New Star Tours & Toy Story Mania

[tgj]

Hi All! Haven't been to HS since the new Star Tours opened and would like a touring opinion. Assuming you're there at rope drop, would you:

a) Get to TSM, ride, then grab a FP for TSM, then over to ST?

b) Get to TSM, grab a FP for TSM, ride TSM, then over to ST?

c) Get to TSM, grab a FP for TSM, over to ST?

d) Get to ST, ride, over to TSM, grab a FP for TSM, then check wait times?

e) skip them both, grab a dooughnut & coffee at Starring Rolls and enjoy watching everyone kill themselves?

f) something else (perhaps involving alcoholic drinks)?

In a perfect world, we'd like to do TSM twice, and ST twice, but not sure how that will work out. I guess what I'm really asking is, how has ST 2.0 affected touring in HS?

PS - we're going on a 4, 5, or 6 crowd level day.

Thanks for any help with this!

tj

 

[jar]

Haven't been there since ST 2.0 opened, but my assumption given your goal is to go to TSM first, get FP then ride. I would get FP right away since otherwise when you get out of the ride, the FP will probably be for an hour or two later than had you gotten it before the ride -- plus you want to start the clock running on when you can get your next FP. And if you want to do TSM twice, better to ride first rather than go to ST and come back later in the day when TSM lines are longer. I presume that you can wait two hours after getting your TSM FP and still get a reaonably timed FP for ST.

 

[Crystal824]

Go as quickly as possible to TSM, grab a FP, and then ride TSM the line isn't too long. Sometimes the FP line can be 20 min or so depending on how quickly you and the rest of the masses head over there. I personally then head to RnR and ToT. Star Tours is never that bad of a line. I ususally FP it later in the day.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

My recommendation is to skip TSM and head straight for Star Tours to ride it as many times in a row before the wait time builds up.

However, if you insist on doing TSM you should head there first. If you think you might want to do it more than once, go ahead and grab a FP, but I recommend just hopping on the ride immediately. The FP line will be insane.

 

[nkereina]

I would do B. The FP line may look daunting, but even if it's backed up to One Man's Dream it goes fast. Every time we've gotten in the line when it's that long, we waited no longer than 5-7 minutes. I prefer to get the FP for TSM before riding stand by because then the FP return time is earlier. A lot of times we leave around lunch and are unsure if we'll come back that night so if our FP is for late in the day, it does us no good. Doing stand by after getting the FP, theres still only a 20-25 min wait in our experience. Then head over to ST. We didn't find the wait there to be long ever.

 

[mjp12831]

Last August when we were there the "new" ST had NO effect on what you would normally do - FP TSM early, ride standby early.

The ST lines were never long the entire week - riding standby with a reasonable wait of 20 minutes OR getting a FP later in the day were never a problem.

I'm not sure if this is always the case, but it was the case whenever we were in HS that week.

It appeared that ST post refurb remained the 4th most popular ride in the park - I wouldn't advise even prioritizing it over ToT or RnR.

 

[Tiffany507s]

I was at HS the first weekend that ST2.0 was officially opened, and that was also Star Wars Weekend, and we never had a problem riding it. The whole week we were there, ST never seemed to get a huge wait time like TSM does. Definitely got to TSM first!

Also, during that week my DH and I also had success riding TSM 3 times in a row near closing. So you can always try that.

 

[jcarwash]

Last August when we were there the "new" ST had NO effect on what you would normally do - FP TSM early, ride standby early.

The ST lines were never long the entire week - riding standby with a reasonable wait of 20 minutes OR getting a FP later in the day were never a problem.

I'm not sure if this is always the case, but it was the case whenever we were in HS that week.

It appeared that ST post refurb remained the 4th most popular ride in the park - I wouldn't advise even prioritizing it over ToT or RnR.

Supporting mjp12831's feedback. I was also at DHS in August 2011 and you still have to prioritize TSMM if you want to ride. Star Tours can basically be an easy FP, a reasonable wait, even a virtual walk on at certain points. The new ride has no effect on TSMM from my experience.

 

[chartle]

Hi All! Haven't been to HS since the new Star Tours opened and would like a touring opinion. Assuming you're there at rope drop, would you:

a) Get to TSM, ride, then grab a FP for TSM, then over to ST?

b) Get to TSM, grab a FP for TSM, ride TSM, then over to ST?

c) Get to TSM, grab a FP for TSM, over to ST?

d) Get to ST, ride, over to TSM, grab a FP for TSM, then check wait times?

e) skip them both, grab a dooughnut & coffee at Starring Rolls and enjoy watching everyone kill themselves?

f) something else (perhaps involving alcoholic drinks)?

g) In a perfect world, we'd like to do TSM twice, and ST twice, but not sure how that will work out. I guess what I'm really asking is,

h) How has ST 2.0 affected touring in HS?

PS - we're going on a 4, 5, or 6 crowd level day.

