No AP, not staying on property...when to be at the turnstiles?

[SA mom]

If you don't have an AP and you are not staying on property, when should you be at the gate? We want to get Fastpasses to RSR and heard they were out by 9:30am. Advice?

 

[subtchr]

It's tough to say definitively, since Cars Land has only been open two days, and they have not yet had an APEE or EMH day there.

But my understanding is that it will most likely be similar to DL - that FPs will not be distributed until regular opening time (8:00), even though either AP holders or hotel guests will have been in the park since 7:00.

In fact, they have not yet confirmed that Cars Land rides will even be open during EMH, although most of us are hoping that they will be.

So I would think that if you are at the turnstiles for the 8:00 opening, you may have to wait in a line to get a FP but you should be able to get them. Now, how early you need to actually be at the gate to be toward the front, who knows?

I will be watching the boards over the next few days to see how the first couple of EMH and APEE days at DCA go.

 

[HydroGuy]

If you don't have an AP and you are not staying on property, when should you be at the gate? We want to get Fastpasses to RSR and heard they were out by 9:30am. Advice?

In general it is a good idea to be at the gates 30 minutes early. This has been true for DL but not for DCA. Until now. If you want RSR FP that is what you should plan for until better info becomes available.

 

[cmwade77]

BTW, RSR ran out of FPs by 8:30, not 9:30 both Friday and yesterday from what we saw.

Also, on Friday, the FP return line was up to a two hour wait and stand-by up to 8, with a Single Rider line up to at least an hour.

 

[HydroGuy]

BTW, RSR ran out of FPs by 8:30, not 9:30 both Friday and yesterday from what we saw.

Also, on Friday, the FP return line was up to a two hour wait and stand-by up to 8, with a Single Rider line up to at least an hour.

::

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Actually FP was out at 9:30 yesterday. They put the rope up just a couple of seconds before we were able to get in line for them.

OP, I would say you need to be at the security line by 7:00 am. No doubt the EE people will already be lining up at the FP line before you're even allowed to enter the park. They may not distribute them until park opening, but they'll be lining up. On Saturday, we opted to just hoof it to the ride and were one of the first 50 in line. We should have hit the FP line first, since the ride opening was delayed until 8:40 for mechanical issues.

 

[cmwade77]

Actually FP was out at 9:30 yesterday. They put the rope up just a couple of seconds before we were able to get in line for them.

OP, I would say you need to be at the security line by 7:00 am. No doubt the EE people will already be lining up at the FP line before you're even allowed to enter the park. They may not distribute them until park opening, but they'll be lining up. On Saturday, we opted to just hoof it to the ride and were one of the first 50 in line. We should have hit the FP line first, since the ride opening was delayed until 8:40 for mechanical issues.

Well, we also just decided to get in line first, for the same reason (although instead of hoofing it, we took the red car, as it arrived right when entering the park. It got us over to RSR just before rope drop by going through bugs land, I don't expect this to continue to work with EE/MM anymore, but it was a nice loophole for one day.

I only say they ran out by 8:30, as they had return times posted until we went into the FP queue at just before 8:40, when the return times were changed to --:--

As for why the attraction didn't open, but what i heard from overnight janitorial, they asked for additional help to clean it, as they didn't get the clearance to clean the attraction until late, as they had such long queues all day that guests were riding until very late. They were able to get the staff, but then realized they didn't have enough equipment for the additional staff. I don't know if they were able to find more equipment or not, but this delayed cleaning even further, causing the delay in opening, but not because of Mechanical issues. I would imagine these issues will get sorted out in the next couple of weeks.

 

[MrsPinup]

I was looking to the answer for this myself. We have EMH for each park next week as part of our AP, but the other 4 days we will join the masses and wait at the gates. Rise and Shine! I honestly prefer the first part of the morning. When I was there in February, I power walked my way into the park - and was the first one to the statue. I paused to take this photo and was quickly passed by a grandpa pushing his grandson in a stroller. They really wanted to get to PP first!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

In general it is a good idea to be at the gates 30 minutes early. This has been true for DL but not for DCA. Until now. If you want RSR FP that is what you should plan for until better info becomes available.

OP, I would say you need to be at the security line by 7:00 am. No doubt the EE people will already be lining up at the FP line before you're even allowed to enter the park. They may not distribute them until park opening, but they'll be lining up. On Saturday, we opted to just hoof it to the ride and were one of the first 50 in line. We should have hit the FP line first, since the ride opening was delayed until 8:40 for mechanical issues.

i wonder though, if tomorrow starts the AP EE days, if they, coupled with the regular EE people are there and we all know they are probably ALL racing over to CL, if it wouldnt be smarter to be there at 7am....and then when you get up to the front just keep letting people who have the EE go past you through the turnstyles...im honestly thinking this might be the best bet to go for this entire summer if you dont have EE

 

[nhoch123]

We walked in the gates at 805 this morning and went straight to get fast pass for racers and had a 25 min wait with a return time of 330. Getting ready to head back now to use them as the stand by line was already at 3 hours at that time.

 

[subtchr]

i wonder though, if tomorrow starts the AP EE days, if they, coupled with the regular EE people are there and we all know they are probably ALL racing over to CL, if it wouldnt be smarter to be there at 7am....and then when you get up to the front just keep letting people who have the EE go past you through the turnstyles...im honestly thinking this might be the best bet to go for this entire summer if you dont have EE

A minor point, but there ARE no "regular EE" people for DCA. In fact, tomorrow is a hotel EMH day. APEE days are T, Th, Sa, Su.

 

[SA mom]

When we planned our trip, there were no opening dates for Carsland. We are WDW vets that always stay on property for at least part of our trip. We always take advantage of EMH. Since staying on property didn't seem to give a huge advantage for the 3rd week of June, we decided to use points to stay at Sheraton for the whole trip rather than booking at least a portion on property. At WDW, we would have been at the Swan/Dolphin and we would have early entry benefits.

But, I take heart in that the lines at Disneyland are just shorter, in general. Although we may have to sacrifice a whole morning to ride a single ride, we will breeze through everything else. I mean, Toy Story with a line less than an hour...sweet.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

We were there at 8:10 yesterday. Our FP return time was 3:50-4:50 and Stand-by was already 240 mins. We ended up doing the SR line later and waited 45 mins. We chatted with a couple who were in the FP line at 9:30 and they said they got their FPs at 7am. So, apparently the FP machines are open and distributing during EE.

 

[SA mom]

Thanks. We'll be sure to be at the gate early and race to the FP machines. I'm thinking our strategy may be to ride RSR one day and Luigi's another to break up the waiting.