*No longer relevant* (Maxpass/Fastpass: an overview and some strategy)

[sjmac42]

Party on, have a great visit

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I’m heading to a work conference held about a mile from the parks in a couple of weeks and there is some downtime that will allow a group of us to head to DLR.... yay!! We are looking at 3 Day PH.

Debating about MaxPass. On our arrival day (Thursday 1/30) we will get to the parks around noon (flight lands at 9 at LAX, rental car to hotel on S Harbor to drop bags, and then return car to DTD rental location).

Friday (1/31) we plan on being there before Rope Drop, depending on how they handle ROTR. We can be there almost all day - we will bug back to the conference for the opening session which runs from 7:30-9pm but the park is open late so I’m guessing we will head back afterwards and skip the free food reception. Disney > Free Food.

Then on Sunday (2/2) we will head back in the afternoon, probably around 3pm. This is Super Bowl Sunday.

What would you recommend for MaxPass days? We were for sure going to add to to Friday but not sure if it make sense on the partial days with us showing up in the afternoon.

Thanks for any advice you have!

I was just there in December, used MaxPass for the first time. I will never go again without it! So, I vote YES, get it! Well worth the convenience of being able to tap for FP. I would set my phone timer to the minute we could get another FP and would book it immediately when the timer went off. Sooo easy and so amazing! My daughters and I collected and used sooo many FPs, rode favorite attractions multiple times.

We loved loved loved MaxPass!!

 

[pokee99]

I've read up on Maxpass and it sounds great! But, I'm a tad skeptical that it will be any better than regular Fastpasses during the very busy times, especially as more people are using it now, and know all the tricks.

We're going March 14-19 which is sure to be extremely busy, and there won't be much time for standby lines (unless perhaps there's a very reliable lines app?). How many fast passes do you think we can get each day using Maxpass?

Any recommendations re: what order to book popular rides using Maxpass?

I've watched YouTube videos and seen recommendations online for MaxPass - I'd like to hear personally from frequent MaxPass users here, especially anyone that's used it recently during a very, very busy time. Thanks!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Look for the thread titled “FastPass Drops” to get the details on our recent MaxPass experience.

We were in the parks on 12/29 & 12/31 which probably meet your definition of very, very busy. I didn’t count, but we got at least 15 Fast Passes each day using Max Pass and we didn’t arrive until about 10 am both days. Many of these were obtained well after the traditional FastPass distributions were done for the day.

The extra charge was well worth it to us.

 

[MonocularVision]

In my opinion MaxPass is more important with a really busy park. You have a 90 minute instead of 120 max “cool-off” period and as mentioned above you have the opportunity to pick up cancelled FastPasses (which are often very plentiful!) where you have zero chance of it with normal FP.

 

[DLgal]

Yes, it still works better than FP at WDW. WAY better. Not that many people use it, still, to this day. And most people who do, DO NOT know how to maximize it. My 2 sisters are good examples of this. They suck at using MP. LOL.

The best thing to do is arrive early, then book MP based on return times, taking the earliest ones and building from there (you can get a new one every 30 minutes the first couple hours the park is open, or more often if your return times are sooner, as you can get another as soon as you scan in to the ride.)

Also, that week in March won't be that bad. Spring break won't get going locally until a couple weeks later.

You can easily get 10-15 maxpasses per day.

 

[asumom]

We are going for 5 days and will see how it goes before getting max pass. Would be nice to hear someone's experience touring old school fast pass.

 

[lalasmama]

I can't imagine going to the parks without Max Pass now! While it seems like MP is well-publicized, and even really encouraged, it's kind of like the Fast Pass system in general--some people just don't realize that they are "eligible" for them at all, and don't become educated on the subject. For us here on the Dis, the idea of not using FP for certain rides seems completely ridiculous. I mean, who *really* wants to wait in the whole Incredicoaster standby queue for 60+ minutes?!? But you can't make me believe that every person in that standby queue has a FP for another ride. There's a chunk of people in that standby queue--I'd hazard a guess at 75% of those people in that standby queue--that don't think they "qualify" for a Fast Pass. Most likely reason they believe they don't "get to use" FP? "Oh, I didn't pay for that kind of ticket." I can't count the number of times I've been chatting with someone, and they say they didn't "buy that ticket that lets you skip lines," *especially* now that MP is an option. It's like people decided to not buy Max Pass, so they think they don't have access to Fast Pass either.

