Slinky Dog RD

[jvz82]

On our trip in November, we decided not to RD SDD. We didn't have fast passes for it (couldn't get them) but I just sort of decided I would be okay with not riding this time if that's what happened. They let us into the parks about 30 minutes early, and we started the day by getting scheduled for Jedi training, and then went on Star Tours twice. Literally nobody anywhere in that area of the park. Mobs and mobs of people had flooded towards Toy Story Land at RD and I'm so glad we weren't with them.

I had planned out every detail of the day pretty closely, but we were way ahead of schedule. We had met all the characters we wanted to meet and gone on all the rides I had had planned. So once we finished our FP for Toy Storia Mania, we had another hour before our next FP was scheduled to start. SDD had a 70 minute wait. So we decided what the hell? Might as well wait for it since we have time to kill! I don't think we've ever willingly waited in a line that long, but seriously we had gotten so much done that morning that it seemed silly not to spend some time waiting. I was happy with how it all went and would totally do it that way again.

 

[BoardwalkGlenn]

It’s possible to do. I did it November arriving at 8:20, held with the mob near Gertie (because of the half marathon going on), before we were walked back to TSL. I was entering SDD line at 8:42 and on within minutes.

 

[agamble]

Yikes. That sounds horrible. We're in CA and have experienced RD at DL and DCA with people bee lining for Peter Pan and RSR, but neither is as awful as that.

I'm glad Mickey and SWGE are opening soon. That park needs some rides to spread RD crowds to. Hoping to visit next summer.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I rope dropped TSL on an EMH day. I was going to do SDD first even with all the craziness I’ve seen reported but I changed plans about a week before trip. I had 2 kids with me and it was not worth the anxiety. Plus, I had a FP for SDD at 6:15pm so I decided to go to TSM and then do AS2. Worked out great for us. We headed to TOT and RnR around 8:30 am and on the way we walked by a REALLY LONG line for SDD. I realize most of those people probably didn’t have FP so it makes sense for them to try RD. Right before closing just seems like a better option. On a different day we rode it at night and I really enjoyed it with all the lights lit up.

Also,
I just cannot believe the madness I witnessed from people trying to get ahead of others for Slinky. It felt much more relaxed to be walking at a reasonable pace to TSM and it was practically a walk on. It definitely was not more than 5 minutes and was probably just the walk from the entrance to the ride.

How long did you wait for AS2 after riding TSM?

 

[Davey Jones II]

If you avoid SDD in the morning, you can also get on TSM and AS2 with a short or reasonable wait.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I agree with several pp. Forget RD unless you are there at least an hour before RD and are ready for absolute chaos. We were there last week and "tried" RD on day 4 of our trip(we had a mid afternoon FP but wanted another ride). By the time we got back to TSL, the line was all the way to the beginning of the land. insane. no thanks. We rode TSM back to back 2 times instead!

On our arrival night, we did not have a FP for SDD and it was a DAH night in DHS. We got in line for SDD around 8pm with a posted wait of 105 minutes. I timed the wait on my fitbit and we were on the ride in 50 minutes. Not a bad wait at all because the sun was setting and it was cooler. It was really fun riding SDD in the dark.

 

[DumboDash2006]

I'll share my thoughts after "accidentally" RDing Slinky Dog (meaning I didn't intend to RD it until I was already there and said "why not?") this past week in heavy crowds.

My first recommendation: don't. It's the most chaotic and aggressive RD I've done (and that's coming from someone who routinely RDs FoP and has described on these boards some of the crimes against humanity that I've seen there). My personal theory is that the more wide-open space you have to traverse with the RD crowd, the worse the experience - and there is almost nothing but wide open space on that trek back to Slinky Dog - by way of comparison, RD for FoP becomes relatively tame once everyone is funneled into Pandora's narrow paths - although getting through the choke points are not for the faint of heart).

I agree that SDD rope drop is worse than FOP rope drop. Neither were what I would call enjoyable, but SDD was definitely less orderly.

 

[sam1998]

I'll share my thoughts after "accidentally" RDing Slinky Dog (meaning I didn't intend to RD it until I was already there and said "why not?") this past week in heavy crowds.

