Park hopping Strategy for Rise of the Resistance

[trompettecon]

Hello. I will be doing Universal the week of January 3rd (Monday to Friday). We were thinking of doing some Disney on Wednesday the 5th Jan. Do you think the following strategy would be a success given our wish to do Magic Kindgom and the Star Wars part of HS: Enter HS at opening (having reserved ROTR at 7 am. Do ROTR and Falcon (and whatever else we can) before 13h00. Then go to MK with park-hop for 14h? What time does MK close in January mid-week. Hoping for 21h? To crazy a plan? If I do not get a BP for ROTR that a.m. is there any chance of getting in on that date with the standby line? Tks all.

 

[KristaZ]

It's doable if you're able to get an early boarding group for ROTR - but there's no guarantee of that, even at the 7am drop - We always get one at 7am and have been anywhere from group 3 (called right away) to group 125 (which I believe was called somewhere around 4pm). Right now there is no standby line, but I believe they will be allowing people to pay for lightning lane access by that point.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

In theory, your plan to go to HS first, grab a BG for ROTR, enjoy HS until early afternoon, and then head to MK sounds like a good plan. There are a few things to keep in mind. First, you'll probably have to be pretty quick to grab a morning BG for ROTR - but it's certainly doable. Second, ROTR has no standby line, so that's not an option. Third, it's very possible Disney's new Genie+ system will be running by then. That could mean you might have an option to pay an extra fee to ride ROTR that morning.

It's hard to tell when MK will close that night year, but 8pm/9pm sounds reasonable. That's always an interesting week at Disney. That week is winding down from New Year's and winding up to the marathon race weekend. Races actually start 1/6, so it's possible the 5th could be somewhat crowded. But it also improves the chances that MK will be open a little later.

Good luck and have a great trip. You'll have to be quick (or willing to pay), but there's a reasonable chance you could ride ROTR that day - hope it works out!

 

[trompettecon]

In theory, your plan to go to HS first, grab a BG for ROTR, enjoy HS until early afternoon, and then head to MK sounds like a good plan. There are a few things to keep in mind. First, you'll probably have to be pretty quick to grab a morning BG for ROTR - but it's certainly doable. Second, ROTR has no standby line, so that's not an option. Third, it's very possible Disney's new Genie+ system will be running by then. That could mean you might have an option to pay an extra fee to ride ROTR that morning.

It's hard to tell when MK will close that night year, but 8pm/9pm sounds reasonable. That's always an interesting week at Disney. That week is winding down from New Year's and winding up to the marathon race weekend. Races actually start 1/6, so it's possible the 5th could be somewhat crowded. But it also improves the chances that MK will be open a little later.

Good luck and have a great trip. You'll have to be quick (or willing to pay), but there's a reasonable chance you could ride ROTR that day - hope it works out!

Hi. Apparently there is standby for ROTR right now because of low crowds. But again no guarantee. Yes, I was thinking that maybe with the extra lightning lanes deal (2 attractions) it might work. I'll have to keep an eye out for how that works and if it will be availble. Thanks TFN and KristaZ!

 

[Miffy]

RotR has breakdowns. This sort of thing could impact your plans.

We had a day in May when RotR broke down while we were in the queue and didn't come back up again while we were still in the park.

BTW, so far, the SB queue for RotR has been used only on very low attendance days.

 

[brightlined]

Apparently there is standby for ROTR right now because of low crowds.

The standby line only opens after they've exhausted all of the boarding groups for the day. It's an end-of-day thing, not a morning thing. (And, honestly, there's no way that situation happens on or after October 1st.)

My advice: don't necessarily lock in on being at MK at 14h. If you miss the 7am BG drop (and ROTR is the priority), you should try for the 13h BG drop - head over to MK if you can't get one. If you do get one, and there's nothing left for you to do at DHS before your group is called, take the Skyliner over to Epcot before 14h and spend a little time there. For me, even getting to MK at 17h or 18h would still be worth if it's only one day.

 

[trompettecon]

The standby line only opens after they've exhausted all of the boarding groups for the day. It's an end-of-day thing, not a morning thing. (And, honestly, there's no way that situation happens on or after October 1st.)

My advice: don't necessarily lock in on being at MK at 14h. If you miss the 7am BG drop (and ROTR is the priority), you should try for the 13h BG drop - head over to MK if you can't get one. If you do get one, and there's nothing left for you to do at DHS before your group is called, take the Skyliner over to Epcot before 14h and spend a little time there. For me, even getting to MK at 17h or 18h would still be worth if it's only one day.

Thank you Blined. You would go to MK for just 2-3 hours?

 

[brightlined]

Thank you Blined. You would go to MK for just 2-3 hours?

Your mileage may vary, but I have absolutely done that, especially at night.

To be fair, I've been an AP for a while, so I'm unafraid of just hopping over and riding my favorites or just enjoying the scenery. But I love nights over there - and if you get in the Seven Dwarfs line a minute before close, it's often a shorter wait than in the daytime. (Ignore what the sign says - they tend to inflate it later in the day to deter people.) I really like doing Philharmagic late in the day, too, when there's not a wait at all. If you want to see the new fireworks, you'll have that option - if you don't, that's a really good time to catch a few rides with short lines. (Splash Mountain during the fireworks is pretty great - as is the PeopleMover.)

I think the real answer just depends on your priorities - and which parts of MK you want to try to do. I tend to fly a little bit on whims - if I were in the lesser-case scenario of getting a 1pm ROTR BG and riding it around 5pm, I would probably see how tired I was afterward - I might just hang out at DHS a bit longer, close it (the lines at DHS get pretty short at night), and finish the night at Epcot. (In that scenario, I probably would have spent the afternoon at Epcot.) But the bus from DHS to MK skips the TTC mess, so it's a pretty easy ride.

 

[gharter]

If you don't get a Boarding Pass, you could purchase a LL pass for RoTR. No guarantee that it would be morning.

 

[trompettecon]

If you don't get a Boarding Pass, you could purchase a LL pass for RoTR. No guarantee that it would be morning.

That's what I was thinking... I'm waiting to see how it works (success rate) once it's put in place. Ty!