Timing of DHS

[Simba's Mom]

I was lucky to get a reservation for DHS. Now, what time of day to go? I've heard that if you enter in the afternoon, you can't do Rise of the Resistance. And since I have no desire to do RotR but so many do, I'm wondering if this means that afternoons would be much less crowded. My "must-dos" are Mickeys Runaway Railroad and TSMM. Traditionally rope drop is the time to go for lowest crowds, but w/o RotR, I'm wondering if afternoons are less crowded. When's better?

 

[CarolynFH]

I was lucky to get a reservation for DHS. Now, what time of day to go? I've heard that if you enter in the afternoon, you can't do Rise of the Resistance. And since I have no desire to do RotR but so many do, I'm wondering if this means that afternoons would be much less crowded. My "must-dos" are Mickeys Runaway Railroad and TSMM. Traditionally rope drop is the time to go for lowest crowds, but w/o RotR, I'm wondering if afternoons are less crowded. When's better?

When we’ve been there (November, December and March), the queues seemed to be shorter in the afternoon and especially into evening. So if you’re not interested in RotR or in hopping to a different park after 2:00, I’d arrive in the afternoon. I think a fair number of people leave after 1:00 if they weren’t successful in getting a BG then. We’ll be there next week and don’t plan to arrive until later as well.

 

[FCDub]

"You can't do ROTR" isn't really correct. The distribution times are 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. – but your return time could very well be late in the afternoon. If you're hopping, which is not allowed until 2 p.m., you're ineligible for a ROTR boarding pass.

Just go whenever you want.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I don't have any desire for RotR, and I heard that if you go in the afternoon, you won't be able to do RotR (I'm not sure why). So I'm thinking that the afternoon might have much lower crowds. However, I do want to do Mickey's Runaway Railway, which is new, so I just don't know. I also love TSMM. So what do you think-rope drop or afternoon?

 

[FCDub]

Answered in your other thread:

It's not that you "can't" ride ROTR in the afternoon. The boarding groups are distributed at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. – and if you're trying for the 1 p.m. group, you must have previously scanned into the park. Thus, people who are park hopping are not able to try for a group. Also, many people who strike out on both distributions could leave once park hopping is permitted.

In short, if you don't care about the Stars Wars stuff, just go whenever you feel is most convenient for your own schedule. Do you want to sleep in or get up early? MMRR is popular, yes, but there are other popular things diverting people's attention – especially first thing in the morning.