Which (if any?) attractions at DL/DCA have single rider

[chezcurrie]

They have Space on this list. I thought they stopped having single rider for SM?

(Although last time we utilized it, the wait was horrendous because the CM kept forgetting to use the single riders.)

Space SR went away for a while but now is back, and works much better. You enter through the exit as before but merge with the standby line, which is delineated left/right by tape down the middle. SR are given a SR pass and move to the right. The regular line goes left.

 

[brightlined]

OP: there also is or was a “buddy pass” at Toy Story, that basically worked like single rider. I haven’t checked recently but maybe someone else can comment. Have fun!!

For parties of one or two. I think they stopped offering it at Toy Story last fall, but it might still be available at Monsters, Inc. (You'll end up in the back row.)

 

[fly girl]

Space SR went away for a while but now is back, and works much better. You enter through the exit as before but merge with the standby line, which is delineated left/right by tape down the middle. SR are given a SR pass and move to the right. The regular line goes left.

Awesome! Thank you, this will definitely be utilized for our upcoming trip.

 

[KPeterso]

That said, I did see a guy in the SR line for WEB Slingers last week and he had a child who was clearly too young to ride alone. Now, the line wasn't very long, but the first CM who let's you in the door said nothing and let them continue through the pre-show (he was a few people up from me or I might have said something to him). When he got to loading, sure enough the CM questioned the age of the child - I am not sure how it was handled from there as he was escorted around the corner. I am not sure if this was a genuine mistake or an attempt to skip the longer line - there seemed to be a slight language barrier. The first CM should have caught it though - actually they should have been caught by the CMs at the front of the line.

I saw the same thing a few months ago. 2 parents with a child who was maybe 4. Not much English being spoken. I could not figure out why they were not stopped initially as the child was clearly too young to ride alone. I know they did not ride as the person behind them in line was off the same time as me so they should have been on at that time, but weren't. Not sure if they did get to ride.

For parties of one or two. I think they stopped offering it at Toy Story last fall, but it might still be available at Monsters, Inc. (You'll end up in the back row.)

I used the Monsters Inc buddy pass during this past summer. Some days the line is super short and quick. And then another day, it was staging outside the door with about 15 groups outside and probably 4-5 more inside. We skipped it then as it was just too backed up. And as stated, you will get the back row.

 

[BrianL]

I saw the same thing a few months ago. 2 parents with a child who was maybe 4. Not much English being spoken. I could not figure out why they were not stopped initially as the child was clearly too young to ride alone. I know they did not ride as the person behind them in line was off the same time as me so they should have been on at that time, but weren't. Not sure if they did get to ride.

I think it's bhecause WEB Slingers does not have a height requirement, so the CM's do not pay attention to people entering the queue.

 

[KPeterso]

I think it's bhecause WEB Slingers does not have a height requirement, so the CM's do not pay attention to people entering the queue.

Oh - had not thought of that! But, they still should pay attention that anyone entering that queue is old enough to ride solo. While RSR and Soaring have height requirements, my nephew (who was very short, his pal was tall enough at just under 3) was tall enough for both of those at 4, but should not be in the single rider line at that age.

 

[monkeypat83]

I am probably the unique case on this one but I took my almost 2 year old with me in the Webslingers single rider line with me but as I walked in I made sure the cast member knew he was going to ride in my lap so because we were only taking one seat we still fit the requirements for single rider in my eyes. The cast member was fine with my thought process but again I am probably very much in the minority on this one as most kids want their own seat and mine would much rather sit in my lap on any ride.

 

[KPeterso]

I am probably the unique case on this one but I took my almost 2 year old with me in the Webslingers single rider line with me but as I walked in I made sure the cast member knew he was going to ride in my lap so because we were only taking one seat we still fit the requirements for single rider in my eyes. The cast member was fine with my thought process but again I am probably very much in the minority on this one as most kids want their own seat and mine would much rather sit in my lap on any ride.

That to me is very reasonable and different than a kid who is more like 4-6 who want their own seat and the parent trying the single rider line.

 

[AndrewC]

I am probably the unique case on this one but I took my almost 2 year old with me in the Webslingers single rider line with me but as I walked in I made sure the cast member knew he was going to ride in my lap so because we were only taking one seat we still fit the requirements for single rider in my eyes. The cast member was fine with my thought process but again I am probably very much in the minority on this one as most kids want their own seat and mine would much rather sit in my lap on any ride.

Hold up, your two year old absolutely needs to wait for a separate seat in a different car! Leave room for us solo guys that can’t convince friends to book for the whole week!


(kidding of course. Good job logic-ing!)

 

[gardenrooms]

My only single rider beef is on Smuggler run - when groups of 2 (because you can do groups of 1 or 2 o single rider for Smugglers) expect to be pilot. No, if you want to be pilot go through standby. I tell my boys if we do single rider for the falcon they are going to be engineers. Sometimes we get lucky and someone in the group doesn’t want the pressure to be a pilot or they get swapped to be a gunner, but if you’re doing single rider assume you’ll be engineer. I’ve gotten really good at harpooning that train…

lol as the grandparents we always get stuck being the engineers but I guess I need to pay more attention - harpoon what train?

