24-Hour Day 2015 Tips

[StLDisFan]

Is your CP ADR at 7:40 AM or PM? (Love that both are an option )

I've got the AM. I love me a good breakfast buffet and that should give me plenty of energy for most of the day... or just the opposite and put me in a food coma and I will crash and burn before noon hahah

I just did a quick check, and I still see Wishes FP+ still available for that day. If you're worried about them being gone before your window opens, let me know if you'd like me to hold a FP+ for you, then we can coordinate for me to let it go later once your window is open.

Thanks for the offer! I am still feeling this one out. I like the idea of having a general reserved space for that night in particular, but going solo allows me the ability to squeeze into tight spots for photography purposes and I might risk looking for a more "unique shot" and use that FP for a ride to make sure I can tackle my initial goal. I will keep your offer in mind though!

I'm thinking about going as Russell from Up (just like in my avatar), however I don't think my friends will want to dress up, so I need to decide if I want to be the only one of us in costume... The good thing about Russell is that the costume is pretty much just shorts and a t-shirt with some accessories, so if I do decide to dress up, at least it's a super comfortable costume.

I'm sure it will be pretty hot/humid by this point in the year (I always go in Aug/Sept/Oct and the think the temps are roughly the same?), so going simple and light is the way to be. Plus who cares if the friends don't dress up, you going as Russell will make you 100 times cooler than them! Russell is fantastic; I'm sure you will rock the costume The more I think about it, I think I might go with the Christopher Robin look; a yellow polo will be a good option with that blazing sun, plus it will look good during for those CP photos.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I have a trip report in my signature about our day at the 24 hour event last year, but I'll do a quick summary since I think my experience can answer some questions from this thread.

We stayed for 24 hours. Overall, I believe this strategy works best:

-ride must dos, slow loaders, or popular rides in the morning
-the park didn't really get crowded last year until about 11 or noon
-it was very hot last year, so plan accordingly, we did wear costumes, but we made sure they could work well in the heat
-after we had lunch, we began our mid-day plan: watch all the shows and ride things like TTA. So we spent the whole hot afternoon in air conditioned sit down shows, MK has a lot. (COP, HOP, Philharmagic, Tiki Room, Country Bears, Monsters Inc), and not one of those shows had a very long line.
-we had a dinner ADR at Crystal Palace so we could have a break
-we made all of our FPs for after dinner, since I had heard that would be the busiest time
-so we walked onto BTMR and then got our FP seats for the Electrical Parade
-after the Electrical Parade we headed back to get into line for our must do characters: Hades and Meg
-so for the busiest time of the park day we were tucked safely and quietly back in the Storybook Circus land.
-we got to meet Hades and Meg about half an hour after they started to greet, by that time it was about 2:30 am so the park was empty
-we met several other villains and walked onto numerous rides along the way
-we ended the night with a ride on the carousel and then slowly walked out as the park closed.


I am going to use this strategy again this year (with a few tweaks) because it worked really well.

We don't have any ADRs this year, though I am still trying to find a bfast or lunch at BOG
We will be wearing 2 costumes this year, stepsisters and stepmother and then a costume change for night that I'm not sharing because it is going to be amazing
We started our FPs at 6 pm. We have Peter Pan, 7 Dwarves and then Wishes, I think the Wishes FP will help a ton with all the congestion

I hope they announce special characters soon, and I really hope they start them earlier than 2 am.

 

[TandLMommy28]

We are going. It's a little crazy but we are. Taking all three kids. No idea who will and won't make it all night. The baby never sleeps (22 months old) so I figure if I'm going to be up all night, why not do it a fun way for once?!?

I have questions and I need to go back and read this whole thing...

We obtained our FP last night. I did 10, 11 and noon. Will FP be available all 24 hours for getting additional?

Nights in May--will it cool off enough to need sweatshirts?

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We are going. It's a little crazy but we are. Taking all three kids. No idea who will and won't make it all night. The baby never sleeps (22 months old) so I figure if I'm going to be up all night, why not do it a fun way for once?!?

I have questions and I need to go back and read this whole thing...

We obtained our FP last night. I did 10, 11 and noon. Will FP be available all 24 hours for getting additional?

Nights in May--will it cool off enough to need sweatshirts?

We did not need a sweatshirt last year, but this year could always be different so I'd check the weather the day of.

