Toy Story Mania

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I have been checking out the touringplans.com website since getting my subscription. I was looking into the best parks and the wait times for rides for the duration of our stay in November.

Toy Story Mania doesn't seem to be effected by the lower crowd levels. The longest expected wait time for the Level 1 crowd indicator is still over an hour. It got me wondering just what was the shortest time anyone had stood in the standby line for a ride (no fastpasses).

During Early EMH, it took us 45 minutes after walking (not running) directly to the ride. The same night, due to children begging, we rode it again in the standby line. It took us over 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Anyone done it in under 10 minutes?

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

There are a couple of instances where I have had no line. Obviously, the 1st choice is to go at rope drop, and to avoid the wait at the gate and the wait at rope drop, we book Hollywood and Vine for a 8am breakfast. We are sure to finish our breakfast by 8:40, then we are allowed to go to the rope just as they open the turnstyles, then a short 10 minute wait until they drop the rope. Then it is a BRISK walk to the ride and you are out of there by 9:15 am. If you don't book the breakfast then you need to be at the turnstyles by 8am, so in essence you still have a line.

One other time, is in the last hour of late night EMH, and that was a rare 10pm - 1am EMH for the Studios. I rode it 4 times in a row in that hour.

Then for some weird reason on the Friday after Labor day, 2011, TSM had 20 minutes or less waits for a good part of that day.

[Lou... 3,118]

If I recall correctly you're one of those crazies that makes a spread sheet for the parks, aren't you, aren't you? I thought so.

How come it's always the women that do it?

To answer your question about the shortest wait time for TSM, in my case 0 minutes, because I will never, ever, wait more that 45 minutes for any silly, over rated, amusement park ride. And that's all WDW is.

I haven't done TSM, and looks like I never will.

So cancel that TouringPlan subscription, rip up those spread sheets, put your IPhone with the "wait time" app away, and just go to parks.

And if the wait for a ride is over 45 minutes, move on.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

And that is exactly what we do. I don't do a spread sheet, heck I never even know what park we will go into till we get there. I don't stand in long lines either, unless the is Stef punch at the end of it.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

If I recall correctly you're one of those crazies that makes a spread sheet for the parks, aren't you, aren't you? I thought so.

How come it's always the women that do it?

To answer your question about the shortest wait time for TSM, in my case 0 minutes, because I will never, ever, wait more that 45 minutes for any silly, over rated, amusement park ride. And that's all WDW is.

I haven't done TSM, and looks like I never will.

So cancel that TouringPlan subscription, rip up those spread sheets, put your IPhone with the "wait time" app away, and just go to parks.

And if the wait for a ride is over 45 minutes, move on.

So I have been liberated... although i do have spreadsheets (for the rally info), thanks to touringplans and TCD reports I am largely winging it. I say largely because I did have to make ADRs.

Actually the one 2 hour TSM is the only time we have waited over 45 minutes for a ride. The kids wanted Daddy to ride and we didn't have park hoppers that trip and it was Christmas....

I won't wait more than 10 minutes for a Character meet either after we did 35 minutes for Mickey and Minnie the first trip.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

And that is exactly what we do. I don't do a spread sheet, heck I never even know what park we will go into till we get there. I don't stand in long lines either, unless the is Stef punch at the end of it.

This trip I scheduled all ADR's for breakfast or lunch, except SOA so that we could leave the park guilt free and go to another park if we wanted. Of course having been twice with the kids, I don't feel the need to ride everything either. We already know what we like and what we don't....

I plan on using my app to check the wait lines for things I have to walk a long way to get... if the line is too long I'll skip it and save myself the walk too.

Where does the line for Stef's punch start?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I don't think that I have ever waited more than 10 minutes for Toy Story.

If we are going to ride it, then it is Fastpass or rope drop, or both. If we cannot do either, then we don't ride it on that visit.

I agree with Lou's philosophy on this-there isn't an attraction anywhere in WDW worth waiting more than 45 minutes for. In fact, I would reduce that time to 20 minutes.

