Month: October 2018

Refurbishments?

Published on by TimmyLeave a comment

Closed-for-refurbishmentFriends, in the normal course of running a theme park ride or attraction, repairs, maintenance, and upgrades need to happen. Also, Disney is keen to keep things lively, fresh, and relevant to whatever seasonal or popular trends are happening. For these reasons, attractions and shows are closed. Disney refers to this closure as a refurbishment and thankfully in most cases, these are short closures.

Because you want to get your precious money’s worth and experience as much of the resort as possible, you need this information to help plan your trip. Like a lot of things in life, Google is our friend here. There are many resources that provide up-to-date refurbishment information. We don’t have a favorite. Most places provide accurate information but it’s usually smart to look over at least 2-3 websites to corroborate the info. The interesting bit here is that Disney itself doesn’t publish this information in an easy to digest format on any of its websites. They do have current, live info on their calendar and mobile apps on a per-attraction/show basis, but they do not list it otherwise. I can understand this as they want to sell tickets and this could be considered a negative influence on that goal.

Here are a few websites we use and cross-check for this important info:

As you are planning your next trip To Disney, please refer to these resources to ensure you have the latest info as to what you may be missing out on. Sometimes, it’s enough to adjust your schedule. Sometimes, you can’t handle not riding Pirates of the Caribbean. We get that!

A Singular Sensation

Published on by TimmyLeave a comment

oneDisneyland offers many ways to abbreviate your wait in long queues. We’ve written in-depth on the Fast/MaxPass offerings. We will also write more about strategically planning riding attractions that do not offer these advantages. Single-Rider is a really effective way to get on that attraction quickly.

Currently, the rides with Single-Rider at the California Disney parks are as follows:

Disneyland Park:

  • Matterhorn Bobsleds
  • Splash Mountain
  • Indiana Jones Adventure
  • Space Mountain

Disney California Adventure Park:

  • Grizzly River Run
  • Incredicoaster
  • Goofy’s Sky School
  • Radiator Springs Racers

As with many of these offerings that Disney provides, there are some trade-offs or compromises. Firstly, it’s called Single-Rider for a reason. It’s just you. If you’re with your family or a group, there’s no guarantee that you’ll all be on the same vehicle together. And chances are, you will not be. For this, we advise using a Fast/MaxPass to ride the attraction once together with your group to get the pictures and have the experience together. For future rides, go Single-Rider. Another gotcha is that sometimes Single-Rider is not available at these locations. Sometimes, due to traffic or other demand-related situations, the attractions do not offer this benefit. Most times, you’ll see a sign or some indication that it’s available or not. Or, asking a Cast Member will get you that information. Because these Single-Rider options are usually taking a different route to get to the platform, please listen and respect the instructions given. Especially from the super helpful Cast Members.

For Matterhorn Bobsleds, the option is extremely efficient and you will get many rides in a very short time. They are constantly pulling from the Single-Rider queues and your wait time is usually very short. You may be placed in either the left or right queue, or you may be given the choice. But if you love this attraction, Single-Rider is pure gold!

Splash Mountain is also really good to take advantage of this program. The lines are much shorter than the Standby or Fast/MaxPass queues. They tend to still be a bit of a wait but very worth it.

Indiana Jones Adventure is a bit hit or miss. Sometimes they don’t do Single-Rider. And even when they do, it’s not as efficient as the others. Still worthwhile to use this on this attraction, absolutely. But they only let a few through at a time since they have to load the handicap elevator and only 6-8 folks can comfortably fit. Again, it’s still better than Standby so go for it.

In Disney California Adventure, definitely use it on Incredicoaster (formerly California Screamin’) and absolutely use it on Radiator Springs Racers. These attractions usually have amazingly long standby lines and the Single-Rider option is heaven!

Here, at ToDisney, we provide the hints and tricks to maximize your fun. The Single-Rider option on these attractions are outstanding ways to accomplish this. As mentioned, always look or ask a Cast Member to find out if Single-Rider is available for that attraction. Also always be kind to those lovely Cast Members! They work hard and have kind of a rough job but they continue to be happy and helpful. If you get on Twitter, send out a hashtag #CastMemberCompliment and mention the name and where they were. Also link @DisneylandToday and/or @Disneyland in your tweet. The company sees these and passes the praise along in a really cool way.

Some of the information here is based on articles from Southern California newspapers or Wikipedia. One amazing article from the L.A. Times has a ton of great information regarding minimizing wait time for attractions.