The Cars Land Wide Right Technique: How to be one of the first 20 people on RSR w/MM

[Sun Lover]

I need some advice. We will be there next week and are staying off grounds at the Ayres Hotel. We purchased the California City Passes. When I bought them, I noticed it said it included one Magic Morning but didn't realize it was only good for Disneyland, not California Adventure. I was intending to use the MM for RSR. We will only be there next Tuesday & Wednesday and have the MM for Disneyland on Tuesday. Which morning should we go to RSR? Should we all go through the turnstiles at Disneyland on Tuesday with the MM early hour and then send one of us over to RSR to wait in line for Fast Passes? Do you think the crowds at CA would be significantly smaller if it is a MM day at Disneyland? If it's going to make that much of a difference, I guess we could skip the MM at Disneyland and just get to CA earlier to wait in line. Also, Wednesday is a grad night date and I'm wondering how many kids will be up that early heading to CA. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bjscheel]

I need some advice. We will be there next week and are staying off grounds at the Ayres Hotel. We purchased the California City Passes. When I bought them, I noticed it said it included one Magic Morning but didn't realize it was only good for Disneyland, not California Adventure. I was intending to use the MM for RSR. We will only be there next Tuesday & Wednesday and have the MM for Disneyland on Tuesday. Which morning should we go to RSR? Should we all go through the turnstiles at Disneyland on Tuesday with the MM early hour and then send one of us over to RSR to wait in line for Fast Passes? Do you think the crowds at CA would be significantly smaller if it is a MM day at Disneyland? If it's going to make that much of a difference, I guess we could skip the MM at Disneyland and just get to CA earlier to wait in line. Also, Wednesday is a grad night date and I'm wondering how many kids will be up that early heading to CA. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Well, we skipped our MM in favor of getting on RSR first on a non EMH day. But we were there three days and didn't feel we needed the extra time at DL. That day I did get a FP at 9:15 for the 6:00 hour with no wait. Park opened at 8. So in your case maybe sending a runner over might work. (This was just this week.)

 

[dnamertz]

Exercised the wide right on two mornings, but due to pushy patrons, I don't know how you can manage to be one of the first 20 on the ride. First hundred, sure.

Are pushy people common when trying to do the wide right technique? When they drop the rope do a lot of people run to the ride (even though they aren't supposed to)? I'll be in a group with a couple of not-so-speedy people, so even if we position ourselves good in the far right position, are we going to get passed by tons of people after they drop the rope? How close to the line entrance do they drop the rope?

 

[ArchOwl]

Are pushy people common when trying to do the wide right technique? When they drop the rope do a lot of people run to the ride (even though they aren't supposed to)? I'll be in a group with a couple of not-so-speedy people, so even if we position ourselves good in the far right position, are we going to get passed by tons of people after they drop the rope? How close to the line entrance do they drop the rope?

I have never seen running, they walk in front of the crowd with a rope (er, hose) and then Lightning McQueen meets you at the entrance to Carsland and "paces" you down. There is definitely jockeying for position, but I haven't been pushed. If you have slower people in your party, they should do okay because no one is running and they walk you pretty slowly. You just have to stand your ground.

Sure, there are always rude people. But most people realize how a line works. They do not drop the rope until the first person approaches the queue. They even pace you through the queue to avoid running. Employees enter the queue first and force the queue to walk slowly.

I have done wide right with young children and we did fine, probably were about thirtieth in line or so. We have seen people trying to crowd over being told to stop it by CMs, so they do try to police it as best they can. I think it is surprisingly well done given how many people are trying to enter the queue at once! Have fun!

 

[NMMickeymom]

Well, we skipped our MM in favor of getting on RSR first on a non EMH day. But we were there three days and didn't feel we needed the extra time at DL. That day I did get a FP at 9:15 for the 6:00 hour with no wait. Park opened at 8. So in your case maybe sending a runner over might work. (This was just this week.)

We were there last week as well. We did one RSR morning with our EE and then got a FP. Two other mornings we showed up later 9-9:30 and got FP for around 6:30pm and then around 10am for 8pm entry with FP ticket lines around 10 minutes. If you have your heart set on going on the ride I would not push it till that late but we loved the ride in the evening. I was never able to test the far right technique as I never managed to get there for rope drop. I was able to ride 4x in a 5 day visit. It is a fantastic ride, totally worth all the fuss.

