DCA opening this morning

[jaydoe]

I was there this past Wednesday. Got there before rope drop and decided just to go straight for the ride instead of a FP. Honestly, I probably could have waited to even TRY to get on this ride for a year or two. I'm not the biggest Cars fan anyway, BUT my DD was dying to see it. Fine! The things you do for your kids, right? So we are seriously right up to the front of the rope drop thing and they walk you up to the ride. Well, it was the MM that day so the wait already shows 105min. We get in the line and do the waiting thing. The wait was about 90 min. We are right in the front of the line and, OF COURSE, the ride goes down!!!

The cast member tells us it will be down at least 1 hour. You can choose to wait or forfeit your place in line. Ummm, that's it? That's my option? I just wasted 1 1/2 hours and now I can wait another hour or forfeit my place??? I'm pretty heated at this point. Not because I waited....I mean, I get that. I understand there is waiting at DL. ESPECIALLY, for a new ride. BUT, here's my issue. I'm not a annual pass holder. I don't get to go every weekend or really, even twice a year. I'm lucky to be able to go once a year. And I was very frustrated by that cast members answer.

I then went to Guest Relations and voiced my complaint. The lady we spoke with was awesome. She not only gave us a fast pass for RSR, but she also asked my DD what other ride she wanted to do and gave us a pass for TSMM and Screamin'. I know she didn't have to do it, but she made my kids day.

We tried to go back to ride a few times, but it just always seemed to be down. We finally found it opened right at dusk. We got in the FP line and crossed our fingers the whole time. We get on the ride and we get to the first inside part of the ride and it dies. They had to walk us off of it. We never found it open again. I guess that gives my DD something to look forward to next time.

Soooo....I'll say it again, the things you do for your kids...ugh.

 

[Mary09]

That's another reason I didn't really want our group to even bother with the RSR lines... Too many people in the park had told us stories like yours above.

We were ride-killers this week, too, so I'm sure we would've killed RSR. Our Jungle Cruise ended 1/3 through. Which I loved, because we got to just chat trivia with the guide for 10 mins. then we did a high-speed run in silence to the end once she realized she'd missed the radio call to evacuate.

Then GRR died 1/3 through and we got to experience an evac of that.

But we got 'front of the line' passes for each evac. And tbh it's a lot more fun to be evaced from the ride than the front of the line. Especially since we were right by GRR when it reopened so it had a 5 minute wait for a good half hour or more afterward.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

...
One solid advantage of FPs vs. Standby is that you can use them anytime. Which means if the ride breaks down you can come back at any time and use FP. If you are in standby and the ride breaks you have a huge dilemma if you have already committed significant time to the ride. Should you stay in line and hope they get it going again soon? Or sacrifice the hour you may have already spent and come back later and wait in line again? That is probably the best reason to gut it out and get FPs in the morning IMO.
...
Last night I got to the SR line at 10:58PM and the park closed at 11PM. I was second to last in the SR line and the lady behind me bailed after awhile so I was dead last in SR. It took about 35 minutes for me to get on the ride. The final folks in the standby line were about the same - maybe five minutes more. I could see the end of the standby line as I got to the boarding area. And when I finished the ride there was no one else in line boarding. That means standby at 10:59PM at night on a Saturday night was about 40 minutes long. For anyone thinking of using this strategy!

Thanks for the observations. I highlighted the two ideas that will inform our decisions, mainly that FPs can be a real advantage for a ride that goes down a lot, and something I did not know: that you can wait get in line before the park closes and then wait after closing time to get on the ride one last time. For our party, that could work out for one parent and older kids to get another ride while the rest head back to the hotel or find another way to chill out.

 

[HydroGuy]

If we have EMH at DCA, do you suggest doing the "wide right" or just getting fast passes - that is as long as RSR is running first thing?

Since FPs won't start until after EMH, I think standby is a good plan if you are near the front. If you are later arriver for EMH then maybe not.

