When do you NOT need Maxpass? Please help with planning families first trip!

Kristin Weiss

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Hi guys! My apologies as I low there are probably multiple posts on Maxpass. I’m new on the boards. My family of 4 are going to Disneyland for 5 days next June, and I need help figuring out if we really need to spend the extra money for Maxpass. Out of the attractions offered for Maxpass, our kids would only be interested in a couple. Also, my husband would have to switch off on big rides with single rider to ride things like Space, Indy, Guardians, and Incredicoaster. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like Single Rider lines would be best for us over Maxpass? Also, I feel like being there for 5 days will allow us to experience all the attractions we want without Maxpass. Any thoughts? I would love some advice. Thank you!
 
No one NEEDS Maxpass, its a convenience which some people feel is worth paying for. I don't use Maxpass, I use the free Fastpass kiosks. You can still get the same Fastpass for the rides with the free kiosks. As you will be there 5 days, you will have plenty of time. I usually do 3 days, 1 park per day, 2 days in the main park and 1 day in California Adventures.

Its perfectly ok to not get Maxpass, and you will still have a great time. Save the money and use it for other things :)
 
I agree w BPTink. A great visit is completely possible w/out MaxPass. I have a family of 4 and getting MP really adds up the dollars. I only do it if we have a short visit (1 or 2 days) during a heavy crowds time of year. With a longer visit, you will be able to ride all of your favs multiple times. And yes single rider is something your husband should absolutely exploit. If you want to hedge your bets, buy tickets now without MP. Then see how the first few days go. You can always add it for your last day or two if you feel you need to.
 
We have small children... ages 3 and 8, and the 8 year old doesn’t like the “scarier” rides like Space, Matterhorn, and pretty much 90% of the rides at California Adventure for which you can use MaxPass. So, we rarely add it. However, this last trip it was SUPER crowded, and we bought it both days because we were able to use it on Haunted Mansion Holiday, IASW, Buzz etc because it was that crowded. Plus my mom was with us and so the adults used it for Space etc. The lines were so long, it would’ve been a difficult trip without MaxPass. It’s really valuable, in my opinion, at California Adventure if your family will ride most of those attractions, or if you want to FP World of Color or Fantasmic at Disneyland.

If you are going at peak times with special holiday overlays like Haunted Mansion Holiday or IASW or you want to see WOC or Fantasmic, it’s may worth it. But we’ve done at least four trips without it and done everything we wanted. I definitely wouldn’t add it before arrival and I’d see how your days play out before purchasing!
 


Thank you so much for the advice guys. I really appreciate it. 🤩 I went ahead and already bought tickets before any potential price increases, and we’ll see how we do without the Maxpass. I think we’ll be fine, but I wanted to ask others! Thanks!
 
The good thing about buying the tickets like you did without MP is you can always add it if you think/find you do need it and only for those days you want/need it. So you are not stuck paying for it on days you don't want it/don't need it. So instead of spending $300 for MP for the entire trip you might only get it for one or two days and spend $60-120 on it for you family. Not only that if you do decided you want it for the entire trip later you are not paying for it now and kept $300 in your bank account.
 
The good thing about buying the tickets like you did without MP is you can always add it if you think/find you do need it and only for those days you want/need it. So you are not stuck paying for it on days you don't want it/don't need it. So instead of spending $300 for MP for the entire trip you might only get it for one or two days and spend $60-120 on it for you family. Not only that if you do decided you want it for the entire trip later you are not paying for it now and kept $300 in your bank account.
Yup, and you can choose which days you want to add it. If it seems to be a slower day, you can just pull paper FPs (the free option) and still utilize the FastPass system without the other perks of MaxPass.
 