 

[SwimChicSQ]

So excited to do this again!! I did all 24hrs last year, it was so cool.
The best time to meet Anna and Elsa...443am there was NO line!!
Last year I was there at opening, rode favorites had a relaxed BOG Lunch early, saw FoF at noon and then did air conditioned rides for a few hours; met some characters dinner and then dinner, fireworks parade and met the characters.

I really hope it's as laid back as it was last year so much fun. Not sure I'm going to do all 24 but I may try, will have to see how it goes.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

So excited to do this again!! I did all 24hrs last year, it was so cool.
The best time to meet Anna and Elsa...443am there was NO line!!

I liked the strangely specific 443 am.

I'm glad you said that though, I was wondering if they had a long line during the whole party last year, so that is good to know.

 

[MommaBerd]

EEEEEEK!!!! DH gave the "green light" for this yesterday! I am SO excited!!!
We are going to go to Daytona Beach for the week before to visit his mom, and we're going to surprise our kids either Thursday night or when we wake them up EARLY Friday morning. We do have one kid who'll be staying behind with Nana because he, unfortunately, does NOT like rides. And he'd much rather spend one-on-one time getting spoiled by her!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

EEEEEEK!!!! DH gave the "green light" for this yesterday! I am SO excited!!!
We are going to go to Daytona Beach for the week before to visit his mom, and we're going to surprise our kids either Thursday night or when we wake them up EARLY Friday morning. We do have one kid who'll be staying behind with Nana because he, unfortunately, does NOT like rides. And he'd much rather spend one-on-one time getting spoiled by her!

I would do early Friday. If your kids are anything like I was when I was little I wouldn't have been able to sleep at all Thursday night. How exciting though


Anyone else make your FP+s yet? We got our 3, starting around 6 we have Peter pan, 7 dwarves and wishes. I'm a little hesitant about the wishes one since there is a new area, but I figured the FP would help since the hub was mobbed for fire works last year.

 

[jennab113]

My FPs start around 7pm. I have 7DMT, Wishes, and then Elsa and Anna in hopes that Kristoff will meet with them. If he isn't announced, I'll probably change that one to someone else because I've met A&E a couple times.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

My FPs start around 7pm. I have 7DMT, Wishes, and then Elsa and Anna in hopes that Kristoff will meet with them. If he isn't announced, I'll probably change that one to someone else because I've met A&E a couple times.

We tried for Anna and Elsa but they were all gone. I think I'm going to try the super early morning strategy someone posted above. The only reason we want to meet them the 24 hour night is to see how they react to our costumes.

 

[SwimChicSQ]

I liked the strangely specific 443 am.

I only remember because after I walked off 7DMT and saw no line I texted a bunch of friends with small humans who had been at Disney and had missed out on seeing them because of the epic line. Most of the day was a five hour wait time. I hope you have a very short line when you meet them!

 

[shpooey]

Anyone else make your FP+s yet? We got our 3, starting around 6 we have Peter pan, 7 dwarves and wishes. I'm a little hesitant about the wishes one since there is a new area, but I figured the FP would help since the hub was mobbed for fire works last year.

I've made mine, they're pretty late (9:30PM-12:30AM).

The most exciting part of 24-hour day for me is the idea of being in the park in the middle of the night. And I'm not sure I can handle anywhere close to 24 hours in MK, so rather than start at 6AM and tire of MK by mid-day, I think my plan is to go to a different park in the morning, then head to MK at night. I've got a dinner reservation at the Wave, so I'm considering watching Wishes from the Contemporary, then heading into MK for my FP+ rides and the late MSEP. Once my FP+ are done, I'm hoping for standby lines that aren't too bad through the rest of the night

Anyone have any thoughts on whether I'm missing out on the magic of 24-hour day by only being there for not even half the day? I keep going back and forth on whether I should spend all day at MK or split my day between parks!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I've made mine, they're pretty late (9:30PM-12:30AM).

The most exciting part of 24-hour day for me is the idea of being in the park in the middle of the night. And I'm not sure I can handle anywhere close to 24 hours in MK, so rather than start at 6AM and tire of MK by mid-day, I think my plan is to go to a different park in the morning, then head to MK at night. I've got a dinner reservation at the Wave, so I'm considering watching Wishes from the Contemporary, then heading into MK for my FP+ rides and the late MSEP. Once my FP+ are done, I'm hoping for standby lines that aren't too bad through the rest of the night

Anyone have any thoughts on whether I'm missing out on the magic of 24-hour day by only being there for not even half the day? I keep going back and forth on whether I should spend all day at MK or split my day between parks!

