AK FP plans - early vs. late?

[picklethings]

We are coming up on our first ever trip to WDW, and I'm really torn on what to do for our AK day. I had originally booked FP in the late a.m./early afternoon hours, but when the nighttime activities opened up, including the new JB show, I switched everything to evening, thinking it would be more popular, and therefore, FP more difficult to get. As I hear more about AK at night, I'm not sure what I want.

We were planning to RD there that morning, as we are early risers, and take an afternoon break, with the plan to head back in the evening. However, if JB isn't that great, I don't want to waste our time on it (we haven't seen the movie, and have 3 kids who may not enjoy it - or my DH, either, for that matter). We have KS FP for around true sunset time (not nighttime), and EE early evening (although DS4 is too small, so we would do rider swap).

So do we keep it as is? Do we just drop JB, even though I don't know what else to use FP on (I have no interest in potentially being soaked on KRR- one of the shows,maybe - LK or Nemo)? Or do we switch back to earlier FP, then have the option of going back in the evening to AK or park hop to a different park? We have only one day (out of 5) planned at AK. Will we want to spend the whole day there (with a break of course), or will we wish we'd used FP early so we could get done with AK during the day and spend the evening elsewhere? If it's worth being there for the day and not hopping, that's fine, but I don't want to miss out on time at other parks just to do "everything" at AK. We are more of the mindset of doing things that are worth it for a possible one-time trip, not so much the "you should try everything once." So we aren't looking to do EVERYTHING at WDW, just the activities that are worth the time and effort in July heat, if that makes sense.

OK, I think I'm done rambling...

 

[g-dad66]

If you keep the evening FPs, the question I have is what will you being doing at Rope Drop?

The Safari and Everest are always the two best bets, because of the long wait times they will have later, but do you think you'll want to do either of them twice?

Since you are primarily interested in highlights, it's hard to know which attractions you will think are worth it. We definitely think the Lion King show is worth it, and we also find Flights of Wonder a very good show. But they won't start until 10 or 11 oclock. (Many people also love the Finding Nemo show, though we find it boring.)

We enjoy Kali and Tough to Be a Bug 3-D, but we find Dinosaur unpleasantly jerky, and Primeval Whirl is just a huge invitation to nausea and worse.

Another question I have concerns how you will be spending the other 4 days. I'm thinking you might be planning 2 days for Magic Kingdom, and 1 day for Hollywod Studios (which would be a good plan). But doing Epcot in 1 day will be tough, especially with the Tiering of Fast Passes.

You can get an Epcot FP+ for only one of the following: Soarin, Test Track, Frozen Ever After. You could do one of these at Rope Drop, but the lines for all three will build very fast after that. So two mornings at Epcot might be a good idea if you can swing it.

Maybe on your AK day, go to Epcot in the morning, and then do the evening FP+s at AK the way you have them scheduled now?

 

[picklethings]

Thanks so much for your input!

Yes, we are planning 2 MK days, 1 HS, 1 Epcot.

For AK, we were thinking yes on the KS, EE (although the youngest can't do it), Lion King show, Flights of Wonder, Gorilla Falls, and Jungle Trek; maybe on Nemo; and no on DINOSAUR (my sons are begging to do it, but I've watched videos and know they would lose it) and Primeval Whirl. We also currently have 10:30 reservations for Tusker House, but we aren't married to that.

At Epcot, we have FP for FEA, and we were hoping to RD Soarin. We figured TT probably wouldn't happen unless we just lucked out. In a perfect world, we would be able to meet Anna & Elsa as well as Joy & Sadness, the only character meets my daughter would really love, but again we figured they probably wouldn't happen, and she wouldn't know better. Our kids are not the best at waiting in line (well, at least my 4 year old, and my daughter with special needs), so we aren't interested in hour+ waits.

(Just for added info- We plan to spend a full day for sure at HS, even though I've read that many people consider it a half-day park. My sons are huge Star Wars fans, and my daughter loves Sofia and the other Disney Jr. characters, and watches the Frozen Sing-Along on YouTube repeatedly.)

You've given me a lot to think about. Thanks!

 

[picklethings]

I guess I just feel weird about not scheduling all 3 FP that day, especially if we drop the JB show (which I'm leaning towards). If we did AK in the a.m./early afternoon (pre-break), do you think we could do it without fast passes? Then we could schedule FP for one of the headliners at Epcot for the evening. Or vice versa- do Epcot early (with FP) and go without FP at AK in the evening (or possibly get an evening KS FP)?

 

[g-dad66]

I guess I just feel weird about not scheduling all 3 FP that day, especially if we drop the JB show (which I'm leaning towards). If we did AK in the a.m./early afternoon (pre-break), do you think we could do it without fast passes? Then we could schedule FP for one of the headliners at Epcot for the evening. Or vice versa- do Epcot early (with FP) and go without FP at AK in the evening (or possibly get an evening KS FP)?

I wouldn't do AK in the evening without FP. You will have miserable waits for both Everest and the Safari.

Yes, you could to AK in the morning without FP. Do Safari and Everest first, and then you're home free.

 

[picklethings]

What about this: on our AK day, start at Epcot at RD, guys do TT, girls do A&E meet&greet, possibly hit Joy & Sadness, then head straight to AK, using 1-2 FP and see some shows/exhibits, take afternoon break, then head back to AK in the evening. Is this a crazy idea to go between 2 parks in the a.m.? Epcot day we would still do Soarin at RD and FP FEA.

 

[g-dad66]

I wouldn't want to spend that much time traveling between parks. It can eat up a lot of time. From the time you leave a park until the time you arrive at the resort (or another park) can easily take an hour.

I think your best bet is to do AK in the morning/early afternoon, and then do Epcot in the evening (with a Tier 1FP, and FPs for Mission Space and Spaceship Earth could both come in handy in the evening).