DCA Touring Plan

[conniehar90]

Does anyone have a good DCA touring plan that they would like to share? I have subscribed to Ridemax and while the plan for DL works great, I just can't get my DCA plan to work.

It has us starting at TSMM, Screamin' and then by the time we get over to Carsland, we are waiting 40 minutes each for Luigis and Mater. Maybe it is just not possible since they make a note on the touring plan that if you want to visit TSMM and Luigi's on the same day, be prepared to wait for one of them.

Has anyone visited both with minimals waits? We only have one day planned for DCA, although we may hop over there on one of our other days.

Thanks!

 

[Swtonscrappn]

When are you going to visit? At our last two visits (March and Oct) we did the wide right on RSR first. Then we did mater and luigi. Then came back and did Soarin, California Screaming (actually I think we did this like 3x's with less than a 10 min wait), and TSMM. I think we did all that within 2 hours of park opening.

If you let me know what date you are going, I could put it through touring plans and see how different it is from yours.

 

[conniehar90]

We are going on Thurs, July 24th. We are skipping Soarin but planning to hit all the other major rides. Thanks!

 

[Swtonscrappn]

This first one was how touringplans optimized the ride:

Your Plan Steps (drag to reorder)
STEP ARRIVAL WAIT
Luigi's Flying Tires 8:07am 1 min
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree 8:12am 1 min
California Screamin' 8:21am 3 min
Toy Story Midway Mania! 8:29am 16 min
Radiator Springs Racers 9:02am 54 min

(which means you wouldnt be off the last ride until about 10am)

My own plan listed it as:


Your Plan Steps (drag to reorder)
STEP ARRIVAL WAIT
Radiator Springs Racers 8:08am 41
Luigi's Flying Tires 8:57am 15
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree 9:16am 11
Toy Story Midway Mania! 9:36am 25
California Screamin' 10:10am 12

This says you get out about 10:30, but I sincerely believe that if you start at RSR with either the single person line or doing the wide right (are we still doing that? It has worked wonderfully for me in the past) you will cut 30 minutes off this plan easily.

How much different is this plan from yours? Several people have said that touring plans arent very accurate, but like I said, I have only used it in less crowded seasons.

 

[conniehar90]

Thanks! I have a few other attractions on my list (Fun Wheel, Monsters, Aladdin) on my list. The best plan I have been able to get it to spit out has me going to TSMM, Screamin, Fun Wheel, Goofy's Sky School and then getting a FP for RSR. At 9:16 it says I would wait 32 minutes for Luigi's. Then it has me going to Maters at 7:30 pm and waiting 20 minutes.

This would be acceptable as the 32 minutes would be the longest wait. Once the waits start getting to 40 minutes, that is when it starts to bug me.

If I just put in the rides you listed it gives me the following:


8:05am Radiator Springs Racers 10
8:33am California Screamin' Roller Coaster 11
8:54am Mater's Junkyard Jamboree 20
9:19am Luigi's Flying Tires 33
10:07am Toy Story Mania 45

See how crazy it is!

Thanks for the help!

 

[Blue32]

Thanks! I have a few other attractions on my list (Fun Wheel, Monsters, Aladdin) on my list. The best plan I have been able to get it to spit out has me going to TSMM, Screamin, Fun Wheel, Goofy's Sky School and then getting a FP for RSR. At 9:16 it says I would wait 32 minutes for Luigi's. Then it has me going to Maters at 7:30 pm and waiting 20 minutes.

This would be acceptable as the 32 minutes would be the longest wait. Once the waits start getting to 40 minutes, that is when it starts to bug me.

If I just put in the rides you listed it gives me the following:


8:05am Radiator Springs Racers 10
8:33am California Screamin' Roller Coaster 11
8:54am Mater's Junkyard Jamboree 20
9:19am Luigi's Flying Tires 33
10:07am Toy Story Mania 45

See how crazy it is!

Thanks for the help!

