July 2023 TDR Visit—A few quick thoughts

[gelatoni fan]

FWIW, you can buy 1/2 day tickets to arrive after a certain time (depending on the day of the week). We did 1/2 day tickets for our arrival day, and considered (but ultimately did not) buying them to make a DIY park hopper ticket.

Based on the exchange rates, I think a full day and half day ticket combined at TDR was still far cheaper than a parkhopper for DL or WDW.

You're not wrong about the price but on most dates, 2 full day tickets combined at TDR will be cheaper than a one day non-park hopper ticket for DL or WDW. Purchasing a one day ticket at TDR is also cheaper than adding park hopper to a ticket at DL and WDW on most days. So it's actually about the same price to do 3 full days at TDR as one day of park hopper in the US.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

You're not wrong about the price but on most dates, 2 full day tickets combined at TDR will be cheaper than a one day non-park hopper ticket for DL or WDW. Purchasing a one day ticket at TDR is also cheaper than adding park hopper to a ticket at DL and WDW on most days. So it's actually about the same price to do 3 full days at TDR as one day of park hopper in the US.

Just bought 3 day park hoppers at WDW around the holidays and boy do I notice the difference now!

 

[iheartglaciers]

We bought FP seats later in the day for the Sea of Dreams at DisneySea and the seats were awful (for paid— would be mediocre for free) they did not appear to be assigned and we were seated on an uncomfortable gravel floor (I got ant bites!) maybe 6-8 rows back, even though we arrived to the VIP zone 30m before show time. The people who showed up with “vacation package” seats got seated in front of the 4-5 rows of regular paid fast pass seats in front of us.

I was surprised that Sea of Dreams didn’t have assigned seating like the Disneyland parades. It also looked like they were assigned at one point because there were the same stickers on the ground.

1. The first day we didn't make it to DisneySea until afternoon-- there are two premier seating zones and the more desirable one was entirely sold out by the time we got in the park. It was available as late as 10AM (an hour after park open) our second day in DisneySea.

Which is the more desirable seating zone for Sea of Dreams? When I bought premiere access, it gave me a choice but I didn’t know the difference. Would love to know for next time!

As mentioned, we rode Space Mountain 2x with no wait by 8:45, probably should have done it a 3rd time because Monsters, Inc. didn't start moving the queue until 9.

I also didn’t have the best rope drop strategy because I wasn’t sure which rides would start running before 9am. It seems like officially they say the 15 mins is for getting in line but the rides don’t necessarily start running until official open. But I think the Pooh ride and Journey to the Center of the Earth did run before 9am for us.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I was surprised that Sea of Dreams didn’t have assigned seating like the Disneyland parades. It also looked like they were assigned at one point because there were the same stickers on the ground.


Which is the more desirable seating zone for Sea of Dreams? When I bought premiere access, it gave me a choice but I didn’t know the difference. Would love to know for next time!


I also didn’t have the best rope drop strategy because I wasn’t sure which rides would start running before 9am. It seems like officially they say the 15 mins is for getting in line but the rides don’t necessarily start running until official open. But I think the Pooh ride and Journey to the Center of the Earth did run before 9am for us.

The stickers on the ground are assigned seats for vacation package guests. If they don't sell that many vacation packages, they'll shrink that section and move the premier access area forward. Of the premier access areas, I would probably prefer the stage to the left to be closer but when I bought, there wasn't an option to select it. I've watched from the center area of premier access and am not really a fan of that area. Overall, I'd skip premier access and instead watch from a free standing spot in front of Zambini Brothers on the right.

The rides that open before 9 vary by day. You can generally expect the most popular rides like Beauty and the Beast and Soaring to be open but rides like Splash Mountain are not open early every day.

 

[Agent 86]

Which is the more desirable seating zone for Sea of Dreams?

From the entrance looking towards the volcano, the "Premier Access" area to the left filled up first. It appeared that everyone was required to sit in this area, but I can't be sure. They may have all just been sitting while waiting for the show to start.

The other area, where we ended up was okay, but nothing great. There were a few reasons for this, including the people immediately standing in front of us using their phones to record the show (and therefore obscure our view). I'm also not sure it's the best show - it's so hard to see the performers, especially the face performers. Both because of the distance and the fact its dark.

We only purchased Premier Access tickets because we wanted to see fireworks with our toddler daughter (they're not on at Disneyland during summer), but she fell asleep before the show started, so it was a bit of a bust all round.

I significantly preferred the old daytime show Legend of Mythica.