Toy Story Mania

[ReneeA]

We go end of August through Labor Day every year in order to get the discounts and avoid some crowds. The way we do TSM at DHS is to get there a bit before rope drop, head to TSM, ride it standby first (we wait about 25 minutes normally), grab a fastpass when we get off, then get to RNRC to ride standby (has a 20 minute wait or so at that point). If you decide you want to ride TSM again, wait until a half hour before the park closes...usually Fantasmic is going on then...and get in the standby line. It's going to tell you there is a 60-70 minute wait, but I think they overinflate the wait time at that time of day to discourage people from getting in line. We haven't ever waited longer than 30 minutes that time of day, even though the estimated wait is double that or more.

Now, that may be different during busy times of the year, but the week we go, crowds are really low and the only time we have to deal with crowds are in the restaurants (free dining!).

 

[momimouse27]

I have a 9 yr old son, and this is his favorite ride...unfortunately. I say that not because I don't love the ride, because I do, but the wait it hellatious. We went in early November and tried twice-both times the FP were gone and the wait was over 2 hours long. We attempted waiting in regular lines, but after 45 minutes and we had moved about 3 feet, we gave up.

Anyway, be there at rope drop and make a beeline for this. Love the ride, but you definitely want a FP for this one.

 

[disneychic2]

Dh goes on ahead (we get there about 1/2 before opening) and gets our fast passes and then we ride standby with only a 25 - 30 minute wait. Even in Sept the stand by line gets long quickly. We love going in Sept b/c the lines are almost non existent. EXCEPT for Soarin and TSM! To us, it is well worth the hassle. I don't think we would stand in line for an hour for any ride, though.

 

[mjallemand]

I think we might straight-up skip it this year. We made the mistake of waiting in an almost 2-hour line last time, not knowing any better, as it was our first time to WDW since the late 90s.

Mr. Potato Head becomes infuriating when you have to listen to him for more than an hour...I almost dove over the railing and tackled the mofo.

Also, for fun, make a "Shhh" noise, just quietly enough for the whole room to hear, and it gets real quiet real quick...it's amazing how well it works psychologically.

 

[mom4graceandlogan]

September will make no difference on TSM. We go every year third week of september. Last year fast passes were gone by 11. We have only rode it once in our last 7 trips for this reason. We are not early risers and don't do rope drop. We close the parks each night. The only time we rode we it we did standby during EMH evening hours and waited over an hour. This was the year it opened.

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

Rope drop, rope drop, rope drop. Get to TSM at rope drop and ride standby. Don't be surprised if you're in line for nearly an hour even though the park has just opened. Then grab a fast pass if you want to ride it again later in the day. Chances are good that your return time will already be for sometime in the afternoon.

If you don't get there till later in the morning, and fast passes are already gone, then you can try again to ride standby close to park closing.

Is it as bad as Soarin'? No. It's worse.

Actually, it's better to grab a FP first and THEN ride stand-by if the line isn't too long. But definitely, ROPE DROP!

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

I miss the single rider line there.

 

[kneedeep]

Mr. Potato Head becomes infuriating when you have to listen to him for more than an hour...I almost dove over the railing and tackled the mofo.

Hilarious.

OP, Ditto what everyone else said. I haven't been since they started letting people in "before rope drop," but be prepared for the fact that the line to GET a fastpass is long. If you go on ahead, it will definitely give your mom and the rest of your party a chance to catch up, even with a wheelchair.

 

[AppleSister1]

We go Christmas week often. Rope drop, rope drop, rope drop. And get there earlier than the listed opening time. If you are staying on property, I'd look to see if there is am emh for this park during your stay. You'd be amazed how much you can see/do during that one hour window.

Head straight for it, and as others have said, grab your FP's (we usually send a runner.) If you want to ride it twice, get on then.

Generally, we like to do RnR as many times as possible, so after we grab our TSM FP's we high tail it to RnR and do that, and ToT, and sometimes RnR again. And if we have time before our TSM window, Star Tours.