 

[DLR29]

I need some advice. We will be there next week and are staying off grounds at the Ayres Hotel. We purchased the California City Passes. When I bought them, I noticed it said it included one Magic Morning but didn't realize it was only good for Disneyland, not California Adventure. I was intending to use the MM for RSR. We will only be there next Tuesday & Wednesday and have the MM for Disneyland on Tuesday. Which morning should we go to RSR? Should we all go through the turnstiles at Disneyland on Tuesday with the MM early hour and then send one of us over to RSR to wait in line for Fast Passes? Do you think the crowds at CA would be significantly smaller if it is a MM day at Disneyland? If it's going to make that much of a difference, I guess we could skip the MM at Disneyland and just get to CA earlier to wait in line. Also, Wednesday is a grad night date and I'm wondering how many kids will be up that early heading to CA. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

You bought the So. Cal CityPass but are only going to use 2 of your 3 day park hopper?

If you're only spending 2 days there I would definitely take advantage of the MM. You can do all of Fantasyland during that hour, which is great because later in the day some of those lines can get very long!

On either day (Tuesday after MM or Wed morning) you can get RSR FP. FPs are usually still available up to 90 min after official park opening. I wouldn't bother with Wide-Right in your situation.

 

[mcljr7]

We used the technique today and were the first 4 people on the ride. It worked perfectly!

 

[elliececil]

We used the technique today and were the first 4 people on the ride. It worked perfectly!

My sis and I were the first 2 on yesterday. The ride was down until about 15 min past but we waited luckily. Then did single rider before heading to PP.

 

[dnamertz]

My sis and I were the first 2 on yesterday. The ride was down until about 15 min past but we waited luckily. Then did single rider before heading to PP.

How often does RSR go down? It seems like almost everyone has an experience with it going down? Don't they have it figured out after one year?

 

[ArchOwl]

How often does RSR go down? It seems like almost everyone has an experience with it going down? Don't they have it figured out after one year?

RSR goes down a lot less than it did last year. And they have much improved the time it takes to re-start the ride after a shut down. Last year if RSR went down, it could take the better part of an hour or longer to get it back up. Now they have a much better turnaround time of 15-20 minutes.

It should also be said that every shut down is not a mechanical error. If anything falls on the track, the ride has to be shut down and the track cleared and re-started. I have personally seen a hat fall off a guest and the track cleared for that reason.

But RSR is also a very complicated ride. There was a learning curve to operating it with massive crowds. I think it is much improved a year later.

 

[Blue32]

RSR goes down a lot less than it did last year. And they have much improved the time it takes to re-start the ride after a shut down. Last year if RSR went down, it could take the better part of an hour or longer to get it back up. Now they have a much better turnaround time of 15-20 minutes.

It should also be said that every shut down is not a mechanical error. If anything falls on the track, the ride has to be shut down and the track cleared and re-started. I have personally seen a hat fall off a guest and the track cleared for that reason.

But RSR is also a very complicated ride. There was a learning curve to operating it with massive crowds. I think it is much improved a year later.

How are the animatronics holding up? I've read on another site that there are pieces of the ride show that almost never work already... they compared RSR to IJA in that respect.

 

[ArchOwl]

How are the animatronics holding up? I've read on another site that there are pieces of the ride show that almost never work already... they compared RSR to IJA in that respect.

It seems as though they do have problems with a couple of animatronics. In particular, the tractor tipping section and when Doc talks to you before the race. This last visit in May both were not working. However, they were working in March. And they weren't working a few months prior to March. So I do think they have problems off and on with them.

Personally, I don't think it is nearly as bad as IJA pre-refurb. And if you didn't know what was supposed to happen, I don't think you would know anything was wrong. Obviously, I would prefer if everything was working correctly, but I wouldn't want them to shut down RSR to repair them just now. The demand for the ride is way too high.

 

[dnamertz]

RSR goes down a lot less than it did last year. And they have much improved the time it takes to re-start the ride after a shut down. Last year if RSR went down, it could take the better part of an hour or longer to get it back up. Now they have a much better turnaround time of 15-20 minutes.

It should also be said that every shut down is not a mechanical error. If anything falls on the track, the ride has to be shut down and the track cleared and re-started. I have personally seen a hat fall off a guest and the track cleared for that reason.

But RSR is also a very complicated ride. There was a learning curve to operating it with massive crowds. I think it is much improved a year later.

If you get near the front of the line when the park opens and the ride breaks down, do they give you a FP to use later or are you just out of luck? Also, if you have a FP and the ride is down during your FP window do they let you use the FP later in the day?