You could always start out at MK at 6 am and then leave around 10 am. I think a big part of my answer might change depending upon the theme of this year's 24 hour party. For example, last year it was the whole heroes versus villains and they had events going on throughout the day like the separate hero and villain move it shake it parade versions.

 

[DisneyDork1969]

This will be my 1st 24hr day event...I'm going with a friend and this falls mid-way thru our trip (Weds 5/20 to Sun 05/24)...

This is our game plan for the day:

MK: 6am to 8:30am
AK: 9am to 11:30am
DHS: Noon to 2:30pm
Epcot: 3pm to 5:30pm
Pop: 6pm to 10pm break
MK: 11pm to ???

I have 3 FP+s booked (Big Thunder, Space Mtn & 7 Dwarfs for after 10pm)

We plan on snacking all day, so no sit-down meals...we're hoping for lite crowds after Midnight..we'll see....CAN'T WAIT!!!!

 

[StLDisFan]

I have a trip report in my signature about our day at the 24 hour event last year, but I'll do a quick summary since I think my experience can answer some questions from this thread.

We stayed for 24 hours. Overall, I believe this strategy works best:

-ride must dos, slow loaders, or popular rides in the morning
-the park didn't really get crowded last year until about 11 or noon
-it was very hot last year, so plan accordingly, we did wear costumes, but we made sure they could work well in the heat
-after we had lunch, we began our mid-day plan: watch all the shows and ride things like TTA. So we spent the whole hot afternoon in air conditioned sit down shows, MK has a lot. (COP, HOP, Philharmagic, Tiki Room, Country Bears, Monsters Inc), and not one of those shows had a very long line.
-we had a dinner ADR at Crystal Palace so we could have a break
-we made all of our FPs for after dinner, since I had heard that would be the busiest time
-so we walked onto BTMR and then got our FP seats for the Electrical Parade
-after the Electrical Parade we headed back to get into line for our must do characters: Hades and Meg
-so for the busiest time of the park day we were tucked safely and quietly back in the Storybook Circus land.
-we got to meet Hades and Meg about half an hour after they started to greet, by that time it was about 2:30 am so the park was empty
-we met several other villains and walked onto numerous rides along the way
-we ended the night with a ride on the carousel and then slowly walked out as the park closed.


I am going to use this strategy again this year (with a few tweaks) because it worked really well.

We don't have any ADRs this year, though I am still trying to find a bfast or lunch at BOG
We will be wearing 2 costumes this year, stepsisters and stepmother and then a costume change for night that I'm not sharing because it is going to be amazing
We started our FPs at 6 pm. We have Peter Pan, 7 Dwarves and then Wishes, I think the Wishes FP will help a ton with all the congestion

I hope they announce special characters soon, and I really hope they start them earlier than 2 am.

Buckeye, I haven't been to the event in years past and I spent all last week mulling over my plan of attack. You literally just confirmed my entire plan! Glad to know it should work; great minds think alike

ADR for CP in the morning (fuel for the day), CS for either late lunch or dinner (depending on crowds) and then just snack my way throughout the event to avoid crowds at restaurants. Hang in there with BoG meals though, keep checking! I randomly checked the other afternoon and got a breakfast res later in my trip (might be harder for the event day though).
I have several things throughout the day that I wanted to hit up so unfortunately my FPs are a bit off. But I have 7DMT at 7, Wishes at 8:30, ETWB at 10 (unless I can squeeze that in earlier and re-book my FP after Wishes is over).
I think I am decided on going as Christopher Robin. Just need to go shopping for the outfit...

 

[theheartonfire03]

I'd try to avoid the hub area in MK after fireworks. The past 24 hour events it's almost impossible to go anywhere out of the hub/Mainstreet after fireworks. There was a single file line to get out of the park, with all those rushing in after fireworks. The CMs were outnumbered and basically gave up trying to get anyone moving smoothly.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

This will be my 1st 24hr day event...I'm going with a friend and this falls mid-way thru our trip (Weds 5/20 to Sun 05/24)...

