Tips for visiting Anaheim?

[cadboy]

Definitely get Radiator springs racers fast pass first! This is an 'unlinked' attraction meaning that it does not 'count' as a fast pass which basically means you can get another fastpass at any other attraction immediately after (without having to wait the normal 2 hours). This also applies to World of Colour.

I recommend fastpass for RSR first, then straight to say HTT/Soarin for another fastpass, then straight to world of colour for a fast pass. That way you are holding the 2 'unlinked' fastpasses and another 'linked' pass all at once.

Hope that helps.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

How Fastpass skips half the que (and in some cases the story component). What ones don't bludge out on story when you use Fastpass?

Unlike DW's Q4U attempts, most fastpasses still enter the normal queue houses - they just have a separate lane and no line. Most disney fastpass attractions still have the story.

[rappa]

I'm going to disagree somewhat here. You definitely loose much of the que atmosphere with fast pass at many attractions. Racers is certainly one, heaps of the que story is lost in the fastpass que.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Understand what you're saying, but i still hold my opinion and have to disagree with you - I agree the regular queue lanes for RSR do go through several buildings that are themed extremely well, and fastpass does skip them entirely, however I don't feel that much of the 'story' is lost by skipping them.

TBH I don't think there is much of a 'queue story' to RSR as there is just an 'overall story'

Sure some of the 'immersion' doesn't happen, but in my opinion - the story started when you entered Cars Land. The walk down it's main street, the ride's entrance, the walk through the pathway, under the bridge, the sounds of the station with the engines roaring in the cavern, and the fact that the ride itself introduces and tells the story for you... that is the story to be told. If there was a 'queue story' or a 'pre-show' then i'm confident Disney would have stopped guests at particular points in the queue so that the story could be conveyed. I'd cite relevant examples but i'm sure most people interested in this thread are well familiar with those examples that i don't need to hand-feed it.

Unless you haven't seen the movies (in which case the additional queue houses that fastpass skips won't make a difference anyway) I don't see how those additional buildings add that much to the story overall? They are just 'static' buildings themed extremely well.

[rappa]

Yeah I guess it's not so much the story but the detail. If you have time to check out some of the standby ques I would, just to see how much detail goes into them. As Alex says its not really STORY you miss but some amazing detail has been put into most if the ques and if you get some time. Check em out.

[T-bone]

To be honest, I'm going to go against the grain and say don't worry about a fast pass for Radiator Springs Racers. There is always a mad rush and long queue for a RSR fastpass, and they obviously run out very quickly, then ofcourse there is a wait before you can use it (if you are unlucky that could be a several hour wait). Instead if possible I'd say do the running of the bulls to the attraction if you are there first thing, and use the normal queue first to soak in the queue line atmosphere, then if you wish to ride the attraction again, and if you are happy to split up your group on the ride, I would suggest the use of the single rider line, which during my time there was just as long as the fast pass queue however without the need for a fastpass. I do agree with DJ/Alex, if you are going to ride the ride, you must use the standard queue at least once to just give you time to marvel and take in the incredible detail that was put into the project. That's my 2 cents anyway.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Yep - must admit on my last trip - I did spend time trying to see certain things in the queue lines that I knew was there... such as the Eeyore in the Indy queue.

And the details in the queue houses are all amazing - that is definitely not in dispute... you do have to go through them once, I guess my point was helping get through most of the more desirable points - by all means you can go back and queue up to check out the details, but utilising the fastpasses smartly from the get-go in my opinion is a wise way to spend your day (the fact that RSR and World of Color aren't linked to the rest of the park means holding three is worth it).

As a matter of fact, the day we did RSR - we entered the 'running of the bulls', and ended up queued outside Flo's. One of us had instead queued for the RSR fastpass - got through in the first ten minutes and met the group in the 'queue' before we'd even gotten to the standby queue entry. We continued through the standby line, got through all the queue houses and halfway up the last ramp - we were literally 8 people away from the 'grouper'... when the ride broke down... for 3 hours.

After queueing for about an hour - we were thankful we had our fastpass then, believe me. And when we left the queue during the breakdown, the standby queue waiting time was posted as 180 minutes..

[Mort]

For anyone reading this for a future visit, I would suggest when planning your time there avoid the weekends. I was at Disneyland on August 19th and 20th (Monday, Tuesday) and we didn't have a wait that exceeded an hour the whole time we were there. I'd say choose your time of the year very carefully. I think we went just at the very end of school holidays if not the first and second days back.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

You raise a good point Mort, but there are pros and cons to both for DL Park.

