Advice: how to plan our trip now with the changes

[mshanson3121]

I'm trying to wrap my head around all the changes happening and how it will affect how we do Disney. We travel in June, so hot and busy (we can only travel in summer).

Before, we made use of rope drop, our 3 FP+, and DAS (based on MK):

We would rope drop, grab a DAS return time for a bigger ride, knock out some smaller rides, do our DAS, grab a new one to use later on, use a FP+, watch a show and by then normally it was lunch time so we would go back to the resort for our break. We would come back for the evening, and alternate DAS and our two remaining FP+, and by that time it was normally time to find a spot for an evening show etc...

But now....

We'll be staying off site, so with the new Early Morning Entry, the rope drop advantage will be shot (unless we stay on site).

Free FP+ is of course gone. Now, we will get to book 2 advance passes through DAS, so that will replace 2 of the FP+, which doesn't seem horrible. I think between those and in park DAS, it *should* be okay? Though it depends to some degree how bad the Stand By wait times are... But the big question is, will it it include tier 1 rides?

If it doesn't, we'll have to buy Lightning Pass for a few rides (since we'll lose rope drop advantage). And..... once again, staying off site, we'll be at a disadvantage, since everyone else will have been up and booking 2 hours before us. So our chance of getting them at a good time will be much lower.

The absolute MUST dos for us will be:

MK: 7D, Splash, Pooh, fireworks
AK: Safari, Kali, Na'Vi, Lion King
HS: Slinky, TSMM, Alien, RoTR, Smugglers Run, Minnie/Mickey Railway
EP: Soarin', Frozen, Ratatouille, The Seas, fireworks

Afternoon breaks of at least 4 hours will be a must for medical reasons. We can stay till park close no problem. No budget for after hours events.

So, the plan was to stay off site with 3 days of park hoppers (unless we got a Canadian Resident discount then we would upgrade to 4 day base passes).

But now.... I don't know what to do.

I'm thinking staying on site may be necessary, so we can use the Early Morning Entry and have early access to Lightning Pass. Thoughts?

If, so, we're going to have to make some changes, due to $. I'm thinking the options would then become:

A: Stay 2 nights on site and do 2 days of park hoppers

B : Stay 1 night on site and do 1 day of park hoppers (we already have these tickets) and 2 day base passes.

Thoughts? If we choose B, which park would you use your Early Morning Entry for?

 

[gap2368]

one good thing is your trip is no time soon so you can see how things are working before hand do not for get if you do the video chat you get two DAS returns ( not sure if I said this right or what rides will be averrable) I think option A is what I would do.

 

[Heather07438]

The absolute MUST dos for us will be:

MK: 7D, Splash, Pooh, fireworks
AK: Safari, Kali, Na'Vi, Lion King
HS: Slinky, TSMM, Alien, RoTR, Smugglers Run, Minnie/Mickey Railway
EP: Soarin', Frozen, Ratatouille, The Seas, fireworks

What about not staying onsite and getting 1 or 2 days of g+?

I think a full day at MK with DAS will work fine.
Then choose g+ for one or both of these days:
HS
AK/EP using the hopper ticket

 

[Heather07438]

Ooh, I just realized you might need an EP Park Reservation for Rata VQ. That could throw a wrench tho I'm not 100% certain how they will handle it. Guess we'll find out soon.

 

[DisneyOma]

Isn't Splash supposed to be closing soon to be changed to Princess and the Frog?

If you can get RotR boarding group on your first try, save the other HS attractions for the end of a day. We found Smuggler's Run to be an almost walk on at the end of the day this week. Toy Story Land was much nicer once the sun went down too.

 

[mshanson3121]

Ooh, I just realized you might need an EP Park Reservation for Rata VQ. That could throw a wrench tho I'm not 100% certain how they will handle it. Guess we'll find out soon.

My guess is we would buy a lightning pass for Rat. Depending on how much they cost that is. If they're much more than $5-6 I don't know if we'll be able to afford it, since we'd need one for RotR, too.

 

[Selket]

B : Stay 1 night on site and do 1 day of park hoppers (we already have these tickets) and 2 day base passes.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to use the value of your 1 day park hopper and add two more days to it? There's usually some savings in multi-day tickets vs buying two separate tickets but I haven't checked the price. If so that gives you more flexibility to park hop which might be useful? Generally you can upgrade your tickets before you go. There's a very helpful "tickets" thread on the Theme Park Attractions board where Robo or others answer these sorts of questions. Perhaps being Canadian your tickets passes/options are different than mine.

I agree it's tough to figure out your best option but fortunately your trip is almost a year out so I think by the end of this year we will have a good handle on what works best so you'll get answers. I don't know if you're able to hold a couple of different hotel reservations (on and off site) that are refundable until you can figure out if you being on-site would give you a worthwhile advantage.

I was guessing the DAS will not include "tier 1" rides - or any rides with a boarding pass system. It doesn't currently include RoTR unless you go through the way everyone does to get a boarding pass right? I just figured they'd keep that. I've not been since RoTR opened so I'm not well versed in how to get the boarding pass these days to begin with....FYI!

 

[lanejudy]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to use the value of your 1 day park hopper and add two more days to it?

It’s probably fairly close but you are correct that 3-day hoppers is most likely less than a 1-day hopper and 2-day base. A slight savings but that can add up for a family.

 

[mshanson3121]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to use the value of your 1 day park hopper and add two more days to it? There's usually some savings in multi-day tickets vs buying two separate tickets but I haven't checked the price. If so that gives you more flexibility to park hop which might be useful? Generally you can upgrade your tickets before you go. There's a very helpful "tickets" thread on the Theme Park Attractions board where Robo or others answer these sorts of questions. Perhaps being Canadian your tickets passes/options are different than mine.

I agree it's tough to figure out your best option but fortunately your trip is almost a year out so I think by the end of this year we will have a good handle on what works best so you'll get answers. I don't know if you're able to hold a couple of different hotel reservations (on and off site) that are refundable until you can figure out if you being on-site would give you a worthwhile advantage.

I was guessing the DAS will not include "tier 1" rides - or any rides with a boarding pass system. It doesn't currently include RoTR unless you go through the way everyone does to get a boarding pass right? I just figured they'd keep that. I've not been since RoTR opened so I'm not well versed in how to get the boarding pass these days to begin with....FYI!

No, as our 1 day park hoppers were given to us for free - they're complimentary tickets so they hold no value (as in can't upgrade them/apply their cost to anything else).

I think you're right about the virtual queue rides not being included for sure.

Yes, we have time. Just we already had one night booked, needed to amend it to add another person, but if we're going to add a night, need to do it soon, as the standard rooms are already sold out for the dates we're going. Figured easier to just figure out what we're doing now, rather than have to try and modify yet again in a few months. Especially since it takes forever to get through. I've literally been calling for 2 months now (granted, not daily) and still haven't gotten through because I don't have 2-3 hours to sit and wait on hold.

 

[Narcoossee11]

My guess is we would buy a lightning pass for Rat. Depending on how much they cost that is. If they're much more than $5-6 I don't know if we'll be able to afford it, since we'd need one for RotR, too.

$ 25 maybe for RAT or ROTR but more likely $50. It will definitely be high or everyone will purchase it.

 

[mshanson3121]

$ 25 maybe for RAT or ROTR but more likely $50. It will definitely be high or everyone will purchase it.

Eep. The rumors I saw on the Disney sites were $5-20.