Disneyland, DAS and Max Pass

[blondietink]

Coming up to our trip to Disneyland in CA in 2.5 weeks and I am trying to decide if using the DAS will be good enough for our party of 3. My adult son has Down syndrome and we use a transport chair for him and my other adult son has Autism but is very ambulatory. Last time we were at DL there was no MaxPass system and we made out fine with the DAS and regular FastPasses. We don't ride most of the big rides, like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, or Guardians of the Galaxy because of health restrictions. So, I am debating whether or not we need to spend $10 per day each to get the MaxPass. We will be there for 5 days total, so that would be an extra $150.00.

I am thinking with 5 whole days to enjoy the parks, we should be able to get in all the rides and shows with the DAS. Yes or no?

If it matters, we do plan on getting the Photopass where you get all the extra park photos, so that added benefit to any MaxPass won't matter.

 

[LadyD]

Coming up to our trip to Disneyland in CA in 2.5 weeks and I am trying to decide if using the DAS will be good enough for our party of 3. My adult son has Down syndrome and we use a transport chair for him and my other adult son has Autism but is very ambulatory. Last time we were at DL there was no MaxPass system and we made out fine with the DAS and regular FastPasses. We don't ride most of the big rides, like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, or Guardians of the Galaxy because of health restrictions. So, I am debating whether or not we need to spend $10 per day each to get the MaxPass. We will be there for 5 days total, so that would be an extra $150.00.

I am thinking with 5 whole days to enjoy the parks, we should be able to get in all the rides and shows with the DAS. Yes or no?

If it matters, we do plan on getting the Photopass where you get all the extra park photos, so that added benefit to any MaxPass won't matter.

I use both the DAS and MaxPass at Disneyland regularly. The huge advantage to MaxPass is you don't have to fight through the crowds cross-crossing back and forth across the parks to get and use fastpasses. It also gives you greater flexibility in being able to cancel/change your fastpasses.

With five days at the parks, that is plenty of time to see the shows and do all the rides, especially since a lot of th big ticket items are out, if you're spending most of the day in the parks. Also, I have found that Disneyland has still not fixed the issue of overloaded cell networks by providing reliable wifi to use to access MaxPass. You're going at a pretty busy time. It may not work as well as it should.

The MaxPass would be only be an enhancement to your visit (if it is working well) and not something worth seriously considering if minimizing walking across the parks, reducing time spent stuck in crowds, and flexibility are not big needs for you.

 

[Shanti]

MaxPass rocked our trip two weeks ago. We just kept getting good FP after good FP all day, and walking past long lines...I totally recommend it for your trip, especially if there is a family member with a disability attending.

 

[cmwade77]

So you can definitely do things without MaxPass, but I will tell you we added to our Annual Passes because we realized we are far more likely to do more rides with it and it minimizes crisscrossing throughout the parks.

Here is an example of how:

Let's say you get through the turnstiles at Disneyland at 10 A.M., you could get a return time for Pirates, as the line for Jungle should be super short at this point and get a FP for Indiana Jones. Go ride Jungle Cruise, then it should be time for your FP for Indiana Jones, if not you could do a small back track to Tiki Room and then Indiana Jones. As soon as you first scan your FP for Indiana Jones, go on your phone and get a FP for Haunted Mansion. Then it should be time for your return time for Pirates, by the time you are off of Pirates, it should be time for Haunted Mansion, but first get a return time for Alice in Wonderland or another Fantasyland Attraction, then get a FP for Splash while in the short return line at Mansion, if you don't want to do Splash, get it for Big Thunder. By the time you are off of Haunted Mansion, it should be time for your FP time, if not, ride Winnie the Pooh (usually no more than a 5 minute wait), if you did Splash, get a FP for Big Thunder. Now once in line at Big Thunder get a FP for either it's a small world or Matterhorn, I recommend it's a small world, because then you can get one for Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin. While waiting for your FP time (if needed), get lunch at Red Rose Tavern. Work your way around Fantasyland. Continue this way into Tomorrowland.

By using both the DAS and MaxPass strategically, you should be able to keep backtracking to a minimum and on all but the busiest of days be able to do most, if not all of the park by around 7 PM if you get there at 10 AM.

Now as a passholder I don't tend to go this gungho, instead I prefer a much more casual pace, but the point is it CAN be done if that is your style. And yes it can be done without a DAS in a similar amount of time, but there will be more backtracking to get shorter wait times.

 

[blondietink]

I think I will just go with the regular FP along with the DAS on our first day in Disneyland and see how it goes. If we can't get done what we want, then I will purchase the MaxPass on our next day in Disneyland. I'm not too concerned about California Adventure.