I created a custom touring plan for DCA for Tuesday, 5/31 about 2 weeks ago. It started with picking up FP for RSR, and it was estimating a return time from 5-6pm. When I look at it now it is telling me return times of 10:30-11:30am. Crowd levels are estimated at a 6 for this day. Why would there be such a huge shrinkage in expected return times?
In all honesty, at least in my opinion, a TP is never going to get the RSR return time correct. If you arrive at RD and make the RSR FP pickup your first stop, you’ll get something close to the 10:30-11:30 return time most likely. If you do anything else first, you’ll still get a RSR FP, but the return time you get is completely unpredictable. So if you’re not planning to pull the FP first thing, I’d recommend leaving it out of the TP and just adjust based on the time you get. Just my two cents…
I have never been able to get the optimizer to play nice with an RSR FP time. It’s either way over or under the time. I always make sure my DCA plan has 20-30 min breaks in where I can reasonably estimate our FP being and then I can update that break when I actually pull the FP. I do a bit longer because we have to do rider switch but you could easily plan a 15 min break for an estimated return time. This is also when it’s a good idea to have your printed plan so when you’re looking at pulling the FP you can see how it fits in the scheme of the day.
I agree. TP isn’t good at predicting your return time. Best thing to do is find out when you want to ride, and pass by the FP distribution area until the posted return time is near your target. I have found that I can get multiple RSR FPs in a day, especially if I pick up early. I will get one at regular rope drop (first chance to do so), and that’s always in the morning. I usually grab another closer to lunch time, right before I hop to Disneyland.