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LacyBelle
11-30-2012, 09:36 AM
I am helping a friend plan her trip to the DLR on January 2 - 5, noticed something odd, and am wondering if I missed a memo...

The DLR website calendar (a source of much accuracy, I know :eyeroll:), is showing early admission availability every day, at both parks, from December 20 through January 4 (excluding New Years Day).

Has Disney entended early admission to daily for the holidays? I haven't read anything to that end, but might have missed it.
Or, is this just a classic case of the Disneyland website calendar being wrong?
Any insights?

Thanks for your help!

3Princesses1Prince
11-30-2012, 11:17 AM
They did last year.

Ferb
11-30-2012, 10:25 PM
They did last year.

They did. They use it as a way to manage huge crowds. Allowing onsite guests to get more rides in by spreading them out for an hour and not having them packed into one park before the huge rush comes in. The problem will be, as the last almost 150 days have shown is that the onsite guests will almost all go to Carsland regardless of what else they could do.

LacyBelle
12-03-2012, 09:44 AM
Thanks for your replies. I guess I missed that they generally do this during Christmas and New Years week, as I always avoid those weeks myself.

Bottom line is that there will be no easy day for my friend and her family to get into CarsLand with an even playing field, as they are staying offsite. That's too bad, as my original strategy for her was going to be to hit CarsLand on a non-EMH day. Looks like there will be none of those.

I will remind her to pack her patience, as it will be a very busy week. :)

houseofmouse
12-03-2012, 10:52 AM
The good thing for your friend is the Fast pass machines are not turned onto until regular park opening time. She may have to walk quickly to get to the machines. It used to be that you could be in the park before opening and they would have ropes up into the different areas but you could be on Buena Vista Street before. Is this still the case?

LacyBelle
12-03-2012, 11:39 AM
That's the way it worked when we were there in August. I'm figuring it's the same and that someone will correct if the process has changed. :)

Yes, since I learned EMH willl be a daily occurance during her trip, my recommendation will be to head to the FP line as soon as the gates open for non-EMH guests (and to have their passes and IDs out and available for checking for the adults). I don't imagine her family of four will want to deal with the single-rider option, but I will advise her of it so she's aware.

Ferb
12-03-2012, 12:08 PM
Bottom line is that there will be no easy day for my friend and her family to get into CarsLand with an even playing field, as they are staying offsite. That's too bad, as my original strategy for her was going to be to hit CarsLand on a non-EMH day. Looks like there will be none of those.



The good thing for your friend is the Fast pass machines are not turned onto until regular park opening time. She may have to walk quickly to get to the machines. It used to be that you could be in the park before opening and they would have ropes up into the different areas but you could be on Buena Vista Street before. Is this still the case?

For Carsland Mater's and Luigi's attractions are likely to have about a 30 and 60 minute wait respectively at opening due to the EMH guests. Radiator Springs Racers will have a long wait likely over 60 minutes but FastPass is an option.

For the RSR FP, everyone must have entered a park using thier ticket that day, then they can be used to get FPs. One person can take all the tickets and go into DCA with or without the rest of the group. About 30 minutes before park opening all guets should be let in for Rope Drop. The RSR FP line will start near the Carthay Circle Theatre, and head back through Hollywood Land. Even though this line may be huge, going all the way to ToT, don't panic. Once the park opens they will start distributing FPs and in about 15 minutes everyone in line will have thier FPs no matter if they near the front of back of that huge line. More people will be getting in that FP distribution line after the park opens but after about 1.5 hours the last FPs will have been distrbuted.

Rteneyck
12-03-2012, 12:16 PM
Since everyone seems to be racing over to carsland is it safe to say that the early entry at Disneyland will be less crowded?

Ferb
12-03-2012, 07:03 PM
Since everyone seems to be racing over to carsland is it safe to say that the early entry at Disneyland will be less crowded?

Sometimes. During EMH DCA's crowds swarm to Carsland and leave the rest of DCA nearly vacant, it's the best time to ride TSMM, which normally has 45 minute plus waits. The problem with Christmas is that many guests are there for multiple days. The resort guests going to DCA will go to Carsland for an EMH or two, but then go to DL or other places in DCA. I'd avoid DL on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday because the offsite guests will create huge demand for those MM days, because again most will come with mulitple days ticket and know they get a MM. Try Disneyland on another day.

A big problem with Early Entry at DL compared to DCA is like I said DCA is great outside of Carsland, DL is not great at all. DCA has all major rides open. Carsland plus Soarin, Grizzly River Run, Goofy's Sky School, TSMM, ToT, California Screemin and more have a huge capacity. In DL, Star Tours and Space plus the small rides in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland have only a small capacity. So DL can get overwhelmed but DCA can handle it better.