I think the PP was saying that they rode POTC as soon as it opened for regular park opening and there was essentially no line.
Ah, that makes sense. That’s actually what I like best about using EMH/MM during our visits (we usually go in August & get in at 7am). The same rides tend to get impacted in about the same order (I compulsively check waits & FP return times w/ the app for about three weeks before our trips to see if the crowd patterns have changed, compared w/ the previous year, especially during years that have anything new, extra-shiny open up—here’s looking at you, SWGE...).
The pattern I noticed is that the same people flood the same rides in about the same order when early admission starts. Then the exact same pattern (that year’s headliners getting crowded, while people earmark other rides for later in the day) tends to repeat an hour later, when the next batch of people (those w/o early admission) hit the park. At that point, many of the rides that get crowded later (Indy, Pirates) are usually still walk-on or instant FP, so we just try to stay ahead of the crowd, until the third wave (night owls who just can’t get out of bed in time) hits. At that time, we’re done with the high impact rides, so we turn the intensity down a notch & do lower impact stuff (Winnie the Poo, Tiki Room), plus we get whatever FPs we can get for re-riding the fancier rides. I also always FP Space Mountain ob MM days rather than use precious MM time for it, since it tends to break down more frequently than, for example, Star Tours (which both of my kids love with a burning passion) and thus has the potential to throw kinks into my plans.
That strategy has worked like a charm for us for years now. Since we only go once a year and always during main season (the husband has an annual conference in Anaheim at that time), FP, especially in its incarnation as Maxpass has been a huge sanity saver for our entire family and has helped us get everything done we want to cover, plus it also provides us with lower key, people watching time, so we really get the best of both worlds.
We actually “train” the kids for our Dland trips by waking them up extra early in the week leading up to our visits, just to limit early morning grumpiness while hitting the parks.
I ought to have known better than think you’re making a mistake, Hydroguy—I think of you as the wise Disney sage on top of these boards‘ already considerable mountain of knowledge and thus one of my favorite sources of wisdom in regards to all things Disney!