Jedi Training Academy and Slinky Dog this summer- which to rope drop?

[newestkg06]

I know no one will know what to do in this situation for a few weeks, but my fastpass window opened today and I did not score a Slinky Dog fastpass We're going Sat Aug 25 the last day of 8am opens with the EMH open at 7am. We're staying onsite. We want to get the 1:40 JTA slot, and I'm wondering if you think it'll be safe to rope drop Slinky Dog and then to Jedi sign up and hit Star Tours. It will be ungodly early, so I"m hoping that at least some people will not be able to get up that early, but EMH is always bad and the new Toy Story stuff will be busy. I got ToT and RnRC and TSMM fast passes, (no interest in Alien Saucers) so Slinky Dog and Star Tours are the only must dos without fast passes.

I'm hoping they do something about Jedi Training Academy (like sign up early or something) but I'm sure this will be an attempt to cut down on rope drop crowds to Toy Story Land.

 

[Sarcazm]

I would keep trying to find FP Slinky Dog. Check every day. A good time to check would be around the 45 day mark. This is the last day to cancel vacation packages without incurring a fee.

Also people change plans around. Good luck.

We won't know the flow of Jedi Training signups and RDing Slinky Dog until 6/30. Hopefully some Disboard members will give some feedback next week.

 

[newestkg06]

Thanks! I'm hoping that maybe if we're willing to do one of the late ones in the evening, it should be okay (like 5-7pm). I know the first shows always fill first. I'm just worried about standing in line forever for JTA signup. That happened to us last time and it was so frustrating. We were way early for rope drop and got passed by a bunch of people, then held up at the rope and stood in line to register for at least 30 minutes. I'm hoping with older boys this time, we'll be able to keep up with the rope drop crowd a bit better this time.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Do your kids have strong preferences one way or another? If they could only choose one, which would it be?

Is there flexibility in the 1:40 JTA slot? Like could you make another time work, even if it's not optimal?

Do they really love the idea of SDD or will they be okay with the other coasters in the parks?

I'd keep looking for SDD FP, but if I couldn't get one, I'd probably go with what my kids most want to do.

 

[newestkg06]

Good point. I think Slinky Dog and TSMM are high priorities, but we didn't get to ride RNRC or ToT and we have fast passes for both of them, so that's good.

I think we could be flexible on JTA times. We were hoping to take a break in the afternoon, so a 6-7pm JTA and then get ready for fireworks sounds like a good alternate plan.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Just to give you a heads up, we did the 1:40 JTA show in May and at that time it was the show for the Star Wars VIP tour. Do they had about 12 to 15 kids (basically filled the line for the upper portion that fights Vader). They are all signed up for it ahead of time with the tour.

If it's the same when you go, that show time has far fewer slots available to sign up and your kids will most likely be fighting Kylo. I don't know if that's an issue for you or not. I don't know if anyone has done the tour or been at that showtime more recently to say if that's still the case or not.

It sounds like you have a backup plan, so that's good, but if you really want the 1:40 time, then you may need to go there before SDD and plan to wait in line for it (or skip the nighttime shows and go at the end of the evening). I agree with others who said to ask your kids which is more important.

We had a similar dilemma with TSMM because it didn't have FPs when we went. Kids decided JTA and we never did make it on TSMM ( didn't run our vacation).

 

[Andrea1975]

I have no advice because I'm facing the same dilemma. Just wanted to say I feel your pain!

My FP window opens Friday, and I have 2 days at HS, so hoping to get FP for Aliens and Slinky Dog, but my kids (and me!) also really want to ride TSMM. Our first HS day is a half-day (Epcot in the morning) so we can't rope drop both. I was going to skip Jedi Training (thinking that hot sun and robes in August would be terrible) but my 7yo saw something about it and she is recently Star Wars obsessed--so she REALLY wants to do it. HS is back to 9 am openings, and we're not going on an EMH morning. I'm thinking we'll get there as early as we can and do Jedi training sign ups first, and then take our chances with TSMM. I am holding out hope that with three tracks and it not being as new that the lines might not be AWFUL. And at least the line has something to look at if it is long! Or maybe they'll have people doing the signups before rope drop...

 

[deuceswild10]

This past week, on our DHS day, we returned at 1:50 for our Jedi Training and the sign said there were still spots open. Not necessarily at our time, but later in the day. Not sure this will be true on your day, but just and FYI. BUT, I would probably rope drop the training still, just to make sure.

 

[MomOTwins]

Watch the rope drop wait time reports when they come in next week. I suspect that with only two slinky cars, wait times will be over an hour if not several hours at rope drop, so I don't think it is too feasible to expect there will still be jedi slots when you get done with the ride, especially because many people with fastpasses or children too short for slinky will be beelining for Jedi.

Just to point this out - when we did jedi training I booked the first available which was a spot around 2pm in the summer. It was sooooooo hot, the kids were miserable, the parents were miserable. If I had to do it again, I would absolutely pick a late afternoon or evening time instead.

 

[Sarcazm]

Watch the rope drop wait time reports when they come in next week. I suspect that with only two slinky cars, wait times will be over an hour if not several hours at rope drop, so I don't think it is too feasible to expect there will still be jedi slots when you get done with the ride, especially because many people with fastpasses or children too short for slinky will be beelining for Jedi.

