but it also doesn’t penalize you for not showing up for any reason & allows you to cut your losses when the booking + grace period expires, and still allow you to proceed with booking LL’s without holding you hostage to the previous one. This was definitely more useful when there wasn’t any kind of modification (paper FastPasses and Maxpass didn’t have modifications, and I think Genie too).
Now that you have control over modifying an LL when you’re looking at the possiblity of missing the window, it’s less useful.
One big callout for LL is that now you’re only allotted one LL per ride per day, if you entirely miss the window and don’t modify before the grace period, then I’m not sure if they count that against you or not as your ride (I would think not?, but again I’m not sure).
They count it against you and you can’t get another one. That is definitely a good reason not to let a LL expire! Also they are more strict with the grace period for some rides / times. So be careful with this strategy.
I have spent some time searching the posts. But I cant find the answer to the following question:
If I book my first LL at 7:20am on a day that has 7:30am early entry and a 8:00am normal opening. And then I continue to modify that first LL until the evening. Will I be allowed to book my second LL at 9:20am, 9:30am or 10:00am?
No, it hasn’t worked since they switched to the newest version of Lightning Lanes. But drop times work like a charm and makes it easy to get on all the LL rides.
I was responding to the post that was in list form.