RSR FP or standby line?

[Girimama33]

I need help with my plan for Tuesday 10/23.
I want to hit up Carsland and DCA at rope drop, take a break at the hotel (HoJo) and attend Mickey's Halloween Party in the evening. It will be me, DH and DD (4), so no SR for us.
I want to leave DCA by noon at the latest. The park opens at 8 am.
When they let us in the park, do I head for RSR standby (using wide right), or should I go for the FP?
What if RSR is down or isn't up and running at opening?
If I do FP, what is the likelihood that I get a return time that gets me out by noon?
We also want to do LFT, MJJ, TTMM, TLM and ToT. Do you have any suggestions what order I should go with?
I also want to do the Disney Visa M&G.
Am I asking too much of this Tuesday Morning?
Thanks Dis-sters

 

[DisneyJulieZ]

If RSR is running at park opening, (and IF you are first in line at the turstiles) definitely do the walk on. Your wait will be less than 20 min. (if you're in the first 100-200 people in standby line) and your FP return time very likely won't be early enough (unless you are lucky and are 1st in line for that...)
If it isn't running at park opening, one of you can head left to stand in the FP line (again, you'd better be 1st at the gates for the fastest FP line experience)...while the other one goes to TSMM w/ your little one.
If RSR isn't running at opening, MJJ and LFT will be big lines... :-(

Sorry, it's a lot to try to do in one morning before noon...
The crowds are just so huge for RSR still...we just got back last week...it was nuts.

It's all about priorities...
RSR wasn't operating one day that we opened the park, so we just went straight to TSMM and walked on to that. Then we did other stuff and just happened to be in the right place at the right time to get in a fairly short standby line when RSR re-opened again later on....

Best of luck...it's so popular (and broke down a lot while we were there) that we struggled to not be super disappointed....but we did get lucky to get on 3 times in 2 days...twice walking on after breakdowns, and once with a FP that a group member got for us while the rest of us rode TSMM....

 

[mmlover74]

Unless your 4 year old can handle 60-90 minutes, then I would do FP.

 

[marcemc]

If you are planning on getting a FP for RSR, my advice is that you line up at least an hour before CA opens. Once you have the FP, the rest of the park should be a breeze to walk and see, mostly everyone heads straight to Carsland.

 

[madigraham]

I would get fp for rsr ASAP. Head to ride all the other rides. Tot is close by. You shouldn't wait more than 10 mins for other rides since its park opening.
U should have fp Time for about 1030 ish for rsr

 

[HydroGuy]

I need help with my plan for Tuesday 10/23.
I want to hit up Carsland and DCA at rope drop, take a break at the hotel (HoJo) and attend Mickey's Halloween Party in the evening. It will be me, DH and DD (4), so no SR for us.
I want to leave DCA by noon at the latest. The park opens at 8 am.
When they let us in the park, do I head for RSR standby (using wide right), or should I go for the FP?
What if RSR is down or isn't up and running at opening?
If I do FP, what is the likelihood that I get a return time that gets me out by noon?
We also want to do LFT, MJJ, TTMM, TLM and ToT. Do you have any suggestions what order I should go with?
I also want to do the Disney Visa M&G.
Am I asking too much of this Tuesday Morning?
Thanks Dis-sters

YMMV, but yesterday was a non-EMH day for DCA (like Tuesdays) and DCA opened at 8AM. We got to security line at 7:40AM and got in line for RSR FP at 7:45AM. We got our FPa at about 8:20AM and the window was for 11:15AM-12:15PM. Which would work for you if you want to leave at noon.

In your case it might make more sense to bite the bullet and just ride standby. If you get there early enough and go straight to RSR the standby line should be under 60 minutes.

If you get a FP then do LFT then MJJ. If you ride RSR standby then aftter do LFT first then MJJ.

Head to TSMM and ride it standby as soon as you are done with MJJ. Then ToT. If you hustle you can get it all done by noon.

FWIW I just posted my RSR FP and SR experience from yesterday in post $14 here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=46440530

 

[Girimama33]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
Hydroguy, I am glad that DLR 2012 2.0 appears to be working out well. Your recent experience is very helpful. I think I am going to go for the FP first thing vs. Standby line. I don't want to risk the ride not operating at opening.
Any tips for getting to the FP line....wide left?

 

[ArchOwl]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
Hydroguy, I am glad that DLR 2012 2.0 appears to be working out well. Your recent experience is very helpful. I think I am going to go for the FP first thing vs. Standby line. I don't want to risk the ride not operating at opening.
Any tips for getting to the FP line....wide left?

Just walk with purpose toward Hollywood Land, since that is where the end of the line will be. I don't find a solid mass of people all moving in that direction. It seems as though most people head to Carsland. If you walk quickly and find the line, you should be okay in regards to the return time. Lots of people don't understand where the FP line for RSR is, so they head to Carsland and then double back to the end of the line.

I would do FP and meet your family at LFT. After LFT, head over to TSMM. It should be easy to complete the rest of your list. Do MJJ when you return to Carsland for your RSR FP return. Have fun!

 

[KateDrake]

Just got back today and thought I'd post my experience to see if it helps. I'm now totally sold on getting the FP.

We tried for RSR on Thursday, and it had rained a bit in the morning. It had cleared up about half an hour before park opening, so we thought we might be OK to at least get in line. I tried the wide right technique and was one of the first group to arrive at the ride. But it wasn't running. And didn't start running UNTIL AROUND 1 PM!!!! I guess they were filming some sort of Disney Tokyo special, which was supposed to be wrapped up that morning, but the rain put the film crew back. Needless to say, people were pretty pissed off that the ride was closed for so long, especially since the same thing had happened the day before!

My DH had hopped in the FP line, and got a return time of 2:55 p.m., so we were able to ride eventually, but it was still quite a long wait since all the people with early morning FPs were showing up to ride as well. I actually saw them issuing GAC-type return tickets to several large groups who had earlier FPs, because the line was so crazy. So I guess the take-home message is that you never know what is going to happen with this ride! I was glad we'd made backup plans with FPs!

I hope it works out for you!

 

[Girimama33]

Are they letting guests line up for RSR FP prior to rope drop on a non-EMH day?