I have made two different HWS touring plans using the RT from the data on the blog. Which would you do? (We would like to ride Rise twice). I appreciate any comments or suggestions you can give! We will be a group of 9 there next Sunday, March 26!
Hollywood Studios Plan 1
7 am - Get LL for SDD for 8:30 am return time
7 am - Book ILL for Rise at 1:00 pm
- Rope Drop Tower of Terror (8 am with early entry)
- Go right to TSM
- Alien Swirling Saucers (if time to be off before 9:15) *Need to tap into SDD by 9:15
- Ride SDD Lightening Lane around 9 am
At SDD Get LL for MFSR at 2 pm
- Go Meet Sully or StarWars Launch Bay
- Backlot Express @ 11 am - Mobile Order
11:15 am Book MMRR for 5 pm
7) Indian Jones show 12 pm-1 pm**
1:17 - Get drop for TSM
- Rise of the Resistance ILL 1:20 pm
- Ride MFSR @ 2 pm RT
- Ride TSM by 2:30 pm (1:30-2:30 RT from drop)
Book Star tours for 3:15 Or do Muppets if Star tours RT is later
- Check-in for Star Tours at 3:10
3:17 drop - grab another LL for ToT
- Ride ToT at 3:30
- 4 pm reservation at SciFI
- 5 pm MMRR RT
- Muppets
- Fantastic
- Ride Rise again (right before close)
OR
Hollywood Studios Plan 2
7 am - Get LL for SDD for 8:30 am return time
7 am - Book ILL for Rise at 5:30 pm
- Rope Drop Rise of the Resistance (8 am with early entry)
- Go right to Toy Story Mania (walk on)
- Ride Alien Swirling Saucer (walk on)
- ***Need to tap into SDD by 9:15
- Ride SDD Lightening Lane around 9 am
Get LL for Tower of Terror at 5:30 pm
- Go Meet Sully or StarWars Launch Bay
- Backlot Express @ 11 am - Mobile Order**
11:15 am Book Millennium Falcon for 5 pm
- Indian Jones show 12 pm-1 pm
1:15 - Book MMRR for 6:45
1:17 - Get better time for ToT at drop (1:30pm RT)
- Muppets Vision 3D
- Tower of Terror LL RT of 1:30
- Watch Beauty and the Beast or Frozen
3:15 - Book Star Tours
- Ride Star Tours
3:47 - Grab Drop for Toy Story Mania (4pm)
- 4 pm reservation at SciFI
- Go to Toy Story Mania
- 5 pm RT Millenium Falcon
- Ride of the Resistance ILL
- Fantastic
I like your first plan because it’s not dependent on getting to the front of rope drop for RotR.
I also worry a bit about getting an 8:30 am SDD return time with a party of 9 but fingers crossed for you. You might consider two separate groups at once for that.
Of course the risk is if RotR is down at the end of the night but I expect total wait if it’s running will be meaningfully less at end of night vs showing up pre rope drop and given RotR is so long you’ll also get more done in EE with plan 1.
Thank you!
I was also thinking we would get a lot more done during EE if we RD ToT…and I worry about RD Rise and then it being down because I think that happens quite a lot.
Thanks for your opinion! That was my initial plan so I will stick with it!
i’d do first because ROTR goes down a lot so if it does you want to have the backup compensate you would get
Good point about RotR unreliability at rope drop too. I heard from Rob on EarScouts that g+ with a group bigger than 4 has less availability than a smaller group. I’m curious if you decide to stay as one group for your LL or split up. Given a very generous time after LL expires and ability to modify it seems like splitting up bookings would make sense, as you’ll still almost certainly ride together. And you’ll likely get more LL in that way too. But I can also imagine it being twice the work and screen time and not feasible if you’re the only one managing the plans. We have a group of 7 later in April, please let me know how well your return times matched your desired plans. (And if you split up bookings how that experience was).
I got an 8:40 SDD (park open 8:30) for 7 people on a CL6 day. I also got ROTR for 6 people - but the times advanced sooo fast! We ended up with a 1:35-2:35 time.
We actually did almost plan 1 entirely.
Middle of the pack RD TSM.
Group splits - one rides TSM a second time, others does Saucers
Tap into SDD before 9
Get MFSR LL for 11:15
Group splits - one waits in line for meeting Woody & Jessie (this line took forever, prob 45 mins 
) while the other goes to SWLB and meets Darth Vader, BB8 and Chewy (about a 10 minute wait for each character), the group was all back before we had even met Jessie & Woody.
We stopped and saw Edna Mode, and then we’re near Backlot Express right when it opened - around 10:35, I think (DS4 was having a meltdown, it was fuzzy lol). Rode Star Tours standby, Built a light saber at Tattoine Traders, Ate at Backlot, we could hear the Indiana Jones show.
Went to MFSR (booked an Olaf for 2pm), Droid Depot (11:50 appt), Ogas (12:35), Rise (child swap and waited for Olaf standby instead - got in line at 1:30).
Afternoon break. That’s where our similarities end with the plan, but plan one is really close to what we did!
Rise went down during our LL, so we did end up going back to Rise after Fantasmic. Fantasmic ended at 8:30ish, and we were in the queue by 8:50, but we were out of our seats after the boat passed us.
We did wait in line standby for Rise at the end of the night (on a different night) - and if it doesn’t go down - our wait was about 45 minutes.
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You mean you would go to Rise first?
Yes… I am worried about this too. We are a group of 9 and I will be the one managing the plans - although I could teach someone to help (and did put BG1 on my husbands phone too). I feel like splitting will just be WAY to much work/phone time. I think keeping the group of 9 together will already be too much phone time that I don’t want to make it even more. It is a tough call…I wonder how different it actually would be. I don’t really understand how it would be that different. EX: If a RT of 3pm is showing for a group of 4 but there technically wasn’t 9 spots left - you think it would just go to the next time slot (ie 3:05) for the group of 9…
Thank you for all this information!!! That sounds like you guys had a great/successful day!!!
I am hoping with BG1 that i’ll be able to! Fingers crossed…
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