Indy strategy

[SOCALMouseMommy]

*do not* cancel your LL for Indie - you MODIFY your LL to a different time. Never cancel - I modified my LL reservations all the time to balance out my day so we can go on the rides when we want when the parks are busy (or if the LL happens to be during say a meal or when we want to go to a show)

And always snag your LL as soon as you walk through the gates. Indy first, then probably Space Mtn. Those are the two that book out the fastest.

This is a good point and good strategy unless they want to use a different LL sooner than 2 hours out.

 

[Babybears]

Just an observation. When we went in Jan, I don't recall seeing PP much more than 30 mins. In watching the tip board over the last few months I have even seen it less than that at various times of the day and week. That 30 min+/- doesn't seem real bad to me?? Based on that I probably wouldn't rope drop PP and stick with Indy first

In our experience, with the exception of rope drop or right after fireworks, PP is always busy (around 30 min) all day long, which isn't a terribly long wait overall. However, it always seems longer than 30 minutes because the line moves so slowly and most of the line is not under cover from the sun. Fast loading rides like Pirates can have the same wait but seem to be shorter waits because you are always moving, if that makes sense. That all being said, PP is one of the best rides in either park and worth the wait.

 

[jordan13402]

if I was rope dropping, you could get rides done in this order by 10am (this is a plan that Ive seen lots of folks online do and I've done it the last two trips)
Space Mountain
Matterhorn
Big thunder
Indy
Haunted Mansion

never use a LL before 10

 

[SpaceMan5]

In our experience, with the exception of rope drop or right after fireworks, PP is always busy (around 30 min) all day long, which isn't a terribly long wait overall. However, it always seems longer than 30 minutes because the line moves so slowly and most of the line is not under cover from the sun. Fast loading rides like Pirates can have the same wait but seem to be shorter waits because you are always moving, if that makes sense. That all being said, PP is one of the best rides in either park and worth the wait.

That makes total sense Babybears. I would rather drive 45 mins in fast moving traffic instead of stop and go traffice and get there in 30 mins. Funny how our minds work in this way.
Agreed, PP is a simple ride at it's core but so much more

 

[DLRExpert]

if I was rope dropping, you could get rides done in this order by 10am (this is a plan that Ive seen lots of folks online do and I've done it the last two trips)
Space Mountain
Matterhorn
Big thunder
Indy
Haunted Mansion

never use a LL before 10

This plan is great if you are not using LL or want a sure way to experience the E tickets multiple times.
However, very wrong if you are using LL and trying to get the most done out of your day. ESPECIALLY by missing out on prime low wait Fantasyland dark ride attractions (not counting Pan unless you have access to EE).

Freshbaked on YT from today followed this strategy, but even he said he may have to think it over when adding Fantasyland and Toontown attractions.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I was there last week and since I only wanted to ride it once, we rode it at the end of the day something like 11pm and the wait wasn't bad. Since you want multiple rides, I would recommend rope drop, lightning lane and then a late night ride. That way you are covered in the event that it has breakdowns.

 

[gelatoni fan]

No need to rope drop Indy. The attraction does not get busy until after 9am-915am (looking for a 20-30 minute wait, that equals what a LL wait would be). If you are buying into Genie+ you book your LL for Indy as soon as you walk in the park, but you won't need to use it. Instead you can fish for the MEP in case it is down near opening.
If Fantasyland is important to you... Rope Drop the FL attractions in this order. Alice first, Toad, Snow White, Pinocchio.
If you arrived early enough for Rope Drop they will all be near walk-ons. Maybe a 10 minute wait or less.
You should then be done by 830am. You can then head to Indy and ride with no LL. The Standby wait for Indy should be 20-30 minutes or less.

I want to add the caveat that if rides are down or lines in Fantasyland are starting to build up, it is more important to get out to Indy than to complete all four rides in that rope drop plan.

Doing those four rides in Fantasyland by 8:30 will take a bit of luck now that Early Entry people are in line there. Earlier this month, I was seeing posted waits of 10 minutes for Alice and Snow White before rope drop and I think it's asking a lot of a first time visitor to get 4 rides in 1/2 an hour when they don't have experience in the park. Fantasyland attractions tend to have low waits at the end of the day so it's OK to skip some and come back.

Last Thursday, the wait for Indy went from 15 minutes at about 8:30 to 55 minutes just before 9AM. If a major ride like Space Mountain goes down in the first hour, Indy can definitely get busy before 9. Indy never really gets short and standby later in the day gets really unpredictible because of Genie+. A lot of people have figured out how Multiple Experience Passes work which can make wait times suddenly swing huge amounts in the afternoon. Last week, I had a posted 25 minute wait that turned into 75 minutes due to a sudden massive influx of lightning lane completely stopping standby.

