Which rides are often down / unreliable at park opening?

[PetePanMan]

We are looking at best strategy for rope drop at various parks. I understand that RoTR and Remy are somewhat unreliable at park opening. Just wondering if this is the case based in more recent experiences and whether there are other rides which also tend to have problems first thing in the morning. TIA

 

[glocon]

SDD seems to be down at HS sometimes as well.

 

[123SA]

Test Track

 

[traveler9]

Rock N Roller Coaster, at least before this current rehab

 

[SpicyMcHaggis]

Regarding Rise, sometimes cast members may have info on if it will be available at park open, so ask on your way in if you have the opportunity. In my opinion it is worth heading that way if that is a goal because lines are almost always long and only ILL is possible otherwise.

If it turns out to be closed you can continue on to Slinky Dog and not be TOO far behind others who took the optimal path to get there, or stop at smugglers run and give Rise a bit more time to get its act together.

 

[BarbLynnM]

I’ve been looking for RotR and can’t find it anywhere—virtual que or LL. What am I missing? We’ve been here for a week, and leave tomorrow (April 11 2024), and would like to experience it at least once, but can’t even tell if it’s running or not

 

[Tom_E_D]

I’ve been looking for RotR and can’t find it anywhere—virtual que or LL. What am I missing? We’ve been here for a week, and leave tomorrow (April 11 2024), and would like to experience it at least once, but can’t even tell if it’s running or not

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance does not have a virtual queue and you cannot get a Genie+ LL for it. It has a standby line and you can buy an Individual Lightning Lane for it. In the MDE app, it appears on the Tip Board. Look for Star Wars, not Rise in the alphabetical list. If it isn't there, perhaps you have chosen the "Show Only Disney Genie+ Lightning Lanes" option near the top of the screen. You will need to undo that option to see Rise and the other non-Genie+ attractions.

 

[Tom_E_D]

We are looking at best strategy for rope drop at various parks. I understand that RoTR and Remy are somewhat unreliable at park opening. Just wondering if this is the case based in more recent experiences and whether there are other rides which also tend to have problems first thing in the morning. TIA

The leaders for March can be found in this article: https://touringplans.com/blog/by-the-numbers-march-2024/

 

[samsteele]

If it turns out to be closed you can continue on to Slinky Dog and not be TOO far behind others who took the optimal path to get there, or stop at smugglers run and give Rise a bit more time to get its act together.

That was my strategy as well. It worked out well esp stopping at smugglers run then quick walk over to Rise and it was usually up and running by then.

I would add the following problematic rides: Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Test Track, Remy, Frozen and Navi River Journey.

 

[BarbLynnM]

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance does not have a virtual queue and you cannot get a Genie+ LL for it. It has a standby line and you can buy an Individual Lightning Lane for it. In the MDE app, it appears on the Tip Board. Look for Star Wars, not Rise in the alphabetical list. If it isn't there, perhaps you have chosen the "Show Only Disney Genie+ Lightning Lanes" option near the top of the screen. You will need to undo that option to see Rise and the other non-Genie+ attractions.

Tks, I did have the lighting lane option selected. Unselected and voila, there it was. Yay!!

 

[123SA]

9% for Test Track is surprising to me. I must have really bad luck at Test Track at Rope Drop. Last two trips it was down all 4 rope drops we tried.

 

[PetePanMan]

The leaders for March can be found in this article: https://touringplans.com/blog/by-the-numbers-march-2024/

View attachment 850192

Great info! Thanks

 

[_19disnA]

Some of the outdoor rides like Test Track don't run in the rain for safety reasons. Not sure if the statistics shown above take that into account. If it is raining when the park first opens, could also explain why some rides are down and is unrelated to any mechanical issue.

 

[Tom_E_D]

Some of the outdoor rides like Test Track don't run in the rain for safety reasons. Not sure if the statistics shown above take that into account. If it is raining when the park first opens, could also explain why some rides are down and is unrelated to any mechanical issue.

The article mentions that Kali River Rapids didn't open some mornings due to chilly weather, so it seems that the statistics just show rides that are not open, regardless of cause.

 

[MickeyMice]

IMO hollywood studios is the real problem when it comes to big ticket early downtimes. you should be prepared with plans B and C when rope dropping DHS and be ready to pivot based on incomplete info. the other parks are more predictable, though i guess an unexpected 7DMT downtime can also throw off your plans.

 

[kylenne]

IMO hollywood studios is the real problem when it comes to big ticket early downtimes. you should be prepared with plans B and C when rope dropping DHS and be ready to pivot based on incomplete info. the other parks are more predictable, though i guess an unexpected 7DMT downtime can also throw off your plans.

I agree but I would just add having plan B and C is necessary everywhere. Generally I prefer ILL/LL (Rise/FoP/SDD) or end of night jumping in line (7DMT) for the main headliners and then zigging away from the running of the bulls just for my stress levels. So at MK I always rope drop Tomorrowland at EE and last May I can't tell you how many silly people we saw standing at Space despite it being down and CMs have no ETA on when it was going to start. Meanwhile we immediately pivoted Buzz, Astro Orbiter, then went for second rope drop to Jungle, Pirates, Big Thunder. We got back to Tomorrowland because by then my Tron BG had been called and I still saw some of the same people hanging around waiting at Space.

HS I typically like to rope drop Sunset and work my way back from Tower because at worst, Tower will run 1 side rather than not run at all, and being at the front of the pack it doesn't matter if only 1 is running. If RNRC is down I can just zoom past it to MMRR.

 

[fatmanatee]

Some of the outdoor rides like Test Track don't run in the rain for safety reasons. Not sure if the statistics shown above take that into account. If it is raining when the park first opens, could also explain why some rides are down and is unrelated to any mechanical issue.

I ran into a delay for Slinky and I suspect it's due to something similar. Early morning (pre-opening) rain, got in line and they were testing the ride while I was in line, ended up delaying opening for about 20 min.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I am surprised Space Mountain wasn't listed. It seems like the posted list was just for this past March.
Our approach is now to kinda expect something will be down. On a recent visit, we got all the way around Epcot to Remy and it went down still during EE just after we got in line for it. That was a bit frustrating. We ended up waiting. We were just about to bail when it reopened. Early Entry was over by that point, but we quickly rode it twice with minimal wait. It was still early and a cold morning, so FEA's wait wasn't too bad after that.

I have been watching the parks and it seems like people are not flocking heavily to Early Entry except maybe HS. If your chosen attraction is down, just opt for something else. Except maybe don't have your swap choice be: FoP, Remy, Rise, Slinky, or 7D. Pick just about anything else that is open.

 

[Marek Zyskowski]

I noticed when a popular attraction is late opening, for example Pirates. The adjacent attractions get much longer than usual lines, like Jungle Cruise. It is good to have a go to attraction on the other side of the park in mind and just come back later.

 

[AttheParks]

On our trip in March, Space was down during early opening for hotel guests. The line at Buzz swelled and took most of our 30 min early opening time.

The next day Test Track was down during early opening, we waited and it finally opened around 20 minutes later.