riding RSR without EMH?

[jhoannam]

We'll be going to DL second week in August, I keep reading how you have to ride RSR at night. We won't the have acceas to EMH, what's the best strategy to ride in the morning with minimal wait and get an evening FP? My plan is to go to DCA on Tuesday. We'll have park hoppers.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I would just go first-thing on the day that EMH is at DL. That way, you're there at rope drop. As an alternative, get a fastpass as soon as you get into the park. Or ride single rider if everyone in your party is old enough and you don't mind being split up.

EDT because I missed the part about night rides. For those, keep checking the fastpass times and grab your pass when it hits those times (I've been successful around 10AM, but that was when it was really busy and the FPs were running out really fast).

 

[nikkislaght]

I was there this week, pulled a fast pass for 1.30 to 2.30pm, at just after 10am, that was park opening... in August it may be a little more busy.
as stated,, you can ride as soon as you get there.. and then swing back round and get yourself a fastpass..

 

[agamble]

Tuesday is a good day since it is EMH/MM at DL. Look up the far right method. I've never done this, but many people recommend it as the easiest way to get on RSR early. Keep in mind DCA gates typically open 30 minutes before the park opens. So in early August the park may open at 8am, gates at 7:30. You want to be at the gates before they open if you want to be the first ones at the rope. If you don't care about that, then just get there the 30 minutes early.

 

[Girimama33]

The term you want to search is Wide Right. Basically, you get to the park early on a non-EMH day and stand to the far right of the rope. When the park opens and the CM's walk guests down Route 66, you stay to the right because the queue is at the end of Route 66 on the right. Everyone to the left of you will have to merge over. It can get a little chaotic.

If the people in your party are over 7 years old, consider riding single rider the first time, and then grab a FP for later.

 

[gottalovepluto]

As PP said, consider single rider if you can. We love single rider, especially on RSR. Last time we rode RSR single rider some of our party ended up racing each other which was a blast and we actually preferred it over riding all together.

 

[Peezle]

If you are in line early to get into the park and ride RSR first thing, that will probably be your shortest wait all day. The wide right technique does help some. Get to the entrance to Cars Land as quickly as you can after you enter DCA. Many people will run or speed walk from the park entrance to get there. CMs will try to slow the runners down, buy many people ignore them. Just stay on the very far right, next to the side walk, as the mob walks down Route 66. At the end of the street, you will have to turn to the right to get to the ride entrance, so if you're on the right side of the street, you'll get there quicker. When my family utilized the wide right technique, I refused to push and shove like many others. Others will jump onto the side walk and try to get around part of the crowd as you walk through town. The CMs should make them get back on the street, but it doesn't stop people from trying to get ahead. We were probably 100-150 people back of the front of the line when we got to the ride entrance and had less than a 5 min wait to get on the ride. The line goes pretty quickly.

To ride RSR at night (highly recommended), you should get a FP. You might want to go try to catch Toy Story after riding RSR first thing since Toy Story generates a wait (40-60 min) pretty quickly that will stay consistent most of the day in the summer. Then send someone back to get in the FP line for RSR. The FP line may be long (I ended up by the animation academy in Hollywood Land), but it moves pretty quickly as well. I got to the FP machines from where I started in about 20 min. When you get to the machines, if the return time is not as late as you want, the CMs will let you stand to the side and wait until the return time is where you want it. You can hand-pick your return time this way.

If you don't have time to wait in the FP line and wait around for the return time you want, then I would suggest using the single rider line for RSR as others have recommended when you come back after dark to ride it.

 

[Angrose]

As others have said, Thu should be a non-EMH day at DCA, so just get there as they open and grab a FP for RSR. We did this the Sat after Thanksgiving. Grabbed FP around 8:10am for a 9:45am return time. You can grab a 2nd FP either when your return window opens or 2 hours after you pulled the first FP, whichever is sooner. We then grabbed our 2nd set of FP at 9:45am for a 5:30-6:30pm return window. Worked out great because it was dark by that time in late fall. It won't get dark in Aug until 9pm or so, so you may have to grab the 2nd FP later, but I would think it would still be in the morning, maybe 10-10:30 when you would need to pull them. You can also call Ask Otto at 714-520-7090 to see what return times they are giving out. Ask Otto will also tell you the current wait times, it's so helpful!