Disneyland Planning - Itinerary and Maxpass
So as I mentioned above we are planning to get annual passes since we will be spending 9 days at Disneyland Resort, and this is the cheaper option. We will be adding on the Maxpass option. I really feel like it's good value for money as it includes all photos taken in the parks. Plus I like the idea of being able to have a short head start over people trying to rush for that first Fastpass of the day. And lastly, I'm lazy and I like the idea of being able to book Fastpasses without going anyway, while I'm in line, while I'm at lunch or while I'm on the loo (just wondering - has anyone actually ever done that with Maxpass!
).
We plan to use our own data in the parks because I don't really want to rely on park wifi too much. I have no idea if it's improved in the 4 years since we were there, but I'm going to guess not. Luckily, our carrier Vodafone allow us to use our standard plan on international roaming for only an extra $5 per day. We have 18G data per month so I'm hoping this will carry us over our time at Disneyland.
I had to do a bit of research on Maxpass, since I've never used it before. For those of you who haven't either here's what I discovered about it's use:
- You can start making Maxpass selections once you have scanned your park ticket into the park for the day, through the Disneyland App
- You can make Maxpasses for either park no matter which park you are located in when making the booking
- If Disneyland opens an hour earlier than DCA you can make Maxpasses for DCA, even though it's not yet open, after you scan your park ticket into Disneyland
- Once you have scanned your park ticket for the day you can make Maxpasses even if you leave the Disneyland Resort area. This was a great surprise to me and exciting, as we can book Fastpasses while resting in the afternoons at our hotel, if need be
- World of Color and Fantasmic have recently been added to Maxpass as Maxpass options. They were the only 2 paper Fastpasses we were going to be required to get and having them without Maxpass definitely frees up time!
Those of you who've used Maxpass, is there anything else significant that I should know about it? I vaguely remember reading somewhere that you have to take note of your "you can get your next Maxpass at X" time because it doesn't show on your Maxpass bookings, but does appear when you make the booking. Am I recalling this correctly or did I make this up in my mind (I can't find where I read it)? Also, those of you who have annual passes and use Maxpass, how do you link your annual pass tickets into the Disneyland App or account? Does it automatically link if you purchase while signed into your account? (these may be dumb questions but am just trying to work out how it all works!)
Anyway, Maxpass is going to be a huge help to use hopefully beating the Galaxy's Edge crowds. The other thing we will be doing is AVOIDING the park with early entry first thing in the morning as we don't have access to it. And of course, we will be showing up an hour before opening to try and beat Star Wars crowds and at least have a reasonable wait time for one of those two attractions first thing in the morning. There are still two unknowns for me here though:
- Whether or not Rise of the Resistance will be open by early October. I've heard a lot of speculation that it will be open around June when the "reservation" or as some are calling it "soft openings" are done. Others are speculating it has huge problems and could be delayed a few months. Disney's wording "later in 2019" is super =vague and annoying though and I know I will be super disappointed if I don't get to see this attraction when we visit. So fingers crossed it is open (also if anyone has heard any rumours about it's opening I'd love to hear them)
- When Disney will add Fastpass to the new attractions. I have a theory that they MAY do this once Rise of the Resistance opens. Or that Rise of the Resistance will open with FP but Millenium Falcon may not have it for a while. I'm aware the Falcon attraction has a pretty low hourly capacity, so this makes sense to me. But who knows!
I've pretty much made all my plans RE galaxy's edge under 2 assumptions. 1, that Rise of the Resistance will be open and 2, that neither attraction will offer Fastpass. So of course they may change if ROTR doesn't open, or if one or either of the attractions get Fastpass queues before we visit.
Anyway, onto the Itineraries. We are visiting over 9 days so there are quite a few. Any Disneyland locals, please let me know if you think I've missed anything important that I should be including. FYI there are plenty of "classic" Disney attractions that we don't feel are worth repeating (I'm sorry Disney purists). I'm fairly certain we've done every attraction at least once, bar the Finding Nemo Subs, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and The Enchanted Tiki Room (I don't know why, but these attractions have never appealed to me). Oh, forgot to mention, our friends Todd and Kim will be joining us at the parks from Monday 7 October - Wednesday 9 October)
One other thing, does anyone know if the Incredicoaster still has a standalone FP option (i.e. it's not tied to the regular system). It used to when it was California Screamin' and when Disneyland only offered paper Fastpass, but I'm not sure if this is the case anymore?
