DCA and DL ride priority if Genie+ is not available

[Dornblaser]

HI Everyone,
This will be our first visit to DCA and DL next week (Thursday 11/18 & Friday 11/19). We were hoping to have Genie+ in place to make the lines more bearable, but it looks like that may not happen. Any advice which rides to hit first and how to manage the parks with 3 kids (5,8,11)? Is it best to hit up RSR and Guardians first at DCA and Haunted Mansion & Peter Pan at DL? Does anyone know if they have standby lines for RotR or Webslingers yet? (We are planning on getting in the virtual queue for both, but just in case!) Any advice is always appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[twitch]

Webslingers moved to a “Virtual Queue as needed” model last Thursday. Standby only for that one unless they decide otherwise on any given day. Rise is the only ride that is exclusively Virtual Queue (Boarding Group).

We’ll be there on Thursday (the 18th). Some lines are inevitable…my suggestion is to have everyone come up with a short list (1 major and 2 minor) of attractions that they want to do. Compile the list and go for it.

Definitely shoot for Boarding Groups for Rise… 7am on the day you start in that park, noon (as long as you have checked into a park) on the other days.

I’d probably ropedrop RSR on your DCA day, and then pull back to Webslingers & Guardians. From there, you can piece together the other priorities.

For your DL day, either be at the very front of the crowd for PP at ropedrop or just do it later… it always seems to have a 35-45 minute wait once the first crowd goes through. Frankly, I’d be tempted to ropedrop a different major priority for my DL day: Haunted Mansion Holiday or Space Mountain.

 

[twitch]

Also, pay attention to times for the Christmas parade… if you want to see it, be prepared to stake out a spot in advance. If you don’t care, best to pick out one side of the parade route or the other while it’s going on.

You probably know this, but the lines often drop significantly in the evening. If you can get a rest for a couple of hours in the afternoon, you should be able to do quite a bit in the evening.

Don’t forget Small World Holiday. Assuming the lights are hung, be sure to go back by that area in the evening. The facade in DL is spectacular (especially as compared with WDW.)

 

[mdmost]

For CA, I'd rope drop RSR. The line will always be long for that one throughout the day and if you can beat the crowd a bit, it's worth it.

For DL, Peter Pan will be the most crowded ride at opening. I would pick an alternate like Haunted Mansion Holiday. I would try to use the app to shadow the wait times tomorrow and Friday so you have an idea what waits might look like. If you get an early boarding group for Rise, it might make sense to be more towards that part of the park so you can also ride the Millenium Falcon ride.

 

[Dornblaser]

Webslingers moved to a “Virtual Queue as needed” model last Thursday. Standby only for that one unless they decide otherwise on any given day. Rise is the only ride that is exclusively Virtual Queue (Boarding Group).

We’ll be there on Thursday (the 18th). Some lines are inevitable…my suggestion is to have everyone come up with a short list (1 major and 2 minor) of attractions that they want to do. Compile the list and go for it.

Definitely shoot for Boarding Groups for Rise… 7am on the day you start in that park, noon (as long as you have checked into a park) on the other days.

I’d probably ropedrop RSR on your DCA day, and then pull back to Webslingers & Guardians. From there, you can piece together the other priorities.

For your DL day, either be at the very front of the crowd for PP at ropedrop or just do it later… it always seems to have a 35-45 minute wait once the first crowd goes through. Frankly, I’d be tempted to ropedrop a different major priority for my DL day: Haunted Mansion Holiday or Space Mountain.

Good to know about webslingers! I guess we will have to check the morning of to see if they are offering virtual queue. Great idea on prioritizing 1-2 rides for each family member. We are going to try to squeeze as much as we can in on the days we are there. I really appreciate your suggestions!

 

[JeannieNM]

My daughter and I were there last week at 8 pm Galaxy was a walk on. No line at all. Yes

 

[twitch]

Good to know about webslingers! I guess we will have to check the morning of to see if they are offering virtual queue. Great idea on prioritizing 1-2 rides for each family member. We are going to try to squeeze as much as we can in on the days we are there. I really appreciate your suggestions!

I think it is extremely unlikely that they would return to a VQ so soon. However, you can check anytime after 6am. Just compare the WS screen with the RotR screen, and you’ll know if there will be a 7am opportunity for WS VQ.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Good to know about webslingers! I guess we will have to check the morning of to see if they are offering virtual queue. Great idea on prioritizing 1-2 rides for each family member. We are going to try to squeeze as much as we can in on the days we are there. I really appreciate your suggestions!

Just FYI they have not offered a virtual queue at all since going standby. So I wouldn’t even consider that to be an option for you.
@DLRExpert has some good recent posts about ride order/priority if you want to search them out. Don’t waste time on Peter Pan in the morning and instead take advantage of low wait times for things like HM, Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, Matterhorn, etc. If PP is a must, do it later when everything is busy anyway. It won’t get busier as the day goes on. It’s almost always 45 minutes no matter the time of day, even first thing unless you are one of the very first people in the park and you speed walk to it without issue. Just grab a snack and hop in line.

 

[Dornblaser]

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[Pluto468]

Last time I was there (2019) I kept waiting for Peter Pan to get below 45 minutes and it almost never did. I tried first thing in the morning and numerous times in the afternoon. I just accepted that it would be a long wait, and of course it was worth it. It's my favorite ride so I went on every day. I think one day when I had early entry I had a 20 minute wait, but there's no early entry right now as far as I know.

It might be worth doing Haunted Mansion first since that line is probably going to get longer than 45 minutes later in the day. I always jump on Pirates if the line looks short when I walk by in the morning. You could check that on your way back from HM.

I agree with a previous poster that it's a good idea to have everyone pick one ride that is "Must do" and prioritize those.

 

[lcp9]

We were there 11/1-11/3, relatively slow days, and HMH, PP, and RSR were all never really less than 45 mins. Depending on which park you're starting the day at, I would either go RSR, or PP then HMH. Guardians stays manageable until afternoon, as do most other "big" rides at DCA. Toy Story is another one that can get long fast, I would try to do that one early if your kids like that one.

WS was still virtual queue while we were there, which is sounds like is gone, but even with that it was still about 30-45 min wait each time. Same with ROTR.

Our kids are 10, 8, 6, and 3, all are 42"+ so most rides were rideable for all of us. We were considerably less productive than previous trips with maxpass, but still did most of what we wanted to do - early mornings were necessary. Be prepared at rope drop for people around you to be sprinting to RSR, so you need to be walking fast if you don't want to be stuck behind them for at least a 30 min wait.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

When Web Slingers is a standby do people run to it or do the majority still run to RSR?

 

[DLRExpert]

When Web Slingers is a standby do people run to it or do the majority still run to RSR?

50% go to Web Slingers
40% go to Racers
6% Guardians
3% Soarin
1% Pixar Pier

ME