California Adventure not so much as World of Color runs every day (weather permitting), but off-peak days (such as mid-week) are no longer the same value as a weekend.

We found that Fantasmic only ran for the peak weekend nights, and the Fireworks ran about 3 or 4 days out of 7. I guess the point is if you want the true experience, and see everything, midweek isn't always the best day to visit (unless you have a park hopper and will spend more than one day in each park).

The other thing to remember is that off-peak, midweek days usually have a shorter operating day - such as 10am-9pm (11 hours), whereas peak days may be 8am-midnight (16 hours)...

Even on peak days, many attractions have sub-hour queues, and the big queuelines mostly have fastpass, so the minor additional wait times you experience on peak days can be offset by more time to do things, as well as more things to do...

In summary - go more than once. Choose an offpeak day to try and get most of your e-tickets done and get familiar with the park... but go in peak for the full experience - just be prepared for a little more queueing.

P.S. remember that wait times are estimated by the attraction lead. In some cases, they use a very 'low-tech' system of displaying the wait time - they look at what section of the queue line is full, and use a diagram to work out what wait time that queue section should have on average (i've seen this on Mickeys Fun Wheel and the Jungle Cruise). This is very subjective - as the presence of several strollers, wheelchairs, or just people who spread out a bit more than others can impact on this guesstimate.

The diagram also measures based on the queue section being 'full', so if the cast member sees 2 people in that queue section, the wait time is adjusted to allow for that whole section to be filled - a difference of potentially 50 guests or so, which is a big difference in wait times.

[rappa]

Really? Are there some attractions that don't use the automated system with the cards you take through the que?

[mickey_079]

Try visiting for New Years Eve. Park reaches maximum capacity at 10am, camera crews everywhere, cast members stressed out to the max and people camped out in main street. Good fun The atmosphere is great though, surprisingly. Remember SFMM is actually pretty hard to get out to. If you have never driven on the US then I wouldnt recommend driving, its over 60 miles from anaheim and the I5 can get very busy. My first visit we used a shuttle service which was a bit pricey and had to work around their schedule which can be pretty frustrating. The second time I was with a big group so we caught a cab which ended up around $30 each including tip each way. I'm flying out Thursday so for this visit I'll be driving, having gained a little experience earlier this year in Orlando. Also some hotels around the Disney park offer "town cars" where they drive you out there, again they can be pricey but they work around your schedule. My apologies for the bad grammer, my phone doesn't allow editing.

[Alex Berriman]

So I did read through everything and now I've found something else out that I need to ask about. Would it be good to get the 3 day park hopper ticket?

[JacobSibbald]

I got that ticket when I went and it was great, I know you'll want to be able to go over to DCA during the night or vice versa. Not getting park hopper is restricting your park use, you'll find it necessary when you get it.

[Mort]

I'm going back in April 2015 and will be going for 4 days. From what I've been told by people on MiceChat it's the perfect amount of time to see everything. Will be in park Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday. If you travel right at the end of peak season (mid August) all the shows will still run mid week

[downunder]

There's also single rider lines for some attractions, so if you're willing to split up, that can be good value for especially non-e-ticket attractions. Totally concur on Matterhorn, hit it first.

For SFMM, the most painless way to get there is just book a tour and they pick you up at your hotel and take you there. Worth a visit if you haven't been before, so many coasters. A Flash Pass is worth it if there's lines and you want to get a lot of rides in. I recommend going to SFMM on a Sunday in off-season (not open weekdays generally).

I'm going next week, though I'm mainly there for Halloween attractions like Knotts Scary Farm and Halloween Horror Nights. I might be able to squeeze in a visit to one of the Disney parks, but I'm not a huge fan. Decided to skip SFMM (been on everything a million times except YOLOcoaster), doing a new haunt and some bands instead the day we were thinking of going to SFMM.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Re: the park hopper.

I recommend it - DCA you can knock over in a couple of hours, but you may want to go back there at night for World of Colour. If you suss out the night-time shows (ie: when is fantasmic on fireworks on etc, and go to DCA on a day when neither DL show is on, you might get away with spending all day at DCA, but otherwise if you do Disney on a non-nighttime show day, then you may want to use that day to head back to see WOC.

DL usually requires more than a day, and even after 2 days, you may still find there are things you've missed, or want to do again - the hopper will let you do that.

