RotR Down Every Morning?

[Didi8367]

We will be in the parks next week so, for the past week or so, I’ve been working on our touring strategy. We will only have one day in each park (this visit is part of a longer SoCal vacay) and really want to ride RotR, ideally more than once. We’ll def purchase a ILL for it (Ugh. Hate that, but it is what it is.) but will need to also go SB. My initial thought was to rope drop it but, in watching the app, it seems to go down every single morning, shortly after park opening. Like, it will briefly show as open with an estimated wait time, but then switch to showing as “temporarily closed.” This morning, it was within 5 mins of park opening. Yesterday it was showing as down for several hours.

So, my question is, does it really go down every morning? Or is it never really up? I hate to waste precious RD minutes walking all the way over there, only to find it down and/or for it to go down shortly thereafter. I mean, I realize it goes down a lot. But every morning? Would appreciate any insights anyone could share!

 

[Wesley815]

It does go down everyday, multiple times a day, over and over. Sadly just how WDI (over)designed it.

I haven't personally done enough 'rope drop' days since it switched to Standby- however sometimes it opens late, other times it opens with rest of park. Today (12/23) for example it opened on time, current wait is 100min at 8:30am.

 

[Didi8367]

Today (12/23) for example it opened on time, current wait is 100min at 8:30am.

I did just look again and noticed it’s showing as open again (it was definitely showing as down when I checked at 8:05ish). So that’s encouraging!

 

[Wesley815]

I did just look again and noticed it’s showing as open again (it was definitely showing as down when I checked at 8:05ish). So that’s encouraging!

It used to almost never open until well after park opening, hopefully it's a good sign now that it's closer to 8am

 

[Wedgeout]

If you are not toward the front group to enter Frontierland for the rope drop escort into Batuu, I’d skip and do all the shorter line rides in that first hour or two window of opportunity. Paying the extra LL is good for first time riders. It has been having daily stoppage time. Check standby throughout the day for extra times to experience it. A 60-90 minute posting is pretty good. The last 30 minutes you are usually in the caverns which is nice. Check its closing time. It will be prior to park closing and getting into standby those last minutes, has worked out pretty well for me.

 

[Didi8367]

If you are not toward the front group to enter Frontierland for the rope drop escort into Batuu, I’d skip and do all the shorter line rides in that first hour or two window of opportunity. Paying the extra LL is good for first time riders. It has been having daily stoppage time. Check standby throughout the day for extra times to experience it. A 60-90 minute posting is pretty good. The last 30 minutes you are usually in the caverns which is nice. Check its closing time. It will be prior to park closing and getting into standby those last minutes, has worked out pretty well for me.

Thank you so much for the advice! We’re pretty hard-core RDers (it helps that we live a couple of time zones east of Cali. Makes it easy to wake up super early!), so our plan (hope?) is to be at or close to the front. If we don’t end up getting that spot, we’ll def wait until later. My son (15) is just really, really, REALLY looking forward to riding this more than once (it wasn’t open when we were there in 2019), so I’m going to try to do what I can to make it happen.

 

[Wedgeout]

Sounds great! At rope drop crowds as mentioned go through Frontierland and the center entrance into Batuu. Don’t try the Adventureland to Critter Country route. That entrance is not used at rope drop and you will be stuck. Have a fun trip!!

 

[BryANDJessMom]

Good luck! We were there two days ago..didnt go up until 1230 and only ran at half capacity for three hours. We were going to wait a little later because we had reservations at Ogas. Wishing now we had gotten in line when we could have and taken the hit for the no show on the reservations cuz didn't get to ride it.

 

[disneylover102]

Following this thread because I also plan to RD Rise

 

[Didi8367]

Sounds great! At rope drop crowds as mentioned go through Frontierland and the center entrance into Batuu. Don’t try the Adventureland to Critter Country route. That entrance is not used at rope drop and you will be stuck. Have a fun trip!!

That was my next question. Thank you!

 

[Didi8367]

Good luck! We were there two days ago..didnt go up until 1230 and only ran at half capacity for three hours. We were going to wait a little later because we had reservations at Ogas. Wishing now we had gotten in line when we could have and taken the hit for the no show on the reservations cuz didn't get to ride it.