Hi guys! My apologies as I low there are probably multiple posts on Maxpass. I’m new on the boards. My family of 4 are going to Disneyland for 5 days next June, and I need help figuring out if we really need to spend the extra money for Maxpass. Out of the attractions offered for Maxpass, our kids would only be interested in a couple. Also, my husband would have to switch off on big rides with single rider to ride things like Space, Indy, Guardians, and Incredicoaster. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like Single Rider lines would be best for us over Maxpass? Also, I feel like being there for 5 days will allow us to experience all the attractions we want without Maxpass. Any thoughts? I would love some advice. Thank you!
I would like to add to the above comments...

While MP is mainly for acquiring a digital FP to certain rides, remember it also includes Ride and Photos taken by park photographers.

If you do not feel the need for the entire family to have MP on a specific day, I recommend at least one ticket purchase MP in order to gather photos for the day.

$15 for all ride photos and pics taken by park photographers is a bargain in my book.

Happy Planning!!!
 
I would like to add to the above comments...

While MP is mainly for acquiring a digital FP to certain rides, remember it also includes Ride and Photos taken by park photographers.

If you do not feel the need for the entire family to have MP on a specific day, I recommend at least one ticket purchase MP in order to gather photos for the day.

$15 for all ride photos and pics taken by park photographers is a bargain in my book.

Happy Planning!!!
Thanks for the tip! I may do that! 🤩
 
We are a family of 4 with a daughter with disabilities. We only get Maxpass for my husband and my son (8). They are the only ones who really "use" it to it's max potential. I say go and spend a day or two without it. If you have a kid who is super into the big ticket rides and may want to take advantage of it, then consider adding it at that time.
 
I had the same doubt about MaxPass as you - that most of the attractions are not small kid friendly. However, I found it to be super valuable for being able to get a few key rides with less stress:

- Radiator Springs Racers - it was so nice to grab a Fastpass for this one immediately after going through the turnstiles, rather than having to run over there to get it. You could even be inside Disneyland (not DCA) and grab it.
- Small World - not sure what standby lines are there but it was nice to be able to grab FP for it from our midday break at the hotel
- Buzz Lightyear - ugh, I kind of despise this ride, but my kid loves it

And then there’s a few rides that have maxpass but don’t have single rider (Haunted Mansion as an example) which might come in handy for you.

You also get a shorter window for getting an additional FP lined up (90 minutes). When we were on our midday break, I lined up a few while we were swimming by keeping on top of the 90 minute rule. When we went back to the park we had 2-3 lined up for us.

But as others have said, the great thing about Disneyland is that you don’t have to have it. You’ll have a great time either way!
 
I had the same doubt about MaxPass as you - that most of the attractions are not small kid friendly. However, I found it to be super valuable for being able to get a few key rides with less stress:

- Radiator Springs Racers - it was so nice to grab a Fastpass for this one immediately after going through the turnstiles, rather than having to run over there to get it. You could even be inside Disneyland (not DCA) and grab it.
- Small World - not sure what standby lines are there but it was nice to be able to grab FP for it from our midday break at the hotel
- Buzz Lightyear - ugh, I kind of despise this ride, but my kid loves it

And then there’s a few rides that have maxpass but don’t have single rider (Haunted Mansion as an example) which might come in handy for you.

You also get a shorter window for getting an additional FP lined up (90 minutes). When we were on our midday break, I lined up a few while we were swimming by keeping on top of the 90 minute rule. When we went back to the park we had 2-3 lined up for us.

But as others have said, the great thing about Disneyland is that you don’t have to have it. You’ll have a great time either way!
You bring up some good points! Definitely something to think about. I’m glad I bought the tickets without the MP for now. It’ll be much clearer when we get there if we need it or not. Thank you!
 
We have a family of 6 - kids are 8, 6, 3 and 1, and the oldest 3 are all tall enough to ride everything (except for 3yo on incredicoaster.) They were tall enough at 2, actually, and GOTG was the 2 year old's favorite ride last year. So, you never know what rides are going to work.

