Rope Drop Strategy for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure with Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes

[DLRExpert]

Started a new thread showing some my recommendations in picture form.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...p-when-having-genie-and-ill-for-rise.3876608/

 

[disneylover102]

I've noticed that the last few days Rise has been staying open until 10pm. I'm interested to see if this continues (Edit: today posted hours are until 9pm). If reliability is improving, it may make riding it later in the day more viable. With only 1 day at DL, though, it would definitely be a crap shoot.

That’s definitely interesting. If you only had a 1 day ticket to DL and riding Rise was an absolute must, I definitely wouldn’t risk waiting until the last minute to ride since it’ll likely break down. However it’s definitely a great way to re-ride when you have multiple days, etc

 

[DLRExpert]

Updated the original post for the California Adventure plan to reflect Single Rider being available for Web Slingers and Racers.

Using G+LL with Single Rider on Web Slingers and Radiator Springs Racers
The below itinerary is a perfect scenario, the time of day is most important. Make sure you are in or heading towards Pixar Pier at 850am. At opening you should try for the Anytime LL by booking a LL at am attraction that is down. Most of the time it is Incredicoaster or Toy Story Midway Mania.
730am: Arrive at the main entrance to Disney California Adventure.
Note: It takes about 20-30 minutes to get from Disney parking areas to the main entrance (Disney parking areas open an hour before park opening).
740am: They will start to let guests into Buena Vista Street between this time. You want to be at the Rope that is located in Hollywood Land as Guardians will be the first attraction you experience.
Note: Once settled near the rope, purchase Genie+ on the Disneyland App. No need to get a Lightning Lane at this time, but keep an eye out for the closed attraction at opening. It is most likely going to be Incredicoaster or Toy Story Midway Mania.
8am-840: Once the rope drops walk to Guardians, then use Single Rider for Web Slingers and then Single Ride Racers,
840am-850am: If time permits, ride Mater's or Luigi's. Head to Pixar Pier
850am-915am: Ride Toy Story Midway Mania, then the Incredicoaster
915am-10am: Ride Pal Around (While in line book a LL for Soarin), then Inside Out, Goofy's Sky School, Jumping Jellyfish, Symphony Swings, Golden Zephyr and Little Mermaid Adventure. GOAL is to be at Grizzly River just before or at 10am.
10am-11am: Grizzly River Run, then Soarin Around the World.

 

[ximfinity]

What's the best strategy now that Web slingers has a solo line? Is the ILL$ still worth purchasing for it if your hopping to DCA in the afternoon.

 

[DLRExpert]

What's the best strategy now that Web slingers has a solo line? Is the ILL$ still worth purchasing for it if your hopping to DCA in the afternoon.

If you are okay with riding solo, why would you pay the ILL$ price?

 

[ximfinity]

If you are okay with riding solo, why would you pay the ILL$ price?

That makes sense, I'm used to Florida I guess where Single Rider is not comparable to ILL$

 

[disneylover102]

That makes sense, I'm used to Florida I guess where Single Rider is not comparable to ILL$

You mean as far as wait time goes? None of the current ILL$ rides at WDW have single rider lines

 

[ximfinity]

You mean as far as wait time goes? None of the current ILL$ rides at WDW have single rider lines

I guess that is also part of my confusion, I'm studying this thread for my solo day upcoming this friday and hoping for the best conditions to cruise through both parks.

 

[ironband74]

Rise was open until 10pm again today. Curious to see what they do through the weekend - we'll be there next week, so hopefully that continues!

 

[Daisy7425]

@DLRExpert The advice you posted here about getting a LL when a ride is down was invaluable for us in the last trip we had. Our first time in DL during spring break and we didn't wait more than 10 minutes for rides. Splash was down for probably half our of three days there, yet I was able to get LL, then anytime LL from Splash probably 8-10 times. It made our trip so much more relaxing and fun. Do you have a venmo that I could use to send you a couple bucks to buy a treat next time you're there?