 

[BrianL]

lol as the grandparents we always get stuck being the engineers but I guess I need to pay more attention - harpoon what train?

It's the train carrying the coaxium. One of the engineer's jobs is to fire the harpoon using the big, orange button. Basically all the engineer does is push the buttons when they light up, so even if you aren't following along you can be successful. That said, I find it distracting. Not a lot of people know this, but if you touch nothing from the moment that you sit down, the station will go to automatic (as if nobody is sitting there) and you can just watch.

Having finally been pilot, I actually think I like gunner the best. It is cooler to sit at the controls, but piloting is actually hard. Gunner offers enough to do without having to really look over at the controls all the time. Engineer is the worst.

 

[gardenrooms]

It's the train carrying the coaxium. One of the engineer's jobs is to fire the harpoon using the big, orange button. Basically all the engineer does is push the buttons when they light up, so even if you aren't following along you can be successful. That said, I find it distracting. Not a lot of people know this, but if you touch nothing from the moment that you sit down, the station will go to automatic (as if nobody is sitting there) and you can just watch.

Having finally been pilot, I actually think I like gunner the best. It is cooler to sit at the controls, but piloting is actually hard. Gunner offers enough to do without having to really look over at the controls all the time. Engineer is the worst.

Thank you. Yeah, I know engineer isn't very exciting, but the grandkids love to be the gunners and DS and DDIL want to be the pilots, so there we are. lol the smaller grandson screamed at the top of his lungs the whole time, and I do mean nonstop, the first time we went on the ride - he thought it was real (he was only 5). I never heard anything like it! It's good to know we can do nothing so I can watch what everyone else is doing, which is more fun than just pushing lighted up buttons, though now I will have to look for the train.

 

[WonkaKid]

Space SR went away for a while but now is back, and works much better.

It was back. But after the recent minor changes, it’s not being offered as recently as yesterday. I’ve asked CMs a few times about it coming back but none have further info. Or at least they wouldn’t share any ;-).

 

[chezcurrie]

It was back. But after the recent minor changes, it’s not being offered as recently as yesterday. I’ve asked CMs a few times about it coming back but none have further info. Or at least they wouldn’t share any ;-).

Good to know. Haven’t tried the last couple times. Thanks, as always.

 

[dina444444]

It was back. But after the recent minor changes, it’s not being offered as recently as yesterday. I’ve asked CMs a few times about it coming back but none have further info. Or at least they wouldn’t share any ;-).

The CM I talked to the day after it reopened said it was just temporarily not being offered since they had just come back up from the refurb.

 

[WonkaKid]

The CM I talked to the day after it reopened said it was just temporarily not being offered since they had just come back up from the refurb.

Yes, I’ve been told the same. But they also have no idea of if and when it will come back.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

Curious which rides people think single rider is most useful on:

GRR: SR is almost always near walk-on, I think because it's not well advertised, and a lot of the fun is seeing your family/friends get wet

RSR and Matterhorn: saves a lot of time vs standby even if the SR line is long as the line moves pretty fast

Incredicoaster: if this line is up the ramp toward lamplight lounge it can be pretty long. I've had a few times I've wondered if we even saved time vs standby.

Space mountain: used to be really slow, not sure if it's better now with the new system.

Soarin: highly variable. Can save a ton of time if you get lucky, or can feel interminably long if you miss out on a few flights. Feels like they shuffle groups of 2/3 around a lot making SR less useful

Goofy's: saves a lot of time, but I don't really like this ride anyways

Falcon: definitely saves time and moves fast. Downside is you'll probably be engineer.

Have never done WS on single rider.

So to me, GRR, Falcon, RSR and Matterhorn are best SR opportunities, others I usually don't bother.

 

[dina444444]

Curious which rides people think single rider is most useful on:

GRR: SR is almost always near walk-on, I think because it's not well advertised, and a lot of the fun is seeing your family/friends get wet

RSR and Matterhorn: saves a lot of time vs standby even if the SR line is long as the line moves pretty fast

Incredicoaster: if this line is up the ramp toward lamplight lounge it can be pretty long. I've had a few times I've wondered if we even saved time vs standby.

Space mountain: used to be really slow, not sure if it's better now with the new system.

Soarin: highly variable. Can save a ton of time if you get lucky, or can feel interminably long if you miss out on a few flights. Feels like they shuffle groups of 2/3 around a lot making SR less useful

Goofy's: saves a lot of time, but I don't really like this ride anyways

Falcon: definitely saves time and moves fast. Downside is you'll probably be engineer.

Have never done WS on single rider.

So to me, GRR, Falcon, RSR and Matterhorn are best SR opportunities, others I usually don't bother.

Space mountain is highly dependent on the cast member that’s in charge of playing load Tetris and how good they are at.

Web slingers can be a time saver. They sent 10 people in at a time, but it’s only for the pre show room on the right side so the line moves in batches.

