Lots of information has come out since the new MaxPass became available on the Disneyland app. It’s left us wondering “Should we use MaxPass?” since it’s now available. Well, there are a few things we will be taking into consideration on our next trip to Disneyland.
WHAT IS MaxPass ALL ABOUT?
With the MaxPass you have the potential to be able to book FASTPASSES quicker and more efficiently than with the traditional paper FASTPASS method. Instead of heading to each ride and pulling a FASTPASS to use at a later time, you can check MaxPass, see what rides are available and times you can use the pass for and pull the pass on your device.
Instead of wandering all over the park, or sending someone else to collect passes for everyone it’s all done in the app. This is huge in helping avoid waiting in the long standby lines that can form for popular rides. Potentially you can also get more of these rides done much sooner.
Included with MaxPass are the digital downloads of any photos taken by a PhotoPass Photographer during the day of your MaxPass purchase. So instead of paying $39 each day for PhotoPass+ One Day or $78 for PhotoPass+ One Week it is part of the $10 cost of MaxPass.
USING MaxPass IN DISNEYLAND
If you purchased tickets prior to the release of MaxPass you can purchase it on the Disneyland App as you enter the park. Otherwise, you can get it as an add-on to your Disneyland ticket purchase prior to going. Do take into consideration that this will use data and you may want to look into what your data plan is, especially if it’s an international destination and considered roaming for you. There are Wi-Fi hot spots in both Disneyland and California Adventure, look for “Disney-Guest”, but from my experience the Wi-Fi is spotty.
Open the Disneyland App and the MaxPass option will pop up. You can select a FASTPASS as soon as you enter the park. When you pull a FASTPASS the app will let you know when you can get your next one. You are also eligible to select another FASTPASS once you’ve entered a ride with the prior held FASTPASS, this gives the opportunity to go from one ride to another much quicker.
I also really like that with MaxPass you can cancel a FASTPASS you have selected and if there are multiple people in your group you can easily select different FASTPASSES if everyone is wanting to go to a different ride. This would have been a huge help when we went as a larger group to Disneyland.
It is recommended that you check the FASTPASS ticket availability before purchasing MaxPas as it is nonrefundable and FASTPASS tickets for extremely popular rides may have all been pulled by the time you want to purchase. If you enter the park right at opening this may be less of a concern than if you do not enter the park until the afternoon, but it is still good to check.
MaxPass DOES ADD TO YOUR DISNEYLAND TRIP COST
It definitely is a game changer to be able to be able to book FASTPASSES electronically through the app, but is it worth it? I ask this because you do have to pay to use this feature in the app. For each park ticket you have, you need to pay $10 USD per day. If you’re traveling with 4 people in your party, that’s an additional $40 per day at Disneyland if you want to use MaxPass. This is also the introductory price, so it is possible that the cost could increase.
SHOULD YOU USE MaxPass ON YOUR NEXT DISNEYLAND TRIP?
I would say that it comes down to if you think it will be a benefit to your trip and if you can work it into your Disney trip budget. For example, with my next trip to Disneyland, I am planning to use MaxPass. It will only be two of us going on that trip which means we only have a smaller additional cost to our trip. I also normally purchase PhotoPass+ and calculate out what is more cost effective for the trip either One Day or One Week, but having it included with MaxPass makes that the best option.
My suggestion to those who are considering MaxPass, but are worried about keeping cost down if traveling with multiple people is to only get it MaxPass for one or two days. If you are in Disneyland and California Adventure for multiple days, for example, you have a 4-day ticket, only get MaxPass for two days out of the trip when you visit the two different parks. This way you can use it to maximize your visit to each park and then on the other days whatever rides you get done you could consider being bonus rides.
I am really looking forward to seeing how MaxPass will help in pulling FASTPASSES for the popular rides. I will be looking into what my cellphone options are for data when traveling or I will be finding the wifi spots that are available within Disneyland. I am also looking forward to not having to hustle across the park to get to a FASTPASS distribution point. As soon as we enter the park we can pull pay to use MaxPass and pull a FASTPASS for a ride.
We will probably use it on our next Disney Trip!
Thanks for sharing this info! I can’t wait to go to Disney!!
It seems all the Fastpasses will be pulled in half the time. Leaving you with only standing in lines.