What would you suggest for "first thing rides"?

[jacobsmommy]

We will be at DL/DCA from June 19-22nd. We are staying at Fairfield Anaheim and we've stayed there two times before. We will have no problem being at rope drop early (including our Magic Morning day). My kids didn't like the Nemo ride, so there'll be no need to hi-tail it there first thing. We did TSMM first thing last time but were disappointed in the long line first thing. We've ridden it many times at DHS with fast pass. Should we skip that to focus on Carsland (assuming it's open then) and the Little Mermaid ride? We've not been on the Ariel ride and it's a must do for my 4 yo dd. We will get all of FL done on our Magic Morning like the other two times. Not sure if we'll use our TTMM passes or not. I'd like to ride the Matterhorn and definitely want to do Indy b/ I've never ridden it. Are either of those must ride at park opening rides?

 

[bydd]

Definitely Indy. The wait times during the afternoon/evening can get quite long (1hr + easily)

 

[Tarijeno]

+1 to Indy. Back in the 90's, after the rope drop, my family would sprint to Adventureland and be able to ride Indy 4 times before the line got too long. Though it might be a little outdated by today's standards. Star Tours, maybe? It's pretty new.

 

[elaw]

DCA's TSMM does not have fastpasses, so it's worth doing it first thing .... the line gets long quickly

 

[DLR29]

If Carsland is open during your trip I would go to Radiator Springs Racers as early as possible and at least grab a FP on one of your days. The other rides in Carsland will also probably have long lines because they are low capacity, so those would be early morning rides too.

Don't worry about the Little Mermaid. Its line rarely breaks 20 min even during really crowded times on really crowded days.

Peter Pan/Dumbo/Alice are all good rides to begin MM with, although I would put Peter Pan first always.

Matterhorn is also a very good option for a first ride because it can generate long lines and there is no FP.

Star Tours, Space, and Indy (in that order) are fine to go to first thing, but these also have FP and so you can get on later in the day with a shortish wait if you grab a FP earlier.

 

[jacobsmommy]

I thought we might skip TSMM this trip (since we've done it multiple times at WDW and DL). I'd like to focus more on getting WOC FP (last time we did the picnic meals) and Carsland if it's open.

We'll need to do Indy twice b/c our 4 year old can't ride but the 8 year old can. Is it a fast pass ride? If so, we can get all four FP and do two rounds on Indy. Matterhorn is not FP is it?

 

[DLR29]

Yes Indy has FP and Matterhorn does not.

 

[jacobsmommy]

Not sure about Star Tours but we will not be doing Space Mountain. My dh won't be riding Star Tours b/c he got really sick a long time ago riding it. If ds wants to ride it I will ride it with him. We also will want to do Soarin, but I know that has FP too.