Okay, off my soap box

I couldn't imaging going to the parks without Max Pass. It means I (or Hubs, or our teen) don't need to run from one land to the next to grab a FP for a ride later. One of us just opens up our app on our phone, and grabs whatever lines up well with where we are, or whatever plan we have. No extra running, no annoyance when we want to a Fast Pass for Space Mountain but are currently redeeming our MP for Midway Mania.

I haven't counted up how many Max Passes we've done in a day, but I know we used to easily do 12+ FPs before Max Pass. We average 25 attractions on a normal day.

Our general MP strategy is to get a MP for our most desired ride for the day first, then work out from there. So, I'll be there next week for 1 day, and I will have MP. On my last day trip, I missed Cars Land--just didn't have enough time because I was only there for 6 hours. So, for my visit next week, I'll grab my MP for Radiator Springs first, then Midway Mania. I'll probably then grab a MP for Thunder Mtn while I finish Cars Land or Pixar Pier.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

@BadPinkTink might disagree with the other posters. She has done the parks during summer without MP and been just fine. Hopefully she'll chime in here with her most recent experience from her trip last June. MP is a great luxury, but it isn't necessary to have a successful day in the parks. Free FP still works just fine if you have good organization and know what you are doing.

 

[BadPinkTink]

@BadPinkTink might disagree with the other posters. She has done the parks during summer without MP and been just fine. Hopefully she'll chime in here with her most recent experience from her trip last June. MP is a great luxury, but it isn't necessary to have a successful day in the parks. Free FP still works just fine if you have good organization and know what you are doing.

waves hi, yes I don't use Maxpass.

I still use the free Fastpass kiosks and I have had no issue obtaining and stacking evening Fastpasses. I also don't use Park Hopper Tickets, I do one park per day. One selling point of Maxpass is that it includes Photopass. I don't buy the onride photos or get my photo taken by the park photographers, so the saving of having Photopass on Maxpass does not affect me.

My touring style is land by land. I don't criss cross the park multiple times a day. I also use single rider lines whenever I can and I rarely wait longer than 30 minutes in any standby line.

Yes I know that Maxpass is only $15 per day, but for me that $15 is not worth it.

This is part of one of my days in Disneyland Main Park Sunday 30 June 2019

1. Into Tomorrowland
2. Got Fastpass at free kiosk for Buzz Lightyear
3. Star Tours standby walk on
4. Buzz lightyear Standby
5. Used Fastpass for Buzz Lightyear

This is part of my day at California Adventures Monday 1 July 2019

1. Got Fastpass for Soarin at the free kiosk
2. Had a look in the shop opposite Soarin
3. Used Soarin Fastpass
4. Walked the back way from Soarin to Pixar Pier, past Grizzly River Rapids
5. Got Fastpass for Toy Story from the free kiosk
6. Toy Story standby line
7. Used Fastpass for Toy Story
8. Got Radiator Springs Fastpass from the free kiosk
9. Single rider at Radiator Springs x2, both times walk on

Also for those saying they did 12 or more Maxpass rides, this is what I did on Sunday 30 June 2019, using single rider, standyby and free Fastpass from the kiosks

1. Peter Pan
2. Toads Wild Ride
3. Dumbo
4. Snow White
5. Pirates of The Caribbean
6. Haunted Mansion
7. Indiana Jones (Fastpass)
8. Mark Twain River Boat
9. Pirates of The Caribbean
10. Big Thunder Mountain (Fastpass)
11. Tiki Room Show
12. Main Street Transportation Bus down to The Castle
13. Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk Through
14. Ogas Cantina reservation for 3pm
15. Millennium Falcon ride x 3 times single rider
16. Casey Junior Train
17. Star Tours standby walk on
18. Buzz Lightyear Standby
19. Buzz Lightyear (Fastpass)
20. Autopia
21. Full circuit of the park on the train

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Thanks for sharing your experience! It really helps for people to know that free FP still works well if you know how to use it well.

