?? about DLR in June/July

[Hound 109]

double post.

 

[PinkBudgie]

In our case, I'm going with DH and we will both be "runners"!

 

[carj]

Okay, I will see if I can get an answer to this here before starting another thread.
Why does Ridemax NOT send us to TSMM first thing in the morning? It sends us to Monsters Inc. This is for June 29 if that makes any difference and we were not going to ride Soarin that day. It puts us on TSMM at 5:30 pm??? Any ideas why?

 

[PinkBudgie]

Okay, I will see if I can get an answer to this here before starting another thread.
Why does Ridemax NOT send us to TSMM first thing in the morning? It sends us to Monsters Inc. This is for June 29 if that makes any difference and we were not going to ride Soarin that day. It puts us on TSMM at 5:30 pm??? Any ideas why?

Here is what I wrote on another thread about that very question:

DCA opens at 10am everyday.

On Ridemax for our trip next week it suggests going on Toy Story between 2 and 4 with a line wait of 35 min. (about what you said)

Even before I got Ridemax I always thought that ride should wait until the afternoon and this is why:

Often DCA opens early at 9:30 for just for the Soarin area. I don't know if this is always the case or if they've changed that, but if so, you would need to be at the gates around 9am. Then you go to a line (or you used to) for you to wait for TSMM. Then at 10 you are allowed to go back to the ride and you probably won't be first so you still have a wait there. By the time you add up all the waiting you did from 9 to at least 10:15 or 10:30 you have waited longer at that ride then if you just waited about 40 min in the afternoon. In the meantime, you have missed the primetime at DL when there are light crowds in the morning.

I have been saying this on the boards for awhile and not everyone agrees with me, but I was happy to discover that the people at Ridemax thought the same thing so at least now I feel justified.

The above came from a discussion on TSMM on this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2206691

If you click on the tips button on Ridemax it takes you to a part of their site that gives you tips about DLR and using Ridemax. They explain this there.

 

[carj]

I think I get it now. I want to use my prime time in the morning on rides where the lines will build. TSMM is going to have a line that requires a 40 minute wait at some point in the day and it doesn't improve by getting there first thing because in order to be first, I would still be waiting for Rope Drop.

Thanks so much for your help! We start our trip tomorrow and we will be in California on Thursday!

 

[PinkBudgie]

I think I get it now. I want to use my prime time in the morning on rides where the lines will build. TSMM is going to have a line that requires a 40 minute wait at some point in the day and it doesn't improve by getting there first thing because in order to be first, I would still be waiting for Rope Drop.

Thanks so much for your help! We start our trip tomorrow and we will be in California on Thursday!

Have a good trip! We leave on Wed.

 

[SnowWhite09]

We were at the parks early in June and from this experience I would say the following.

If you do decide to go to the parks on the first day, I would agree that going to DCA would be best as it is less crowded than DL (at least that is what we found). We saw the last Aladdin show of the day - I think 4.30pm - and had no trouble getting in. We arrived about 30 mins before the show was scheduled to start but many people arrived after us and there was room for them. The show is fantastic by the way.

I left Hojos 45 mins before MM started and was the first one on line at the gates so getting to the gates 30 mins prior to park opening should be fine.

Given what you have said about your walking speed it will probably take you 15 mins to walk to the park. We were also in a garden pool view room and it was taking us about 8 mins to walk - no strollers but our 12yo DD.

I have never used Ridemax so I can't comment on this question - sorry!

The weather was a little disappointing while we were there with regard to temperature. Every day except one it was cloudy and cool in the morning clearing to warmish afternoons and quite cool evenings. If were going back to the park at night we had long pants and a sweater on.

Have a fabulous time!!!!

 

[carj]

It is currently 99 degrees in Texas and according to my iphone it is 71 in Anaheim! It sounds like heaven! We will probably dance all the way to the parks!

I am glad that it sounds like seeing Aladdin the first afternoon will work. I can't wait to get there! I am working on packing the car right now, can't you tell, but it is so hot, I keep taking one thing out and then coming in to cool off!

 

[Sherry E]

I think I get it now. I want to use my prime time in the morning on rides where the lines will build. TSMM is going to have a line that requires a 40 minute wait at some point in the day and it doesn't improve by getting there first thing because in order to be first, I would still be waiting for Rope Drop.

Thanks so much for your help! We start our trip tomorrow and we will be in California on Thursday!