 

[DLRExpert]

@DLRExpert The advice you posted here about getting a LL when a ride is down was invaluable for us in the last trip we had. Our first time in DL during spring break and we didn't wait more than 10 minutes for rides. Splash was down for probably half our of three days there, yet I was able to get LL, then anytime LL from Splash probably 8-10 times. It made our trip so much more relaxing and fun. Do you have a venmo that I could use to send you a couple bucks to buy a treat next time you're there?

Thank you for the feedback.
No need to Venmo or give Snack.
Hearing feedback is invaluable to me and helps with what I am working on.

Btw for getting the Special LLs through Splash being down, does that allow you to use it for Space, Matterhorn, or Indy?

 

[Federalist45]

Are there places to park a stroller before rope drop at DL and DCA?

I.e. If we want to eat WonkaKid’s dust in the way to PP in the morning, can we stash the stroller somewhere on Main Street or at the Hub so we don’t have to blow past PP to get to stroller parking?

 

[Hawleys]

Are there places to park a stroller before rope drop at DL and DCA?

I.e. If we want to eat WonkaKid’s dust in the way to PP in the morning, can we stash the stroller somewhere on Main Street or at the Hub so we don’t have to blow past PP to get to stroller parking?

Oh that's a great strategy. I'm also interested in where to park on Main Street before rope drop.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

There is stroller parking near Plaza Inn, but I've never managed rope drop with my sleepy head family so not sure if it is available then or not.

 

[Daisy7425]

Btw for getting the Special LLs through Splash being down, does that allow you to use it for Space, Matterhorn, or Indy?

The special LL through splash being down did NOT allow us to use them for the three you listed (although we did not try, it was just listed there). That was fine for us because we could use the special LL for attractions that do not have regular LL - this was HUGE for us! Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, etc. all had 45-60 minute waits and we just walked right on with these special LLs. The list did say "cannot be used on Peter Pan" but we didn't see that until we had walked clear through the park, so I thought I'd try anyway and it was a non-issue. Just a "go right ahead" thing from the cast member. I also had this experience: when I used my special LL at a fantasy land ride where the cast member used a hand held scanner, the special LL remained in my app and did not go away after it was used. So we used it again on another ride in fantasy land. Then another in fantasy land. Then when we used it to scan into the Toy Story ride with the traditional scanner and it was then used up.

I see you turned down my offer for a treat on me. Much respect to you for sharing your knowledge. It truly helped us enjoy our trip much more. It was a one and only trip for us. We're from the midwest and unfortunately will probably never be back, so it helped us enjoy it even more.

 

[ironband74]

We made good use of this when we were in the parks last week. One additional helpful tip with regard to the "refresh trick."

I did indeed use the refresh trick a number of times throughout our visit, as documented. There were times, however, that I was clearly in competition with others trying to pick up cancellations/drops.

While the pull down, check time, tap quickly if the time is good works, I found that sometimes I was not quick enough on the draw in tapping.

However, I found that if instead of doing a pull down, I simply tapped on the attraction, I would see the time I was getting before I confirmed. If the time was no good, I'd just hit the back button (I'm on an android), and then tap the attraction again. This seemed to give me a faster refresh frequncy to that attraction (since the pull down refresh refreshes all the attractions in the list) and I found that I usually got the advertised time when I then moved to confirm.

YMMV

 

[bavarian princess]

Many thanks for all the great tips. I must say I am still a little overwhelmed and somehow, I can’t seem to figure out my rope drop strategy. And I was hoping to get some input and maybe even some help. I will be traveling with a friend who has never experienced any of the Disney parks and I want him to have a good time at DLR. I don’t want him to be (too) overwhelmed by the crowds or to feel miserable from waiting in line for hours It is more about having a good time than doing all the rides.