I would never bother with a spreadsheet. Go with the flow. Stuff happens. And some of the stuff that happens ends up being fun. So get rid of the spreadsheet. If you want to ride Toy Story get there for rope drop or get Fastpasses, and work some other stuff around that. There are tons of fun things to do at every park that you can squeeze in between Fastpass return times.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I have as yet, never gotten a fasspass. My first family visit I didn't know enough about them. The second family visit was Christmas and the wait for Fastpasses for TSM was longer than the wait to ride it that morning. This time I plan on using the Fast Pass system when I can. I think we have visited enough to not worry doing everything and just doing what we want/can.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I have as yet, never gotten a fasspass. My first family visit I didn't know enough about them. The second family visit was Christmas and the wait for Fastpasses for TSM was longer than the wait to ride it that morning. This time I plan on using the Fast Pass system when I can. I think we have visited enough to not worry doing everything and just doing what we want/can.

Well, then you need to brush up on your Fastpass strategy and throw that spreadsheet out the window.

When you are going to visit a park, figure out ahead of time a couple of things that will be your must do's. If there are Fastpasses for any of these, get those first. Then fill in your time around the Fastpass return times. When you are eligible to get another Fastpass- get the next one. There is no reason to stand on long lines. Just remember that unless you plan on spending from opening to closing at a park, you cannot do everything in any park in just one day. So, go at a reasonable pace, and stop and enjoy the little things- these little things are what sets Disney apart from any other amusement park.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Well, then you need to brush up on your Fastpass strategy and throw that spreadsheet out the window.

When you are going to visit a park, figure out ahead of time a couple of things that will be your must do's. If there are Fastpasses for any of these, get those first. Then fill in your time around the Fastpass return times. When you are eligible to get another Fastpass- get the next one. There is no reason to stand on long lines. Just remember that unless you plan on spending from opening to closing at a park, you cannot do everything in any park in just one day. So, go at a reasonable pace, and stop and enjoy the little things- these little things are what sets Disney apart from any other amusement park.

TCD

I think the little things are what we have been missing. For instance, we have never been in more than two or three gift shops at DHS. I'm not actually sure we have seen all of DHS....

I am going to assume that the park hopper tickets will help too. I won't feel like I have to get everything done since I only have one day in the park.

[stefa70 205]

Both last January and this January we've waited about 10 minutes for TSM. I don't like any ride enough to wait over 30 minutes...it's that whole patience thing again.

[We4mickey 6]

The Friday right after labor day was a fantastic day to be on TSM. We road it 4 times in a row. Got a fast pass, saw there was only a 20 minute wait and got in line. It took just a few minutes and we were on and then repeated it over and over. We also walked onto Soarin that trip, no fast pass, no waiting, walked from the entrance to our seats, just like that. Awesome!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

15 minutes. Got there for rope drop and we were about 8 rows of people back in the crowd. I speed-walked to the FP machines, met Brian at the line entrance.

By the time we got out our FPs were up and we rode again immediately.

The tricky thing with TSM is that FPs are frequently gone by noon - sometimes by 10am - even on not-so-busy days.

And even if you manage to get one, unless you snag it in the first hour or so of the park being open, the return time might be 5-6pm.

We were there 2 years ago the week before Thanksgiving week and it was as dead as I've ever seen it (and we typically go during off times). By comparison - we rode Soarin in the middle of the afternoon with a 5 minute wait.

We rode TSM 4 times one day that week, only once with FP, and didn't wait more than 30 minutes each time.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

We only use FP for TSM....rope drop is spent walking to sign up for Jedi Academy in most instances and I mean walking....."people" are a little crazy sprinting and knocking over "other people" to get there first. By "people" I mean adults and by "other people" I mean kids. Very un-jedi like. I wanted to tell my youngling to trip or hip check one of the crazy adults but my conscience got the better of me. After signup, we walk to TSM and get fast passes.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

It appears I have been doing this all wrong.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

We've decided we don't TSM enough to do the cattle prod dance to get to it at rope drop. We are going to go the other way and do Tower and RR instead.