 

[ArchOwl]

If you get near the front of the line when the park opens and the ride breaks down, do they give you a FP to use later or are you just out of luck? Also, if you have a FP and the ride is down during your FP window do they let you use the FP later in the day?

If you were in standby, I am pretty sure you aren't given anything. You are kind of taking your chances with that. If you used a FP, I am not sure what they would do. But since you don't hand over your FP until you are almost boarding, that should help some.

If the ride is down during your FP window, you can return and use your FP later. The CMs know when the ride was down and will honor those FPs later that day.

 

[specialks]

When we were there in Jan (I know, awhile ago) we made it clearly to the front right and even were talking to the CM. we weren't the first to the rope/hose, but probably the 4th group and the only ones who knew to stay right. So we walked right along with the far right CM pump holder. However a man and woman cut to the right of her when we turned down the main walk. They then tried to cut in front of us behind the CM when other CMs on the walkway indicated they join back in with the crowd (they had moved onto a sidewalk). We actually had to say something to them. I couldn't believe how sneaky people could be! We were the first on the ride, which my girls thought was the coolest thing ever. However, they were a bit bummed to realize that by having been 1st, there was no one to race against us in the other car.

 

[Happy99]

We will be there Nov 7 and 8 - looking at the info it seems that MM will be on Thursday and EMH for CA will be on Friday - is this correct?

I also just found out that they are filming the Christmas day parade that weekend. Should we still take advantage of the early morning hours? From what I read we should use the main entrance on EMH day for CA not the GC entrance. We are staying at the GC

Thank you

 

[psac]

Just a quick note to say we gave this information to my brother and his family in their trip to DL in July, and they said it was invaluable. Still worked absolutely perfectly.

 

[Peezle]

I haven't gotten around to typing up my trip report from August , but wanted to share our experience using "wide right" on two different EMH days while we were there. Previous posts indicated that the mob of early entry folks are spread across the entire street as you make the left turn and start to head down "Route 66" through Radiator Springs, and everyone eventually gets pushed toward the right side of the street as Red comes up the street toward the crowd. This was not our experience. As soon as the early entry crowd made the left turn onto "Route 66", the CMs were forcing everyone to move to the right half of the street immediately, long before Red ever got to us.

So the idea that you don't have to be the first ones through the gates in the morning as long as you take advantage of the "wide right" technique changes slightly. See my final thought...

Having said that, I was not bent on having my family at the very front of the line to be the first ones on the ride. I wanted to be close to the front to avoid the long waits that would be the case for the rest of the day. We didn't run or push or hurry after getting in the gate or while we were walking through Radiator Springs. We stayed on the far right and just went with the flow. I would say we were within the first 100 people that rode the ride both days and, because Radiator Springs Racers is a fast loading ride, we did not stop in the queue at all until we were at the very front of the line waiting to step into a car. We stood still less than a minute both days.

With the CMs forcing everyone to the right side of the street immediately, there were probably more people than usual trying to get ahead by jumping onto the sidewalk to hurry past part of the crowd. Every person who did so was told by a CM to get off the sidewalk and back onto the street. Some listened. Some didn't. The CMs didn't chase anybody down. They just let them go. It is irritating to watch people who don't think they have to abide by the rules that everyone else is abiding by, but we didn't let it ruin our day and it obviously didn't impact our wait time for the ride.

I don't know if what I've described is what Disneyland is doing all the time now (forcing the crowd to the right half of the street immediately). While encouraging people to continue using the "wide right" technique, I would add that it is important to get in line at the gates early enough to where you are going to be in the first 100-200 people who enter the ride at the end of the street. For us, this meant 30 minutes before the gates opened. It's a great way to start your day (as long as the ride is up!). It was our favorite ride in either park.

 

[dnamertz]

If you can't make it to the rope drop in time to do the wide right technique, a good alternative is to get in the RSR line minutes before the park closes. Last Thursday DCA closed at 8pm and we got in the standby line about 7:57. The sign said it would be a 45 minute wait and we asked the CM at the entrance and he confirmed that it would be 45 minutes. We got in line and the wait was exactly 18 minutes...we were one of the last few cars to ride for the night.

I believe they inflate the wait times just before closing to prevent people from entering the lines.

 

[cuchu2005]

We used it this past Oct 24th. Pure magic! We rode it 3 times that day. One using the technique (we were among the first 25 people), one with fast pass at mid afternoon, and the last one by getting in line 10 min prior to park closing with a total std by wait of 25 min. And, we got to ride it at night!

Thanks for sharing!

Mx