Board 8 > Hey California people, I'm going to Disneyland in a few weeks

(+) Yeah! (+)

Going with two friends for one of their birthdays, well California in general for their birthday but Disney is included in that. What are attractions I should consider for Fast Pass? Definitely want to check out Star Wars land. We're doing Disneyland Park for 1 day, California Adventure for 1 day, and Universal for 1 day. So whatever suggestions you have for any of those, feel free to throw them out.

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Space Mountain and Radiator Springs Racers tend to be the "get them in the morning" rides fastpass-wise, so swipe one of those up depending on which park you go to. If you're going at rope drop, Peter Pan's Flight is the one dark ride that fills up incredibly quickly and has no fast passes, so if you're into that, would recommend getting the pass for Space then making a beeline there. Obviously most everything frees up a LOT more when the kiddies go home, but due to the temperature, they probably won't be around Splash Mountain or Grizzly River Rapids, so those should be easy hop-on rides, especially if you're a single rider.

General tips:
-I hate corn dogs usually, but Disneyland corn dogs are REALLY good and worth having. You can get them on Main Street in Disneyland, but they're far more easily available at the Corn Dog Castle in California Adventure (right next to the Goofy-themed coaster). They also have spicy sausage versions there which are pretty damn good.

-Next to the Haunted Mansion is a small shopping center in New Orleans Square. This is the best spot for food in the park, with the Cafe Orleans being probably the best bang-for-your-buck sit-down experience and the French Market being the best counter service. Tucked behind the French Market is a Mint Julep Bar, which serves really refreshing virgin versions of the drink along with Mickey Beignets and is VERY rarely crowded due to being so tucked away.

-There is a Dole Whip station at the start of Adventure Land. People line up for quite a while to get some, but you can just go to the waiting area of the Tiki Room and there's practically no line there. Almost never get called out for just getting dole whip from that side and then getting through; restrooms are located outside of it so that's an easy excuse and it's an absolutely painless line cut.

-People usually start gathering for parades about an hour and a half before the parade start, so commit to it if you want a good seat. If not, rides are FAR emptier while a parade is going on and directly before a parade start.

-Mobile apps are a lifesaver if you're in a 'do everything' mood, including mobile food ordering and checking wait times.

But really, just be a little flexible with your schedule and have fun with it. Sometimes Disney will do little seasonal promos, so check if they have anything like that happening.

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Kamekguy posted...

-People usually start gathering for parades about an hour and a half before the parade start, so commit to it if you want a good seat. If not, rides are FAR emptier while a parade is going on and directly before a parade start.

Theres currently no parades going on. Magic Happens debuts on Feb 28 but I assume Bane is going before that.

For a 1 day visitor I definitely recommend adding Maxpass to your tickets, its $15 but a ton of time saved booking fastpasses.

Rise of the Resistance is going to be freshly opened(It opens Friday), if crowds here end up manifesting like they still are in Florida, you are going to need to join a boarding group as soon as Disneyland opens through the mobile app(Make sure everyones ticket is linked up on one phone app). This will join a boarding group and the app will notify you when you can enter the line. This has kept waits for the attraction at around 30 minutes but boarding groups can run out very early(And the attraction is not the most reliable, making these boarding groups absolutely necessary as there may be no allocation later in the day).

Smuggler's Run has no fastpass or boarding groups yet and the line moves incredibly quickly(Very reliably ride system and loads of people per hour) so don't worry about rushing for the second tier Galaxy's Edge attraction.

Get a fastpass(Space Mountain or Indy would be my suggestion, cant go wrong with either start), ride Peter Pan is indeed the standard opening for Disneyland.

For California Adventure, I actually recommend you get a fastpass for Soarin' and ride Radiator Springs Racers via standby at opening. This changes if there is an extra morning hour in California Adventure, so check the calendar; in the event there are extra morning hours grab a fastpass for RSR, and then later in the day grab a fastpass for Soarin'. Do not in any scenario ride Soarin' via standby line. It is the slowest loading attraction in the park with an atrocious capacity. It will be a lot of standing and very boring. Do not do it. Fastpass only.

When getting a fastpass always check the time it tells you that a new fastpass will be available. I recommend setting an alarm on your phone and grabbing one as soon as this time comes up(If you add maxpass you can do it from a line). This can be anywhere from 30 minutes after getting a fastpass to 2 hours.

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Kamekguy posted...

-There is a Dole Whip station at the start of Adventure Land. People line up for quite a while to get some, but you can just go to the waiting area of the Tiki Room and there's practically no line there. Almost never get called out for just getting dole whip from that side and then getting through; restrooms are located outside of it so that's an easy excuse and it's an absolutely painless line cut.

I don't like Dole Whip but there is a mobile order option now. Do this and skip the standby line entirely.

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Also I highly recommend watching Fantasmic(Disneyland) if it is running and World of Color(California Adventure). You can get a fastpass for both at park opening.

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Make sure you're getting MaxPass. Some people balk at paying extra, but it really pays off. Being able to order Fastpass anywhere you're at really helps you get a lot more rides in. The park photos being included is a nice bonus.

Even if you don't get it (I highly recommend you do though), definitely make sure you have the Disneyland app at least. Being able to check the map and wait times for every ride at any time is incredibly helpful, and in particular mobile ordering food is extremely underappreciated for how much time it can save. Don't sleep on it.

For ride choices, if you want to have any hope of going on Radiator Springs Racers get the Fastpass for it and get it EARLY. It's easily the most popular ride in both parks, and standby line is almost always like two hours. Even in the morning the Fastpasses for it can end up being for something like 3pm, and they will run out before the day is over, so be sure to hit it up fast. It is not worth the standby wait ever. Indiana Jones is in a similar same boat; never bother doing that standby.

Aside from that, it's helpful to always try to have some kind of Fastpass going to maximize your number of rides, which is another reason why MaxPass is so useful. The moment you scan your FastPass, you can register a brand new one, even while you're still in line. Otherwise, depending on what times you get changes what the "passive" waiting period is, so it's helpful to plan out your passes that way. You don't have to be super strict with it, but with my group we tend to do something like "We have a pass for [x] in an hour, and [y] has a 30 minute wait so let's hit that now" or "Let's get a Fastpass for this and go check in after lunch". Even if it's not well coordinated you can still get a lot of value out of the park that way, so it's less about what rides you should Fastpass and more about mixing Fastpasses with traditional queuing to work out a plan with the times you're given. If you do that you can ride pretty much every big ticket ride. Don't forget you can check in your Fastpasses up to 5 minutes earlier than the time shown.

One important thing to remember though, the Galaxy's Edge rides currently do not have a Fastpass. You will have to consider that during your visit, especially since RotR is opening in a few days. I would make that a priority when you enter the park at least.

As for Universal Studios, my advice is hit the Simpsons Ride early since it always has a really long line. The Harry Potter ride is easily the most popular and crowded attraction in the entire park, but it surprisingly doesn't have huge wait problems just because of how well it processes riders through it. You'll still have a good long wait, but it's worth it. At around the last hour before the park closes is actually not a bad time to ride it, because the line moves so fast you get through it very quickly when there isn't as many people in line, even when it still probably has the vast majority of the park guests in it. If you don't care about splitting up your group, the single rider line can get you on within a few minutes at any time of day.

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Will keep all of these in mind, thanks!

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If you have any other specific questions or things feel free to ask.

I try to get to Disneyland at least a couple times a month so there isn't much I can't answer.

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whos we

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red13n posted...

I don't like Dole Whip

red is not a human being confirmed.

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I just really dislike the taste of pineapple.