I really appreciate the tips shared with me on this forum. I’m already much less stressed about our upcoming trip thanks to the input provided here.
Below is my plan for purchasing Lightning Lane this Saturday morning (this is my first time dealing with LLMP/ILL), listed in order of purchase and preference. We are staying at All Star Sports and using EE each day. Predicted Crowd Levels are low but I’m planning to use Lightning Lane strategically for 1 day each at DHS, EP, and our one non-party MK day to allow us to take mid-day breaks.
I’d appreciate it if anyone can let me know if it looks like I’m missing anything major with this plan:
1.DHS, Wednesday Aug 12
LLMP
Tier A: Slinky Dog or Rock & Roller Coaster, earliest return possible
Tier B: Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, trying for at least one return before 10am
ILL: Rise of the Resistance, trying for return around 5pm or noon
2.MK, Sunday Aug 9
LLMP
Tier A: Tiana or Big Thunder, earliest return possible
Tier B: Haunted Mansion, Pirates, trying for 1 return before 10am
3.EP, Monday August 10
ILL: Guardians, trying for return around noon or around 7pm
Looks like a good plan! Hopefully you will be able to get what you want since your HS day is 7+4 if I’m doing the math correctly. You might not be able to get a morning SDD but you should be able to get RNRC, or you can start with ToT / TSM and by then you can use your Tier 1.
The biggest wild card will be how early you can get BTMRR. Tiana is easy to get for the morning because no one wants to ride it then! But you can always pick it up on a drop – LL has frequent refills throughout the day.
Thank you, @Jeff_AZ ! Regarding DHS: if we find that the lines are fairly short right at park opening, does it make sense to try to modify LL times to get returns later in the day? Or with that park is it always best to grab the earliest available time for something you want to ride? I suppose if we show up to a morning LL and the standby line is very short, we can just go through the standby line and then immediately use LL to ride it again…?
There are multiple valid approaches but if it were me I would keep the morning times and use the LL if you’re only going to ride once. Even if you save only 5 min, it’s worth it, but it will probably be more than that. If I want to repeat a ride, I usually do standby first to lock that low wait in then use the LL.
Keep churning through LLs. I have found that I can ride pretty much everything in HS by ~2pm if I start at EE and keep knocking out rides with LL, RD, or standby.
As per Jeff, all looks fine. A couple of options to consider on the MK day. Is it a day MK opens at 8am and thus EE is 7.30? if so LLMP is probably not needed if you can make the earlier rope drop. The place will be fine until at least 9.30-10. We’ve done it frequently and it’s quiet! Buzz may be more popular with its refresh than Pirates or HM. Not ridden it yet, we arrive on the 27/8. So will try it then. Have fun!
Thank you, @Stu007 . We are doing 2 days at MK; Sunday EE 8:30a, park closing at 11p. Our 2nd day is the MK party day on Tuesday with EE 7:30a, park closing 6p. So I’m planning to use LLP only for the long non-party MK day. Hope you have a great trip!
But you can always pick it up on a drop – LL has frequent refills throughout the day.