I agree with all the other great points made here, but I have to emphatically disagree about the TSMM issue of waiting in the line by GRR not being worth it or practical. I found it to be very worthwhile to go and stand at the line by GRR because more often than not, you will still beat the masses who are waiting at the front of DCA to the ride by a few minutes, and when you get off of the TSMM ride you will see the huge line of people waiting to get on it and realize why you waited by GRR in the first place. Plus, some of the Cast Members at GRR will begin escorting you over at 9:45 or 9:50. It is not always 10:00 on the dot that they walk you over. It just depends on which CM you get and what kind of mood they are in, I guess. So if you go to stand in the line by GRR at, say, 9:45 a.m., the line may be already en route to TSMM by that time or you may just have to wait 5 or 10 more minutes. Then you sail right into the TSMM line and get on it within minutes. Some DIS-ers have even reported getting onto the TSMM ride slightly before 10:00 a.m. With the reports of crowds as they have been lately, I would rather do it that way than risk waiting in a 40-minute line (or longer) later in the day, in the heat. So don't rule it out! It may SEEM like it is not a worthwhile endeavor to do it that way to some people, but it was successful for us and it has been for others on this board.

 

[HydroGuy]

I think I get it now. I want to use my prime time in the morning on rides where the lines will build. TSMM is going to have a line that requires a 40 minute wait at some point in the day and it doesn't improve by getting there first thing because in order to be first, I would still be waiting for Rope Drop.

Thanks so much for your help! We start our trip tomorrow and we will be in California on Thursday!

I agree with all the other great points made here, but I have to emphatically disagree about the TSMM issue of waiting in the line by GRR not being worth it or practical. I found it to be very worthwhile to go and stand at the line by GRR because more often than not, you will still beat the masses who are waiting at the front of DCA to the ride by a few minutes, and when you get off of the TSMM ride you will see the huge line of people waiting to get on it and realize why you waited by GRR in the first place. Plus, some of the Cast Members at GRR will begin escorting you over at 9:45 or 9:50. It is not always 10:00 on the dot that they walk you over. It just depends on which CM you get and what kind of mood they are in, I guess. So if you go to stand in the line by GRR at, say, 9:45 a.m., the line may be already en route to TSMM by that time or you may just have to wait 5 or 10 more minutes. Then you sail right into the TSMM line and get on it within minutes. Some DIS-ers have even reported getting onto the TSMM ride slightly before 10:00 a.m. With the reports of crowds as they have been lately, I would rather do it that way than risk waiting in a 40-minute line (or longer) later in the day, in the heat. So don't rule it out! It may SEEM like it is not a worthwhile endeavor to do it that way to some people, but it was successful for us and it has been for others on this board.

Sherry I do not have a strong opinion on the matter. I have only ridden TSMM at DCA once (just last month), and we were on a day trip and did it thru single rider mid-afternoon with a posted 40 minute wait. FWIW we had eight people in our group and single rider took 20 minutes to get us all on the ride.

In any case I can see the logic in not waiting at GRR for 30 minutes for TSMM as you really have not saved much time over a 40 minute wait later in the day. If you start your day at DCA (no DL before) then if you line up for TSMM early your loss is a half hour of sleep. But if you do go to DL first then you are losing half an hour of DL time. In both cases you could do Soarin at 9:30 and you are losing a chance to ride that with a short line.

If I had plenty of time on a multi-day trip then maybe it is not such a big deal. But on a shorter trip it is not so clear to me.

It is not like lining up at the DL gate 30 minutes early because in that case you are not missing something else while you wait. And you have a chance to hit multiple short rides in that critical first 30-60 minutes. As you know some people get on 10 Fantasyland rides in that first hour and are saving 3-4 hours of line waiting compared to mid-day as opposed to just 40 minutes with TSMM.

I am interested in how others view this...

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry I do not have a strong opinion on the matter. I have only ridden TSMM at DCA once (just last month), and we were on a day trip and did it thru single rider mid-afternoon with a posted 40 minute wait. FWIW we had eight people in our group and single rider took 20 minutes to get us all on the ride.

In any case I can see the logic in not waiting at GRR for 30 minutes for TSMM as you really have not saved much time over a 40 minute wait later in the day. If you start your day at DCA (no DL before) then if you line up for TSMM early your loss is a half hour of sleep. But if you do go to DL first then you are losing half an hour of DL time. In both cases you could do Soarin at 9:30 and you are losing a chance to ride that with a short line.

If I had plenty of time on a multi-day trip then maybe it is not such a big deal. But on a shorter trip it is not so clear to me.

