1st trip since 2009--changes seem overwhelming

[drcmk]

Hello,

My family and I last visited Disney in 2009 and I haven't kept up with changes since them (but it seems like a lot). Can you give me an idea of things I would do differently now? We are thinking of visiting in May of 2015 (two adults, two teens). In 2009, there were charts of which park to visit which day (does that still apply?) and the basic advice was to go to the EMH morning park, then get to another park by lunch time because it would fill up. There was advice about which rides to hit first. Does any of this apply with the new procedures?

Also, we might go on one of the Star Wars weekends. I do love Star Wars, but don't love crowds. Is a Star Wars weekend to be avoided?

Thank you!

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Hello,

My family and I last visited Disney in 2009 and I haven't kept up with changes since them (but it seems like a lot). Can you give me an idea of things I would do differently now? We are thinking of visiting in May of 2015 (two adults, two teens). In 2009, there were charts of which park to visit which day (does that still apply?) and the basic advice was to go to the EMH morning park, then get to another park by lunch time because it would fill up. There was advice about which rides to hit first. Does any of this apply with the new procedures?

Also, we might go on one of the Star Wars weekends. I do love Star Wars, but don't love crowds. Is a Star Wars weekend to be avoided?

Thank you!

You should still use the best park charts (check easywdw.com for recommendations) and definitely want to take advantage of morning EMH. We visited last May when all of the changes were in place and this approach really worked for us.

The new FP+ changes the touring game a bit. You can no longer get as many FPs as you want but can instead reserve 3 FP+ in advance, with tiers at certain parks, and then add additional FP+ after you've used the first 3. This actually wasn't as much of a disaster as I thought it might be. For example, you can arrive at Animal Kingdom for morning EMH and ride safari and Everest first thing and then use your FP+ for rides a bit later in the morning, or even make FP+ reservations for early afternoon at a different park. From what I can tell it is still important to make certain FP+ rides ASAP. For example, you'll want to make your FP+ reservations for Toy Story as soon as possible.

With regard to which rides to hit first, FP+ has probably changed that a bit. I think you still want to hit the headliners first, but at a park like MK you can reserve some rides using FP+ so you don't have to hit them first thing. You definitely need FP+ for 7DMT.

 

[mdsouth]

Hi!

I know the feeling and questions running through your mind right now. I had a similar gap in trips. My family was there in June 2009 and I was planning our trip for Feb. 2014 with all the new things in place. Magic bands were just being introduced in the parks.

We had a great trip. The new Fastpass system worked well for my family. I have a pre-teen and a teen who are late risers. So, I picked Fastpass times for mid to late morning and in the afternoon. We were able to then get up when we wanted and head to the parks knowing we had times scheduled for the day. We even changed some times around while in the park using my phone when we found we didn't need a pass for something and wanted to try something else,

MK - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was the favorite
My DD the preteen did not care for Space Mountain

EPCOT - Soarin and Test Track were must dos and favorites.

Have fun planning! I have subscribed to this thread so if you have any specific questions let me know and i will try to answer them

 

[drcmk]

Thank you. That is reassuring.

How about park-hopping? The last few times we were at WDW, we hopped nearly every day, it was part of the strategy. Is it still a good idea to move from one park to another to avoid crowds?

I polled my group and the must-do's are:
Space Mountain
New Section of MK (haven't seen it)
Pizza Planet
Test Track
Soarin'
Countries of Epcot
Expedition Everest

We probably have three or four days in the park.

 

[siskaren]

I would highly recommend reading the first post of this thread to learn about how to use FP+:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3326057

Star Wars weekends are busy at DHS since that's where all the Star Wars events take place, so if you don't like crowds, avoid DHS, but you don't need to avoid WDW as a whole.

 

[RustManFan]

I was at WDW last in November 2009 and am not going back until 2016 (spring maybe?).

I have a LOT to relearn!!

 

[aviva5675]

Im in the same boat, last trip was 09. We are doing one day this time, MK, for the new stuff. Being off site and it being a late decision, and trouble linking old tickets, I was only able to get online to try for fp for 2/9 yesterday.

7 dwarfs mine train was not available at all till about 7pm.

When I first put in my 3- that, Philharmagic and Laugh floor, (I didnt know what I was doing at that point), it lined me up with 3 evening fp. We plan on rd and leave by the afternoon. So I thought, this stinks.

Then after trial and error I realized there are drop downs there and you can modify the times.

So Im lined up with 3 things- not mine train- for the morning and early afternoon. Mine train still nothing til the evening, so plan to do stand by. Ill keep checkinging, but not hopeful

that being said: 1/ I hate this new system of having to plan so specifically so far out and I am a HUGE planner. and 2/ get online to do your fp as far ahead as possible.

 

[RustManFan]

We are a wing it family and only plan which park to do which day. Next trip will be SO different.

 

[nemo998]

I may be in the minority, but I love the new FP+ system. It has forced me to slow down a little, enjoy the rides and even sleep in a little bit! If you are dawn until dusk park runners, you may hate it.
SWW's bring in large crowds. I generally avoid special events at WDW unless I am involved in the event. If that is your own available time to go, then utilizing your FP+ and ADR's as best as you can is all that you can do.

 

[mdsouth]

Thank you. That is reassuring. How about park-hopping? The last few times we were at WDW, we hopped nearly every day, it was part of the strategy. Is it still a good idea to move from one park to another to avoid crowds? I polled my group and the must-do's are: Space Mountain New Section of MK (haven't seen it) Pizza Planet Test Track Soarin' Countries of Epcot Expedition Everest We probably have three or four days in the park.

We did not use park hoppers in 2014. I just planned one park a day. I figure you lose time when you park hop due to travel time. We had most of our evening meals at the resorts and DTD would be an option too.

Check the calendars and depending on when you go at least one park will most likely be closing later than the others. So it might just work for you. Some people will tell you to avoid parks that have extended hours it just depends on your family and your preferences.

If you can convince your family to skip Pizza Planet you can skip Hollywood Studios (MGM) all together. We skipped it this trip and didn't really miss it. If you are there four days that would give you a second day at either MK or EPCOT.

On your AK day, you can plan to spend a good part of it at the resort pool or exploring another resort that you might go to for dinner or DTD

 

[JadeDarkstar]

we will park hop. My plan is to be at one park at rope drop. do a bunch of ridesbefore 11am. start Fp+ 11-12, 12-1, 1-2 and then I am heading for rest. some times ill do a fp early becosue its my plans.

Then ill hop to a park for night time. Some ppl say do the rope drop park no FP+ and do fp+ at the enxt park. I may do that too.
I know my family likes a rest in midday and we enjoy the late nights so its worth it for us to be able to hop where we want.
Ie ak only open till 6pm, we can go to HS and get the must do's out the way and night time show (I am banging those two parks out in one day)
So i can spend more time on MK and Epcot