I plan on getting Genie+ and buy ILL (Rise and one ILL at DCA in the evening). We are staying at Grand Californian and since we will be jetlagged (coming over from Germany), we plan on arriving at the park early. When do I have to leave the hotel? 7 am? Too early? We don’t have to do all the rides, but of course there are some rides on the list that we are particularly interested in We also plan on doing a break by the pool around 1 pm and head back into DCA for the evening (around 5 pm). We also have the WoC dessert party booked which I am particularly excited about.

Is it unrealistic to try to do the following rides in the morning? What should we do standby and what should we book with Genie+? I will try to get an ILL for Rise as I don’t want to rope drop it. Too much stress

Indiana Jones
Big Thunder Mountain
Hyperspace Mountain
Haunted Mansion
Matterhorn
Rise of the Resistance
Smugglers Run
Splash Mountain

I would be more than happy if I can get some ideas how to approach the day or how to prioritize without running too much back and forth. Btw, I hope to head over to Fantasyland after WoC but I don't know if the jetlag will let us
TiA and sorry for the long post

 

[ironband74]

Many thanks for all the great tips. I must say I am still a little overwhelmed and somehow, I can’t seem to figure out my rope drop strategy. And I was hoping to get some input and maybe even some help. I will be traveling with a friend who has never experienced any of the Disney parks and I want him to have a good time at DLR. I don’t want him to be (too) overwhelmed by the crowds or to feel miserable from waiting in line for hours It is more about having a good time than doing all the rides.

Shooting from the hip:
Being in line for security at 7 should be fine, depending on when you are going. Find the shortest line at the esplanade and when they let you in at 7:30 head straight for the Tomorrowland Rope.
Prior to Rope drop, book Indy or Matterhorn to fish for MEP. Keep an eye on the return time for Indy and when it hits about 9:15, cancel and get an actual return for Indy
Also keep an eye on the LL return for rise and purchase when the return time is about 11-11:30am.
At rope drop, go ride (Hyper)Space Mountain Standby. If you are holding Indy and
Then head straight to Matterhorn and ride that standby
Go to Big Thunder and ride that Standby.
Now go to Indy and ride that using LL. Once you scan in get an LL for Haunted Mansion. It should be fairly close in time.
Go ride HM with your LL. Book a LL for Smuggler's run.
Head to Galaxy's Edge, and use your lightning lanes for Smuggler's Run and Rise of the Resistance. Book Splash Mountain.
Get some lunch and enjoy the ambiance of Galaxy's Edge until it is time for Splash.
Then ride Splash with your LL. I like to wait until after lunch as it will be nice and warm by then. Should be close to 1pm now and you can go hit the pool

You can dry run this using the app, though right now things are not terribly busy. When are you going to the parks?

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

I'd like to add that if you are going to hop to DCA, start grabbing LL for that as soon as you scan into Splash. I'm not sure what order makes the most sense at DCA, but by 1pm, GotG may be getting to late afternoon hours. During your break, check the LL times periodically so you can grab GotG when it hits the right times for you. Depending on how much time passes, you might be able to stack another LL for something like Incredicoaster after it. I'm not sure while ILL$ you are planning - RSR or WS, but both have had pretty close return times even in the evening, so you should be able to fit one of them in as well. If you want to do both, you'll have to do standby for one - typically WS will have the shorter line.

 

[ironband74]

I'd like to add that if you are going to hop to DCA, start grabbing LL for that as soon as you scan into Splash. I'm not sure what order makes the most sense at DCA, but by 1pm, GotG may be getting to late afternoon hours. During your break, check the LL times periodically so you can grab GotG when it hits the right times for you. Depending on how much time passes, you might be able to stack another LL for something like Incredicoaster after it. I'm not sure while ILL$ you are planning - RSR or WS, but both have had pretty close return times even in the evening, so you should be able to fit one of them in as well. If you want to do both, you'll have to do standby for one - typically WS will have the shorter line.

And, if you are willing, Single Rider for WS is much faster than standby.