Assuming no more changes in hours at HS, which would you do? Here are the options:
1 - Go on opening day. We are staying at BWI so we can walk. We could either go super early and wait with the RD mass or go a little after park open and rely on our Oga’s ADR at 9:25 to get us into the land. Either way we will be waiting, it’s just whether it is at 6am or 9am.
2 - Go on 12/6 following MVMCP the night before. We have Oga’s at 9:10 that morning, so could potentially skip the whole RD mess and just get in and then skip the ADR.
3 - Go on 12/7, also check out day. This would mean getting up super early to check our bags before heading out (no way I’m leaving my mom alone to deal with DD2 and the chaos that is our 42 suitcases). Same Oga’s ADR scenario as 12/6. We also have FPs starting at 11am at AK this day.
I’m kind of inclined to go on opening day because of the rumors about the drones. They just sound so fun!! Will the crowds really be that different the two following days? The main upside to the two following days is that our ADR is right at park open versus being in the second hour on opening day.
There’s no real data to go off of to make this decision. That’s what makes it so hard!!
Is there any chance that the ride will be good enough that you will change your plans to ride it 3 times? If so I would go on the first day, to have a chance to repeat it if the ride ends up being that amazing.
Go opening day! It would be fun to experience with other people who are excited about it, and worse case scenario (and it’s super crowded), you can come back the following day.
I would not do option 3. Check-out days are complicated enough so I wouldn’t want to add the uncertainty of a line that could potentially be 3+ hours.
Let’s assume you have to wait in line 3-4 hours for the ride on 12/5 or 12/6 … which would mess up your schedule more? Also, given the trouble WDW has had getting this ride up and going, I think there is a higher probability of this ride going down than other opening day rides. Keep that in mind how that would effect your schedule too. Maybe that title things toward going opening day because if the ride goes down, you would still have another chance on 12/6.
I have no advice, but I just wanted to say that this is exactly the decision I am struggling to make about RotR! We are also there 12/5, 12/6, and checking out 12/7. Have 9:05 Oga’s on 12/5 and 12/6. At this point, the tentative plan is opening day just in case something goes wrong so we can retry 12/6 if need be. Haven’t decided between getting up super early 12/5 or relying on the Oga’s res. If you end up making a firm decision, I’d love to know what you pick!
Go opening day! Then you have chances to re-ride if you want. Plus the drones sound cool. I don’t think it will be any less busy the 2 days after, and the excitement of opening day (at least at Disneyland) was great.
All things being equal, I would go 12/6 to avoid opening day chaos but also to avoid the stress of going on your departure day. However, if you really want to ride and would be sorely disappointed if you miss it, and you don’t mind waiting up to 5 hours, I would try to RD on opening day.
I am concerned about operating issues - this is a complex ride and 1000 things could go wrong. I’ve read rumors that it has problems running for long stretches. So the later in the day you go, the more likely they will be experiencing issues. Hopefully day 2 will be smoother than day 1, with the added benefit that you will have more data to go off of!
Here’s the rumor I was referring to - in an article about why RotR will not be open during EMH:
however it’s been difficult for Disney to keep Rise of the Resistance running for long extended periods of time due to the many moving parts, ride systems and animatronics it has. It seems like Disney is taking precautions to try not to overtax the ride during its initial opening phase
It’s all rumors so I guess we’ll wait and see! But to answer your question, they announced the opening months ago, presumably with a plan to address all the problems in time, but nothing is guaranteed. But they can’t delay the opening at this point because people planned their trips around it. Hopefully everything will go smoothly. I hope so, both for Disney’s sake and also for the guests!
The weather really was great. Full sun all day. It was a bit breezy though, so for the first few minutes out of the water, we were cold. An amazing water park day…everything was a walk on! The longest we waited was maybe 2 groups in front of us. A great start to our vacation!
On 12/5 I would like to be at MK by 2. On 12/6 we have Bon Voyage at noon. I could stand getting to MK later, but I’d be real mad if I missed Bon Voyage. You know…'cause Flynn.
At this point I’m thinking we are going to do opening day. Haven’t decided yet about RD versus ADR, but I am leaning toward ADR. We are going to have to wait a couple of hours either way. I’d rather sleep in!