I played with Ridemax again this trip, and found it pretty much pointless for DCA. I read so many great tips here and I think if you get to the parks early, DCA is very easy to tour and get what you want done. I especially found that the wait times for Luigis and Maters are way too high and need some adjusting on Ridemax part. We walked onto Luigis right after doing RSR at RD. We also found that during the Pixar parade is a great time to ride these 2 rides. The waits really dip then. Also the popularity of these 2 rides has cooled off, so it's not that hard to find a time during the day to ride them.

 

[Blue32]

Thanks! I have a few other attractions on my list (Fun Wheel, Monsters, Aladdin) on my list. The best plan I have been able to get it to spit out has me going to TSMM, Screamin, Fun Wheel, Goofy's Sky School and then getting a FP for RSR. At 9:16 it says I would wait 32 minutes for Luigi's. Then it has me going to Maters at 7:30 pm and waiting 20 minutes.

This would be acceptable as the 32 minutes would be the longest wait. Once the waits start getting to 40 minutes, that is when it starts to bug me.

If I just put in the rides you listed it gives me the following:


8:05am Radiator Springs Racers 10
8:33am California Screamin' Roller Coaster 11
8:54am Mater's Junkyard Jamboree 20
9:19am Luigi's Flying Tires 33
10:07am Toy Story Mania 45

See how crazy it is!

Thanks for the help!

Are you ok with riding RSR once? If so, I would head to TSMM first, get a couple of the other Pier rides knocked out, then come back for your RSR FP. I'd try to ride Luigis and Maters either during the parade, late evening, or any other time you see the lines short.

 

[conniehar90]

Are you ok with riding RSR once? If so, I would head to TSMM first, get a couple of the other Pier rides knocked out, then come back for your RSR FP. I'd try to ride Luigis and Maters either during the parade, late evening, or any other time you see the lines short.

Thanks for the advice. We will probably want to go on RSR twice, but we are ok with doing single rider. We just want to do it together as a family for the first time. So, just trying to decide if we should hit TSMM first and then head over for an RSR fast pass or do the RSR wide right and try to do Carsland first. Sounds like TSMM first is probably the best option since it doesn't have FP and the line gets long.

I played with Ridemax again this trip, and found it pretty much pointless for DCA.

Thanks for the confirmation that Ridemax just doesn't work for this park!!

Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[Blue32]

Thanks for the advice. We will probably want to go on RSR twice, but we are ok with doing single rider. We just want to do it together as a family for the first time. So, just trying to decide if we should hit TSMM first and then head over for an RSR fast pass or do the RSR wide right and try to do Carsland first. Sounds like TSMM first is probably the best option since it doesn't have FP and the line gets long.



Thanks for the confirmation that Ridemax just doesn't work for this park!!

Thanks for all the help everyone!

We did both because we started 2 of our mornings at DCA and both strategies worked out great. But if you only have one day at DCA, I would def. do TSMM first and then come back for your FP.

 

[DHSbutcher]

Why not pull a RSR fast pass first thing, get it for an AM time, then pull another fast pass for it after. As long as the FP time is for 11-12 or earlier there should be plenty of night time FP left. Or even if the original FP is pulled around 9, 2 hours later there should still be FP left. Then you can ride both times as a family, and at night is super fun! The FP line moves insanely quick, so even if it looks long I'd recommend waiting. Then I would head to TSMM. You can even send part of the family to TSMM and catch up with them in line. A lot of the que is outside so you can see them easy enough. From there I would ride screaming, then go ride all the little rides around the pier. They all will be walk ons until about an hour and a half after opening.
So I would recommend:
8:05 get RSR FP
8:10 be in line for TSMM
8:35 califronia screamin
8:45 mickey's fun wheel- the line should be short, but allow time because the ride is long. but the view in the am is worth it!
9:05 silly swings
9:15 goofs sky school
9:25 jellyfish
9:35 golden zephyr
YES, some people might save these rides for later in the afternoon where there is a shorter wait, but I prefer not to wait at all for them, so doing in the am is more of a personal preference, but it works out best for us. We prefer to be indoors watching shows later.
9:45 little mermaid
10:00 at this time I would head back towards the RSP FP machine and check on the FP times since you will be near the area. also plan to wedge in your RSR ride with FP at whatever time that might be.
10:05 head toward GRR and also pull WOC FP
10:25 at this point the park will start to get pretty busy. This is when I would slow it down and enjoy more indoor activities and shows, or if the standby line for soaring is at 35 min or less, I would wait and ride.
Around noon when you are eligible for another FP, then I would pull one for ToT or GRR, depending on how hot it is and how badly you want to cool off.
I recommend catching the aladdin show, watching minnie and the fly girls, and the parade is cute as well. Even though you only have one day in the park, you definitely have time for everything.

