I tracked times religiously this summer in prep for our Parkeology challenge run & what I found out is that Soarin, Guardians & Star Tours would fluctuate very randomly, sometimes being very hot (i.e. 1 day Soarin rant out by noon even faster than RSR…
10:18am by lolabear_la
…and another couple of days ST was going faster than Space which is hardly ever the case). All of those attractions have multiple theaters and/or loading areas so it makes sense that the capacity changes if not all areas are operating but if all of…
10:20am by lolabear_la
…those are loading full capacity then the general order is 1) RSR 2/3/4) Space/Guardians/IC 5/6/7) TSMM/Soarin/Indy 8/9/10) ST/MH/BTM 11/12) Splash/GRR but when their return time hits 10-11am they peak up ahead of TSMM/Soarin/Indy but after it hits…
10:28am by lolabear_la
…5-6pm it slows down again & doesn’t usually run out with immediate availability often available past 9pm. 13/14) GSS/RRCS both of these tend to have close to immediate availability but also both close earlier (GSS with DCA at 9/10pm & RR with Toon…
10:30am by lolabear_la
…town at 8:30pm). Then lastly you have Haunted Mansion, Buzz, small world which always seem to have near immediate times, exception being when HM/small world have overlays then will be closer to MH/BTM pace.
Just wanted to be sure I’m reading this correctly - are you suggesting getting MP for RSR 1st, then followed by Space, Guardians, IC, etc.? This looks helpful. Feeling a little overwhelmed trying to balance between not planning and going with the flow but also having a plan.
If you are there very early (through security & lined up at the turnstiles waiting to be let in one hour before park opening or 45 min before early entry if you have it), then there are plenty of viable strategies for getting 1-2 other FPs first. It all depends on when you want to hit Carsland.
I like Carsland a little bit later in the morning vs. first thing because I love doing Pixar Pier first thing. We as a family love the Pixar-Pal-Around & since waits for that build after the first hour we like to be back there & get it done. To avoid back-tracking, we’ll also do TSMM & Incredicoaster (usually before the Pal-Around) while we’re back there. If you want to do the pier first I would grab Incredicoaster or TSMM as your first MP and then the other one 2nd, followed by RSR third.
If you’re not planning on arriving super early & want to ride RSR, especially if wanting to ride it multiple times, I would grab it as your first MP for sure! Just note that you will have to use that first FP before being able to pull a 2nd RSR FP even if the window for you to pull your next FP has opened up (but you can definitely pull a FP for anything else available until you use that 1st RSR FP).
Disneyland definitely is tricky to plan because it can be so different on any given day. But learning as much as you can beforehand will give you a leg up. The way I like to plan is to stick everything into a touring plan & then on similar operating day (i.e. exact same open/close times/EMH schedule for both parks), track/compare the FP return times on the Disneyland App against those in my TouringPlan & make notes for contingencies based on how tracking the FPs on the Disneyland App differed from TouringPlans. This usually also involves inserting a lot of breaks with notes on what FPPs to grab/use.
EDITING TO ADD: If you do arrive early & want to grab RSR first to do it very earlier in the morning that is definitely a strategy many people employ. But just know that the masses flock to Carsland at opening so you’ll be among a crowd from the get-go. If grabbing RSR first, I would RD another headliner such as GotG or Soarin then head to Carsland.