My first recommendation: don't. It's the most chaotic and aggressive RD I've done (and that's coming from someone who routinely RDs FoP and has described on these boards some of the crimes against humanity that I've seen there). My personal theory is that the more wide-open space you have to traverse with the RD crowd, the worse the experience - and there is almost nothing but wide open space on that trek back to Slinky Dog - by way of comparison, RD for FoP becomes relatively tame once everyone is funneled into Pandora's narrow paths - although getting through the choke points are not for the faint of heart).

I wonder if you were there the same day as me? March 26? We didn't plan it either, just happened to get there before RD and instead of getting behind the large crowd, we waited to the side by Frozen. We ended up toward the front of the mass when they started letting us back. It was...intense. I don't think I would willingly do it again. We did get on with maybe a 10 minute wait. I saw a lot of people getting hit with strollers and people jumping over stuff and running though.

 

[ShadeDK]

I wonder if you were there the same day as me? March 26? We didn't plan it either, just happened to get there before RD and instead of getting behind the large crowd, we waited to the side by Frozen. We ended up toward the front of the mass when they started letting us back. It was...intense. I don't think I would willingly do it again. We did get on with maybe a 10 minute wait. I saw a lot of people getting hit with strollers and people jumping over stuff and running though.

I was there the week before - and agree that once was enough for me. I'll be back to my usual strategy of heading down Sunset to RnRC or Tot on any future rope drops. I expect that the Slinky Dog RD crowd will be get lighter come September - although I don't even want to speculate about what the RD crowd for SW:GE will be like.

 

[b5sgqueen]

I RD SDD at the beginning of March and will try to never do it again. It was a awful mass of people pushing. I started at the front and just kept getting pushed further and further backward.

I was at HS for EMH opening at 8am. I got there at 6:50am. They let us in around 7:45 if I recall.
I had about a 5 minute wait for SDD, and then rode A2S with no wait at all before going to TSMM that had quite a wait. Was off around 8:45 and high tailed it to TOT before the opened the park and had a 15 minute wait there.

 

[elaine amj]

Super interesting. I used to do the Toy Story Mania running of the bulls back in the day and have done 7DMT at rope drop (with my 68 yr old slow walking father too - we were in the 2nd or 3rd train I think), Frozen RD (that wasn't so bad because it is a long, long, long walk), FOP (this one just requires you to be very, very early), and even Carsland in DLR.

I have generally found it doable and the adrenaline in the morning is even kinda fun. I usually go 45-60 mins early, position ourselves on a flank as close to the front as possible, and thread our way through the crowds with a purpose whenever we are able to move. We don't push and generally never actually touch another person. But we are used to manuevering through large crowds and walk with a purpose.

So SDD is at a whole different level? Our next trip is after Star Wars opens....it is going to be a super interesting RD. DD and I were talking about it the other day - we will have 4 choices at DHS - the two Star Wars rides, SDD, and Mickey's Runaway Railroad. Our last trip was in 2017 so all this will be new to us.

 

[coachk34]

What about this RD strategy for TSL? We have FP for SDD at 4PM which means no scheduled FP for TSMM and Alien Saucers. Is it possible to RD and do Alien Saucers and then go to TSMM and then get back over and sign up for Jedi Training? Or would it be better to do TSMM and then do Alien Saucers?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

What about this RD strategy for TSL? We have FP for SDD at 4PM which means no scheduled FP for TSMM and Alien Saucers. Is it possible to RD and do Alien Saucers and then go to TSMM and then get back over and sign up for Jedi Training? Or would it be better to do TSMM and then do Alien Saucers?

We just did this on Saturday. We had FP for SDD so planned to RD TSM and AS2. We arrived at the park around 830am and they started walking the crowd back to TSL about 845. It was very orderly, not at all the chaos I was expecting. We did TSM first and basically just walked through the queue. We were off before 9am. We then went over to AS2 and waited about 5 minutes. I definitely recommend doing TSM first, that line builds much faster than AS2. You shouldn’t have any trouble signing up for Jedi after that.