Getting Discouraged

[ycnan]

I used the UG for touring suggestions....we were very flexible. I will say that if you go to rope drop and kind of go to the rides in the order it lists you can easily do many walk-ons we did in July...so in Jan I would think it would be even easier.

 

[erinz]

We've been to WDW 5 times now and never get out of bed in the morning until 11 am. We usually hit the first park around 1 or 2pm. Every trip has been FANTASTIC and long lines have never been an issue. We usually go the second week in December. The third week in January should be even less crowded. So relax, you'll have a great time no matter what!

 

[DisneyMom5]

I don't follow the plans. Things that are very important to us are: ADRs for dining (free dining trip), entertainment schedule (don't want to miss certain shows, so we know to be at that side of the park at a certain time), and getting to the park before it opens.
If you want the MOST flexibility, be at the park before opening, even for an am EMH if you are onsite, and get parkhoppers. That gives you so much more time. The morning of an am EMH at MK, we got there at EMH opening and did 11 things by 11 am. After lunch we hopped to Epcot, and it was almost empty.

I'm structuring part of this trip a little more than we would like so that my ILs can see a lot before they leave. After they leave, we're winging it. Within our ADRs.

Another piece of advice - Don't save MK till the end as is mentioned in the UG. I made that mistake the first trip. That and not hitting all our priorities early in the trip. 2 of our kids got stomach flu the last day, and we only got to see less than half of MK that trip.
If there is something that is a priority to you, do it early in the trip. You can always re-do it later on!

Don't stress! If you are asking these questions, you are already miles ahead of the uninformed traveler and will have no problem at WDW!!!
Happy planning!

 

[bzzymom]

The only schedule we have is of our ADR's. We plan to be at those restaurants on time, and we wing the rest of it. I have been at that time in January and it is not too crowded. What we do is send one person from our party to get fast passes and meet us up when they are done. For example, when we get to Epcot, DH will go get our fast passes to Soarin while the rest of us ride spaceship earth. It works out well for us. We have always been able to do what we want to do.

 

[Claymax]

I agree, touring plan not mandatory but keep it in the back of your mind so you know what to do if the masses arrive.

The only thing I recommend is to open the parks each day. Try it both ways, one day at 11 and one day at rope drop. You can do almost everything you want to do in any park in the first 2 hours if you are there when it opens. It makes that much of a difference. Once my group sees the difference I don't hear a single complaint and everyone's up bright and early.

We open the parks, leave around lunch or early afternoon. Rest, swim, rest and then grab some dinner and head back to the parks.

Try a few different times and see what works for you. You many find an hour after open you get a nice compromise. After doing rope drops for a while, it's the only way I can start my Disney day.

 

[salmoneous]

The unofficial guide dramatically overstates the importance of following the advice in the unofficial guide (go figure). It also encourages a touring style that is all about getting on as many attractions as possible to the exclusion of enjoying a lot of the little things that provide much of the magic of Disney.

That said, the earlier you get to the park, and the more you focus on maximizing the fastpass system, the more E-ticket rides you'll get to do in a day.

 

[Ready to go in Ok]

I LOVE making itineraries and planning minute by minute. Only because it gives me something to do beforehand. Once I get there, my family looks at me like I'm nuts, and my binder (yes, I have so much crap I need a binder) is shoved to the bottom of the suitcase. We do stick to the plan as which park on which day, and general area. That's it though. I think it's all in what's important to you. Riding the most rides possible, you need a plan, but it won't be very relaxing.

 

[KittyKitty]

A few years ago I went with the part of the family that gets to the park at 11ish, while I'm at the gate at opening. This was during Spring Break, and what a difference in how much we saw. I had warned them of the lines when arriving at that time, but went along with what they wanted to do.

It was a new adventure for me. I got to see all the detailing in the lines. Learned all the storylines of the ride. And really got to know follow guests around us! Needless to say, my family didn't see 1/2 of what the parks had to offer, but they did have a great time.

Jan. no worries. May is different. You will have hot weather and more guests. So getting there early will be to your advantage. Watch out for morning EMH's. Either go to them, or avoid that park that day.

Have a great time!

 

[Mickiethepooh]

The really valuable part of the planning books and guides is to make you familiar with the parks AND how things work there.
It is always SO SAD to see a family that you know has never been there and did not do any research.
They can't find anywhere to get a meal, they wait in the longest lines having no clue about fast pass, they are always in the most crowded parts of the park because they move with the "Herd", they can't see anything at parades because they did not know to get a spot, or they miss them completely, they leave the park before the closing shows/fireworks, because they did not realize there were any.
If you read the guidebooks you have a heads up on all these things and can at least incorporate that into your plans, then being informed you can go with the flow!

 

[Simba22]

Not at all! If you were going in July or the week of Christmas I would say yes...but those are the busiest times of the year. I would say if you can get to the parks within an hour of opening (so by 10am) then you shouldn't have trouble getting FP's for the popular attractions like Soarin'. To me, getting to the parks before they open is just pointless because then you just stand around in a crowd of people and everyone rushes in at once at rope drop. We never go to rope drop and have never had problems and the only thingd we schedule are ADR's.

