Logistics of park hopping.

[momof2n2]

The thread about moving from PTN to TF got me thinking about the smartest way to hop.

My travel party is me, DH, my six kids and my mom. Kids’ ages are 5-17.

I’ve been instructed on other threads how my first park entry will go from LMT papers to tickets. I’ve already scanned in my LMT tickets to the app. We will use MaxPass at least some of the four park days.

Legacy FP at WDW, DH would hold the passes and be a runner, though we barely ever hopped and haven’t done so in many years.

If we leave one park to hop to the other what is the most efficient way to get through the turnstiles? Like is it fastest to hand all the kids back their tickets and just spread out to any turnstiles? (Minus the 5 year old; we’d hold hers.) Is there any sense in the tickets in the app for entering/switching parks? Should everyone in my family who has a phone download app and sign into my account??

(If I send someone from my family to DLR from DCA, to grab F! FastPasses, I know they need to have all the paper tickets.)

Wow. I guess I just found the one benefit of MagicBands...

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Just stay together and have the person in front hold all of the tickets. The CM will scan them all and let you through. Phones take longer, as do people holding their own, but it's really not enough of an issue to consider...

We hop back and forth all the time - I'd say 90% of the time, there's no line or just a handful of people, and it takes no time at all. About 10% of the time you encounter a line (this is usually true if you're hopping when people are still arriving for the day, so, say 10 or 11am, before/after parades start, etc.). In those cases, you may want to have people stand in two different lines so if one moves more quickly than the other, you can defect to the faster line. Occasionally, you'll have a family arrive at the turnstiles with some sort of ticket issue, or you'll be behind a large group that are entering for the first time and doing their "photo and signature" bit, and that can cause one line to come to a standstill (this is usually the line I'm in, heh!).

And yes, for both WOC and F!, you need physical tickets. (Although you can actually use photos of the actual ticket barcode - not that this would be a strategy, but can work in a pinch if you realize you're missing a ticket.)

 

[agamble]

Hopping into DCA is faster than hopping into DL. This is due to more people visiting DL. The lines to get into DCA are almost always shorter.

I would just have one adult hold all tickets and then hand them to the CM. They quickly scan them and look for the face on the picture. This is what we generally do. Every now and then I let my kids hand over their own ticket as it makes them feel special.

The parks are so close and hopping is easy...However it is still a walk. Consider being on one side of the Magic Kingdom and walking to another. You can do it, but it does eat into your day and the steps add up. We usually don't hop more than once a day, though that isn't a hard and fast rule. Many people like to do one park in the morning, take a rest break, and then go to the other park.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

We usually end up hopping twice a day if we're there for awhile - we almost always start at DL, hop over to DCA around lunchtime, and then hop back to DL. Sometimes we start at DCA and then hop to DL, sometimes back to DCA. Sometimes we just stay at DCA all day. (We almost never stay at DL all day, because if we're staying all day, I'm making my kid take a stroller nap, and all stroller naps happen at DCA - quieter, easier to maneuver a stroller around due to bigger walkways, and I can have wine while she's asleep!) But then some days, we go crazy and hop like 8 times, so ya never know...

 

[gottalovepluto]

We hop often as well, it’s just so easy out here. I think the most I’ve ever waited hoping is 10-15 mins trying to get into DL when DCA EMH ended and DL was just opening! Definitely stay together at the turnstiles, any time saved splitting up will definitely be lost trying to get back together. (The parks are smaller out here so there is not much room imho at the park entries for group meet-ups if you split to different turnstiles. So many people in such a small space!)

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Will you be riding all the rides together or splitting up throughout the day? If you will be together, have the first person in the line keep the tickets (in a lanyard or Witz wallet or whatever works best, just make sure it's waterproof) to scan together at the ride scanners. And remember, some rides ask you to scan more than once, so keep those tickets handy where you can reach them easily. Make sure your group stays to one side, not blocking the other scanners so other guests can get through. Then you'll all be able to go through the lines quickly and easily. If you'll be splitting up, you can have each person with a smart phone log into your DLR app so that the tickets (and MP on the days you use it) will show up on each phone. Make sure that you have battery back up for those days (we have inexpensive, portable chargers from Amazon.com). One option that you can try (but only after you get your actual hard tickets on your first day) is to make good copies of the back of the tickets. People have done this on thick paper/card stock, then put the copies in a lanyard on each kid. The kids then scan themselves through each FP scanner. As long as the bar code is clear, the scanner doesn't care if the ticket is a copy. Then the parents hold on to the original tickets for safe keeping. If the copy gets lost, no worries.

 

[momof2n2]

Ok.
Keep tix together.
Stay together at turnstiles.
Very good info.


Our usual M.O. is to stick together for the morning, then split a bit after lunch, but be back together by dinner. In the meantime the older kids usually do some rides as the younger kids meet some character or watch a show or play on some equipment. I don’t actually expect we’d be in different parks, but I wouldn’t rule it out as my oldest boys are almost 16 & 18 and May want to try their hardest to see each GOTG sequence.

If we have maxpass, would we even need our paper tickets each day after entering the parks? With the exception of F! Fast pass? (WOC down while we visit.)

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... If we have maxpass, would we even need our paper tickets each day after entering the parks? With the exception of F! Fast pass?..