And that said, we've used MaxPass enough that I consider it a necessity now because it makes the trip that much more efficient and enjoyable, IMO. I would give up any other extra to pay the money for it, especially if you have park hoppers.

Single rider may work for you, but I don't know how old your kids are - they have to be 8+ to ride alone, so if your kid rider is younger than that, you'll need FP to ride as a group.

5 days IS a long time, I don't think you'd need MaxPass for all 5 days, but I would maybe get it for a couple of more ride-heavy days. Having to have a runner to get fast passes and waiting 2 hours in between each all gets old. Not to mention the horror of having to actually stand in a STANDBY line. haha.

Anyway, that's my take. I mentioned on another thread a couple of days ago if it came down to it we would probably sooner not go if MaxPass wasn't available. But again, we have littler kids and we would be pushing a stroller all around the park trying to get FP, etc. etc.
 
We have a family of 6 - kids are 8, 6, 3 and 1, and the oldest 3 are all tall enough to ride everything (except for 3yo on incredicoaster.) They were tall enough at 2, actually, and GOTG was the 2 year old's favorite ride last year. So, you never know what rides are going to work.

And that said, we've used MaxPass enough that I consider it a necessity now because it makes the trip that much more efficient and enjoyable, IMO. I would give up any other extra to pay the money for it, especially if you have park hoppers.

Single rider may work for you, but I don't know how old your kids are - they have to be 8+ to ride alone, so if your kid rider is younger than that, you'll need FP to ride as a group.

5 days IS a long time, I don't think you'd need MaxPass for all 5 days, but I would maybe get it for a couple of more ride-heavy days. Having to have a runner to get fast passes and waiting 2 hours in between each all gets old. Not to mention the horror of having to actually stand in a STANDBY line. haha.

Anyway, that's my take. I mentioned on another thread a couple of days ago if it came down to it we would probably sooner not go if MaxPass wasn't available. But again, we have littler kids and we would be pushing a stroller all around the park trying to get FP, etc. etc.
Thanks for the reply! Our twins will be 8, but they are not the adventurous kind 😆, so most E Ticket attractions won’t appeal to them. I believe the only attractions listed on MP that they would ride are Small World, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, and Radiator Racers. So I’m not sure if MP will be worth it for just those rides, but we’ll see! Thanks again for the help! 😊
 
Thanks for the reply! Our twins will be 8, but they are not the adventurous kind 😆, so most E Ticket attractions won’t appeal to them. I believe the only attractions listed on MP that they would ride are Small World, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, and Radiator Racers. So I’m not sure if MP will be worth it for just those rides, but we’ll see! Thanks again for the help! 😊

You definitely may want to add it for your California Adventure day.... previous poster brought up a great point regarding radiator racers. Your kids may like soarin too. My non adventurous 8 year old loves it. Toy story midway mania and Goofy’s sky school as well.
 
You definitely may want to add it for your California Adventure day.... previous poster brought up a great point regarding radiator racers. Your kids may like soarin too. My non adventurous 8 year old loves it. Toy story midway mania and Goofy’s sky school as well.


Back in August we rope dropped DCA and headed straight for Soarin'. As soon as we could I got a MP for RSR. When we got to RSR the standby line said it was only 15 min so we rode it standby. When then got in the FP line and road it again. By that time the standby line was up to 45 min. I want to say we were done with Soarin' and 2 times on RSR in the first 45 min of the park being open. We MP-ed a few other rides like GOTG, IncrediCoaster, and TSM as the morning went on and road a few standby. We took a break after lunch and I kept checking back while we were back the room and snagged RSR for later that afternoon.

My 10yo DD rode Goofy 8 times in a row the single rider line. Last year she did it 10 times in one day.
 
You don't have to buy the Max pass for all the days you are there. It's very convenient to get fastpasses on your phone saves you a lot of time and walking. It's also nice because it gives you unlimited photopass downloads. At least 1 person in your group should get it for the pictures.
 

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