 

[brightlined]

Curious which rides people think single rider is most useful on:

My rule of thumb is that if the ride is two seats across, it's a lot less valuable. Three or more, and it's usually worth it. (Most guests are in pairs / even numbers.)

I rarely SR Incredicoaster. It's such a convoluted system, and takes forever - I'd rather just use an LL or wait until the line is short (often late in the day).

I'm surprised Soarin' even has SR. If a CM is perfectly efficient (which, to be fair, is extremely difficult), there should never be an extra seat for a single-rider. Better to just pull the first available 1 or 3 out of the line. (I probably wouldn't SR this anyway - too high a likelihood of ending up with a bad seat. I won't even respond if they ask for a single-rider in line - that dead last seat in the back left corner is awful.)

WS is really good with SR. There's a weird plus-minus, which is that you end up spending most of the time waiting in the outdoor queue, which makes it seem way worse than it actually is. The SR hallway is only accessible via the left pre-show room (every other pre-show), and they only put a specific number through each time (I think ten), so it feels like you're spending forever standing around with nothing happening. But, once you finally get to the pre-show, it's usually really quick after that.

I tried the newer Space Mountain SR the day before rehab, and it seemed quick, but mainly because nobody knew it was there. And it was hit-and-miss that weekend - it wasn't open the previous Friday night. The old version of the SR line could be really hit-and-miss - there were times that the line spilled way down the hallway (which I think was why they got rid of it, since it interfered with ADA access).

I'm one of the random folks that actually likes being Engineer on MF:SR. (It's fun to see how fast I can "fix" everything. It was especially fun the time we had a three-year-old pilot.) The trick there is to do the u-turn to the second SR staircase that most folks seem to miss - usually an even shorter wait.

Side note: I liked the Pirates SR test that they did last year - I was a little disappointed that they didn't stick with it.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

My rule of thumb is that if the ride is two seats across, it's a lot less valuable. Three or more, and it's usually worth it. (Most guests are in pairs / even numbers.)

I rarely SR Incredicoaster. It's such a convoluted system, and takes forever - I'd rather just use an LL or wait until the line is short (often late in the day).

I'm surprised Soarin' even has SR. If a CM is perfectly efficient (which, to be fair, is extremely difficult), there should never be an extra seat for a single-rider. Better to just pull the first available 1 or 3 out of the line. (I probably wouldn't SR this anyway - too high a likelihood of ending up with a bad seat. I won't even respond if they ask for a single-rider in line - that dead last seat in the back left corner is awful.)

WS is really good with SR. There's a weird plus-minus, which is that you end up spending most of the time waiting in the outdoor queue, which makes it seem way worse than it actually is. The SR hallway is only accessible via the left pre-show room (every other pre-show), and they only put a specific number through each time (I think ten), so it feels like you're spending forever standing around with nothing happening. But, once you finally get to the pre-show, it's usually really quick after that.

I tried the newer Space Mountain SR the day before rehab, and it seemed quick, but mainly because nobody knew it was there. And it was hit-and-miss that weekend - it wasn't open the previous Friday night. The old version of the SR line could be really hit-and-miss - there were times that the line spilled way down the hallway (which I think was why they got rid of it, since it interfered with ADA access).

I'm one of the random folks that actually likes being Engineer on MF:SR. (It's fun to see how fast I can "fix" everything. It was especially fun the time we had a three-year-old pilot.) The trick there is to do the u-turn to the second SR staircase that most folks seem to miss - usually an even shorter wait.

Side note: I liked the Pirates SR test that they did last year - I was a little disappointed that they didn't stick with it.

yeah it all comes down to the seat configurations.

4 person cars (Goofy, WS): Any group of 3, 5 or 7, they're going to need a SR. Should moves very fast.

6 person cars (MF, RSR, Matterhorn): Any group of 3 or group of 5 that comes through main line, they're going to need a SR, unless they can find 2 groups of 3 to stick together. So these move fast. These have a lot of ride vehicles too, so they move quick.

8 person car (GRR): the ride vehicles don't turn over as fast, but they usually can't puzzle together groups of 8, so you get one SR every 2 or 3 boats

Space probably has a lot of variety as it depends if CM treats it as a 6 or 12 person vehicle (i.e. are you willing to split a group of 5 across the front vs back car).

When Indy had SR back in the day, it moved slow because of the 12 person vehicles.

Incredicoaster is 24 person, and inevitably any odd number has to be placed with a stranger regardless, so SR spots don't pop up that often. Cars move fast though.

Soarin I think they treat it as 9 separate vehicles of 12 people (each row/column treated separately) as they want the whole group to be in a single section. But because they have so much time to organize and move people around, they can optimize it a lot more.

Guardians would be even worse if it ever had SR - 21 person vehicles, lots of time to get shuffle main line guests around!

And yeah, pirates basically never has full boats, so SR would be great there. I think they just feel the line moves too quickly to warrant the organizational hassle. Small world is same boat.