ROTR - to pay or not to pay? That is the question...

[staceychev]

Sitting in my hotel room at the Swan, waiting for my 16 year old to take a shower - in other words, we might be there before 9 for early morning hours, but we're not going to be really early.

What do you think I'm looking at for a ROTR queue today? I'm wondering if it's worth it to pay for access - although with a family of four, it's not chump change, although we could pay it if we wanted to. But, we haven't been to Disney since 2015, and we won't be back again for several years, so we want to experience a lot of rides today, not just queuing for ROTR for hours. We waited for 60 minutes for FOP yesterday, and that worked out fine - so, we don't mind waiting somewhat. But, I'm not sure what I'm getting into with ROTR standby, and I'm not sure what makes the most sense, strategically.

 

[GBRforWDW]

If you get there and it's a mass of people, would your family be ok with saving the ride for the end of the day? A lot of people are reporting low waits in the final hour. It's always a risk though due to ride stability. If it's must do and you only have today, might be worth it to buy ILL$ and if you enjoy it, trying again at the end of the night for another opportunity to ride.

 

[fly girl]

Well since I was there yesterday (writing this on the Magical Express back to MCO) and purchased ROTR I can tell you one thing — it’s not fully functional right now. Apparently in “B” mode. I don’t want to risk spoilers, but know if you been on it before you will notice things not working. SEVERAL THINGS. I’m not even the Star Wars fan in the family, but I saw it. I’m not happy we plunked down a premium of $47+ for a sub par ride. YMMV, just know it may not be fully functional.

 

[gharter]

If you plan to do standby, you need to be at the gate before 8 to have a shorter line.
Waiting till afternoon, the line is often shorter from 70+ minutes to about 40. However, remember that the ride still goes down almost daily and that can stack up the paid LL group.
If neither option seems good, then pay. But do it right at 7 as the paid LL goes fast (at least it did when we were there).

 

[PrincessJasmine88]

Is waiting until the end of the night a good option? So if the park closes at 9, how long is the wait at 8:30 usually?

 

[rwdavis2]

Although paying may be expensive, it’s really a rounding error on the overall cost of an on-site stay. I would pay it. At WDW, time is money.

 

[lovethattink]

Last night, it was an hour wait for standby at 7:45pm. We were in the LL and waited about 20 minutes at that time. Park closes at 9pm.

 

[nurseberta]

Sitting in my hotel room at the Swan, waiting for my 16 year old to take a shower - in other words, we might be there before 9 for early morning hours, but we're not going to be really early.

What do you think I'm looking at for a ROTR queue today? I'm wondering if it's worth it to pay for access - although with a family of four, it's not chump change, although we could pay it if we wanted to. But, we haven't been to Disney since 2015, and we won't be back again for several years, so we want to experience a lot of rides today, not just queuing for ROTR for hours. We waited for 60 minutes for FOP yesterday, and that worked out fine - so, we don't mind waiting somewhat. But, I'm not sure what I'm getting into with ROTR standby, and I'm not sure what makes the most sense, strategically.

Did you get there early entry time for FOP? this is my plan to do EE rope drop for both RotR and FOP

 

[staceychev]

Did you get there early entry time for FOP? this is my plan to do EE rope drop for both RotR and FOP

No - I live with a family of night owls. It was hard enough getting them to AK by 9! We just waited - the queue is probably the best I’ve seen outside of Wizarding World, so the wait was interesting!

 

[nurseberta]

No - I live with a family of night owls. It was hard enough getting them to AK by 9! We just waited - the queue is probably the best I’ve seen outside of Wizarding World, so the wait was interesting!

Oh, thanks for that little tidbit! I have been struggling with how to plan this ride. I don't mind paying for the convenience of LL if I had to but would rather do RD at early entry tp get the full queue experience!!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

It’s one of maybe 3 rides I would pay for

 

[gharter]

Oh, thanks for that little tidbit! I have been struggling with how to plan this ride. I don't mind paying for the convenience of LL if I had to but would rather do RD at early entry tp get the full queue experience!!

In general, this is a ride to do either at RD EE if you are near the front of the crowd or at park close. Most nights, the wait at close is under 30 minutes and often 15 minutes despite what is posted.

 

[nurseberta]

In general, this is a ride to do either at RD EE if you are near the front of the crowd or at park close. Most nights, the wait at close is under 30 minutes and often 15 minutes despite what is posted.

going in Jan on site ETPE so I’m hopeful we can get in early enough to be at the front of the pack

 

[gharter]

going in Jan on site ETPE so I’m hopeful we can get in early enough to be at the front of the pack

We were there 2 weeks ago. Park opened at 8, EE at 7:30. We were through tapstiles at 7:15. Watch as some parks have certain tapstiles only for EE. Others, once you enter, have signs for EE and you pass by CMs who scan your MB for entry. We were in line for Fop about 7:30 and walked through the queue until we hit the line at the lab. Total wait time about 10 minutes until we entered the pre-show.

 

[jhlmendez]

we were there last week - the first w/ genie + and LL. Went HS on Sunday and thought I had purchased LL for that afternoon. Found out later that the reservation did not go through. However, the park was not very crowded (Touring Plans shows 10/24 as a CL 1 for HS) and were able to ride it twice w/ wait times right around or under an hour both times. The first was around 3:30ish and we waited right around an hour (maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less). The second was after our dinner at Sci-Fi Drive. We probably left the restaurant right around 8:30 and jumped into line before end of night. Waited around 45 mins or so, maybe a bit less.

In all, I had planned on spending some money to skip rides over our vacation at at least HS and MK at some point but between lower than expected crowds, extra magic hours, and our Boo Bash tix. we were able to ride everything we wanted w/out issues. Our longest waits were that first RotR ride at right about an hour and Jungle Cruise at almost 1.5 hrs. due to some technical issues and LL prioritization. Other rides that came in close to those kinds of waits were Smugglers Run and Slinky Dog.

Overall though, we were pretty spoiled w/ low wait times. The only rides we missed out on were at Epcot - Remy because I forgot to get VQ or LL on our park reservation day and Frozen Ever After because it was broken down the night of Epcot's extended magic hours.