Slinky Dog Dash Fast Pass

[Brittany Fata]

Hi Everyone,

I am going to Hollywood Studios on Tuesday August 20th. My 60 day window opened today. So far I have booked the following:

Rock N' Roller Coaster 9:15am - 10:15am
Tower of Terror 12:10pm - 1:20pm
Slinky Dog Dash 5:00pm - 6:00pm.

I went on MDE this morning exactly at 7am and still couldn't get an earlier time for Slinky Dog Dash.

I usually don't like to have my third fast pass so late in the day as I won't be able to book additional fast passes until later. Also, my idea for Hollywood Studios was go in the morning for maybe a half day, I then potentially wanted to head to Trader Sam's and/or park hop, then go to my 7pm reservation at Artist Point and head to Epcot EMH after that.

I feel the 5pm fast pass time slot forces me to change my original game plan. Am I better off keeping the fast pass and forgo the afternoon Trader Sams/park hopping or should I try to do a morning fast pass for Alien Swirling Saucers or Toy Story Mania and rope drop Slinky Dog Dash. This is our first time with the Toy Story expansion so I definitely want to hit these rides.

I also was considering doing Slinky Dog Dash during Hollywood Studios EMH earlier in my trip, but since I couldn't get a fast pass for Flight of Passage either I probably need to rope drop Animal Kingdom that day.

Would appreciate anyone's advice.

Thanks,
Brittany

 

[winnieofpooh]

If you can plan to be at the park for rope drop an hour before the park opens, then I say drop the FP and rope drop it. No sense in hanging around just waiting for an evening fastpass if you had other plans. If you planned on showing up exactly at park open, the line for SDD will already been quite long so in that instance I'd keep the FP.

 

[giovanni2231]

I have found the best way to take in the new Toy Story Land, especially since you have not experienced before is to spend a little extra money and sign up for:
Early Morning Magic - Toy Story Land (which you can find more info under the dining tab since it does include breakfast). If unfamiliar with this event, again it is a paid event and you have access to all the Toy Story Land attractions before the park opens from 7:30am until 9:00am then you can go eat breakfast until 10:00am.

The other paid event is the Disney After Hours - Hollywood Studios. This is for after the park closes to the general public and runs from 9:30pm to 12:30am on select nights. Includes free popcorn, ice cream and water but definitely a great way to experience Toy Story Land. Where this differs from the morning one is other areas of the park are open so you can go on rides like Rock n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror as well. Last time we did this , i did toy story 4 times, slinky 3 and RnRC and ToT 3 times each and still left the park before 11pm. Had we stayed until closing at 1230am, we could have done them all another few times each...

The morning one does include breakfast and is cheaper. the After night one is more expensive but does include other sections of the park. Both great....and crowds are limited....

As for your FP... It sounds like you have a lot going on later in the day, so i would cancel and keep my options open. I think if anything if you don't want to spend the extra money, then try Rope Dropping and run right over to slinky... Think it is a better option that throwing off all your plans. Sounds like you will regret having that 5pm FP.

Good Luck!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I would keep the SDD FP+ if you don't want to rope drop. The only way you can do SDD without a FP+ or a ridiculous wait, is RD or end of day at park close. It just depends on what's more important to you. Also, if DHS was your first park day, that could be why you may not have gotten SDD. Usually I have better luck getting hard to get FP on my park days later in my trip.

At any rate, we've rope dropped SDD and it's not horrible but not pleasant either. Knowing what I know now I wouldn't RD that ride/land again. It's your call on what your preference is and maybe you'll just have to switch the plans up some. If RD DHS is out completely, I would finish out my day at DHS with SDD, take your time and then head to Epcot.

 

[Brittany Fata]

I would keep the SDD FP+ if you don't want to rope drop. The only way you can do SDD without a FP+ or a ridiculous wait, is RD or end of day at park close. It just depends on what's more important to you. Also, if DHS was your first park day, that could be why you may not have gotten SDD. Usually I have better luck getting hard to get FP on my park days later in my trip.

At any rate, we've rope dropped SDD and it's not horrible but not pleasant either. Knowing what I know now I wouldn't RD that ride/land again. It's your call on what your preference is and maybe you'll just have to switch the plans up some. If RD DHS is out completely, I would finish out my day at DHS with SDD, take your time and then head to Epcot.

Thank you for your response. It's actually the 5th and last day of my trip which is why I'm pretty surprised I couldn't get anything better. I usually don't mind rope dropping, but since I know I'll probably be doing it for Flight of Passage as well it's something I will have to think about.

 

[Brittany Fata]

I have found the best way to take in the new Toy Story Land, especially since you have not experienced before is to spend a little extra money and sign up for:
Early Morning Magic - Toy Story Land (which you can find more info under the dining tab since it does include breakfast). If unfamiliar with this event, again it is a paid event and you have access to all the Toy Story Land attractions before the park opens from 7:30am until 9:00am then you can go eat breakfast until 10:00am.

