Star Tours - From Someone who was just there

[Piglet99645]

Copying this from my trip report because I think it's good to know:

My 10 yo was dying to see the "rope drop" for some reason.

We couldn't motivate everyone else early enough, so I ran over to the park with him about 1/2 hour before opening. We managed to make our way through the stores as far as they would let us go.... and out into main street.

He then managed to snake his way through the crowd up to the rope. I didn't want to be obnoxious, so I stayed back. There were probably 150 people between us, but I could see him, and he's a smart kid.

He came back and told me that they told the people up front (as if this crowd of thousands could hear these directions) that if you wanted to do Star Tours you had to follow a cast member immediately to the right at rope drop.

I told him OK, and that if we got separated that he should wait for me.

So they dropped the rope and it was a stampede!! One lady fell down but she was ok.

And they were not kidding. The line for Star Tours started right in front of the Plaza Inn!!!! They had it roped off so you could barely go more than single file, and I think this was wise. It kept people from building up too much speed.

I was totally separated from my son and starting to panic a little as I went through the STar Tours line. After about 10 minutes I got to the front, and there he was, with the CM, waiting for me!!! Good boy!!

We rode the ride together and it was GREAT! Loved the improvements. I didn't know it was 3D!

We got off and promptly got 2 Fastpasses for later so the rest of our party could go. If we had not gotten up, been at rope drop, ridden the ride and gotten FP's right away, we would not have done this ride this trip. The wait got up to 120 minutes.

I think FP's were sold out by 9:30.

Some people did get FP's first thing and got on the ride even before I did.

It's a great ride but I wouldn't wait for two hours for anything.

 

[kelmac284]

Sounds exactly like our experience. We had the exact same one as you (were there this past week) and going on a normal day and going at rope drop I found was the best way to do it. This ride always made me a little queasy though and all but one in our family found that with the 3D now it made us all a little sick and esp first thing in the morning was not fun! I enjoyed the improvements but we didn't try to go on it again. Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[Piglet99645]

YES! I heard a lot of people complaining of motion sickness due to this ride.

I didn't have that problem, but my son complained a little.

Of course he went a 2nd time, so it couldn't have been THAT bad. lol

 

[kelmac284]

LOL kids! They will do pretty much anything

My youngest though gets car sick and motion sick pretty easily and she didn't want ANYTHING to do with it. This used to be her favorite ride before so it def bothered her and it seemed to bother me more. I thought about trying it again with our special hotel fp's but none of us wanted to "risk" it that much. We were glad we got to try it once but were happy to stay away from the crowds.

And I see from another post we were there on some of the busiest days yet this year! I am NOT surprised LOL. It was pretty crazy! Lines for pirates with 3 or 4 switch backs all the way over by Cafe Orleans! CRAZY!!

 

[PinkBudgie]

So, after you rode ST first thing and then got your FP, what was the return time on the FP?

 

[Piglet99645]

So, after you rode ST first thing and then got your FP, what was the return time on the FP?

5:30 pm

 

[PinkBudgie]

5:30 pm

That's crazy!

 

[stagemomto3]

So, you were able to get fastpasses for your whole party, even the ones who had not yet entered the park? This is good to know, because I always thought that the tickets had to be "activated" somehow at the main gate in order to get fastpasses.

I guess the only downside is that you have to go back to the entrance to give them the tickets when they arrive.

 

[brenda1966]

No, I don't think you can get FP's from tickets that haven't been run through the turnstiles. I read her sentence twice so that I understood. I think she used her ticket and her son's tickets to get 2 FP's for the 2 people still sleeping back at the hotel.

So, I wonder how long the line would be if you grab FP's first, and then get in line for ST to ride without your FP?

 

[Kittyskyfish]

Ahhhh...yeah. I think I'll wait until my December trip to do Star Tours!

 

[HydroGuy]

So, you were able to get fastpasses for your whole party, even the ones who had not yet entered the park? This is good to know, because I always thought that the tickets had to be "activated" somehow at the main gate in order to get fastpasses.

I guess the only downside is that you have to go back to the entrance to give them the tickets when they arrive.

Not sure what the poster meant, but everyone must enter DL or DCA to be able to get FPs. Maybe the poster meant they had entered DCA but not DL?

 

[miss.potatohead]

I think the question was, if I (hypothetically) went into the park at 9am with my ticket, as well as my brother, mother and fathers' tickets because they were in bed still, could I get FP's using with their tickets, even though they haven't been activated for the day (if they were multi-day tickets, or even APs), then walked back out and met my family in DTD and gave them their tickets there, so they could enter.

I'm assuming what Brenda said was right, that you must have an activated ticket for the day to take FPs - but I had wondered the same question myself.

 

[HydroGuy]

I think the question was, if I (hypothetically) went into the park at 9am with my ticket, as well as my brother, mother and fathers' tickets because they were in bed still, could I get FP's using with their tickets, even though they haven't been activated for the day (if they were multi-day tickets, or even APs), then walked back out and met my family in DTD and gave them their tickets there, so they could enter.

I'm assuming what Brenda said was right, that you must have an activated ticket for the day to take FPs - but I had wondered the same question myself.

Everyone must have entered either DL or DCA to get their tickets "activated" in order to get a FP on that ticket. Entering either park once activates the tickets for both parks.