Disneyland on Christmas Day

[nanersnail]

I finally got work figured out to be able to take time off and take my kids to Disneyland. We’ll do two days at Disneyland and one day at DCA. Dec 25-27. The last time we were there they only had the regular fast passes. Max pass wasn’t an option. My kids are 15, 8 and 5. Is MaxPass worth it? I know Disney is busy this time of year (and any day for that matter anymore). How busy are we talking about on Christmas Day? I was looking at the 10 day forecast and it looks like rain as of now. Any tips would be great!

[mmmomof2]

Rain will help lower crowds. My guess is the morning of the 25th would be manageable, but by noon will be a madhouse. Yes, max pass is absolutely worth it. You could only get it for 1 or 2 days too.

Generally - get to the parks early and have a game plan.

[alleinesein]

Go early. Use maxpass and use it effectively. Try not to get fast passes for return tine that are hours away. Grab whatever is available as soon as you scan in for a ride. Things like Radiator Springs RacerS, Hyperspace mountain and haunted Mansion will run out of FPs early in the day so hit those rides first. If you want to ride Smuggler's Run, do that later in the day when the lines are shorter. Use the afternoon for shows, character meet and greets, etc.

[nanersnail]

Dec 17, 2019 13:36:19 GMT -5 alleinesein said:

Go early. Use maxpass and use it effectively. Try not to get fast passes for return tine that are hours away. Grab whatever is available as soon as you scan in for a ride. Things like Radiator Springs RacerS, Hyperspace mountain and haunted Mansion will run out of FPs early in the day so hit those rides first. If you want to ride Smuggler's Run, do that later in the day when the lines are shorter. Use the afternoon for shows, character meet and greets, etc.

When you say scan in, I don’t think I know what you mean. They scan your max pass at one ride and then you can get a pass for another immediately after? Like as I’m walking through the line?

[alleinesein]

Dec 17, 2019 23:53:40 GMT -5 nanersnail said:

Dec 17, 2019 13:36:19 GMT -5 alleinesein said:

Go early. Use maxpass and use it effectively. Try not to get fast passes for return tine that are hours away. Grab whatever is available as soon as you scan in for a ride. Things like Radiator Springs RacerS, Hyperspace mountain and haunted Mansion will run out of FPs early in the day so hit those rides first. If you want to ride Smuggler's Run, do that later in the day when the lines are shorter. Use the afternoon for shows, character meet and greets, etc.

When you say scan in, I don’t think I know what you mean. They scan your max pass at one ride and then you can get a pass for another immediately after? Like as I’m walking through the line?

Yup. You will scan your phone at the fp machine and as soon as you do that, you should be able you book another fastpass in the app. I pull up the available options once I'm in the line for the ride and book my next one before I even board.

[quesyrah]

Maxpass is 100% worth it on busy day.

Christmas Day is typically pretty busy but the crowds are usually in good moods which helps!

[nanersnail]

Dec 20, 2019 11:49:57 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Maxpass is 100% worth it on busy day.

Christmas Day is typically pretty busy but the crowds are usually in good moods which helps!

Ok so if I get a pass for a ride that isn’t available say until 7pm to redeem but it’s only 9:30 am. Can I still book other passes with times in between now and that 7pm pass? Or can I only have the one later pass booked?

[quesyrah]

Dec 21, 2019 7:59:30 GMT -5 nanersnail said:

Dec 20, 2019 11:49:57 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Maxpass is 100% worth it on busy day.

Christmas Day is typically pretty busy but the crowds are usually in good moods which helps!

Ok so if I get a pass for a ride that isn’t available say until 7pm to redeem but it’s only 9:30 am. Can I still book other passes with times in between now and that 7pm pass? Or can I only have the one later pass booked?

You will be able to book other fast passes. You can get a new fastpasses every 1.5-2 hrs

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2019 13:33:49 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Dec 21, 2019 7:59:30 GMT -5 nanersnail said:

Ok so if I get a pass for a ride that isn’t available say until 7pm to redeem but it’s only 9:30 am. Can I still book other passes with times in between now and that 7pm pass? Or can I only have the one later pass booked?

You will be able to book other fast passes. You can get a new fastpasses every 1.5-2 hrs

Also, it'll tell you once you book one in the app when you can book another. I would just set my phone timer so I didn't forget. 

[alleinesein]

Dec 21, 2019 7:59:30 GMT -5 nanersnail said:

Dec 20, 2019 11:49:57 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Maxpass is 100% worth it on busy day.

Christmas Day is typically pretty busy but the crowds are usually in good moods which helps!

Ok so if I get a pass for a ride that isn’t available say until 7pm to redeem but it’s only 9:30 am. Can I still book other passes with times in between now and that 7pm pass? Or can I only have the one later pass booked?

Here is the basics for late return times; I will use hypothetical times so you can get a better idea of what I am talking about.

So let's say that at 10 am, you get a FP for RSR with a return time of 6 pm.  If you are using MaxPass, you will be able to get your next fast pass in 90 minutes (11:30 am) but if you are using the traditional free method (going to the actual distribution machine), you will be able to get your next one at 12 pm/noon.  The rule of thumb for late return times is 90 minutes for MaxPass and 120 minutes for the old school way.  Once you get another FP, you need to pay attention to the time when you can book a new one.  After the 90/120 minute window "expires", the system reverts back to the normal way of booking where you can get your next one as soon as you scan in your current one or your current booking window pops up.  This makes it possible to have 2-3 active FPs at the same time even though you can only book one at a time.

Unless something is an absolute must ride, dont waste your FPs like that; it locks you out of the system right when the park starts getting busy and by the time you can start booking again, many rides will be out of FPs.  Hit the super popular stuff at rope drop and grab FPs for the other stuff at the same time.  The later it gets in the day, the less options you will have for FPs.  Choose them wisely or you will be wasting time and money. Im looking at the Disneyland app right now and FPs for all the rides except GRR are out for the day in DCA.  Disneyland has a small selection of late return times mostly b/c of the weather (its been raining so the park is dead).