I'm going to Disneyland!

[katiesue]

Also fyi the Half Marathon is Sunday. Street closures etc. We've gone a number of times on Labor Day weekend and the crowds really aren't horrible.

Ok more info from a runner. The 5K and kids races are on Saturday. The 5K ends in Carsland and starts at 6:45AM. Kids races are in DTD. The calendar shows both parks not opening till 9AM. She says it's been really busy on the Saturday the last few years.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by katiesue

Also fyi the Half Marathon is Sunday. Street closures etc. We've gone a number of times on Labor Day weekend and the crowds really aren't horrible.

Ok more info from a runner. The 5K and kids races are on Saturday. The 5K ends in Carsland and starts at 6:45AM. Kids races are in DTD. The calendar shows both parks not opening till 9AM. She says it's been really busy on the Saturday the last few years.

Crud, so the park will be filled with people that can get to the fastpass machines faster than me?

[Kevy Baby]

Single Rider will work well for you (on RSR). Even when the line is long, it's only 45 minutes.

[katiesue]

They do sweep the park after the 5K. But there is early entry at 8AM that day (not sure how they'll work that). But as Kevy said single rider is really the way to go.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by katiesue

They do sweep the park after the 5K. But there is early entry at 8AM that day (not sure how they'll work that). But as Kevy said single rider is really the way to go.

Except I won't be single. I'm a +1

So on Sat Sept 1st:
DCA opens at 9:00am with no early entry
DL Opens at 9:00am with 8:00am early entry.

How long does a 5k rally typically take? If they start at 6:45am, will it be over before the gates open at 9:00am?
Reading the program, it looks like park admission is separate from the races. Which implies I won't find a park full of runners already in the park when it opens at 9:00am.

[katiesue]

No the runners don't get admission to either park - they do a sweep. The timing seems pretty tight. It says that you must maintain a 16 min mile - which means it would take about 50ish minutes to complete. In my experience with all the characters out etc they didn't hurry us along much. And there are a lot of people running so it can take 15 or more minutes to actually get to the starting line.

Honestly doing single rider, you're with the person right up until you load so you're not apart that much. We've only stood in the "real" line once and that was at the preview. The rest has been single rider.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by katiesue

No the runners don't get admission to either park - they do a sweep. The timing seems pretty tight. It says that you must maintain a 16 min mile - which means it would take about 50ish minutes to complete. In my experience with all the characters out etc they didn't hurry us along much. And there are a lot of people running so it can take 15 or more minutes to actually get to the starting line.

Honestly doing single rider, you're with the person right up until you load so you're not apart that much. We've only stood in the "real" line once and that was at the preview. The rest has been single rider.

VKM! Thanks for all the information.

Does the queue for RSR's matter? Should I use the standby queue for my virgin ride before using the Fastpass or single queue?

[Kevy Baby]

While the Fastpasses do go quickly, I would still say you have an excellent shot of getting them if you are there right at opening. Though ironically, you will probably have to wait in line to avoid waiting; however, you still realize a solid net gain.

If you want to pop your cherry WITH your plus one and you don't get a FP, then you will need to wait in the two-hour regular line. If you don't care if you are in the same car, then single rider is fine.

If you want to be a planning fool, get a Wait Times app (I use DL Waits, but I think that is iPhone only) and monitor times throughout the day on a Saturday (traffic patterns are different during the week than they are on the weekends). It will probably be heavier on the day you are going, but it will give you some idea of peak wait times.

FYI: at 3:00 on a Tuesday, regular standby is 110 minutes and single rider is 45 minutes.

Originally Posted by Moonliner

Does the queue for RSR's matter? Should I use the standby queue for my virgin ride before using the Fastpass or single queue?

There are some good parts of the queue that can only be experienced in Standby, but not life-shattering. Again, if you get there for opening, you could dash back to RSR (bypassing FP) and not have that long of a wait (and POSSIBLY be able to get back in time to get FPs for a later ride).

One thing I suggest is having a second ride at night.

[BarTopDancer]

You will see the queue (everything worth while) from the single rider line.

You don't have to be single to go single rider, you just have to be willing to chance not riding next to, or in the same car as your +1. You can spend most of the line with them.

There is a chance you will get to ride with your +1 if the timing/capacity is right; however, the single rider line is split from the rest of the queue so there is no blending in with the fast pass riders to ride together (like you used to be able to do on Indy).

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

You will see the queue (everything worth while) from the single rider line.

You miss the bottle room and the details of the road outside same.