Itinerary - Thursday, 3 October 2019 - DCA (evening only)
ESTIMATED HOURS: DCA: 8:00am - 10:00pm
- Rest until dinner time
- Watch the Sh-Boom Lights turning on in Carsland
- BLUE HOUR NIGHT PHOTOS - Carsland, DCA
Itinerary - Friday, 4 October 2019 - Disneyland (morning) - DCA (evening)
ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland: 8:00am - 7:00pm, DCA: 8:00am - 10:00pm
- Arrive at park 1 hour before opening
- Peter Pan's Flight - Get Space Mountain FP
- Alice in Wonderland
- Storybook Canal Boats
- Mad Hatters Tea Party
- Space Mountain (with FP) - get Indiana Jones FP
- Matterhorn
- Indiana Jones (with FP) - Get Big Thunder Mountain FP
- 11:45am showing of Mickey and the Magic Map
- Big Thunder Mountain (with FP)
- REST - 1:00pm - 4:30pm
- DINNER: Wine Country Trattoria
- BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - DCA
Itinerary - Saturday, 5 October 2019 - DCA (All Day)
ESTIMATED HOURS: DCA: 8:00am - 10:00pm
- Arrive at DCA 30 minutes before opening
- Radiator Racers - Get Guardians of the Galaxy FP
- Toy Story Midway Mania
- Ride Guardians of the Galaxy (with FP) - Get Soarin FP
- Ride Grizzly River Run
- Ride Soarin (with FP) - Get Incredicoaster FP
- The Little Mermaid
- Silly Symphony Swings
- Incredicoaster (with FP)
- LUNCH: Pacific Wharf Cafe
- REST - 1:30pm - 4:30pm
- DINNER: Carthay Circle
- SUNSET/ BLUE HOUR/ NIGHT PHOTOS - DCA
Itinerary - Sunday, 6 October 2019 - Disneyland (evening only)
ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 12:00am
- MORNING REST
- DINNER: Blue Bayou
- SUNSET / BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - Disneyland (and Galaxy's Edge)
Itinerary - Monday, 7 October 2019 - Disneyland (ALL DAY)
ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 10:00pm
- Todd and Kim will be joining us from today for 3 days - Arrive at Disneyland 1 hour before opening
- Rise of the Resistance
- Millennium Falcon
- Explore Galaxy's Edge - Get Big Thunder Mountain FP
- Ride Splash Mountain (SR)
- Ride Big Thunder Mountain (with FP)
- LUNCH: Cafe Orleans
- REST - 2:30pm - 4:30pm
- DINNER: Galactic Grill
- SUNSET / BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - Disneyland
Itinerary - Tuesday, 8 October 2019 - Disneyland (ALL DAY) - Mickey's Halloween Party night
ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 6:00pm - Halloween Party to 12pm, DCA : 8:00am - 9:00pm
- Radiator Racers - Get Guardians of the Galaxy FP
- Grizzly River Run
- Guardians of the Galaxy (with FP)
- Toy Story Midway Mania - Get Incredicoaster FP
- Incredicoaster - Get Soarin FP
- Pixar Pal-A-Round
- Ariel's Undersea Adventure
- LUNCH: Paradise Garden Grill
- Soarin (with FP)
- REST - 1:30pm - 4:30pm
- Mickey's Halloween Party from 5pm - DINNER: Carnation Cafe
- Indiana Jones (SR)
- Space Mountain
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Splash Mountain (SR)
- Cadavar Dans on Rivers of America - 8:00pm
- Fireworks - 9:30pm
- Frightfully Fun Parade - 10:30pm
Itinerary - Wednesday, 9 October 2019 - DCA / Disneyland (Day) - Disneyland (evening)
ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 11:00pm, DCA : 8:00am - 10:00pm
- Arrive at Disneyland 1 hour before opening
- Rise of the Resistance
- Haunted Mansion Holiday - Get Star Tours FP
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Splash Mountain
- Star Tours (with FP)
- To DCA - Photos
- LUNCH: Flo's V8 Cafe
- Photos DCA
- Frozen - Live at the Hyperion - 2:20pm
- Photos Disneyland
- Dapper Dans - 4:30pm
- DINNER: Galaxy's Edge - Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo
- SUNSET / BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - Disneyland
Itinerary - Thursday 10, October 2019 - DCA / Disneyland (Day) - Disneyland (evening)
ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 12:00pm, DCA : 8:00am - 10:00pm
- Arrive at DCA late - about 10:00am
- Get Radiator Racer's FP
- Ride Indiana Jones (SR)
- Ride Space Mountain - Get Star Tours FP
- Ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasers
- LUNCH: Hearthstone Lounge
- Star Tours (with FP)
- Watch Main Street Pianist
- Radiator Racers (with FP)
- Day Photos - Disneyland
- DINNER: River Belle Terrace
- SUNSET / BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - Disneyland
Itinerary - Friday, 4 October 2019 - Disneyland / DCA (Day)
ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 12:00pm, DCA : 8:00am - 12:00pm
- Arrive at Disneyland 1 hour before opening
- Rise of the Resistance - Get Radiator Racers FP
- Space Mountain
- Indiana Jones (SR)
- Splash Mountain (SR) - Get Soarin FP
- Radiator Racers (with FP) - Get Grizzly River Run FP
- Soaring (with FP)
- Incredicoaster (SR) - Get Matterhorn FP
- Grizzly River Run (with FP)
- LUNCH: Plaza Inn - Get Haunted Mansion FP
- Matterhorn (with FP)
- Haunted Mansion (with FP)
- Star Tours
- DINNER: Hungry Bear Restaurant
- 6:30pm - meet transfer at hotel and head to airport
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