HS Magic Hour at RD: do FP+ for TSM, or go to TSM?

[teammjs]

Hi,

I've been reading a lot on strategies, but still haven't seen a clear answer to this situation.

-- we're staying at the Swan, so no access to FP+ in advance
-- planning on doing the Magic Hour at HS March 15th (which I think will be a busy Spring Break week!)
-- planning on arriving at park around Magic Hour Rope Drop (8AM), at most probably 7:45AM (have 2 little ones, so we're just not going to get there earlier)
-- we have a lunch reservation around 11AM, and need to leave park for home by 1PM...

My question is two-fold: 1) should we just go directly to Toy Story Mania, or go directly to a machine for a TSM FP+ in hopes of getting something before we have to leave? 2) I read there's a Fast Pass machine supposedly before the HS entrance-- if I went in advance with all out tickets around, say, 7:15, would I be able to access it effectively?

I know there are a lot of "die harders" here that wouldn't miss a Rope Drop, but due to the location of HS (where for most, it's going to be a drive or bus ride, as opposed to a 20 minute walk), I would think the average park guest would not necessarily be there right at Magic Hour Rope Drop, and therefore would still be able to do TSM fairly easily.

Thanks!

 

[g-dad66]

There will be a lot of guests in line for RD, even on morning EMH day, BUT....you are correct that if you go straight to TSM, you will be able to ride with little or no wait. I would to that rather than heading for a FP+ kiosk.

 

[jcemom]

We did Magic Hour rope drop at DHS this past September. There were a lot of people there when they let us in at 7:45. I was surprised at how many people were there, especially being a generally uncrowded time of year to visit. We got there at about 7:15 and the lines at the turnstiles were somewhere around 20-30 people deep. By the time they opened the turnstiles the lines were really long.

Of course, many more people will be pouring in at 9:00, but don't underestimate the number of "average park guests" who will be there on time.

I'm sorry I can't answer the FP+ questions as when we were there we had access to both FP+ and FP- simultaneously. If I had to take a guess, I'd agree with g-dad and say head straight to TSM.