Am I crazy for planning this way? Please help.

[proud mom]

As of now the plan is for us to go to WDW from (Saturday) August 29 to (Sunday) September 6. I have 8 day park hopper passes (booked with the free dining promotion.) I know that to increase my odds of getting fast passes for FOP and the hot attraction at Studios I should put them towards the end of the trip. But am I crazy for leaving them for Friday and Saturday? Will the crowds be insane?

Since I have 8 days I will probably visit each park twice - and I can park hop, but I want to increase my odds of getting the hard to get fast passes.

thanks for the info!

 

[havoc315]

Don't worry.

Particularly when you have 8 days of park hoppers, it becomes very easy to plan around crowds. You'll have no trouble getting fast passes for the later days of the trip. With early rope drops and late nights, plus EMH (if you are onsite) you'll find plenty of opportunities to do the rides in addition to your reserved fastpasses.

We have 8 day parkhoppers for a period that will likely be even more crowded... end of June through July 4th, I've been watching lines carefully in anticipation.
Yes, we will get FOP fastpass for later in the trip. But also plan on riding it 1 morning by getting to rope drop about an hour before park officially opens.
Lines for Slinky Dog and Millennium Falcon aren't so bad late at night, you can hop into a line as park closes.
With 8 solid days, there will be plenty of time to fast pass every headliner, and plenty of time to ride without fast passes as well.

Yes, there is a danger to putting those headliners off until the end -- You can show up with your fastpass in hand, and find the ride is down. We never got to do Splash Mountain on our first family trip (pre-FP+) for this very reason. But like I said, spread over 8 days, you'll find plenty of opportunities to do every big attraction.

And the great thing about 8 day parkhoppers.. you can really pace yourself. You can take long breaks. You don't need to try to squeeze everything in to 1 days. You will be able to hit each park multiple times. (For me, it's 1 morning and 1 evening at AK. 2 full days + 1 morning + 1 evening at DHS, 1 morning + 1 evening at MK, and about 1 morning + 2 evenings at Epcot. I'm confident I'll squeeze in everything I want, except there is a possibility I won't get Mine Train).

 

[DisLiss]

I don't think it's crazy at all. I view it as your back-up plan. That way, earlier in the week you can go ahead and try to hit those attractions using other methods---rope drop, securing a fast pass later in the day, or waiting until evening. And while trying those methods you can feel less stress about them because in the back of your head you can be saying "If this doesn't work it's no big deal since we still have our Fast Pass for Friday".

We're planning a similar trip in length and time of year and we're planning to hit the parks several times each with hoppers, so I feel that really helps give us several chances to get things done without ever having the pressure of one day being our only day in a park. Sure it's possible for a ride to go down and stay down the whole 8 days, but that's possible no matter how we plan, so you just have to cross your fingers that doesn't happen. We are even planning to have an early visit to some parks where we really don't try to get on anything overly popular just so that we can have a few stress free hours in each park.

Best of luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[DrummerBoy523]

But am I crazy for leaving them for Friday and Saturday? Will the crowds be insane?

the CLs for your week really aren't bad tbh, but you said your trip was from Sat-Sunday. What Friday are you talking about?

 

[proud mom]

the CLs for your week really aren't bad tbh, but you said your trip was from Sat-Sunday. What Friday are you talking about?

My trip is 8 nights -- from August 29 to September 6.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

I don't think you are crazy at all. Having a plan is essential and you are using one of the few tricks the new system gives us.

That being said today was my FP+ day for our May trip. I was able to get everything I wanted, including the new MMRR ride on our 4th day there, and FoP on our 5th day, with Slinky Dog towards the end of my trip. I have also gone in and have been able to make a few adjustments this morning as I'm finally able to get a more clear picture with ADRs, parks and FP's altogether now.

One thing to note-we were there the week of Labor Day last year-crowds in the beginning were low due to threat of the hurricane. The parks closed for a day. Plans were tossed. We still had a great time!

Honestly, we make such stringent plans and when it's all said and done, we almost ALWAYS change it on the fly when we are actually there whether it's due to ride closures, weather or just plain exhaustion, (more than once, the best attraction at WDW for me has been the sweet, sweet AC in my darkened resort room for a midday nap, lol).

 

[DrummerBoy523]

My trip is 8 nights -- from August 29 to September 6.

I think what we have here is a failure to communicate ha ha.

After reading your OP several times, I might finally understand what you are asking.

So - your crowd levels are pretty low for that week - and I really dont think it will matter all that much if you leave those days on Fri/Sat. TP has your Friday a CL1 and that Saturday a CL2

 

[Remy is Up]

The plan and thought going into it make sense. I would advise not to rely on ANY CL information because as the past couple of months have proven, it is worthless. Plan as if it will be very crowded the whole time and youll be fine. There is no slow time at WDW any longer.