It is not like lining up at the DL gate 30 minutes early because in that case you are not missing something else while you wait. And you have a chance to hit multiple short rides in that critical first 30-60 minutes. As you know some people get on 10 Fantasyland rides in that first hour and are saving 3-4 hours of line waiting compared to mid-day as opposed to just 40 minutes with TSMM.

I am interested in how others view this...

Well, PinkBudgie agrees with you! I know there are others who have gone the GRR line route and made their way to TSMM as we did, and had the same experience we did, which was positive. I think you may be assuming that the line by GRR will not budge until 10:00 a.m., therefore wasting 30 minutes of precious time, and what I am trying to point out is that it is not always the case. There have been a lot of folks who have reported being escorted by the CM to the TSMM line well before 10:00 and gotten on the ride before 10:00 or at 10:00 a.m. So you won't know unless you get in the line to see what happens. We don't do the commando 'have to squeeze in as much as possible into X amount of time' thing. We try to have a general set sort of goal for where we are going if we have 2 days, but if we spend 15 minutes - or 20 or 30 - standing in a COOL line over by GRR before 10:00 a.m. and seeing the masses of people standing in the line when we get off the ride, as opposed to going back to TSMM mid-afternoon (which we have done as well) and waiting in the heat for 30 - 45 minutes (which we have done as well), we will choose the former any time, not the latter.

I just think that option should not be ruled out, because it does work for some people.

 

[HydroGuy]

Well, PinkBudgie agrees with you!

Well, I am not sure Pink agrees with me because I am not sure what I myself think yet! I can see Pink's point. But as I said I have not done it either way unlike you who has done it both ways.

I am trying to find something to compare it to. Like arriving 30 minutes early for DL. We arrived 40 minutes early for a Magic Morning in 2007 to ride Nemo Subs. The logic there was that the subs were getting 2 hour lines. We burned an entire MM on the Subs. Was it worth it? Yes, to me. But I do not think it compares very well to the situation with TSMM.

So I am undecided. I think I lean towards agreeing with Pink but will have to wait and try it. In reality we would probably do Single Rider on TSMM if we went mid-day which makes the whole point sort of moot.

 

[Sherry E]

Well, I am not sure Pink agrees with me because I am not sure what I myself think yet! I can see Pink's point. But as I said I have not done it either way unlike you who has done it both ways.

I am trying to find something to compare it to. Like arriving 30 minutes early for DL. We arrived 40 minutes early for a Magic Morning in 2007 to ride Nemo Subs. The logic there was that the subs were getting 2 hour lines. We burned an entire MM on the Subs. Was it worth it? Yes, to me. But I do not think it compares very well to the situation with TSMM.

So I am undecided. I think I lean towards agreeing with Pink but will have to wait and try it. In reality we would probably do Single Rider on TSMM if we went mid-day which makes the whole point sort of moot.

Oooh...I still shudder when I think of the Nemo line - especially in the heat. You know, I love love love Nemo, the movie, but I am not a big fan of the Nemo Sub. I actually wish there had been a separate Nemo ride altogether, not a rehashing of the Sub, but that will never happen. I just was underwhelmed, I suppose, and the long line to get on it is so daunting. While other rides (like TSMM or like POTC) have fast-moving lines so you never feel like you are standing in the same spot for too long, the Nemo line just seems like it takes an eternity, and you are at a standstill for long chunks of time. However, if I were with a group who wanted to go on it, I suppose we would have to establish the best time to get on it.

I think the MM is extremely worthwhile. There were so many rides in FL that my friend was not interested in riding anymore because the lines are always crazy, and so she just chalked them up to being "for kids" and lost interest for years. So our only real "goal" in using the MM last December was to get to IASW Holiday before the masses hit that - and that was extremely successful, as we were the only two people in our boat and there was no one behind us in any of the boats! So once we exited IASW Holiday and just began meandering for the rest of the MM hour, we saw how all of the dark rides had no lines at all, nor did the Teacups. So we ended up going commando 'accidentally,' I guess you could say. Once my friend saw that these "kid rides" had no lines, we started hitting them one after another after another. We didn't plan it that way, but they were there for the taking, so why not? So MM is definitely a time-maximization tool we will take advantage of again, not at a break-neck pace, but just doing what we did last time, strolling from one ride to another to another when we see no lines. That is definitely the best way to do Peter Pan and Alice and all of those cool things.

Anyway, sorry, OP for veering off topic!