Is Miracosta entrance to DisneySea an advantage?

[meryll83]

I think I'm right in saying that there's a special entrance to DisneySea for guests of the Miracosta through the hotel?

I just wondered how much of an advantage that is when it comes to "rope drop"?

As an example, we stayed at the Grand Californian in Disneyland last year, and the special entrance to California Adventure had 2 cast members scanning entry tickets, but a huuuuge queue had formed in the hotel, and I couldn't help but wonder if you weren't at the front of that queue, would you have been better going via the normal park entrance where there are more turnstiles to get more people in more quickly...

Thoughts?

 

[rgoble5972]

The Tokyo Disney hotels have what they call the "Happy 15" which grants you admission to the theme park 15 minutes before regular opening. While that doesn't sound like much time, it does give you a definite advantage over the regular park entrance.

 

[meryll83]

The Tokyo Disney hotels have what they call the "Happy 15" which grants you admission to the theme park 15 minutes before regular opening. While that doesn't sound like much time, it does give you a definite advantage over the regular park entrance.

Thanks for the reply.
It was more the location of the best entrance to use I was wondering about, as I assume you can still enter via the main entrance using the Happy 15? Or do you have to use the hotel entrance?

 

[Douglas Dubh]

When we were there a year ago, the Happy 15 line was to the left of the main entrance. But we stayed in the Disneyland Hotel. I would think you could also use the Miracosta entrance as well but you should check the night before.

 

[rkold]

Thanks for the reply.
It was more the location of the best entrance to use I was wondering about, as I assume you can still enter via the main entrance using the Happy 15? Or do you have to use the hotel entrance?

I didn't stay at MiraCosta, but I do know their special entrance/exit is open for Happy 15, since I saw a ton of people lined up at it. I am not sure which one was faster, since I think the number of cast members and area to go through was about the same for the regular Happy 15 line vs. the MiraCosta one. We were there on a very quiet day though, so.... I think we got in a touch faster? But we were near the front of the Happy 15 line. I will say before the trip, I underrated how useful Happy 15 is. None of the available rides for Happy 15 were anything we wanted to ride, but we met a ton of characters and were at Nemo when it opened so we easily road it once and then used our FP to go again. I think it is my daughter's favorite ride at Sea.

 

[meryll83]

I didn't stay at MiraCosta, but I do know their special entrance/exit is open for Happy 15, since I saw a ton of people lined up at it. I am not sure which one was faster, since I think the number of cast members and area to go through was about the same for the regular Happy 15 line vs. the MiraCosta one. We were there on a very quiet day though, so.... I think we got in a touch faster? But we were near the front of the Happy 15 line. I will say before the trip, I underrated how useful Happy 15 is. None of the available rides for Happy 15 were anything we wanted to ride, but we met a ton of characters and were at Nemo when it opened so we easily road it once and then used our FP to go again. I think it is my daughter's favorite ride at Sea.

So sounds like maybe similar queues whether in or out of the hotel...
What time would you recommend to start queuing from?

When did you grab the FP? Were you able to pick it up during Happy 15 even though the ride itself wasn't open yet?
I need to figure out all the best strategies so we have a game plan each morning!

 

[rkold]

So sounds like maybe similar queues whether in or out of the hotel...
What time would you recommend to start queuing from?

When did you grab the FP? Were you able to pick it up during Happy 15 even though the ride itself wasn't open yet?
I need to figure out all the best strategies so we have a game plan each morning!

I don't know how crowded the days you are hoping to go are supposed to be. Our first day was rated as low attendance and it rained most of the morning. We got to Sea about 8 for the 8:30 opening and were maybe 3 or 4 rows from the front? It was a low and got there around 8 for a 9 opening. It was low attendance and no rain for Disneyland we were more like 12-15+ rows from the front, maybe more? It felt like once they opened things up we got in quickly.

The FP machines didn't open until the park, but we stopped to take pictures because a huge number of characters come out in those first 15 minutes and we did that. I go to Disney with my 6 year old so we meet characters. At Sea I didn't realize there was no line and you just push to the front for pictures and an autograph. It's not organized like in WDW or DL.

I think the queue for Sea looked pretty similar as the regular Happy 15 queue? It might take you longer to get there though. The queue for regular guests was much longer. It's also possible when I was there Nemo opened a few minutes earlier because Toy Story was being refurbished and ToT was the only ride open. But yeah, we usually spent the Happy 15 doing characters and then walking to the part of the park we wanted.

I think we only did 1 FP in Sea (the second Nemo, everything else we did either had no line or no FP on offer or both.) In DL we FP our 2nd time that second day on Winnie (we'd done Winnie 4 or 5x the day before with no line) and we FPed Splash Mountain because it was hot and sunny. I would have FPed it again but we wanted to make a 4:00 train back to Tokyo Station to catch a shinkansen to Kyoto.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

On our last day at Disneyland, we got in the Happy 15 line pretty early so were one of the first ones in the park. We wanted to either get in line for Peter Pan or grab a fastpass for Pooh (can't remember which) but the entrance to Fantasyland was blocked until park opening so had to stand there for 5 minutes. If we had it to do again, we would have gone more leisurely through the Bazaar.

Point is they don't open everything during Happy 15, so check what is open and have a plan for what you can want to do during the time. Especially on a busy day.

 

[meryll83]

On our last day at Disneyland, we got in the Happy 15 line pretty early so were one of the first ones in the park. We wanted to either get in line for Peter Pan or grab a fastpass for Pooh (can't remember which) but the entrance to Fantasyland was blocked until park opening so had to stand there for 5 minutes. If we had it to do again, we would have gone more leisurely through the Bazaar.

Point is they don't open everything during Happy 15, so check what is open and have a plan for what you can want to do during the time. Especially on a busy day.

What's the best source for finding what's open?

 

[Douglas Dubh]

I'd ask at the hotel the night before. There might have been literature they gave out when we checked in too. We might have just not read it carefully enough. I know when we were there Monsters was open for Happy 15 so we could have grabbed a fastpass for it but we had done it previously.

 

[rkold]

They also tend to say on the website, to give you a heads up before you go. (they also say what will be closed for refurbishment.) When we were there it was just Tower of Terror in Sea (because Toy Story was closed) and the Buzz Light Year ride in TDR. Buzz didn't interest my DD at all and neither did ToT.

 

[shelemm]

Another thing to consider is where you have to wait. I know that, in summer, most people at the regular entrance have to wait in the blazing hot sun unless you get there super early. I don't know about the miracosta or the happy 15 lines....

 

[greenkai3000]

We stayed at Miracosta when we visited the resort back in 2015. The special entrance strictly for Miracosta hotel guests at the time was, (or still is) to the right of the main entrance to DisneySea,closer to the main entrance to Miracosta where you'd pull up if you were driving.

TDL and Ambassador Hotel guests had to line up on the oposite side of the park, or left gates. Other guests had to use the gates in the middle. The side gates (both left and right are slightly closer to the main arches or entrance to Mediterranean Harbor, so you can get to TSM or Journey slighty faster. When everyone else is let in, they have to go around the globe either to the left, or the right of it , and walk just a little bit further to enter Mediterranean Harbour.

We got to the Miracosta guest entrance an hour before and were about 5 or 6 people away from the actual park gates. 30 mins before opening ALL lines were LOOOOOOOONG. So happy 15 , and getting there at least an hour early, both help and make a huge difference in planning an efficient day at the park. They also determin how many FP you can get, and how many rides you can enjoy in a day