Thanks for any help with this!

tj

a. only if you are at the back of the pack

b. only if you are at the front of the pack

Notes for a. and b. - should lessen over waiting in lines

c. only if only want to ride TSM once don't mind waiting a long time stand by

d. Your return for your TSM will be around 5:00 and stand by may be over 60 minutes

Notes for c. and d. - ST is not anywhere near the draw as TSM and will have FP and lower wait times all day.

e. always an option

f. at 9:00 AM

g. Do a or b and ride ST when ever it fits in your day or FP availability.

h. not much if at all

 

[mikat]

a) Get to TSM, ride, then grab a FP for TSM, then over to ST?

b) Get to TSM, grab a FP for TSM, ride TSM, then over to ST?

...

In a perfect world, we'd like to do TSM twice, and ST twice, but not sure how that will work out. I guess what I'm really asking is, how has ST 2.0 affected touring in HS?

PS - we're going on a 4, 5, or 6 crowd level day.

I was at Star Wars Weekends in June and was just back last week (two days, 5 rides on ST). You should definitely do a) or b). ST never really got a wait time above 20 minutes when I was there last week and TSMM was always swamped. Enjoy!

 

[dgundry]

It's A or B. Generally we go B, but we try to be towards the front of the pack.

Haven't been since the new RD procedure (or lack thereof), so I can't comment what that might do. Now, it seems the RD sprint will favor the more athletic of us!

 

[pumpkinfish]

Just wanted to post I'm happy to hear that ST won't have a huge wait...DH and I have planned on hitting ST first and riding a few times since we haven't been since the rehab. We are maxed out on TSM right now...

But yes, I agree to ride TSM, get a fastpass for it to ride later and then do ST .

 

[CentralFloridian99]

A is what I do all the time. Now that there's no more rope drop, it's easier than before!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

What I usually do is go on Toy Story Mania after Hollywood Studios opens and get in the stand by line. Then once the ride is over I go right over to Star Tours and never waited more then 10 minutes.

 

[nkereina]

I have to respectfully disagree with those who have said to only get TSM FP first if you're one of the first through the gates. We always arrived 10-15 mins after the gate opened. The FP line for TSM was backed up to One Man's Dream but as I said in my earlier post, we never waited longer than 7 to 10 mins in the line. It went very fast. Plus it's the only way to ensure you get an early return time, if that's a concern - it is for us since we usually leave around lunch. If we rode stand by first and then got the FP, the return times were always for late in the afternoon in our experience which didn't do us any good.

 

[arizonacolbys]

A is what I do all the time. Now that there's no more rope drop, it's easier than before!

Not to hijack....but, how is opening being handled now? What do you mean by no more rope drop?

I generally send my husband ahead to get FP's since I don't like taking my 2 girls under 3 into the craziness that is the stampede when the park opens. Just curious how they're doing things now.

 

[lakohls]

We went in early November, found we had to get the FP for TSM first thing. We had entry for breakfast prior to park opening. Left at about 9:15 for the FP line, and our tickets were for 2:05. And supporting prior poster, the line for FP was longest I had ever seen but they had CMs there at each terminal & that really sped up the process - did not wait more than 5-7 minutes.

We felt the Star Tours refurb was excellent - my DD10 loved the different plots. I think we rode with her in various combinations 4 times that day, with never more than 20 minutes actual wait (posted might have been as high as 30 at peak times). Couple of the waits were under 5!

Enjoy!

 

[Jeanieblue114]

Start Tours has been pretty much walk in each time we've been there lately.
TSM has continued to have long lines and fastpasses running out though.
i'd go get TSM fastpasses and ride it when you get there as well if the line isn't too long.

 

[CentralFloridian99]

Not to hijack....but, how is opening being handled now? What do you mean by no more rope drop?

I generally send my husband ahead to get FP's since I don't like taking my 2 girls under 3 into the craziness that is the stampede when the park opens. Just curious how they're doing things now.

I'm going back to DHS on Sunday. According to DISers, they don't do the opening scene (rope drop) anymore, and at 8:30 AM, the turnstiles open along with TSM, RNRC, ToT, FP machines (including Star Tours), plus JTA sign ups. If you want to do anything else, you will be held in an exterior queue until 8:45 AM, as everything will be operating then.

 

[mikat]

I'm going back to DHS on Sunday. According to DISers, they don't do the opening scene (rope drop) anymore, and at 8:30 AM, the turnstiles open along with TSM, RNRC, ToT, FP machines (including Star Tours), plus JTA sign ups. If you want to do anything else, you will be held in an exterior queue until 8:45 AM, as everything will be operating then.

I totally forgot this, Doh, what was I thinking!?! I was at DHS this past Tuesday and I walked into the park around 8:40 (the park officially opened at 9:00). I was not interested in riding TSMM (solo trip - TSMM isn't any fun unless you can work on beating someone's score, IMHO) so I went right to Star Tours. I was held outside the Star Tours entrance until 9:00, when they officially announced the opening of DHS with great fanfare over the loudspeakers. I even got a Star Tours fastpass before I got into the line. As soon as that announcement was done, they let us enter the empty queue. So Star Tours did not open at 8:45, it opened at 9, as I remember the announcement. I was on the first speeder and since I was solo, I got out of the ride quickly and was the first person to enter Star Traders that morning (en route to the 9:30 Animation Academy).

So this definitively answers OP's question - if you are going on a non-EMH day and are there before the official opening time, you should definitely head to TSMM, as it will be running at that time and ST will not be running until official opening time.