Yes, this entails a lot of criss crossing the park, but we go frequently at crowded periods, and we find that if we head to our favs right away, we can get them done (sometimes multiple times) and then sort of relax and enjoy a slower pace. And again, we plan our days around am emh. I know that's not for everyone, but it works well for us - in fact, if we even ponder a different plan, my nephews look at us like we are insane!

 

[linzbear]

The Fast Pass line at 9:15AM (it's on the right along the buildings). I was waiting for DH who was in that line. I think our FP return was for around 11AM?

 

[delaneyc52]

It's all been said already. I do like TSM a lot. Rode it a few times. Great fun. But like others, I'm not going to race for a FP or wait 90 minutes. I keep hoping the hype over it will die down and the wait time will normalize, but that doesn't seem to be happening! Even in September!!

 

[crazymomof4]

I am ever so glad I asked this question. I was picking up on hints that is was bad, but had no idea until I read all of your posts here.
Planning on following all of your suggestions, so I think we'll do OK.

 

[W.E.D.]

EMH RD. Don't be late. That's my best tip.

 

[DulcetDiscord]

Personally, I think Soarin is MUCH MUCH worse than TSM. The queue area is long, it goes up and down and back and forth and there's nothing really to look at.

When TSM first opened a few years ago, I never saw the line for more than 80 minutes, even during peak season. But unlike whatever new thrill ride is out at other parks, TSM has only grown in popularity and wait time. Now even during off season the wait can reach 120 minutes! The highest I've ever seen the wait posted was between Christmas and New Year's this past year, when it said 190! I could not believe that people were STILL getting in the line! And where were they putting them all?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE this ride, but now that I live in central Florida and I know I can come back whenever I want, I will not wait more than 60 minutes.

And while 60 minutes is a long time, TSM has one of the most visually stimulating queues of all the rides. My mom and I usually pass the time playing "I Spy" and we inevitably rope a nearby family into our game.

This totally worked out for us on a recent visit, when we entertained the 2 kids of a family of 4 for most of the queue. Towards the part where you pick up the 3D glasses, the daughter had to go to the bathroom, so the mom asked a CM, who let them out of the line and gave them fastpasses to come back. We finished our ride about the same time as the father and son, and while my mom was in the bathroom the family saw me and GAVE us their fastpasses! The ladies had decided they weren't that interested and they had a dinner reservation, so my mom and I got to ride it twice in a little over an hour! I should mention also that this was around 4 in the afternoon, when the lines are usually their longest.

As with most things in Disney, the experience is what you make of it.

 

[ckwats]

We are going to HS on the day that the EHM is at night. Open til 11:00. Is it possible to ride later in the night without a long line? I would like to see Fantasmic at 8:00 and try after the show... Thanks

 

[popsynic]

We are going to HS on the day that the EHM is at night. Open til 11:00. Is it possible to ride later in the night without a long line? I would like to see Fantasmic at 8:00 and try after the show... Thanks

It will be equally if not more busy - as you leave Fantasmic, with plans to ride TSM, 7 or 8,000 other people will be alongside you with more or less the same idea

 

[ginakbrown]

OK-- got it.... BEFORE rope drop! We can do that. Getting the kids up to go into WDW is never a problem........ for school, now that's another story!
We will be there is Sept. which is traditionally less crowded, altho FD seems to be crazy-popular this year.
We will have my mom in a w/c so I'll have to leave her with the rest of the group and run ahead for FP's. Don't think I can do the single or double only line bc I'll need to stay with mom and dd11 will def want to ride with me too.... btw, how many to a car?




Sounds like a plan! Thanks!

2 per car... I think it's actually 4 2 on each side, but your really only riding with 1 other person

 

[tndisneyfan]

Just wanted to throw in another it's way, way, way worse than Soarin. We decided a few trips back that we weren't doing it anymore. It just lock up too much time on fastpasses and if we want to ride it first thing it's just too far away from everything else. If we go to DHS three times on our trip, we will do the TSMM run once. I love the ride, I would ride it a dozen times if I could, but it's just not worth the hassle.