 

[jordan13402]

This plan is great if you are not using LL or want a sure way to experience the E tickets multiple times.
However, very wrong if you are using LL and trying to get the most done out of your day. ESPECIALLY by missing out on prime low wait Fantasyland dark ride attractions (not counting Pan unless you have access to EE).

Freshbaked on YT from today followed this strategy, but even he said he may have to think it over when adding Fantasyland and Toontown attractions.

100% agreed. you give up fantasy land if you go this route (I'll have to watch freshbaked)

 

[Zooteach1]

OP here.... These responses have certainly given me a lot to consider, thank you! But now my head is spinning and I am a little confused--lol!

What if we plan to go straight to Indy at RD, while also making a LL for Indy (to fish for a MEP and modifying if we don't get it). Then after Indy, go to FL and try to ride there until the wait times get too long. Any we don't get to in the morning, we'll save for nighttime. The only FL must-dos for us are the ones we don't have (or have anymore) at WDW, so Alice, Toad, Pinocchio and Snow White.

If going from Indy to FL doesn't make sense, then my other thought is to maybe try to do Matterhorn and/or Space and/or Thunder after Indy since we wouldn't mind doing those twice. Or HM and/or Pirates since those are also ones we would enjoy a second time?

 

[RunnerMom71]

I would prioritize Fantasyland honestly... you can get all those rides done really quickly and it's always a fun way to start the day IMO. I would then head to Toon Town for MRR - should be a really short line anytime before 9? 9:30? Toon Town also looks really great: especially as you walk thru the tunnel with the forced perspective and sight lines. Loved it.

Then head on over to Pirates, HM if the line is short, then maybe jump on Indy for your LL return time.

Grab that LL for Indy as soon as you walk into the park - you'll get one no problem. Just modify the return time for later in the day to match your plans. Snag Space Mtn as your 2nd. If park hopping grab Guardians next.

As for LL+ I caved and bought RoR twice: loved that ride and we prioritized not waiting in lines this trip. Even bought a LL+ for RSR do our group of 5 could all go together (also did single rider one evening to ride at night for just myself and my daughter).

 

[Rich M]

Some important things to remember about Indy. It goes down a lot. If you have downtime and see that it is down go over to the area and take a break at the little indoor snack area and take a load off your feet and rest while you wait to see if it re-opens.

2nd Indy is the worst LL in the parks. It literally just gets up past the outdoor area. Take a look at the outdoor area and see how long that wait is and how deep it goes.

I find that even though Indy is normally the fastest LL to go that more seem to pop up later. I will be there the same days as you and I will tell you the big priority LL will be for Haunted Mansion Holiday. Those will go fast. If you want to see it at night when I believe its best be sure to monitor and grab one as soon as you can.

On a side not for your DCA day remember in September Guardians will actually be two different ride experiences. Hopefully your plan is to go to DCA on the 13th unless you have Oogie Boogie tickets for the 12th. Guardians will be the regular ride until 2 PM I believe and then switch to the Halloween version at 3 PM. I think the might let you start lining up at 2:30 but I am not sure. Be sure to check out both versions of the ride.

 

[RunnerMom71]

Also for Guardians you can get 2 LL - one for each version that day

 

[Zooteach1]

Also for Guardians you can get 2 LL - one for each version that day

Oh really?! That is super helpful to know as I was planning to have to rope drop the early version so we could do both.

 

[WonkaKid]

In our experience, with the exception of rope drop or right after fireworks, PP is always busy (around 30 min) all day long…

Yup, agree 100%. Friends and I always say “Do Peter Pan first (i.e. at rope drop) or don’t do it at all.” Unless, of course, it’s exceptionally important to you to do it.

 

[Shaft41]

Sure, this is anecdotal, and based on limited experience, but we were there for 2 days last week, and on our first day, our plan was to rope drop Indy. It was down, and once it eventually opened around 8:45, we jumped in, and then there was another delay while we were in line that exacerbated our wait time detrimentally. We weren't going to rope drop it on our second day, but we wanted to ride it again. We got in line at 11:40, it was posted at 40 minutes. Since, as previously mentioned, the standby and LL lines merge so quickly, all the line was outside where you could see it, so it looked daunting. Once we got inside, it literally took the time it took us to wind through the queue. We were off in 15 minutes and had time to jump into the Pirates line right before closing.