Help with DCA day

[donaldanddaisy]

Hi All,

In two weeks my 9 year old daughter and I will be spending two magical days in DLR. One day DL and one day DCA. It is the week before Easter, so I expect it to be very crowded. We are going to aim for rope drop both days and are starting in parks that don't have early morning. I've got DL pretty well planned, but I am still uncertain what to do first in DCA -- last time I was there Carsland wasn't open!

Here is what we want to do:

RSR
Anna/Elsa M&G
Olaf M&G
WOC fastpasses

Plus, we want to TSMM (Toy Story)

Which way to we head first? With just the two of us, I'm not sure I can leave her while I go running for FPs, but I know she isn't going to appreciate being dragged all across the park too many times.

Appreciate any suggestions!

 

[figment_jii]

I don't know that there will still be an Olaf meet & greet in July. Olaf's Snow Fest has a current end date of April 30th (according to flyers that were mailed to some AP holders). A&E will continue to meet and greet after Frozen Fun ends in May, but I don't know about Olaf. The Sing-A-Long and Freeze the Night are ending in mid-May (before the start of the 60th Anniversary).

I would probably head to TSMM at rope drop because there is no FP for that attraction and it is fairly popular. Then I would pickup the WoC and RSR FPs on the way back to getting the A&E return ticket/FP.

 

[ludari]

If you are staying at a resort hotel or purchase tickets you should get an hours head-start before the parks are open to the public. If not, if I was you I would start at rope drop and grab my FP for RSR since that will be the first area you'll walk by. Head over to TSMM and after that grab your WOC FP. Good luck.

 

[figment_jii]

If you are staying at a resort hotel or purchase tickets you should get an hours head-start before the parks are open to the public. If not, if I was you I would start at rope drop and grab my FP for RSR since that will be the first area you'll walk by. Head over to TSMM and after that grab your WOC FP. Good luck.

I don't quite understand what you mean by "purchase tickets". Can you clarify? I know the certain three-day or more tickets qualify for Magic Morning (only in DL), but I thought Extra Magic Hours was only available for on-site guests regardless of what tickets they have or where they purchased them.

 

[Canuck16]

I would grab a FP for RSR once you enter the park then head over to TSM and ride it

 

[ludari]

I don't quite understand what you mean by "purchase tickets". Can you clarify? I know the certain three-day or more tickets qualify for Magic Morning (only in DL), but I thought Extra Magic Hours was only available for on-site guests regardless of what tickets they have or where they purchased them.

Yes, three-day or more would qualify for MM and EMH is available for guests staying at Disney resort regarding of what type of tickets they have.

 

[figment_jii]

Thank you for clarifying your original post. I think it would useful to include the requirements (e.g., three day or longer) when mentioning Magic Mornings in the future because not everyone on the boards is familiar with the details and it gives the false sense that any ticket purchase will qualify for the guest for Magic Morning and/or Extra Magic Hours. In this thread, the OP is only going for two-days, so it's unlikely they'd have three-day tickets.

 

[donaldanddaisy]

Yes, we are only going for two days -- so no early entry -- and not in July, but in two weeks. We will be in DCA on April 2nd. So no one thinks it is important to go straight from RSR to Anna/Elsa?

 

[wdwfan22]

Yes, we are only going for two days -- so no early entry -- and not in July, but in two weeks. We will be in DCA on April 2nd. So no one thinks it is important to go straight from RSR to Anna/Elsa?

No. I haven't read anything about them running out of Anna/Elsa FPs. When we went in January, we go some in the afternoon. So I would 2nd Figment and ride TSM (no FP, long lines), get RSR FP, then head wherever else you want.

 

[Pucka1378]

We usually are at DCA for rope drop and go straight to ride RSR(and use the keep right strategy) and then head over to TSMM. This works for us. We typically get on RSR in 20 mins... then have about a 30min wait at TSMM.

Anna and Elsa I have no clue about as no one in my family has any interest.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I would go to RSR first assuming you get there at rope drop. Then, head to Olaf to get a pass for that. If you get there early enough there will be minimal line and you may not even need a pager. I haven't done Anna and Elsa, but my plan would be to grab your fastpasses for that and the sing along show after seeing Olaf (or when you're waiting to see Olaf if the line is long). Then, finish off with TSMM. Even if the line for TSMM is long, it's kind of a fun line. I don't know where to fit WOC fastpasses in since we don't really have any interest in that show.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I did A&E at dl last nov. It was a long plan but worked for me. I am glad they don't need such planing now.
I would do tsmm first, woc fp, then rsr fp, then anna and elsa fp.