You should keep the paper tickets with you in case MP goes down (this is rare, but possible). Then you will need the paper tickets to use at the FP machines and scanners. Also, in case something happens to your app and the tickets and/or MP disappear from your phone (again, rare, but possible) you may need those tickets in case they have to be scanned back in.

 

[gottalovepluto]

...If we have maxpass, would we even need our paper tickets each day after entering the parks? With the exception of F! Fast pass? (WOC down while we visit.)

Yes you’ll need paper tickets, not only does MP system fail sometimes, the Disneyland app fails more frequently. It won’t load, it loads but all of your tickets disappear- it’s a mess honestly. Works great and then all of the sudden doesn’t work at all. Never rely on the app consistently pulling up tickets. If you split up, make sure everyone has their paper ticket.

 

[momof2n2]

Well - it is just like MDE! LOL
Thank you.

Does the app lose your max pass? That would really tick me off at $90 a day!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Well - it is just like MDE! LOL
Thank you.

Does the app lose your max pass? That would really tick me off at $90 a day!

I’ve never heard of that happening.

 

[lcp9]

For hopping, and maxpass, we found the fastest way was a clear zippered ID card/whatever holder on a lanyard. we had a party of 7 tickets - me, husband, 3 kids (6, 4, 2) my parents, and my brother. My parents and brother had their own, my husband and I put our tickets face out back to back with one of our kids face out, so we could easily scan, flip, scan. This went MUCH faster than the people using phones (not to mention the people who still couldn't figure out how maxpass worked, which also clogged up the line.)

 

[momof2n2]

For hopping, and maxpass, we found the fastest way was a clear zippered ID card/whatever holder on a lanyard. we had a party of 7 tickets - me, husband, 3 kids (6, 4, 2) my parents, and my brother. My parents and brother had their own, my husband and I put our tickets face out back to back with one of our kids face out, so we could easily scan, flip, scan. This went MUCH faster than the people using phones (not to mention the people who still couldn't figure out how maxpass worked, which also clogged up the line.)

So, you would carry yours and one child’s and DH would, too? How did you handle the third child? Another clear case?

 

[lcp9]

So, you would carry yours and one child’s and DH would, too? How did you handle the third child? Another clear case?

He's 2, actually 1 at the time, so he wasn't ticketed If he had been, I would have just put it in another clear case and put two card holders on my lanyard. I do not trust my children. haha.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I’ve never heard of that happening.

Someone posted recently that their tickets and MP disappeared from their app. It turned out that they hadn't actually "lost" them because when the tickets were rescanned in, MP was still there. But the app can go wonky, that's for sure. When it's happened to me, I've found that a quick delete and reinstall solves the problem.

 

[Ava]

If I purchase my tickets online in advance, so they are on the app, do I still have to go to a ticket window and get paper tickets? Also someone above mentioned photos on tickets. Do we have to go somewhere to have our photo taken?

I’ve never been to DLR and don’t want to get held up at the turnstiles on our first morning because I didn’t do something I was supposed to do! I’m used to WDW where everything is on our Magic Bands. I haven’t had paper tickets in years.

 

[cmwade77]

Hopping into DCA is faster than hopping into DL. This is due to more people visiting DL. The lines to get into DCA are almost always shorter.

I would just have one adult hold all tickets and then hand them to the CM. They quickly scan them and look for the face on the picture. This is what we generally do. Every now and then I let my kids hand over their own ticket as it makes them feel special.

The parks are so close and hopping is easy...However it is still a walk. Consider being on one side of the Magic Kingdom and walking to another. You can do it, but it does eat into your day and the steps add up. We usually don't hop more than once a day, though that isn't a hard and fast rule. Many people like to do one park in the morning, take a rest break, and then go to the other park.

Actually there is a trick that works on MOST days. There are two trees in front of the turnstiles at Disneyland, if you go up near these trees, often there is a second line that has virtually no one in it. Sometimes you need to wait in the line next to the tree, but then it splits off into three or four lines so while it looks long, it is really fast.

 

[cmwade77]

Yes you’ll need paper tickets, not only does MP system fail sometimes, the Disneyland app fails more frequently. It won’t load, it loads but all of your tickets disappear- it’s a mess honestly. Works great and then all of the sudden doesn’t work at all. Never rely on the app consistently pulling up tickets. If you split up, make sure everyone has their paper ticket.

Really? I have never once had it fail, but then again, I always scan my pass as it goes so much faster than pulling out the phone, opening the app and scanning it.

 

[cmwade77]

If I purchase my tickets online in advance, so they are on the app, do I still have to go to a ticket window and get paper tickets? Also someone above mentioned photos on tickets. Do we have to go somewhere to have our photo taken?

I’ve never been to DLR and don’t want to get held up at the turnstiles on our first morning because I didn’t do something I was supposed to do! I’m used to WDW where everything is on our Magic Bands. I haven’t had paper tickets in years.

No, they will give you paper tickets at the turnstile when you enter the park.

 

[momof2n2]

Actually there is a trick that works on MOST days. There are two trees in front of the turnstiles at Disneyland, if you go up near these trees, often there is a second line that has virtually no one in it. Sometimes you need to wait in the line next to the tree, but then it splits off into three or four lines so while it looks long, it is really fast.

Like the lines are obscured by the trees til you get closer?