Just to point this out - when we did jedi training I booked the first available which was a spot around 2pm in the summer. It was sooooooo hot, the kids were miserable, the parents were miserable. If I had to do it again, I would absolutely pick a late afternoon or evening time instead.

I heard there were 4 cars. Not that the line is going to be less than a couple hours long anyway.

 

[pixiemama91]

This post just reminded me that i have the same dilemma. My daughter who really isnt that into star wars suddenly showed interest in doing the jedi training and since its just her and I on this trip, I am trying to let her do what she wants without having to worry about what her younger sister wants to do. I might try and sway her away from this so we can head to Toy Story land at rope from with 8am EMH to try and get maybe slinky dog dog done and possibly TSMM if time allows. I have a slinky dog for late afternoon but we werent really planning on being in the park that late so I am still hopeful that I can get an earlier time closer to our trip. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

[DisneyBabies]

One thing for the heat ... we bring a compact umbrella and use it while we are standing waiting for the show to start. It gives us a little shade in an otherwise unshady area. Also, the last time we did this, several moms asked to share our shade during the show (we of course said yes) and the dad's stood to the side laughing at us. It was a really nice experience with all of us murmuring to each other "That's my (insert child's name)." and "Oh, dear lord I hope (insert child's name) doesn't fall of the stage ... we're still paying the hospital bill from when he/she broke their arm doing a carwheel off the pool slide last year."

 

[lcoult]

I was there about 2 weeks ago.. We rope dropped JTA and speedwalked to our spot. We got the first show. We were probably the 5th family in line. After that we walked around for a little bit, maybe 20 minutes.. to take some pics,etc. and by the time we came back for our show time the line was coiled around and went wayyy back by the Indiana Jones show. It did sell out that day, I'd say by 11. My only concern is that it rains almost every afternoon... so check weather before signing up so you don't get a rained out slot. Are you planning to stay all day? My plan for AK since we didn't end up with FP's for Pandora area was to take a nap mid-day and come back at night and close it down.. we basically waited until just about closing and had significantly less of a wait for FOP and walked onto Navi. You could perhaps do that with Toy Story land.

 

[Lizziekris]

We did Jedi Training back in March and had a 6:40 time slot. It was really neat because the door where the characters come out was a little lit up and the light sabers were too if I remember correctly. It was a good temperature and no bright sun in the way of taking pictures. We were lucky to even get a time, because when we entered the line we were told we would probably be stand by, but they told us we had 6:40 and my son was happy!

 

[KenHutch]

I can't help you with the SD Coaster it was still a non issue when we were there earlier this month but we were at the gate before opening to go sign up for Jedi Training and there was a nice CM with a horn telling people not to run that if you are there at rope drop you will get a spot. When we entered we started walking normally to the spot. One man went running past us almost knocking down a toddler with one child under each arm screaming get out of my way. When we go there he was only 10-12 people in front of us. I do not know if they saw this but we got in the 1st group for training and I heard him complaining about his 16:30 slot (btw at 16:30 it was raining hard and I do mean hard). Karma is one nasty lady.

 

[Ducky'sMom]

Bumping this thread because it's the exact question I was going to ask. I did get SD for the last park day of our trip (10:05am*), but our daughter really wants to do JTA and I'd love to see TSL both in the morning and evening. Has anyone tried doing both yet?

*Edited time, I don't know why I thought it was late afternoon!

 

[aliceinwonder]

Bumping this thread because it's the exact question I was going to ask. I did get SD for the last park day of our trip (5:40), but our daughter really wants to do JTA and I'd love to see TSL both in the morning and evening. Has anyone tried doing both yet?

So we arrived at Hollywood Studios at 6 am for the 7 am EMH. We were let halfway in at 6:10am, and then were escorted to toy story land at 6:20 am. We rode slinky dog twice, AS2, and TSMM all before 7 am with no waits. We were told the Jedi training signups did not start until 7 am so there was time to do both. After that we rode ToT and RnR several times with no waiting. Good luck!

 

[newestkg06]

So we arrived at Hollywood Studios at 6 am for the 7 am EMH. We were let halfway in at 6:10am, and then were escorted to toy story land at 6:20 am. We rode slinky dog twice, AS2, and TSMM all before 7 am with no waits. We were told the Jedi training signups did not start until 7 am so there was time to do both. After that we rode ToT and RnR several times with no waiting. Good luck!

I hope this continues to be true. This gives me so much hope. It seems like the waits for TSL have been lower than Pandora or 7DMT and I"m hoping that continues to be the case in August. THANKS!!!!!

 

[mdmama76]

So we arrived at Hollywood Studios at 6 am for the 7 am EMH. We were let halfway in at 6:10am, and then were escorted to toy story land at 6:20 am. We rode slinky dog twice, AS2, and TSMM all before 7 am with no waits. We were told the Jedi training signups did not start until 7 am so there was time to do both. After that we rode ToT and RnR several times with no waiting. Good luck!

Were there a lot of people signing up at 7? Did you have your pick of times?

 

[AngiTN]

FYI, we walked past the Jedi Training sign on 7/5 at 4:30 PM and they were still taking sign ups.