What to do First at Rope Drop and What to FP

[kmk1180]

We are new to DL
Will be visiting for the first time in early June.
We have 3 days tickets, no hopper.
(My guess is kids will pick to return to CA for 3rd day since it has several favorites
that are at WDW which we've done many times.)
Kids are 9 and 11.
We are rope drop, early extra hour people.

My question is at both parks,
which rides should be go to first at opening?
And what rides should we be looking to FP?

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I watched the DL app before our trip to see which lines built the fastest and which fast passes seemed to go the fastest. I don't know how much this changes up, but for us...in DL, we grabbed FPs for HyperspaceMountain and I know the Matterhorn was one of the big rides we had to hit before heading back to Hyperspace Mountain. In DCA, I went for RSR FPs as soon as the park opened and during the waiting period, we rode things like Soarin and California Screamin standby.

 

[Metalliman98]

In DCA, do Toy Story Midway Mania, Soarin', and Tower of Terror during EMH, unless you want to maximize the number of times you do Radiator Spring Racers. In that case, do that during your EMH and then pull a FP for it.

You can usually do Screamin' and Goofy's Sky school with limited wait. If you do Grizzly River Run early it won't take long, but if you go later and it is a warm day you might want to pull a FP.

With EMH, the only thing you need to FP (if you don't do it enough during EMH) are the racers.

You mention that DCA has "several favorites". Beware that our Tower of Terror is different from Disney World's. The drop sequence is the same every time and it only goes up and down, no forward movement.

At Disneyland, only fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open during EMH. Since your kids are older I'm assuming fantasyland is of limited interest. I would do either Hyperspace Mountain or Matterhorn first, keeping in mind that there are no FP for Matterhorn. After both of those are done, Star Tours. Once the rest of the park opens, since you are new to Disney, I would go right to Indiana, since you haven't done it and may want to do it multiple times.....or once may be enough (it's a little rough!). I'd then FP Splash Mountain (if needed) and hit Big Thunder Mountain and Haunted Mansion, neither of which usually have bad waits and both of which move fast.

Have fun!