Has anyone gone old school?

[isabellea]

Last July we went to MK twice and both days were ranked 8/10. Both days we had FP+ but changed all of them (except 7DMT) multiple times the day off. We even canceled A&E prime time (11am) because my oldest wanted to do Splash again and we never had problem getting what we wanted. As others wrote, the only difficult/impossible FP+ at MK are 7DMT, A&E, the parades and Wishes.

 

[NH-to-FL]

Rope drop is still your friend

What Dan said....

We are old school. Always at rope drop. We visit the 2-4 attractions we have chosen for the day and then anything after that is a bonus.

Tolerance and patience are key to surviving the busy days.

We are blessed to be able to visit frequently so when it starts to get busy we find the quiet corners (like the CoP at MK), perhaps sit and people watch, maybe grab some QS, or just leave to return another day.

 

[Lisann]

Up until just a few years ago, I always went old school. It's certainly possible.

 

[dlavender]

We made our tentative plan, scheduled our 3 fast passes, and will be there for RD. Hope the kids can hang

 

[UrsulaTime]

I'm planning on going to the MK on a Saturday evening in November, the worst time of the week to go. I assume crowds will be similar to the second half of your day. I have fastpasses and plans, but they're very modest, as are my expectations. Anyway, I'm eagerly waiting your mini trip report. And I'm heartened by your old-school attitude!

But please, don't force your family on CoP. Those poor kids...

 

[dlavender]

I'm planning on going to the MK on a Saturday evening in November, the worst time of the week to go. I assume crowds will be similar to the second half of your day. I have fastpasses and plans, but they're very modest, as are my expectations. Anyway, I'm eagerly waiting your mini trip report. And I'm heartened by your old-school attitude!

But please, don't force your family on CoP. Those poor kids...

Thanks. I will definitely put our mini trip report on here.

They have no choice. CoP or bust! I already had to let go of the Country Bears, but CoP is where I draw the line.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Was just talking to a friend over the weekend who had a bad experience with this. They were in Tampa on a beach vacation & decided one day on a spur of the moment to hit MK. They had been several years ago for a whole week using legacy FP & didn't realize things had changed. Probably weren't there for RD, either. Anyway, it didn't go well at all. They got in 4 rides over the course of several hours and left dejected.

 

[dlavender]

Was just talking to a friend over the weekend who had a bad experience with this. They were in Tampa on a beach vacation & decided one day on a spur of the moment to hit MK. They had been several years ago for a whole week using legacy FP & didn't realize things had changed. Probably weren't there for RD, either. Anyway, it didn't go well at all. They got in 4 rides over the course of several hours and left dejected.

It's probably true that Floridians can no longer really go "old school" like we used to when I lived there. I remember some Saturday mornings, our father at breakfast would say, "why don't we go to Disney today?". Today, I would never really try to go that "old school." The new old school for me is doing a one day hit everything MK trip. But I still have come up with a semi touring plan, scheduled three FP's, and will be there at rope drop. Definitely not the same.

 

[Happy_2_B]

Agree with PPs- rope drop is key. We are totally 'old school'- although we only focus on RD and get the big stuff done then leave the parks and chill out- your plan is way more than we would attempt. If you can actually get there an hour before RD like you are planning, and be among the first through the turnstiles and at the front of the 'CM escort'- you should be among the first at 7DMT (as long as you are carrying DD7 and not letting her walk it). I would then do PP and Pooh, then hit Splash, BTMRR, HM and Pirates.

You could do A&E instead of 7DMT- but by the time you are done with one or the other, the wait at the second would be getting up there. Your other option is Space Mountain and Buzz (if 7DMT isn't on your list), then head through Fantasy Land and see what the waits are on PP and Pooh. If they are already long- head to Frontierland. If you want to do both 7DMT and Space Mtn. you are going to have a wait at one or the other, so I would put off Space Mtn. until later in the day. Buying tix ahead of time like a PP suggested is a great idea as well. Your FP+s probably won't be for super headliners this close to arrival- but there might still be some decent stuff available- Space Mtn. early afternoon would be a good one. Better to have them and not need them, then to need them and not have them.

The 'old school' adage still applies no matter how busy the parks are- get to rope drop- as most people simply are not willing to get up that early while on vacation. If you are willing to get out of bed, and cross the park a couple of times before lunch, it will pay off. You should be able to get a lot of stuff done by lunch- just make sure your 'must sees' are early in the day. Sounds like a fun day- enjoy your trip.

 

[dlavender]

Agree with PPs- rope drop is key. We are totally 'old school'- although we only focus on RD and get the big stuff done then leave the parks and chill out- your plan is way more than we would attempt. If you can actually get there an hour before RD like you are planning, and be among the first through the turnstiles and at the front of the 'CM escort'- you should be among the first at 7DMT (as long as you are carrying DD7 and not letting her walk it). I would then do PP and Pooh, then hit Splash, BTMRR, HM and Pirates.

You could do A&E instead of 7DMT- but by the time you are done with one or the other, the wait at the second would be getting up there. Your other option is Space Mountain and Buzz (if 7DMT isn't on your list), then head through Fantasy Land and see what the waits are on PP and Pooh. If they are already long- head to Frontierland. If you want to do both 7DMT and Space Mtn. you are going to have a wait at one or the other, so I would put off Space Mtn. until later in the day. Buying tix ahead of time like a PP suggested is a great idea as well. Your FP+s probably won't be for super headliners this close to arrival- but there might still be some decent stuff available- Space Mtn. early afternoon would be a good one. Better to have them and not need them, then to need them and not have them.

The 'old school' adage still applies no matter how busy the parks are- get to rope drop- as most people simply are not willing to get up that early while on vacation. If you are willing to get out of bed, and cross the park a couple of times before lunch, it will pay off. You should be able to get a lot of stuff done by lunch- just make sure your 'must sees' are early in the day. Sounds like a fun day- enjoy your trip.