Oh no! Yeah, our fear is that it will be down all day. Or that it’ll be up and down to the point that we waste our day watching it and trying to catch it when it’s up, etc.

 

[DC in DC]

What happens if you buy a ILL and then it’s down for your time? Do you get another one for later that day? Or wait?

 

[GabrielMom]

What happens if you buy a ILL and then it’s down for your time? Do you get another one for later that day? Or wait?

I was given an anytime for the day to use on Rise. We could have used it whenever the ride opened or later in day, but we were park hopping and not planning to go back to DL for the day so had to go to guest services for return.

 

[DC in DC]

I was going to try for the morning ILL, not try to make rope drop but maybe mid morning. Otherwise it seems like waiting just increases the likelihood of breakdowns throughout the day and you lose your shot of getting an IlL, which look like they run out by morning.

 

[Katiegrose]

We were there 12/13-12/16. On 12/16 we had a DAS return time for it (we use the LL) and it took 45 minutes from the time we got into line and off the ride. 30 mins to the pre-show room. If it is a day where it has had a lot of down time, I feel like this is pretty common. We rode it two other days without this experience, and skipped one because of weather and we weren't in DL during it's operating hours. They did extend the hours a little on 12/16 since it had SO much down time, but when we got off at 8:30 they weren't letting anyone in standby and it looked like only one LL scanner was uncovered, so I imagine it was more rider swap redemption vs anything else.

 

[smartlabelprint]

We were there 12/13-12/16. On 12/16 we had a DAS return time for it (we use the LL) and it took 45 minutes from the time we got into line and off the ride. 30 mins to the pre-show room. If it is a day where it has had a lot of down time, I feel like this is pretty common. We rode it two other days without this experience, and skipped one because of weather and we weren't in DL during it's operating hours. They did extend the hours a little on 12/16 since it had SO much down time, but when we got off at 8:30 they weren't letting anyone in standby and it looked like only one LL scanner was uncovered, so I imagine it was more rider swap redemption vs anything else.

What did you use? DAS or LL?

 

[Piglet99645]

Sounds great! At rope drop crowds as mentioned go through Frontierland and the center entrance into Batuu. Don’t try the Adventureland to Critter Country route. That entrance is not used at rope drop and you will be stuck. Have a fun trip!!

So good to know!!

 

[DC in DC]

How early do we need to get to the park to be at the front for rope drop? We are on east coast time still, so might as well take advantage of it! Would like to just get ROTR out of the way first so we don’t spend the rest of the day stressing about it.

 

[Wedgeout]

How early do we need to get to the park to be at the front for rope drop? We are on east coast time still, so might as well take advantage of it! Would like to just get ROTR out of the way first so we don’t spend the rest of the day stressing about it.

Best answer is probably ‘trial and error’. The adventure to success may take as long as a regular standby would be but you get a head start on the day. The security checks usually go live an hour prior to rope drop. I’ll use rope drop time as 0800 hrs. Be at security before 0700. If want to be one of the ‘first’: before 0630. East side security off of Harbor is the closest to the park gates. Once past security get to the closed gates at turnstiles. If you succeeded you are first at those gates. The CM’s will form up at the turnstiles and open those gates just prior to 0730. You now will be touching the turnstile as the first few in line get pre-scanned. At 0730 the countdown and entry. Head immediately down Main Street to the Frontierland rope and standby with the CM’s there. 0800 Welcome to Disneyland!
Only time I’ve tried to enter first for anything and it actually worked was December 16. (All for a Candy Cane in DCA..I know. I know lol) Used the party drop off area, Harbor, at East Security, at 0615. I then drove car and realized they opened the entrance road to the Mickey & Friends structure at 0630. I was a #1 vehicle stopped at a booth gate. Watched the CM’s do preparations. 0700 opened and parked. Went through security and did the speed walk down ‘Old Tram Road’. Met up with my dropped off party standing #1 at gate at 0725. If you read all this: it’s too much work for most DLR fans. Good Luck!

 

[gatorfreud]

Just got back and personally I would do other stuff at RD, until maybe 11am when other stuff gets bad - then just wait in line. I would also buy the ILL for later, but not too late in case it goes down. That way if it goes down when you are in line the first time, you will have the ILL for later.... I would not waste precious RD time waiting for it... especially since it has so many issues.