Cars Land strategy suggestions

[Disneyfanjane]

My family will be arriving at CCI on July 16 and plan to be in the parks on July 17, 18, and 20. We are coming all the way from the east coast of Canada so I need to make the best use of my time as it may be a while before we return.

We have early entry for one morning so I was thinking of heading straight to Cars Land and RSR. Would you suggest getting fastpasses for RSR first or do you think it would be better to go straight to RSR?

Any help with making the best use of the fastpasses at DCA would be appreciated. We have visited Disneyland and DCA once before so we know our way around.

 

[NorthernCalMom]

I'm curious about the responses you'll get, because we will be in a similar situation in the beginning of August. My hunch right now is to get RSR fast passes rather than lining up first thing in the morning, since I'm a bit concerned about reports of break downs and would hate to waste all our precious early morning time waiting in line. However, I heard of people who did just that and for whom it worked out great, so I'd love to hear how things worked out once you're back.

 

[dsneygirl]

I would put 1 person in your party in the line for Fast Passes and the rest ride Mater and Luigis. If you wait in the RSR stand by lie up Luigis will start to get a really long line.

 

[maggieb9975]

We have early entry for one morning so I was thinking of heading straight to Cars Land and RSR. Would you suggest getting fastpasses for RSR first or do you think it would be better to go straight to RSR?

)

Not sure if you have early entry for DCA? Do you have an AP? The early entry you get with the 3 day park hopper is only for Disneyland not DCA. This thread explains early entry.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403

 

[Disneyfanjane]

I only have early entry to Disneyland. My family visits Disney World a lot and usually stay on site which means early entry to select parks. I thought my early entry could be used for either park but I was wrong.

 

[skier_pete]

I only have early entry to Disneyland. My family visits Disney World a lot and usually stay on site which means early entry to select parks. I thought my early entry could be used for either park but I was wrong.

Yep, assuming you are not staying at one of the three resorts on property, you won't have early entry to DCA. We are in the same boat, traveling from Buffalo, NY with 3 days for our first ever visit.

My strategy at the moment is this:
-EE starts at 7 AM, our entry will be at 8 AM.
-We get to the gate for DCA about 7:30 AM.
-Once we enter the park...I head to the FastPass corral for RSR. (While the EE people cannot get FPs before 8 AM, they can LINE UP for FPs before we can, therefore, there's a good chance it will be 20 minutes or more after opening before getting a FP. However they run out by 9 AM, so there is little option.)
-DW and DD head to Luigi's Flying Tires. They ride if the line says less than 30 minutes.
-I meet DW and DD at Luigi's Flying Tires. We then ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.
-At this point, check out RSR to see how long the standby line / single rider line is, but more than likely leave Carsland for other parts of the park. Because of the extreme focus on everyone going to Carsland, it is likely that lines elsewhere will be relatively short early on.
- Return later in the day when FP is up for RSR. Wait until this time to explore the shops of carsland.

I think this is the best possible option to minimize wait times. If your group doesn't mind breaking up, rider single rider for RSR is a pretty good option, though that line is still typically 45-60 minutes. If anyone has a better idea, I'm open to suggestions as well!

 

[elaw]

We have early entry for one morning so I was thinking of heading straight to Cars Land and RSR. Would you suggest getting fastpasses for RSR first or do you think it would be better to go straight to RSR?

Go straight for RSR .... fast pass machines dont actually start giving FP's until 8:00am. We went last saturday (General Public type entry at rope drop)and went straight for RSR. It was "only" a 45 minute wait. After that we went over to TSMM (30 Minute wait) and then back to Maters Junkyard Jamboree (15 minute wait). We skipped Luigi's this time because it's not really worth a long wait but if you have EE, you might be able to squeeze it in too.
Note: when we got to the Carthay Circle theater at 7:45am (where the rope drop is) we were told that the line for getting FP's was 50 minutes.
We later saw that RSR fastpasses ran out just after 9:00am

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

As a person who did not have any kind of early entry into DCA last week, I would suggest lining up outside DCA at 7am in order to get to the front of the rope. I would suggest against getting the FP and go straight for the main ride queue. As stated above, the line to just GET a FP is the same length as waiting in line for the ride. Also, I'm not sure if this has changed, but the FP return line to get on the ride was also at 45 min to an hour.