We actually bought the SoCal CityPass which gave us the 3 Day park hopper at Disney, and Universal and SeaWorld as well. Even if you weren't particularly fazed with SeaWorld, it still worked out a good deal, but SW was worth the trip for Atlantis and Manta, which are two very solid attractions, and very well done.

Pretty much no matter what the season, SFMM is going to be pretty busy, and you're generally not going to get everything in inside a day - it needs more than a day to do it all - The Platinum Flash Pass is pretty much essential if you're only doing a day, but bear in mind that the shuttle tours etc won't be from park open to park close, so you're cutting your time even shorter. Also - SFMM has a very inefficient entry system, from Ticket booth to Metal Detector to entry gate, so be prepared to lose 20 - 30 minutes just queueing to reach the entrance.

[Alex Berriman]

So I've completed my trip to Anaheim and now relaxing in Hawaii. Disneyland was the greatest experience I've ever had. Everything from the moment I stepped into the park, from the cast members to the rides and the atmosphere of the park. Big thunder mountain railroad got pushed back from the 1st to the 13th February while we were there so I didn't get to ride it or splash mountain. Favourite rides were Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Matterhorn Bobsleds (after getting used to your spine being readjusted), Star Tours, California Screamin, Soarin' over California, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Radiator Springs Racers. Indiana Jones was a good ride, but only really on the first ride, second time round just didn't seem to be as good. The Fireworks and World of Color shows were absolutely spectacular, so much that I went back a second time for World of Color. One cast member in particular stood out the most, that being when getting on the tower of terror, we were buckled up and ready to go, and after some small talk he said "this ride car has a small malfunction, so we have to move you to the next car. So we will get your seat belts unlocked and start moving you and it will take a few minutes." The instant everyone went for their seatbelts he shuts the starts the ride. Made my last ride for my trip to Disney just that much better. We also did a day at knotts berry farm. Ghostrider and Calico Mine Train were shut, but I got on every other rollercoaster. Park was pretty empty and all rides were basically walk ons. Best ride there is a tie between Xcelerator and Silver Bullet. Universal Studios as fun. Great to see the workings of a studio in their back lot. Water world stood out as the highlight, a great show with funny crowd interactions before and during the show. Transformers ride was amazing and so was Jurassic park and the mummy. Already starting to plan my trip to Florida for Disneyworld now that I know why everyone says the Disney parks are amazing.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Alex Berriman

[Mort]

So I've completed my trip to Anaheim and now relaxing in Hawaii. Disneyland was the greatest experience I've ever had. Everything from the moment I stepped into the park, from the cast members to the rides and the atmosphere of the park. Big thunder mountain railroad got pushed back from the 1st to the 13th February while we were there so I didn't get to ride it or splash mountain. Favourite rides were Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Matterhorn Bobsleds (after getting used to your spine being readjusted), Star Tours, California Screamin, Soarin' over California, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Radiator Springs Racers. Indiana Jones was a good ride, but only really on the first ride, second time round just didn't seem to be as good. The Fireworks and World of Color shows were absolutely spectacular, so much that I went back a second time for World of Color. One cast member in particular stood out the most, that being when getting on the tower of terror, we were buckled up and ready to go, and after some small talk he said "this ride car has a small malfunction, so we have to move you to the next car. So we will get your seat belts unlocked and start moving you and it will take a few minutes." The instant everyone went for their seatbelts he shuts the starts the ride. Made my last ride for my trip to Disney just that much better. We also did a day at knotts berry farm. Ghostrider and Calico Mine Train were shut, but I got on every other rollercoaster. Park was pretty empty and all rides were basically walk ons. Best ride there is a tie between Xcelerator and Silver Bullet. Universal Studios as fun. Great to see the workings of a studio in their back lot. Water world stood out as the highlight, a great show with funny crowd interactions before and during the show. Transformers ride was amazing and so was Jurassic park and the mummy. Already starting to plan my trip to Florida for Disneyworld now that I know why everyone says the Disney parks are amazing.

Glad you enjoyed Disneyland so much.

Nothing compares to a disney park in my view.

I can't wait for my trip back there next ear.

Then its off to Tokyo and then Paris, not in a rush for Disney World

[westical]

Why not WDW?

[Mort]

Why not WDW?

The vastness and emptynees of WDW doesn't appeal to me.

I like the charm and the intimacy of Disneyland and also its rich history.

Also, Tokyo has a Cinderellas Castle, better theming and more original attractions than WDW has in my opinion. Plus it has DisneySea.

I will definately get there at somepoint (plan to go there next time i go to New York) but its not high on my list at this time