No spreadsheets this time. I do like them, but other than picking the park that we have and ADR in or the morning EMH, I'm not stressing about getting to this ride, then go to that ride, move over to this ride and be at the right ride to get the fast pass as soon as that window opens. This trip we will have to be more aware of return times and just work it accordingly.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

For what it's worth, they stopped doing rope drop at Hollywood Studios earlier this year.

Now, they just open the park a few minutes early, and guests walk through the turnstiles and enter the park. There is no hold-up on Hollywood Blvd, and no show.

This has cut down on the stampede. The turnstiles slow everyone down.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

For what it's worth, they stopped doing rope drop at Hollywood Studios earlier this year.

Now, they just open the park a few minutes early, and guests walk through the turnstiles and enter the park. There is no hold-up on Hollywood Blvd, and no show.

This has cut down on the stampede. The turnstiles slow everyone down.

TCD

That is good to know. I don't like the stampede.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

We've decided we don't TSM enough to do the cattle prod dance to get to it at rope drop. We are going to go the other way and do Tower and RR instead.

No spreadsheets this time. I do like them, but other than picking the park that we have and ADR in or the morning EMH, I'm not stressing about getting to this ride, then go to that ride, move over to this ride and be at the right ride to get the fast pass as soon as that window opens. This trip we will have to be more aware of return times and just work it accordingly.

TSM is mandatory. We all love it but this time while they do Star Tours (which I can't ride) I'm going to try to get on TT instead.

Looks like you and I are following the same non-spreadsheet strategy!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

For what it's worth, they stopped doing rope drop at Hollywood Studios earlier this year.

Now, they just open the park a few minutes early, and guests walk through the turnstiles and enter the park. There is no hold-up on Hollywood Blvd, and no show.

So... does the crowd just stack up outside the turnstiles now? If so, I'm guessing same plan applies - get there 20-30 minutes before park open to try and be as close to the front of the line as possible when they start letting people through the turnstiles.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

So... does the crowd just stack up outside the turnstiles now? If so, I'm guessing same plan applies - get there 20-30 minutes before park open to try and be as close to the front of the line as possible when they start letting people through the turnstiles.

Yup.

That's how it works.

There is no stampede, because the crowd cannot get through the turnstiles all at once.

Here's a secret tip that we have used at AK but not at DHS. I think it will work, though.

At AK, they have a banner above one set of turnstiles identifying this area as the area to use for guests with early breakfast ADR's. Nobody lines up at those turnstiles, as they are only to be used for guests with breakfast ADR's. Well, when the other turnstiles open, that banner gets rolled up, and the turnstiles are open for anyone. If you happen to be hanging out in that area, you can jump into line for those turnstiles, and you will be on your way. This trick works for us everytime at AK. I am going to try it at DHS some time soon.

TCD

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Sweet trick, TCD - thanks for sharing!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

How early can you get ADR's to get into a park?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Sweet trick, TCD - thanks for sharing!

Yeah- keep that one on the DL.

I figured I would share, since we don't do rope drop all that often anymore.

How early can you get ADR's to get into a park?

It depends- but I think it can be an hour or more before the park opens. But they watch you to make sure that you go to where you are supposed to be going, and no wandering around after you're done. If you really want to go in early and eat, though, those ADR's can put you in front of the crowd when the park opens.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Yeah- keep that one on the DL.

I figured I would share, since we don't do rope drop all that often anymore.

It depends- but I think it can be an hour or more before the park opens. But they watch you to make sure that you go to where you are supposed to be going, and no wandering around after you're done. If you really want to go in early and eat, though, those ADR's can put you in front of the crowd when the park opens.

TCD

naw.... not sweating it. just gonna chill. no manuvering ...wander relax...

if anyone sees me with a spreadsheet in hand in Nov, you have my permission to take it away.