Disneyland in a day and Magic Mountain for a few hours only. Advice?

[Gazza]

So if you were doing DCA same dat, you can do Radiator Springs Racers, Soarin' and California Screamin with single rider, so that's three of the best you can do easily. That just leaves Mission breakout, Midway Mania and grizzly river run, which all have fastpass.

Get a world of Colour fastpass early. Holding one for WoC doesn't prevent you from getting others.

You can take advantage of the difference in opening hours...often one park opens earier than the other, so you can go in one first for an hour or so then cross over to the other park. To maximise your time.

You know about Fastpass at Disney right? Some rides have machines that spit out a token telling you when to return to get on a ride with minimal wait. You dont have to pay like at six flags.

You can only hold one at a time (across both parks..... previously you could cheat and have a DCA and DL ride Fastpass simultaneously but they closed that loophole 😟)

And can get a new one either:

-When boarding time for your current Fastpass arrives.

-After 2 hours.

Make sure you use it

[New display name]

Being Fastpass smart is the best way of getting the most out of Disney.

How I do it.

Skeet example time:

Disneyland has opened and the first fastpast in my pocket might be Indian Jones and it says I can ride from 9.am.  

At 9am I'm not at Indian Jones, I'm at Splash Mountain.  The second it hits 9am I pull a fastpast out of Splash Mountain.

Now I have 2 Fastpasses in my pocket.  I head back over towards Indian Jones and if I see a small wait time on my way I might jump on that attraction.

It's you are in a large group, have a runner.  Before the days of mobile phones, walkie talkies was a common sight among guest, for this purpose. 

 

 

[Gazza]

Bear in mind, Disney are stricter on fastpass return times.

Previously, if it said say 10am-11am you could get away with using anytime after, even 7pm! But now you cant, so the strategy of building a deck of fastpasses and using then up at your leisure later in the day doesn't work anymore.

You have to use them in the designated hour 

[rappa]

Correct! They really are strict on this. 

IF fantasmic is back (im not exactly sure on dates) make that your priority. It's much better than World of Color or the Fireworks (plus you can stay in that area and see fireworks anyway) because of the sheer spectacle that literally appears from nothing. 

If you have a spare few bucks I can highly reccomend doing one of the show dining packages. Even if it's just desert. That will ensure you a great spot to watch the show without having to camp out and stake a claim. 

[omega237]

5 hours ago, djrappa said:

Correct! They really are strict on this. 

IF fantasmic is back (im not exactly sure on dates) make that your priority. It's much better than World of Color or the Fireworks (plus you can stay in that area and see fireworks anyway) because of the sheer spectacle that literally appears from nothing. 

If you have a spare few bucks I can highly reccomend doing one of the show dining packages. Even if it's just desert. That will ensure you a great spot to watch the show without having to camp out and stake a claim. 

From what I read Fantasmic 2 might return on July 14. Not sure yet.

[Aimsley81]

I'm currently in California and visited Magic Mountain yesterday (Wednesday). While I have no idea what it might be like to visit the park in August, I couldn't do the whole park in one day - and I had the platinum flash pass with X2 added, but I also rode some rides several times. Some of this is what the previous posters have already mentioned but I recommend - 

- Get there really early. I was there at 1000 for a 1030 open and while I got a decent park, there was a huge crowd already waiting to get in the gates. 

- Download a park map and familiarise yourself with the layout. Man I wish I had done this! There is a reason why it's called magic mountain. I consider myself physically fit and taking the left path is a killer. You definitely don't want to be doing this multiple times because you're not sure where you're going. 

- Download the app. This will give you approximate wait times for each ride. 

- If you have the cash, get a flash pass. Not only does this awesome device let you jump the queue but it also tells you if a ride closes and opens!! 

- If you do get a flash pass know that most of the rides have good signage as to where to queue. Twisted Colossus has nothing. I walked all over looking for any sign of that little symbol and nadda. I ended up asking somebody waiting in line. You go down the disabled access just FYI. Green Lantern was a bit confusing too. It had signs and then an arrow that pointed to the right but that just led to the main queue. I had to ask about it too and you go left and take the furtherest set of stairs (which you may not see until you're halfway up the second last set )

- I wasn't impressed by Green Lantern First Flight. It looks like it might be thrilling and fun. It's not.  And I whacked my head something fierce on the second drop and had an awful headache for the rest of the day. 

- There are ride lockers on a few of the rides but you only need a locker for X2. For all the other rides you can leave your stuff in bins or off to the side of the station. If you decide to ride X2 don't stress if you've made the hike all the way to the front of the queue with your belongings. The lockers are on the ride platform. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Great contribution @Aimsley81 and thoughts I fully support.

Including:

On 02/06/2017 at 5:27 PM, Aimsley81 said:

- I wasn't impressed by Green Lantern First Flight. It looks like it might be thrilling and fun. It's not.  And I whacked my head something fierce on the second drop and had an awful headache for the rest of the day. 

It sucks hard.

[rappa]

I actually love it. One of my surprising favourite rides. It really scares the shit out of you on those drops and I came off each time with a huge smile on my face. 

[Gazza]

Yeah, its polarising for sure.

Most intense coaster out there, and the forces on the drops, where you simultaneously feel like you are falling and lurching foward is awesome.

There is single rider so give it a go for yourself.

[pin142]

I am also a fan of it for the unexpected nature of the drops. 

[xRazzBerryx]

GL was the first ride I went on at SFMM & boy did it wake me up 😂 I'm not sure why this ride has such a negative rep, I thought it was awesome & it's  definetly something you should try if you have the time! 

[Aimsley81]

Perhaps I haven't given GL a fair enough go - I have only ridden it once. I quite enjoyed the unexpected nature of the ride. I just didn't like smacking my head when it rolled backwards. Ill try it again when I go back in a few days.