7DMT...impossible?

[Sophie_2003]

OP, there is hope if you can get up,early...this morning was an8am opening. We showed up at 7:35, went to the right tunnel and walked right behind the cast members rope to the ride. They opened slightly early, and we were on and off the ride by 8:00. I would think rope drop is a surer bet than late night...good luck

 

[alliecats]

This is nothing new. I first read about the intentionally inflated wait times in the 2001 unofficial guide.

Late night is the very best time of the day to ride the headliners multiple times with little to no wait.

It is new to ME so I appreciated everyone sharing this information.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

It is new to ME so I appreciated everyone sharing this information.

These types of tricks have been around for awhile. For rides with indoor lines, they will actually close off part of the waiting area so that the line spills out the doors to make it look longer. It's a technique called "Line Stacking". Toy Story is probably the biggest offender of this. They'll close off almost all of the indoor waiting areas about an hour before the park closes then post a 70-90 minute wait time. There's no way to tell that it's inaccurate unless you get in line, although the gate attendant will often give the actual wait if asked nicely. We've often been able to ride 4 times in that last hour with a max wait time of 15 minutes.

 

[alliecats]

These types of tricks have been around for awhile. For rides with indoor lines, they will actually close off part of the waiting area so that the line spills out the doors to make it look longer. It's a technique called "Line Stacking". Toy Story is probably the biggest offender of this. They'll close off almost all of the indoor waiting areas about an hour before the park closes then post a 70-90 minute wait time. There's no way to tell that it's inaccurate unless you get in line, although the gate attendant will often give the actual wait if asked nicely. We've often been able to ride 4 times in that last hour with a max wait time of 15 minutes.

SO sneaky!! Good to know, I am going to go buck wild right before closing this time. I will get my money's worth.

 

[KathyinNY]

Our fp window isn't open yet, so we don't know what to expect (I am guessing it'll be hard to find fp for a whole 8 people though), but my DH, sister and I are planning on getting in the standby line last thing at the Halloween party. If for no other reason than because we want to see what the queue is like.

If you can't get a FP for 8 people, try to look for smaller groups- you may be able to get times that are slightly different, but mostly overlap. For example, my party of 5 had 2 different FP's for 7DMT - one for 2 people from 3:00-4:00, and one for 3 people from 3:10-4:10. We all had plenty of overlapping time to ride together.

 

[Accident]

You could pay for early morning magic and get 20 or so rides without waiting and then eat breakfast as part of the offering...

As others have mentioned, the wait times tend to be longer than they really are, especially getting closer to the end of the night. My first ride, we did the hop in about 5-10 minutes before park close, I think we waited about 15 minutes, rode it and then headed out of the park. The best part of this is your not cutting into your time in the park and if it take an hour, they will let you ride before you leave.

 

[urkalynne]

I was unable to get a FP for 7DMT in May and we never saw a wait less than an hour for it, even during a downpour that lasted 2 hours. I am not able to get a FP for it for my upcoming trip in 2.5 weeks either. I am going to a MNSSHP, do you think I will be able to ride it without standing in line for an hour during the party? I am just not sure it's an hour's worth of fun, but I would like to see what all the fuss is about. I won't be doing any characters, just rides and the fireworks and maybe 1 parade.

I haven't read everyone else's replies, but keep trying for the FP+. We were able to score two additional FP+ for 7DMT after we had already arrived to Disney, from people cancelling theirs. We also rode during MNSSHP without a FP+. The standby time varied from 20-40 minutes for the majority of the time we were at the party.

 

[Amanda999]

I was there 8/25-9/3 (I suspect your week is even lower crowd but not sure.) I (1) never saw stand by go over 45 minutes (I went to MK 3 weekdays, rope drop to about 11am); (2) was able to change our FP+ all 3 days we went to MK the morning of (around 6am to 7am). And, in the rain on Friday 9/2 the stand by at 10am wasn't even visible - the line wasn't even outside the themed queu (so, while it said standby was :45 IIRC, no way was it (I think they routinely overstate the standby on 7DMT to manage expectations). Oh - and it didn't go down once in the rain that day. HTH.

 

[alliecats]

You could pay for early morning magic and get 20 or so rides without waiting and then eat breakfast as part of the offering...

As others have mentioned, the wait times tend to be longer than they really are, especially getting closer to the end of the night. My first ride, we did the hop in about 5-10 minutes before park close, I think we waited about 15 minutes, rode it and then headed out of the park. The best part of this is your not cutting into your time in the park and if it take an hour, they will let you ride before you leave.

EMM is not an option on any of the days I am going to be there, unfortunately. I am definitely going to try this tactic of hopping in the line right before closing!