 

[IslaLila]

We won’t go without it. We were there in October on two very busy days. The first day we got to the park around 2, had lunch, did 9 rides mostly with maxpass, had dinner outside the park, and watched fireworks from our balcony. The next day we went just after rope drop and did 16 rides, most with maxpass, took an afternoon break etc. We even got 3 fast passes with maxpass for haunted mansion holiday, which was at a 2 hour standby wait much of the day.

The biggest problem with it IMO is that there are so many rides that don’t have fastpass. I wish a few more rides offered it. But still it’s totally worth it and we will always get it.

 

[BadPinkTink]

We won’t go without it. We were there in October on two very busy days. The first day we got to the park around 2, had lunch, did 9 rides mostly with maxpass, had dinner outside the park, and watched fireworks from our balcony. The next day we went just after rope drop and did 16 rides, most with maxpass, took an afternoon break etc. We even got 3 fast passes with maxpass for haunted mansion holiday, which was at a 2 hour standby wait much of the day.

The biggest problem with it IMO is that there are so many rides that don’t have fastpass. I wish a few more rides offered it. But still it’s totally worth it and we will always get it.

Interesting, you did 16 rides with Maxpass, I average 20 rides a day, without Maxpass.

 

[Ladyslug]

Interesting, you did 16 rides with Maxpass, I average 20 rides a day, without Maxpass.

One caveat is the size of your party, and their willingness and ability to move back and forth between kiosks and rides. If you are talking about a group of 1-3 people who do not have small children and can use the single rider lines easily, Maxpass is probably less worth it. If you are a large group that moves more slowly around the park(s), don’t necessarily want to ride separately via single rider, and are planning on having a lot of pictures taken, then Maxpass sounds like a good choice. But I agree that even paper Fastpass makes touring far more efficient.

 

[nocturnekings]

We arrived at DCA around 5:30 last night, and stayed until close. When we got there, only Goofy and GRR had FPs showing up in the app. Well, knowing how they work, kept checking throughout the night. Was able to snag Incredicoaster, Guardians, Goofy (no way gonna wait 20 mins for that), and most importantly, World of Color fast passes. And we even could have snagged another Guardians FP for 5 minutes later while we were in that queue!

This was our second visit after having MP. The first was January 3rd - which was insanely crazy holiday crowds. I can't even count how many things we got then.

I should be saying it's worse, just so there's less competition, but it's amazing!

 

[NewbieMouse]

It's a must for us now; well worth it in my view. It is so much better than having a FP runner!

 

[Satye1]

One caveat is the size of your party, and their willingness and ability to move back and forth between kiosks and rides. If you are talking about a group of 1-3 people who do not have small children and can use the single rider lines easily, Maxpass is probably less worth it. If you are a large group that moves more slowly around the park(s), don’t necessarily want to ride separately via single rider, and are planning on having a lot of pictures taken, then Maxpass sounds like a good choice. But I agree that even paper Fastpass makes touring far more efficient.

I know that in DCA radiator racers has single rider line. But what other rides do?

 

[ironband74]

I know that in DCA radiator racers has single rider line. But what other rides do?

Incredicoaster, RSR, Goofy's Sky School, Grizzly River Run

Indy, Matterhorn, Millennium Falcon, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Star Tours

 

[mouschievous]

I think it's especially worth it if you don't know the parks well. We would have lost a lot of time trying to find the kiosks, I think, especially on our first day, when it was the first trip for 9/10 of us, and I hadn't been there in 20 years.

That said, it is 100% a luxury and not a must have. We just prefer it. Booking FPs while in line is delightful, and we got SO MANY PHOTOS, which I love. It was nice to actually be in some of them, too!

 

[BadPinkTink]

I know that in DCA radiator racers has single rider line. But what other rides do?

The ones I use are

1. Star Tours
2. Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run

Indiana Jones does have single rider but any time I have tried the wait time was not fast, and I gave up.

The full list from Disney website is

1. Goofy's Sky School
2. Grizzley River Run
3. Incredicoaster
4. Indiana Jones
5. Matterhorn
6. Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run
7. Radiator Springs
8. Space Mountain
9. Splash Mountain
10. Star Tours