 

[dqpowell]

BarleyJack -- I'm going to disagree a little bit with most of the other respondents.

They're right that you don't have to follow a rigid schedule all day. However, there are a few key attractions in each park that, if you wish to experience them, will work best by following the first 5-6 steps of the Unofficial Guide's touring plans.

Probably the very best example would be Soarin', Test Track and Mission: Space in Epcot. Even in January, if you don't get to Epcot at park opening and follow the first few steps of the UG's touring plan, you're setting yourself up for very long waits in line.

The same is true of Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster in MGM.

I would suggest following one of the Unofficial Guide's touring plans strictly for the first 5 steps or so, then relaxing and "winging" it for the rest of the day. The last thing you want to have happen is to show up at Soarin' at 2 PM, only to discover all the fastpasses have been given out for the day and the regular line is 150 minutes long.



David

 

[CanadianGuy]

I agree with the previous poster to a degree.

One upon a time I was trudging thru the parks with my schedule for the day and gosh-darned it, we were going to stay on that schedule NO MATTER WHAT!

It's 2:15pm and we are scheduled to be having fun so HAVE FUN!

Well, as you can imagine, that didn't really jive with the concept of vacation.

Now what I do is take the underlying principles of the guide, which attractions to hit first and a general understanding of crowd flow in the parks to help guide my decisions and inform how we structure our day.

But an exact be here at 11am and wait 2 minutes for this and then move on to that.. I gave up on that a few years back.



Knox

 

[jamstew]

I used the UG for touring suggestions....we were very flexible. I will say that if you go to rope drop and kind of go to the rides in the order it lists you can easily do many walk-ons we did in July...so in Jan I would think it would be even easier.

That's my thought as well. We used the UG on our first trip in June of 1990 and it worked like a charm. The only long waits were when the kids went back to do Space Mountain, BTMR & Star Tours multiple times late in the day. This was before ToT, RRC, and TT, Soarin', etc., existed, so these were the biggies. You'd be surprised how much you can get done in an hour if you do it right I still buy the UG because of new attractions, etc., but now I just use it as a general guideline of what order to do things in that I want to see. For me, getting there early is the key. In January, though, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[MICKEYMANIAC213]

I'm definitely not the type of person that likes to follow a strict schedule especially on vacation. That's my time and I like to send it however I want. I will usually try to hit the big attractions first. For example, I would get a fastpass for Splash Mt. and then go hop on Big Thunder for a ride and then go hit Splash at the fast pass time. For the rest of the time I just wing it. I haven't ever been in January but I hear the crowds are low so that should make easier. Just relax and have a great trip!!

 

[Mom2Evie]

We've been so excited about our upcoming vacation 3rd week of Jan 2008, but having done some research I'm not sure what to think...... I've been reading the "Unofficial Guide" and it mandates this strict schedule...be at this by 9 am or forget it, be at this by 11, better be at soarin within 10 minutes of opening, etc etc etc.............. This will be our dream vacation, does it really have to be that structured? Thanks for listening.........

Since you have the Unofficial Guide, make sure you check out www dot touring plans dot com. They have a Crowd Calendar that seems pretty accurate to me. They guage the wait time of the most popular rides (longest lines) at each park for the days you'll be there as 4 -5.
4 = Peak waits of 35 - 44 minutes
5 = Peak waits of 45 - 54 minutes
The site also lists Best Parks & Parks to avoid on given days.

We've been Easter week for the last two years, where the wait times at these rides are 90 minutes to 2 hours. Touring plans dot com has never steered me wrong!! Give it a try, I think you'll feel better.

 

[salmoneous]

Probably the very best example would be Soarin', Test Track and Mission: Space in Epcot. Even in January, if you don't get to Epcot at park opening and follow the first few steps of the UG's touring plan, you're setting yourself up for very long waits in line.

The same is true of Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster in MGM.

Except on a true 10+ crowd day, I don't think people would have trouble getting on a few big rides without a touring plan. Show up at Epcot at 11, stroll over to Soarin' and pick up a fastpass. The return time may be 4:00 by then, but don't worry about it. Relax and enjoy the park. By 1:00 you can pick up another fastpass, get it for Test Track. You should be able to get a fastpass for Mission Space at 3:00, or just head back an hour before closing when the stand-by lines are usually pretty short.

It works the same with RnRC and ToT and MGM. You really can get to these parks well after opening, tour leisurely and get on some E-ticket riders without waiting in hour+ lines.

Now, if you want to get on as many attractions as possible in one day, or you want to ride the E-ticket rides multiple times (which is what we do), you need a good touring plan.

 

[BarleyJack]

Good info here, thanks so much Can't wait!

 

[momz]

we have never followed a plan before, but this year we are going to try it. The reason for this new adventure is because of a miserable time in both epcot and animal kingdom. The problem is that we are less familiar with these 2 parks, don't know our way around and also are not certain about what attraction are appealing to our small kids. The tour plans help us work this out. It lays out what we are going to do next, what direction to head, etc... Therefore, we hope that this will cut down on time spent looking at each other saying, "what do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?"