The other paid event is the Disney After Hours - Hollywood Studios. This is for after the park closes to the general public and runs from 9:30pm to 12:30am on select nights. Includes free popcorn, ice cream and water but definitely a great way to experience Toy Story Land. Where this differs from the morning one is other areas of the park are open so you can go on rides like Rock n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror as well. Last time we did this , i did toy story 4 times, slinky 3 and RnRC and ToT 3 times each and still left the park before 11pm. Had we stayed until closing at 1230am, we could have done them all another few times each...

The morning one does include breakfast and is cheaper. the After night one is more expensive but does include other sections of the park. Both great....and crowds are limited....

As for your FP... It sounds like you have a lot going on later in the day, so i would cancel and keep my options open. I think if anything if you don't want to spend the extra money, then try Rope Dropping and run right over to slinky... Think it is a better option that throwing off all your plans. Sounds like you will regret having that 5pm FP.

Good Luck!

Thank you for this detailed response. I may look into the Early Morning Magic.

 

[giovanni2231]

Early Morning is great. If you focus on Slinky there is no reason you wont be able to ride it 2 or 3 times plus get in Toy Story and Alien Invaders possibly a few times each as well. Seems then you can hit your Rock N Roller FP, then go eat all before 10am.... GOOD LUCK!

 

[krybandt]

At any rate, we've rope dropped SDD and it's not horrible but not pleasant either. Knowing what I know now I wouldn't RD that ride/land again. It's your call on what your preference is and maybe you'll just have to switch the plans up some. If RD DHS is out completely, I would finish out my day at DHS with SDD, take your time and then head to Epcot.

I’m curious why you wouldn’t rope drop Toy Story Land again. We do have FP for SDD and wanted to hit toy story mania and alien swirling saucers before the park gets crowded. Was your experience getting to TSL at RD really unpleasant? Does anyone think it would be better to go an hour after the park opens or does it just get more and more crowded for all rides in TSL? We’re going on an EMH morning if that makes any difference.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I’m curious why you wouldn’t rope drop Toy Story Land again. We do have FP for SDD and wanted to hit toy story mania and alien swirling saucers before the park gets crowded. Was your experience getting to TSL at RD really unpleasant? Does anyone think it would be better to go an hour after the park opens or does it just get more and more crowded for all rides in TSL? We’re going on an EMH morning if that makes any difference.

I have rope dropped all the parks but I think TSL was worse because of the way the CMs corralled everyone to the land. It was very very tight and no freedom to take alternative routes back to TSL. People ran, parents with strollers ran our feet over and overall a lot of people were rude. We didn't run and getting to SDD, we only waited maybe 25 min. IMO running and pushing aren't worth saving 25 minutes. We RD'ed pandora less than two months after it opened, which was much more crowded than DHS, and getting back to FoP was a much better experience than SDD.

 

[krybandt]

I have rope dropped all the parks but I think TSL was worse because of the way the CMs corralled everyone to the land. It was very very tight and no freedom to take alternative routes back to TSL. People ran, parents with strollers ran our feet over and overall a lot of people were rude. We didn't run and getting to SDD, we only waited maybe 25 min. IMO running and pushing aren't worth saving 25 minutes. We RD'ed pandora less than two months after it opened, which was much more crowded than DHS, and getting back to FoP was a much better experience than SDD.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's been a few years since we've been to disney, and the thought of RD in HS and AK worries me. I think we'll still RD to at least do Navi River and Toy Story Mania first thing, but without the pressure of needing to be at the front of the mob. Unless there were hundreds of people walking or running past, it makes sense that the wait would still be manageable if you just walk at a normal pace.

 

[BeachPrincess]

Thank you for your response. It's actually the 5th and last day of my trip which is why I'm pretty surprised I couldn't get anything better. I usually don't mind rope dropping, but since I know I'll probably be doing it for Flight of Passage as well it's something I will have to think about.

On my fast pass day, I wasn't able to get anything for SDD. Got everything else we wanted, but SDD was already gone. Be glad you at least got something!

 

[WDW1970]

Just keep refreshing. I can almost guarantee you, with a little effort, you can move all of those fast passes up substantially. Not getting what you want at the 60 day mark means nothing. You can get FPs for FOP, SDD, 7DMT, etc. same day. I would not worry about it and just start refreshing!

 

[mcurran]

Just keep refreshing. I can almost guarantee you, with a little effort, you can move all of those fast passes up substantially. Not getting what you want at the 60 day mark means nothing. You can get FPs for FOP, SDD, 7DMT, etc. same day. I would not worry about it and just start refreshing!

Ymmv. As a single rider I’ve had success. But when I look for fp for a family of 5... rarely e ticket same day avail. Never say never. But nothing to count on.

