3 hours at HS - recommendations?

[jbrinkm]

My family will have a full day at HS and then we have a reservation for a second day in case we don't get RoTR. However, we'd love to have lunch at a resort and then park hop to a park we otherwise won't get to see on the second day. So what should I plan to do for the second day, for three or so hours, starting with rope drop?

I'm listing below the stuff we're interested in doing. We could squeeze everything into the first day but with a shorter afternoon break. If we offload a few things to the second day, it will make our first day more relaxed. Kids want to build droids but not lightsabers. Obviously, some of the planning will depend on if/when we get a boarding pass but I'd like to have a plan for the second day ready to go. We'll have no ADRs for sit down meals, unless I'm lucky enough to get Oga's. Also, day one is a weekday with tentatively predicted crowds of 3 and day two is a Saturday with crowds of 6. So which attractions should I move over from the first day to the second day/morning? Which 2 rides would it make sense to do during a second day of rope drop rather than in the evening?

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple
Muppet*Vision 3D
Droid Depot
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Vacation Fun - An Original Animated Short with Mickey & Minnie
Star Wars Launch Bay: Encounter Darth Vader / Meet Chewbacca
Celebrate with the Incredibles at Pixar Place
Slinky Dog Dash
Toy Story Mania!
Alien Swirling Saucers
For the First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway

 

[Leahc117]

Did you just list everything at HS? Lol. We did the same thing UB April - I booked 3 HS days in a row and we relaxed/park hopped when we were done. I found that the strategy that worked for us was to get in the parks early each day and get back to the resort by lunch time!! One day we headed back to riviera after HS and ended up walking from the CBR station because the lines were crazy for the open of Epcot at 11!!! So by 11 am we had crossed what we needed off our HS list!! What worked best for us was to rope drop slinky dog each day. We have a just turned 38 inch 3 year old so I wanted to make sure he got on something special each morning. Slinky dog is just what was most important to us (especially because waiting in that line that stretched halfway across the park was not an option with my kids!) then we always had time for millennium falcon or MMRR (or both) and of course our boarding pass to rise. After those first few we would just jump into what had lower lines - star tours, muppets, rockin roller coaster. I suggest enjoying your first day at HS and for a second either hitting what you didn’t or repeating your favorites!! I could tell after day 1 what would be most important to my family. We also hopped to Hollywood on our first day after crazy rain drove us back to the hotel from AK - so we had a couple opportunities to decide what we preferred to ride. Don’t forget parks open early so use that time to get your must do’s taken care of! Oh, and one of my must do’s was baseline tap house which was awesome to sit and relax after hitting our main must do rides at rope drop!! Sorry for the long reply!! Enjoy!

 

[loves to dive]

I did the same thing on a recent solo trip. I had a Tuesday as my first HS day and a Thursday as my second. I did not get a boarding group on Tuesday but did get a lunch ADR at HBD for 12:45. I was at HS around 8:30 Tuesday morning for a 9 am opening. Rode ToT first thing, then rode MMRR, rode MFSR, walked through One Man's Dream and watched the movie then just shopped took my time until my ADR. I was still at HBD at 1 so for fun tried to get a boarding group and got one which was for around 4 or 5 according to the estimate. So after lunch I went back to the resort for some pool time. Walked back to HS wandered over and rode SDD and Aliens and shopped some, sat down for awhile until my boarding group was called. After RoTR I was done with HS for the day. I walked over to Epcot and ate at booths and rode some rides.

Since I had already ridden RoTR it wasn't a priority for me and the only other ride I wanted to do at HS was TSMM. On Thursday I did get a boarding group, which the estimate would be for around 11:30. I ate breakfast and took my time and walked in the gates around 9:15. Walked over to TSMM and rode that, went and watched the Muppets, thought about watching Frozen but the timing wasn't right when I walked by. I rode ToT again, got a pretzel and sat and rested while waiting for my boarding group and rode RoTR then left the park, went back to the room to rest and then walked over Epcot and rode some rides and and just shopped around. I don't ride RNRR because it hurts my neck and don't ride Star Tours because it makes me sick. Basically my second day there was just wasting time and riding TSMM.

I would just look at the app. and see what had the shortest lines and ride those so I didn't really have a plan for either day as to which ride to ride in what order.

 

[jbrinkm]

Did you just list everything at HS? Lol.

Maybe? I don't know... I thought there were a few that were slower or for younger kids that I didn't pick, but it is possible that those are also just closed. And we're not doing Savi's! I won't pay that much for it and they don't want to use their own savings. My kids are a bit older (12 & 14) so it is also possible that they will rebel at some of my choices but I really do want to try MMRR and SDD at least once. This will only be our second time visiting and the last time was 6 years ago so I'm really hoping to focus on the new rides or stuff we missed last time. And if we have to stick around until 1pm to try for a later boarding group, I'd like to try for some slower, cooler spaces from 11am-1pm so we're not in horrible hot lines. If we get a boarding group early, we'll be out of there as close to noon as we can and then we'll return after pool/rest. Right now I have only 2.5 hours built in for rest but with transportation taking 30-60 minutes each way, that doesn't give us much time at the hotel.

I just can't seem to get a handle on which rides at HS build up the longest lines during the early morning, quickly. Do you really only get one ride each morning with hardly any wait? If we do SDD first one morning and then go to RnRC or ToT or MFSR or MMRR right afterwards, will there already be a huge wait? Which ones have shorter or equivalent lines in the evening?