 

[idkmybffminnie]

this sounds exactly like my visit in July. it was insane! here I was thinking doing early entry would be easier but nope!

 

[kristie73]

Would it make sense for one of us to stand in the fast pass ticket line while the rest of the group waits in the standby line? Assuming that the person can get fast passes and meet us in the standby line???

 

[ArchOwl]

Would it make sense for one of us to stand in the fast pass ticket line while the rest of the group waits in the standby line? Assuming that the person can get fast passes and meet us in the standby line???

That is generally frowned upon as the person who would meet you would have to push by a lot of people. Most people tend to agree that this should only be done in emergencies (potty situations, etc.) and not so one person can grab FPs. The standby queue for RSR is pretty close quarters and there is no easy way for a person to join their party in line (unless you are in the outside portion of the queue).

A better solution would be for one person to grab FPs and then use the single rider line and have a place for everyone to meet up after they are done riding.

 

[kristie73]

A better solution would be for one person to grab FPs and then use the single rider line and have a place for everyone to meet up after they are done riding.

Ok. I wasn't sure if the line was wrapped through gates and such or just out in the open. I hear ya! Your idea might be something we'll try. Of course we all want to be together at some point for the pictures though.

 

[Capt Silly]

I was there this past Wednesday. Got there before rope drop and decided just to go straight for the ride instead of a FP. Honestly, I probably could have waited to even TRY to get on this ride for a year or two. I'm not the biggest Cars fan anyway, BUT my DD was dying to see it. Fine! The things you do for your kids, right? So we are seriously right up to the front of the rope drop thing and they walk you up to the ride. Well, it was the MM that day so the wait already shows 105min. We get in the line and do the waiting thing. The wait was about 90 min. We are right in the front of the line and, OF COURSE, the ride goes down!!!

The cast member tells us it will be down at least 1 hour. You can choose to wait or forfeit your place in line. Ummm, that's it? That's my option? I just wasted 1 1/2 hours and now I can wait another hour or forfeit my place??? I'm pretty heated at this point. Not because I waited....I mean, I get that. I understand there is waiting at DL. ESPECIALLY, for a new ride. BUT, here's my issue. I'm not a annual pass holder. I don't get to go every weekend or really, even twice a year. I'm lucky to be able to go once a year. And I was very frustrated by that cast members answer.

I then went to Guest Relations and voiced my complaint. The lady we spoke with was awesome. She not only gave us a fast pass for RSR, but she also asked my DD what other ride she wanted to do and gave us a pass for TSMM and Screamin'. I know she didn't have to do it, but she made my kids day.

We tried to go back to ride a few times, but it just always seemed to be down. We finally found it opened right at dusk. We got in the FP line and crossed our fingers the whole time. We get on the ride and we get to the first inside part of the ride and it dies. They had to walk us off of it. We never found it open again. I guess that gives my DD something to look forward to next time.

Soooo....I'll say it again, the things you do for your kids...ugh.

Sounds a lot like our experience...

We got there on Wednesday, but not early enough to realistically wait with a 4 yr old, so one of us waited for FPs while the rest went on Luigi's. The passes were good at 4:30, but RSR was down when we got back. After eating at the wharf, it did open again, but after waiting in the FP line for a few minutes, it broke down again.

On Thursday we rushed back to it first thing, only to be told it was down. We were told that they would take out day old passes when it did open. It was still down when we checked back later.

Friday was the same, broken first thing, but they would take old passes. They also suggested we ask a cast member to call back and see if it was running. We didn't get back to DCA since we had a character breakfast and the Halloween Party.

Saturday we got to DCA late, but stopped at information to confirm RSR was running. We were told it was, but as for our fastpasses, we should check at Guest Relations about getting them honored 3 days late.

As usual, Guest Relations was stellar and came through with a fastpass for 6 people. This time we got to within sight of loading before they stopped the ride, fortunately for only a few minutes.

So, after three days and five attempts we finally got to ride RSR.