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If this was true they could stop people from using it with a few mouse clicks and would have done so months ago. We used it twice in January and I highly recommend it! The wait was much more than 10-15 minutes for those that walked up.
You aren't the only one. The system is very buggy. I had to cancel a bunch when we had to flip some days around and I had several that I had to call to cancel because the link to cancel in MDE would not work.
If you show up by 8:15 I promise you will have very few glitches in front of you to slow you down. It doesn't matter if the park opened at 8:45 or 9, there are still a lot of people ahead of you unless you are in the front.
Actually OP said they arrived at TSMM at 9:10 which is not ideal. It doesn't really matter in this case, the ride was down. I was at HS two weeks ago, 5th family behind the turnstile. We got off TSMM at 8:58 at were on our way to RNR and waited about 10 minutes to ride it.
I have noticed that many people who claim RD is awful are saying things like "we were walking down main st at 9:05" or "through the turnstile at 9:05" at HS. If that is the case you aren't really doing RD, you missed it by 15 minutes. You are already behind.
We did RD in MK 2 weeks ago and it still very beneficial. I hate to pile on but your Fantasy Land order is all wrong which is the reason you had waits.
We've done all three. Tutto and Via Napoli are both very good. If anyone wants pizza Via Napoli is your best bet. Mama Melrose is good, just not as good as the others.
Our favorite place to watch when we were in your situation was the flag pole. As soon as the fireworks are over we would just turn around and walk quickly to the the bus stop. We were always on the first bus out.
Hand dryers can also slow down the process of getting you in and out. Ever notice that there are no mirrors in front of the sinks? They slow things down!
Bring the nephews as long as someone has the card. They will look at your card. It is usually Mickey/Goofy or Minnie/Pluto. One time we had three characters.