Off site strategy for HS

[TxAnn]

Any advice for the best strategy for HS for an off site guest? We are going the week of March 13th. I know it will be extremely busy. We will be a party of 5 with three teenagers whose main priorities are RoR as well as the other usual headliners. Since we are off site, I know the likelihood of being able to grab a ILL for RoR is little to none. We will get there at rope drop, but I know onsite guests will be ahead of us. Is it better to head to RoR or to try and get other rides in like Smugglers Run and Slinky Dog Dash during the morning and then head to RoR afterwards? I've read that getting in line for RoR at the end of the day is a good option, but I am worried about the ride breaking down. We will only have 1 day at HS and will not have park hoppers so RoR is really a priority for the day.

 

[ScarletFire]

The ride may also break down while waiting in line for rope drop. I'd wait until the end or the day. Begin with RnRC and ToT. That would be my plan.

You may have to choose: SDD or RoR. The smugglers wait will wane during the day and the queue is interesting.

 

[Juventus]

We are offsite and always used to ropedrop and take an afternoon break and return (kids can't last all day). When we ropedropped HS March 2020 twice, both times we were head of the tapstiles. Probably waited an hour before they let us in, then an hour in front of Slinky (while we got boarding passes for ROTR); so that's roughly 2 (early hours).

We will not ropedrop HS this year; will sleep in and show up around noon, stay til close and get in line for ROTR around 1:30. If it's 2 hours so be it...it will be like our old ropedrop wait.

We also have 3 guest experience passes for that day which include any ride other than ROTR and MMRR, so that helps..

 

[MouseMapper]

My main suggestion would be to make sure that you purchase Disney Genie+ for this park day. All guests can make their first Lightning Lane reservation starting at 7am. Set an alarm for 6:55am, and be ready to book either Slinky Dog Dash or Smuggler's Run. It seems that Slinky Dog Dash runs out of ride reservations extremely quickly, so I would personally try to book that one first, if it is a priority for you.

As you say, it will likely be difficult to get an ILL for Rise of the Resistance by the time the park opens, but it's not impossible. Give it a try. Assuming it is sold out, head straight to Galaxy's Edge at rope drop and enter the in-person queue as soon as possible. Yes, it will have opened 30 minutes earlier for on-property guests, but the line will only get worse as the day goes on. Afterward, you can go to Smuggler's Run. The line for Smuggler's Run is usually shorter, and it also has a single-rider line, which may be a good way to experience it without a huge wait if your family is fine with splitting up.

My other suggestion is to plan to stay for park closing. I usually like to go to the park for rope drop and then back to my hotel to nap and recharge during the day, before coming back for the end of the evening. Ride lines will be much shorter in the last hour or so before the park closings, after families with younger children have left for the day.