This is our game plan for the day:

MK: 6am to 8:30am
AK: 9am to 11:30am
DHS: Noon to 2:30pm
Epcot: 3pm to 5:30pm
Pop: 6pm to 10pm break
MK: 11pm to ???

I have 3 FP+s booked (Big Thunder, Space Mtn & 7 Dwarfs for after 10pm)

We plan on snacking all day, so no sit-down meals...we're hoping for lite crowds after Midnight..we'll see....CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Wow you guys are going to be busy! But a very fun type of busy! Just be careful about when you enter, maybe try to come in after wishes had been done for a while to avoid congestion.

Buckeye, I haven't been to the event in years past and I spent all last week mulling over my plan of attack. You literally just confirmed my entire plan! Glad to know it should work; great minds think alike

ADR for CP in the morning (fuel for the day), CS for either late lunch or dinner (depending on crowds) and then just snack my way throughout the event to avoid crowds at restaurants. Hang in there with BoG meals though, keep checking! I randomly checked the other afternoon and got a breakfast res later in my trip (might be harder for the event day though).
I have several things throughout the day that I wanted to hit up so unfortunately my FPs are a bit off. But I have 7DMT at 7, Wishes at 8:30, ETWB at 10 (unless I can squeeze that in earlier and re-book my FP after Wishes is over).
I think I am decided on going as Christopher Robin. Just need to go shopping for the outfit...

We are both very smrt (old Simpsons joke).

We also have almost the same FP+s! I'll look for Christopher Robin. We'll either be the Tremaine's or our secret costumes. I feel like being Anastasia is going to be exhausting.

And I found a late lunch bog today!!!! Yay!! I wanted lunch more than bfast anyway. Now we can have a break out of the heat.

I'd try to avoid the hub area in MK after fireworks. The past 24 hour events it's almost impossible to go anywhere out of the hub/Mainstreet after fireworks. There was a single file line to get out of the park, with all those rushing in after fireworks. The CMs were outnumbered and basically gave up trying to get anyone moving smoothly.

This is a true fact. My boyfriend's mom was on a scooter due to a broken foot and it took her over an hour to go the length of main street to exit. I believe this was around midnight.

So really, I would try to be in the Mk around dinner, or else I'd wait until midnight or after.

 

[DisneyDork1969]

Wow you guys are going to be busy! But a very fun type of busy! Just be careful about when you enter, maybe try to come in after wishes had been done for a while to avoid congestion.

I hope to catch Celebrate Magic/Wishes/Elec Parade on Wednesday night...this way on Fri/Sat we'll just do rides or any special shows that might be scheduled...my 1st FP is Big Thunder Mtn 9:35-10:35pm...should I push this one back???

 

[StLDisFan]

We are both very smrt (old Simpsons joke).

We also have almost the same FP+s! I'll look for Christopher Robin. We'll either be the Tremaine's or our secret costumes. I feel like being Anastasia is going to be exhausting.

And I found a late lunch bog today!!!! Yay!! I wanted lunch more than bfast anyway. Now we can have a break out of the heat.

With our thought process, we "won't need our high school diploma anymore"! Had to look up the episode (it's been awhile), but I love me some Simpsons! hahah

I will have to keep an out out for you guys though! I would love to hear what your meet up would be like with the actual characters in the park; I am sure that would be a hilarious conversation

I basically went with Christopher Robin because it's a yellow polo and shorts (might consider carrying a mini Pooh plush around too). I have been Mr. Smee at the past few MNSSHP and loved it, but that felt Santa hat and fur sideburns are annoying in the heat/humidity. Carrying a camera bag around all day is one thing, but that hat in May? No thanks!

And congrats on the BoG res, it was only a matter of time

 

[StLDisFan]

I'd try to avoid the hub area in MK after fireworks. The past 24 hour events it's almost impossible to go anywhere out of the hub/Mainstreet after fireworks. There was a single file line to get out of the park, with all those rushing in after fireworks. The CMs were outnumbered and basically gave up trying to get anyone moving smoothly.

That 9:30-midnight time is probably my only gray area; I'm not sure what to do during the chaos after Wishes. I could stand in a long line somewhere for a ride to kill time or maybe hit up CoP or something and catch a few zzz's during a show, but with a FP in the hub for Wishes, I might take advantage of that FP real estate and take a power nap on the grass while the traffic is still intense.