So
Get a FP + FP return line = 2 hours
Get in main line = 1 hour

You run the risk of having it break down at ANY point in the day. If that happens, the FP return lines just get longer because people with FPs figure there is no reason for them to wait, but they all come back at some point and the line gets flooded.

 

[sheetz]

I think it depends on your group. If there is someone in your group who is willing to sacrifice himself/herself for the benefit of the rest then I think it's better to have that person get in line for RSR FPs while the rest go do other rides. In that 45 minute wait for FPs almost all the other DCA attractions outside Carsland will be walk-on so you can get a LOT done in that time.

 

[brenda1966]

It sounds like Mater is fairly easy to ride if you're willing to wait 30 minutes? So, I'm thinking we may try this in the afternoon/evening on the Saturday we arrive.

I think we'll try RSR via single rider.

We have two mornings for CA, neither early entry. I'd like to try Luigi's one morning and maybe RSR via stand by line the other morning. But then again I wonder if spending time in the other areas of the park isn't time better spent (riding TSMM a time or twom riding TOT).
I'm beginning to think that FP is really not saving much time. I understand it's necessary for people with little kids.

I really dislike spending precious morning hours standing in line to ride one ride. Let's say you line up at 7am, get in at 7:30, FP opens at 8 and you have yours by 8:30. You've already spent 1.5 hours just to get your FP. Now you come back with your FP and have the stand in another hour line?! Yikes.

Is Single Rider line open at 8am?

 

[JadeDarkstar]

ok question. If we can get in at 730am, then can you go to rsr and wait in line? and not get on till 8am? (we may skip fp)

 

[elaw]

ok question. If we can get in at 730am, then can you go to rsr and wait in line? and not get on till 8am? (we may skip fp)

No ... you need to wait for rope drop ....they hold you back with a rope at Carthay Circle

 

[Bork]

We rode Radiator Springs Racers twice last week in our 5 days there.

One day, we arrived at about 7:45. The FP line was all the way down Hollywood Blvd, where it turns toward ToT. I got FP by 8:35 (4:20 return time). DW and DS rode Mater. Racers broke down that day. When we returned at 4:30, Single riders was 80 minutes, FP was 45 and Standby was 5 hours. We waited about a half hour in the FP line.

The second time, we did EE at DL. We all rode a couple rides. I went to DCA at 7:30. FP line was in front of the Carthay Circle Theater. I had a FP by 8:15 (10:30 return time). I met DW and DS back in DL. They did about 6 rides while I was waiting. We walked right on the ride using FP that day.

Later in the week, Mater was settling in at a 30 minute wait, while Luigi was usually at 60-75 minutes. So do Luigi's early. You have a good chance of riding Mater later in the day, with a short wait.

And Racer's FP was usually gone by 9.

 

[bigrach1]

We were there last Saturday and got our fast passes at 9:30am, there was no line, our return time was 9:45pm. The fast passes sold out shortly after we got them.

I would highly recommend getting the fast passes, the stand by wait time at 9:45pm was over 2 hours, our wait time was 20 minutes.

 

[Disneyfanjane]

I don't mind trying to get the fastpass and letting my husband and son go ahead and try another ride. I am hoping to get a picture of all three of us on RSR so I didn't want to go the single rider route unless I had too.

 

[onelilspark]

For those of you who entered with the general public, was it an APEE day or a hotel EE day? If you went more than one day, did you notice a difference where you might suggest one over the other?

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

For those of you who entered with the general public, was it an APEE day or a hotel EE day? If you went more than one day, did you notice a difference where you might suggest one over the other?

I went on Friday...so that's a hotel EE day I believe

 

[Bork]

AP blackouts made the biggest difference.

Saturday was by far the least busy day with SoCal and Deluxe blacked out.
Monday was the busiest with only selects blacked out.

 

[elaw]

AP blackouts made the biggest difference.

Saturday was by far the least busy day with SoCal and Deluxe blacked out.

... I was stunned how uncrowded it was

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

... I was stunned how uncrowded it was

Yes, this past Saturday was an incredible day to be at the parks