 

[rizzle64]

Why not pull a RSR fast pass first thing, get it for an AM time, then pull another fast pass for it after.

So I would recommend:
8:05 get RSR FP
8:10 be in line for TSMM

Unless you plan on being at the park very very early, you won't be able to pull RSR FP's at 8:05am, the line will be way too long. Also, they have recently connected RSR FP, so you won't be able to immediately pull another FP.

I've played with RideMax endlessly and would suggest that you push Cars Land into the night. Hit up Screaming, TSMM and Mickey's Fun Wheel first, then head back for RSR FP. By that time (9:00 to 9:30ish) you should have a night time return window. We've done Mater later in the evening the last two years and have never found it to be a horrible wait. You will wait longer at Luigi's, but you really only need one ride there, so it's not a big deal.

The absolute number one reason to do this is because Car's Land is beyond amazing at night. It's the best place to be in DCA at night, hand's down.

 

[conniehar90]

Thanks - I was concerned about pulling the RSR FP first thing as I have heard that the line at opening is 30 minutes long just to get a FP!

Sounds like TSMM at opening is the way to go! Thanks!

 

[DHSbutcher]

Unless you plan on being at the park very very early, you won't be able to pull RSR FP's at 8:05am, the line will be way too long. Also, they have recently connected RSR FP, so you won't be able to immediately pull another FP.

I've played with RideMax endlessly and would suggest that you push Cars Land into the night. Hit up Screaming, TSMM and Mickey's Fun Wheel first, then head back for RSR FP. By that time (9:00 to 9:30ish) you should have a night time return window. We've done Mater later in the evening the last two years and have never found it to be a horrible wait. You will wait longer at Luigi's, but you really only need one ride there, so it's not a big deal.

The absolute number one reason to do this is because Car's Land is beyond amazing at night. It's the best place to be in DCA at night, hand's down.

Thanks - I was concerned about pulling the RSR FP first thing as I have heard that the line at opening is 30 minutes long just to get a FP!

Sounds like TSMM at opening is the way to go! Thanks!

On our last visit we pulled a FP 5 minutes in to the park being open on both days we opened DCA. We arrived about 15 minutes early and headed to the front of the rope. These were on non EE days. The line moved way quicker than I thought it would.

 

[mastodon]

To throw a wedge in this plan- if no california screamin but wanted soarin how would you go about the day after TSMM, Fast pass for RSR, mater and luigi?HOw long after pulling first fast pass can you get the second?

 

[DHSbutcher]

To throw a wedge in this plan- if no california screamin but wanted soarin how would you go about the day after TSMM, Fast pass for RSR, mater and luigi?HOw long after pulling first fast pass can you get the second?

You can grab another FP either 2 hours after pulling the previous or after the FP return time, whichever is sooner. For example, you pull a FP at 9:05 for a return time of 2pm. You could then pull another FP at 11:05, because 2 hours later is a sooner time. Or For example you pulled a FP at 9:05 with a return time of 10:10-11:10, you could could pull another FP at 10:10 instead of waiting until 11:05.
Soarin' FP are usually left throughout the day with a return time within a couple hours, and there is a single rider line as well.