Soarin at park open...what's the wait?

[db57me]

I would not use fast passes in the early morning (first two hours of park opening), as the lines just aren't that long. Get them for the afternoon, when you can't get on anything without a 60 minute wait. Also, Maelstrom never seemed to have much of a wait while we were there President's Day week. I wouldn't use a fast pass on that. Just my opinion, of course.

Thank you. This information helps. We will be hopping, with a break in the afternoon, so it makes sense to use the FP+ in the late afternoon and evening. I'm assuming any park with evening extra hours will be busy. We are studying the park suggestions on easyWDW and The unofficial guide. Our plan is to avoid parks with morning extra magic hours, choosing those 'most recommended' parks.

 

[spleuchan]

Depends how Commando you are. One year, I went with my mom and brother and we were there at RD. Speed walked over to the fountain area where the CM's were waiting for us and then walked us over to Soarin. My mom, brother, and myself stretched out in a line with hands interlocked so nobody could pass us and we ended up first on the ride so wait was 0.

I'm hoping this isn't as bad as it sounds. Blocking a path so no one can pass is extremely rude. I've never done Soarin RD. So a CM was waiting at a spot earlier in the park to lead everyone over to Soarin? If this is the case, I could see if you are the first to that CM, it would be rude for others to pass the person first in line and what you did isn't so bad.

 

[Arsenal1982]

As Bryce Harper would say that's a clown move bro.

Stay classy San Diego

lol

 

[Arsenal1982]

I'm hoping this isn't as bad as it sounds. Blocking a path so no one can pass is extremely rude. I've never done Soarin RD. So a CM was waiting at a spot earlier in the park to lead everyone over to Soarin? If this is the case, I could see if you are the first to that CM, it would be rude for others to pass the person first in line and what you did isn't so bad.

Yes we were first to the CM but nobody respects who is first to the CM. Problem is people just slide and dip and run and drive and smash and grab. So to prevent that, we formed the line and nobody got through. CM's didn't say a word to us and there were about 10 in front of us so it's clearly legal.

 

[JimmyV]

I agree with PP strategies, EXCEPT the part about arriving by 8:15.

I'm not a fan of a 30-minute wait (until 8:45 which is when Epcot has usually been opening) for the purpose of avoiding a 30-minute wait for Soarin.

I'd aim for 8:30 arrival if it were me. (And last time we did this, Epcot didn't even do an early open, so the wait was still more than I would have liked.)

This is how we view it. On President's Day, the park opened precisely at 9:00. We got to the IG at 8:30. The people who were first in line at the turnstiles got there at 8:00 and got to Soarin' at 9:07. They waited 67 minutes to ride. We got to Soarin' at 9:10 and had a 5 minute wait. We waited 45 minutes to ride. At some point, arriving too early nets you diminishing returns.

 

[db57me]

Yes we were first to the CM but nobody respects who is first to the CM. Problem is people just slide and dip and run and drive and smash and grab. So to prevent that, we formed the line and nobody got through. CM's didn't say a word to us and there were about 10 in front of us so it's clearly legal.

The dark side of Disney. I certainly am not going to push or maneuver ahead of people, and would hope others wouldn't do that to me. It certainly spoils the magic. If I wanted to deal with that type of behavior I'd just go to some local amusement.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Another tip as I haven't seen it mentioned yet is that if you do arrive at rope drop you might want to line up along the right side. At least when I was there in Dec, this is where they had a special entrance for folks with early before park dining ressies. About 5 mins before opening they let us line up. I was watching for it so as soon as I saw the nod from a cast member I ran over to get a closer spot to the front. They do this at AK too except the line is towards the left. I'm sure they do it at HS as well, but not positive what side the line is.

 

[ultraviolet]

Depends how Commando you are. One year, I went with my mom and brother and we were there at RD. Speed walked over to the fountain area where the CM's were waiting for us and then walked us over to Soarin. My mom, brother, and myself stretched out in a line with hands interlocked so nobody could pass us and we ended up first on the ride so wait was 0.

So you're saying I need to wear my Tigger bouncy shoes so that I can hurdle over your stretched out interlocked hands / arms?

 

[Arsenal1982]

So you're saying I need to wear my Tigger bouncy shoes so that I can hurdle over your stretched out interlocked hands / arms?

Essentially