Based off of some suggestions, and because our travel party has now ballooned to 10!, we are going to try and clear Frontier/Adventure land, hit up HM, make our 940-1040 Dumbo, see if any waits are doable in Fantasy land in that timeframe, then head to Tomorrowland and use our 1140-1240 Space FP and 1240-140 Buzz FP, and then clear that land. Then use the rest of our day to wait in lines in Fantasy land, and watch the parades. We might try to eat somewhere in there as well

 

[Happy_2_B]

Based off of some suggestions, and because our travel party has now ballooned to 10!, we are going to try and clear Frontier/Adventure land, hit up HM, make our 940-1040 Dumbo, see if any waits are doable in Fantasy land in that timeframe, then head to Tomorrowland and use our 1140-1240 Space FP and 1240-140 Buzz FP, and then clear that land. Then use the rest of our day to wait in lines in Fantasy land, and watch the parades. We might try to eat somewhere in there as well

Probably a good plan with 10 people. Would be a challenge to get everyone there and into the line in a timely fashion as a group. Hopefully the waits aren't too bad once you get to FL. If they are, you might be able to get Philharmagic or it's a small world (or, ideally both) done while you are there for Dumbo before hitting TL- then go back to FL for PP, Pooh and 7DMT.

 

[Vernie822]

Go for it! We did a quick 3 night trip in June and had virtually no plans. I believe we made our FP's all the day before or day of. And it worked out great.

 

[tink9702]

Based off of some suggestions, and because our travel party has now ballooned to 10!, we are going to try and clear Frontier/Adventure land, hit up HM, make our 940-1040 Dumbo, see if any waits are doable in Fantasy land in that timeframe, then head to Tomorrowland and use our 1140-1240 Space FP and 1240-140 Buzz FP, and then clear that land. Then use the rest of our day to wait in lines in Fantasy land, and watch the parades. We might try to eat somewhere in there as well

This looks like a good plan for a group of 10! If you don't mind backtracking a bit I'd do Thunder, Splash, Pirates, Jungle in that order. usually tea cups & carousel aren't too bad of a wait mid-day, sometimes IASW if you get lucky. Your longest lines will be Peter Pan & Pooh, but you could try to do these during one of the parades.

 

[dlavender]

This looks like a good plan for a group of 10! If you don't mind backtracking a bit I'd do Thunder, Splash, Pirates, Jungle in that order. usually tea cups & carousel aren't too bad of a wait mid-day, sometimes IASW if you get lucky. Your longest lines will be Peter Pan & Pooh, but you could try to do these during one of the parades.

Pretty much exactly the order we are looking at. After Jungle we were going to try for HM on our way into FL. Hoping maybe Aeriel isnt too bad, then hop onto Dumbo with FP. I've already warned some of my family who wanted to come with that we WILL leave them behind...lol

 

[NavyDad]

The only FP+ not available in MK for 10/17 are 7DMT, A&E, the parade and wishes. You can still do a lot at MK, unless it's necessary to meet Elsa.

When we went last week in June (8 to 9 days) everything other than 7DMT and A&E were still available up till around 1 PM same day. Even as late as 6 PM still plenty of availability for later rides on the mountains and all secondary rides.

I would think it would be very easy on almost any day to just show up at MK and either not use FP+ at all or just use same day FP at the kiosks.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

You can get a lot done without FP+ if you are there at the right time of day. Here's just an example from a recent summer trip (crowd level 8 day) from 8 pm to midnight:

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the parade and fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

 

[nduckles]

I agree that rope drop is your friend. It's amazing what you can get in during the first two hours, ESPECIALLY if it's an 8:00 opening. This past weekend, Saturday was an 8:00 opening, but that was a change from a previously posted opening of 9:00 just a couple of weeks earlier. The park was so empty until about 9:30 I wondered if people just didn't know that the opening time had changed. It was glorious, and that was a holiday weekend.

 

[dlavender]

I agree that rope drop is your friend. It's amazing what you can get in during the first two hours, ESPECIALLY if it's an 8:00 opening. This past weekend, Saturday was an 8:00 opening, but that was a change from a previously posted opening of 9:00 just a couple of weeks earlier. The park was so empty until about 9:30 I wondered if people just didn't know that the opening time had changed. It was glorious, and that was a holiday weekend.

This is what we are hoping for!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I agree that rope drop is your friend. It's amazing what you can get in during the first two hours, ESPECIALLY if it's an 8:00 opening. This past weekend, Saturday was an 8:00 opening, but that was a change from a previously posted opening of 9:00 just a couple of weeks earlier. The park was so empty until about 9:30 I wondered if people just didn't know that the opening time had changed. It was glorious, and that was a holiday weekend.

We've always found the last two hours of the day to be more productive than the first two.

For example, we've been able to visit A&E and ride 7DMT twice in just over 30 minutes late at night. I don't think that could ever be accomplished in the morning. And if you want to ride TSMM 4 times back to back, that can only be done at 9 pm, not 9 am.

The key is knowing that the posted wait times are greatly exaggerated at night, which sends unsuspecting guests away from the rides and hopefully into the gift shops.

 

[dlavender]

We've always found the last two hours of the day to be more productive than the first two.

For example, we've been able to visit A&E and ride 7DMT twice in just over 30 minutes late at night. I don't think that could ever be accomplished in the morning. And if you want to ride TSMM 4 times back to back, that can only be done at 9 pm, not 9 am.

The key is knowing that the posted wait times are greatly exaggerated at night, which sends unsuspecting guests away from the rides and hopefully into the gift shops.

We plan on being there 8 AM til Midnight. So hopefully we get to experience the best of both worlds.