 

[MomOTwins]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's been a few years since we've been to disney, and the thought of RD in HS and AK worries me. I think we'll still RD to at least do Navi River and Toy Story Mania first thing, but without the pressure of needing to be at the front of the mob. Unless there were hundreds of people walking or running past, it makes sense that the wait would still be manageable if you just walk at a normal pace.

Unfortunately, the way that rope drop is set up, there actually are hundreds (or even thousands) of people stampeding past, shoving or elbowing you aside, knocking your head, nearly overturning your stroller if you have one or banging their stroller into you if they have one. It hurt to walk all day after going through that and I was in tears when we got to the ride and saw we had gone to being literally at the rope from waiting over an hour before park opening, to the end of thousands of people and a posted 90 minute wait all because we tried to walk instead of run with our small children. I told a CM it was downright dangerous and he acknowledged they have had some hospitalizations in the past. Sooner or later a child is going to be trampled to death and it will be their fault. Avoid RD for slinky dog at all costs.

We were at MK and animal kingdom at rope drop on the same trip and it was all much more civilized. The difference there is that the "rope" is actually at the entrance to the land (i.e., there are separate rope drops in MK at the hub for Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland, and separate rope drops in AK right at the entrances to Africa, Pandora, and Asia.). In HS, there is a single rope drop and it is on the main street right at the front of the park. So that means you have to traverse the ENTIRE PARK to get to Toy Story land after the rope drops, prompting absolute chaos, whereas at the other parks they drop the rope and you pretty much only go 100 feet or less to the ride--so there is no room for people to pick up speed and try to find alternate routes around you.

Don't forget there is another option: DON'T RIDE SLINKY DOG. We thought there was nothing all that interesting about it (with the open track, it felt like a standard coaster you might find at any six flags or similar non-Disney park), and it was over very fast. AS2, which is what we had our Tier 1 FP for, was even more of a disappointment. If I had to do it over again, I would have just done Toy Story Mania instead and skipped the rest of Toy Story Land.

 

[WDW1970]

Ymmv. As a single rider I’ve had success. But when I look for fp for a family of 5... rarely e ticket same day avail. Never say never. But nothing to count on.

I do hear you. Obviously the more in the party the harder it is but I have had four in my party and have never had an issue getting a FP that I wanted. I was in the same boat at 60 days but people are making changes all the time and had no problem lining up all the FPs I wanted. I just set up a quick trip last week for the end of this week and started with 3 initial FPs in two parks not even close to my original plan time-wise but with working the refresh I am pretty close to getting them where I want them to be. Another day and I should be all set! Again, at 60 days, with some work, you should be able to get what you want.

 

[matt&jakesmom]

At least you got a FP for it. Couldn't get it the whole week I am there. My friend couldn't get TSM the week she is there. We are going the week before you.

 

[Aj1129]

We roped dropped Slinky last year during our August trip with our DS who was 2 at the time. We didn’t rush and waited about 20/30 minutes. Our fastpass window opened yesterday and the only times for Slinky was late afternoon which isn’t in our plans. So this year we have a fastpass for TSM and will be attending EMM to ride Slinky.

 

[shocker]

I went on MDE this morning exactly at 7am and still couldn't get an earlier time for Slinky Dog Dash.

I usually don't like to have my third fast pass so late in the day as I won't be able to book additional fast passes until later.

I feel the 5pm fast pass time slot forces me to change my original game plan.

Don't change your plans!!!

Because you hold an SDD FP, you won't have to scroll to look for one when you modify.

If you check here & there a couple times a week (no more 7am on the dot checks). You will likely have it moved up before your trip. If not, the night before HS, modify, modify, modify. If you still don't get it, the morning you visit HS, modify, modify, modify, on the bus, in line for security, while in line at your first ride (even if that's SDD). You will get that FP you hold moved up.

Same thing for FOP, search occasionally until your trip, take any time available. Then modify, modify, modify. You'll get it too.

I got 2 FOP as 5th & 6th FP for an evening trip to AK, the ride times were 45 minutes apart.

ETA: when you do your occasional spot checks before you leave, make sure you refresh times for 5-10 minutes each session. Don't expect something to appear on the first opening. Too long to explain why, just do it.

 

[jacobsmommy]

Right now our FP for a party of 6 for SDD is from 7:20-8:20 p.m. but I'm hoping that we can move it up some. If not, I guess we will get there early to rope drop it! I've been trying to modify it every day with no luck.

 

[meggiebeth]

We are having the same issue - couldn’t get a Slinky Dog FastPass and so I am thinking we should try doing it during EMHs? Hopefully it won’t be so crowded then.

We also couldn’t get a Flight of Passage FastPass until very late in the day so we are probably going to have to go back to AK on the way to our dinner reservation - better than than nothing I guess!