JW25
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2017
- Messages
- 16
Back from our second trip, 2/5-2/9. We had a great time and literally rode every ride we wanted except for TT (which had unexpectedly closed during the evening). During our first trip in 2015, we "winged it" and didn't do FP as we didn't know what we wanted to do. For our second trip, I had FP's lined up and ADR's made. Pre-planning was an immense help, but I would suggest building in some "wind down" time at least once a day to escape the bustle.
MK: We broke this up into a half-day and a full-day visit. On our half-day (Sunday afternoon/evening) we did 7DMT, Cinderella and Elena and Enchanted Takes with Belle. Our last FP was at 5pm and we were able to grab other FP's including Space Mountain, It's a Small World, after we used up our initial 3. After we would scan our MB's for the FP, I would log in to the app, see what FP's were available and go ahead and get them while we waited in the FP line for our current ride.
For our full day at MK (Wednesday), we arrived around 9 am and went straight to Tomorrowland, where it was a ghost town. We planned to work counter clock-wise around MK. I had FP for Buzz Lightyear (5 min stand-by wait, so I felt kinda dumb). We then went to Astro-Orbiter and were able to walk right on (standby). We then had a 20 min stand-by wait for Tomorrowland Speedway. We then walked right on to Barnstormer (standby). Lines really didn't start to pick up until around 11a.
I'm not sure why Peter Pan's Flight stand-by is always so long, but we did FP, which I feel you're forced to FP unless you want to wait, but we walked right on with FP. Later that day I picked up FP's for PoC, Dumbo, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, and Big Thunder Mountain using the FP strategy I mentioned.
That evening was EMH. My 7 year old insisted we do Laugh Floor, which we did after Wishes. It was actually enjoyable to end our evening sitting in on a comedy show. Afterwards the area in front of the castle was virtually empty (around 9-930p) and we were able to get great evening shots in front of it.
Epcot (Monday): I probably didn't need to FP Spaceship Earth at 9am, but it saved us maybe 5 min. I also probably didn't need to FP The Seas with Nemo. I am definitely glad we used FP for FEA, the line was almost an hour long around 11am, and more than 2 hours long when we left Epcot that evening. After FEA, we waited about 20-25 min to meet Anna and Elsa for my two daughters. We had a dinner reservation at Garden Grill, which was an unexpected surprise of an experience. Living with the Land helped put my 2 year old to sleep when she needed a nap before dinner.
HS: I had a 9:45a FP for ToT. There was an issue where only 1 elevator was working and they were only accepting FP's. There were a lot of upset standby people. I ended up waiting about 20 min to get on even with FP. For Toy Story Mania, FP's are a must, we saved about 45 min versus standby. We were really looking forward to meeting Moana, her wait was only 20 min around 11am and she was amazing with my 2 daughters. I don't think she's reached peak popularity yet which was a huge help. We ended up picking up FP's for Indiana Jones (not really necessary). I really enjoyed the stunt show. We brought along baby bans for my 2 year old, which helped with the explosions. There is a TON of Stars Wars stuff always going on. My 7 year old loved seeing all the Star Wars characters on fully display.
A word of caution: we were standing behind the main stage during a Star Wars show as we were able to see the characters walk from the tents to the back of the stage. Unexpectedly, firework cannons went off right next us, scaring the daylights out of my two kids. No warning signs in the area. Not placing fault on Disney, but just be aware if you're in that area with younger ones.
AK: we spent out last day here and I really enjoyed how it tends to be a slower pace, not everyone rushing around from one ride to another. We FP'd Expedition Everest around 10am and standby was only 15-20 min. Our FP for Finding Nemo the musical helped us snag a good seat. We also FP's the Safari, which saved about 30-45 min.
I made all FP reservations at the 60 day window. My wife and I had mapped out what days we were going to which park and ideal times we wanted to go on each ride. That helped immensely when I was in a flurry that 60 day morning booking everything. Keep in mind you can tweak along the way as time slots open/close.
MK: We broke this up into a half-day and a full-day visit. On our half-day (Sunday afternoon/evening) we did 7DMT, Cinderella and Elena and Enchanted Takes with Belle. Our last FP was at 5pm and we were able to grab other FP's including Space Mountain, It's a Small World, after we used up our initial 3. After we would scan our MB's for the FP, I would log in to the app, see what FP's were available and go ahead and get them while we waited in the FP line for our current ride.
For our full day at MK (Wednesday), we arrived around 9 am and went straight to Tomorrowland, where it was a ghost town. We planned to work counter clock-wise around MK. I had FP for Buzz Lightyear (5 min stand-by wait, so I felt kinda dumb). We then went to Astro-Orbiter and were able to walk right on (standby). We then had a 20 min stand-by wait for Tomorrowland Speedway. We then walked right on to Barnstormer (standby). Lines really didn't start to pick up until around 11a.
I'm not sure why Peter Pan's Flight stand-by is always so long, but we did FP, which I feel you're forced to FP unless you want to wait, but we walked right on with FP. Later that day I picked up FP's for PoC, Dumbo, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, and Big Thunder Mountain using the FP strategy I mentioned.
That evening was EMH. My 7 year old insisted we do Laugh Floor, which we did after Wishes. It was actually enjoyable to end our evening sitting in on a comedy show. Afterwards the area in front of the castle was virtually empty (around 9-930p) and we were able to get great evening shots in front of it.
Epcot (Monday): I probably didn't need to FP Spaceship Earth at 9am, but it saved us maybe 5 min. I also probably didn't need to FP The Seas with Nemo. I am definitely glad we used FP for FEA, the line was almost an hour long around 11am, and more than 2 hours long when we left Epcot that evening. After FEA, we waited about 20-25 min to meet Anna and Elsa for my two daughters. We had a dinner reservation at Garden Grill, which was an unexpected surprise of an experience. Living with the Land helped put my 2 year old to sleep when she needed a nap before dinner.
HS: I had a 9:45a FP for ToT. There was an issue where only 1 elevator was working and they were only accepting FP's. There were a lot of upset standby people. I ended up waiting about 20 min to get on even with FP. For Toy Story Mania, FP's are a must, we saved about 45 min versus standby. We were really looking forward to meeting Moana, her wait was only 20 min around 11am and she was amazing with my 2 daughters. I don't think she's reached peak popularity yet which was a huge help. We ended up picking up FP's for Indiana Jones (not really necessary). I really enjoyed the stunt show. We brought along baby bans for my 2 year old, which helped with the explosions. There is a TON of Stars Wars stuff always going on. My 7 year old loved seeing all the Star Wars characters on fully display.
A word of caution: we were standing behind the main stage during a Star Wars show as we were able to see the characters walk from the tents to the back of the stage. Unexpectedly, firework cannons went off right next us, scaring the daylights out of my two kids. No warning signs in the area. Not placing fault on Disney, but just be aware if you're in that area with younger ones.
AK: we spent out last day here and I really enjoyed how it tends to be a slower pace, not everyone rushing around from one ride to another. We FP'd Expedition Everest around 10am and standby was only 15-20 min. Our FP for Finding Nemo the musical helped us snag a good seat. We also FP's the Safari, which saved about 30-45 min.
I made all FP reservations at the 60 day window. My wife and I had mapped out what days we were going to which park and ideal times we wanted to go on each ride. That helped immensely when I was in a flurry that 60 day morning booking everything. Keep in mind you can tweak along the way as time slots open/close.