 

[SMD]

I would do Frozen first. Some of it is ending later in April and it might get busy. Yes it's Spring break, but it's a Thursday, so RSR FP will last at least an hour. Would your daughter be ok with single rider? If so, that's a back up plan, but I think you'll be ok. Then head to TSMM. If your goal is to avoid crisscrossing the park, why head to TSMM first, then head back. The additional 10-15 minute wait you might encounter isn't that much longer than the extra time going back and forth. Then you'll probably have time to do some other stuff in that area before going back for RSR.

 

[MouseEXP]

What works is...
Get to park at 15 minutes before it opens
Get RSR FP first if you want to do it more than once.
Head directly to TSMM
Then Screamin, Fun Wheel, Goofy, Swings, Mermaid, Should be close to 930am by now.
Get WOC FP, then do Grizzly, Get FP for Anna and Elsa
Get 2nd FP for RSR, Use FP for RSR and ride Mater. Should be close to 1130am
Lunch
After 2 hour window is up for RSR FP is up you can get FP for Tower of Terror, get Olaf Pager, and check out Aladdin

 

[Angrose]

I was just at DCA yesterday, it was a EMH day and it was pretty busy. We got there just a little after the park opened, around 8:10am. We went straight to RSR fast passes and got a return time for 10:30-11:30. We next went to meet Olaf because I heard that line gets long fast. We walked into the snow fest and picked up a pager around 8:35am. There was no line for pagers at that time. They said they would page us in 20minutes. After being paged then we got in line and it was another 15 minutes until we met Olaf. When we walked out a line had started to form outside, I think that was the wait for the pagers. At 9:20 we grabbed a FP for the Anna & Elsa meet and greet, return time 10:15-10:35. When we returned we only waited about 15 minutes to meet the ladies. It was perfect because then it was time to use our RSR FP. We did not attempt to pull another FP for RSR, but we probably could have done that before or after meeting the ladies. It probably would have given us an evening return time but we were leaving early that day so it wouldn't have worked for us.

We did not do TSMM or WOC. But, I think it would have worked to run over and pull WOC right after RSR or while waiting for the pager to go off to meet Olaf. If you don't want to drag your daughter over to pull WOC then you could ask her to wait in the snow fest area with the pager. I'm not sure where the best place would be to fit in TSMM. Maybe after Olaf, before meeting the princesses? I believe the FP for the princesses are lasting well into the afternoon, so you could do that later in the day as well. We did walk past TSMM around 11:30am and the posted wait time was 35min.

Here's what I would do:

Pull RSR 1st FP
Get Olaf pager
Pull WOC FP while waiting for pager to go off
Meet Olaf
Ride TSMM
Pull 2nd FP for RSR
Use 1st FP for RSR
Pull FP for Anna and Elsa
Have lunch
Then do all the other rides you want!

Good luck, I'm sure you can fit everything in, you just may have to do some walking back and forth to make it work. Have fun!

 

[bellazachmom]

Something to note, unless it has changed very recently, the FP for the Anna & Elsa meet and greet is not "attached" so you can have it as well as another FP at the same time. This is true for the WOC and the Fantasmic! FPs, also. The Olaf pager also stands alone.

It will involve a bit of walking, but I would suggest getting a FP for A&E, then head to get a FP for RSR. After obtaining both, walk over to Paradise Pier and ride TSMM then head back to use your FPs for RSR and A&E based on the return times and pick up a FP for WOC. If you want to do the sing along, this is a good time to get that FP, too.

Then head to get the pager for Olaf - the estimated wait time will include the wait for the pager PLUS the wait with the pager so don't get too scared if it's a big number. Once you have the pager you can go all over the area and it will still work - take in Turtle Time with Crush, ride the Monster's Inc. ride, have something to eat or browse the shops ... and when your pager goes off head to the chekin for Olaf - you should only have a 10-15 minute wait to meet him at this point.

If you really enjoyed the RSRs and would like to do them again without a FP or a long wait, try the single rider line! We did this our last weekend trip with the "big" kids and it worked great. Kids need to be 7 or older to ride alone, but you wait in line together. You will not sit together, but you might end up in the same car. We always ended up in cars racing each other, which was a lot of fun. The cars all end at the same location and there is a great place to stand and wait for the few minutes one of you might be waiting for the other to exit a vehicle.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!