 

[Leahc117]

We went to tower of terror our first morning and it hadn’t opened yet so that sort of screwed up our morning that day. We felt much more productive the other 2 days starting with slinky dog. If your kids are older then TOT first may be a good start-(I have only 1 of 3 that wanted to do TOT.). Then you can knock out RnR and still get over to MMRR. But I do think with 2 mornings to use you can get a lot done- and I would say to try to ride the your favorites again if possible!

 

[disneydentist]

Jedi training and the meet and greets are currently suspended.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

Maybe? I don't know... I thought there were a few that were slower or for younger kids that I didn't pick, but it is possible that those are also just closed. And we're not doing Savi's! I won't pay that much for it and they don't want to use their own savings. My kids are a bit older (12 & 14) so it is also possible that they will rebel at some of my choices but I really do want to try MMRR and SDD at least once. This will only be our second time visiting and the last time was 6 years ago so I'm really hoping to focus on the new rides or stuff we missed last time. And if we have to stick around until 1pm to try for a later boarding group, I'd like to try for some slower, cooler spaces from 11am-1pm so we're not in horrible hot lines. If we get a boarding group early, we'll be out of there as close to noon as we can and then we'll return after pool/rest. Right now I have only 2.5 hours built in for rest but with transportation taking 30-60 minutes each way, that doesn't give us much time at the hotel.

I just can't seem to get a handle on which rides at HS build up the longest lines during the early morning, quickly. Do you really only get one ride each morning with hardly any wait? If we do SDD first one morning and then go to RnRC or ToT or MFSR or MMRR right afterwards, will there already be a huge wait? Which ones have shorter or equivalent lines in the evening?

Obviously, crowd have picked up since August, but when we went, we were able to do Slinky, Aliens, and Midway Mania all before open both days. They are so close together, once you get off Slinky, it’s right back in line for the next. We got there about 45 minutes before open.

 

[teachluvbeach]

I just can't seem to get a handle on which rides at HS build up the longest lines during the early morning, quickly.

I found it helpful to set an alarm on my phone to check the wait times on the app each morning for the 2-3 weeks prior to my visit. Having said that, SDD was down the entire day we were at HS, so having a backup plan is helpful if your must-do rides aren't operating when you arrive.

 

[Sarahslay]

Jedi training and the meet and greets are currently suspended.

I was going to say the same thing. Pretty much everything is doable on your first day, but obviously not these.

I've been 5 times since reopening, with the 6th coming up, and I can usually get a ton done (if not most things) before my lunch ADR. I usually schedule those for anywhere from 12:30-1:30, and usually end up having to sit around a bit. Sometimes we still have a ride or two to finish after lunch, we pick those carefully so we don't lose our lunch lol. Recently my oldest daughter and I got to the park about 30 minutes before the 45 min early pre-RD time (It was 9am that day), and we were able to do MMRR, SDD, TSMM, and Swirling Saucers before our breakfast window at Woody's lunchbox at 9:25 am. So we got in at 8:15 and had all that done pretty quickly, but you HAVE to be there early to do that or it's not doable, and that's pretty much my only advice. I always get there as early as possible, walk on MMRR, and go to SDD immediately. If you don't really want to rush to MMRR I'd do SDD (possibly the other TSL rides), Tower, and then RnR. Smugglers Run stays long most of the day, as does SDD, so we either hit those first thing or at the end of the day before park close...or both. I still haven't had to use a full day at HS, we always get a break, and before PH would leave after lunch and then come back later to ride more, riding most rides more than once in the day.

 

[disneydentist]

I was going to say the same thing. Pretty much everything is doable on your first day, but obviously not these.

I've been 5 times since reopening, with the 6th coming up, and I can usually get a ton done (if not most things) before my lunch ADR. I usually schedule those for anywhere from 12:30-1:30, and usually end up having to sit around a bit. Sometimes we still have a ride or two to finish after lunch, we pick those carefully so we don't lose our lunch lol. Recently my oldest daughter and I got to the park about 30 minutes before the 45 min early pre-RD time (It was 9am that day), and we were able to do MMRR, SDD, TSMM, and Swirling Saucers before our breakfast window at Woody's lunchbox at 9:25 am. So we got in at 8:15 and had all that done pretty quickly, but you HAVE to be there early to do that or it's not doable, and that's pretty much my only advice. I always get there as early as possible, walk on MMRR, and go to SDD immediately. If you don't really want to rush to MMRR I'd do SDD (possibly the other TSL rides), Tower, and then RnR. Smugglers Run stays long most of the day, as does SDD, so we either hit those first thing or at the end of the day before park close...or both. I still haven't had to use a full day at HS, we always get a break, and before PH would leave after lunch and then come back later to ride more, riding most rides more than once in the day.

Very good points. You absolutely want to be there before the pre-opening time of 45 minutes before the official opening. Last month we did Slinky Dog Dash then headed to Millenium Falcon. "Batuu" was essentially empty. It made for some great photo ops.

 

[gharter]

As long as you are there about an hour before opening, you should have a short line to about whatever you want to ride.
I would consider SDD or ToT. If you haven't done MMRR, that line is very short for about the first hour.
RD was 8:15, we did MMRR twice, RnRC, then ToT by 9. Only ToT had any line, the others were walk on. The crowds headed to SDD and MFSR