Best strategy for Epcot- TT and Soarin'?

[phillymummer]

Hello DISers!

So here is the scenario

Epcot Day.
Opening at 8am (EMH).
Daughter has a dance workshop at 9am.
She wants to ride both Soarin' and TT. This will be the first time she will ride them, so SR line for TT is out of the question (this may be an exaggeration. I think I can convince her to go with SR)

We plan to be there for RD, but will most likely get there closer to 8, not much earlier (I doubt we will be able to get up before 7am!). Will I be able to get one of those rides out of the way before her workshop? If so, which one do we have a better chance with? If you don't think I would be able to get one of those out of the way, then I may not go for RD and just go for the workshop at 9am.

If I wait to do both rides after her workshop, which one should I FP?

Thanks!

~PM

 

[minnie mum]

I'd FP Soarin and try for TT first thing in the morning. Both lines will build quickly in the morning, but I think TT moves faster. Having said that, I'd still recommend that you do whatever you need to do to get there well before 8:00. Otherwise you will have several hundred people ahead of you who will be mostly headed to one of those 2 rides.


ETA: how old is she? Too young for SR?

 

[phillymummer]

Thanks Minnie Mum! I just don't see us getting there early. The day before is our arrival day (and we'll be up at about 4am to catch the flight). We plan on going to MK and staying as long as we can. That means the next day we will be pretty tired. I wonder if I am being overly ambitious just trying to make it for RD! If I skip the RD idea, should I still FP Soarin and suck up the stand-by line for TT? In regards to the SR line for TT- she does not like "strangers" and would probably be very nervous to ride with someone she does not know.

Thanks for your input!

 

[FindMeAFishingSpot]

I would FP Soarin as well. Last several times we've been there, the line has been longer for Soarin than TT.

 

[phillymummer]

Thank you! Hopefully I can get a FP! We are arriving mid-week of jersey week and I am afraid all the people arriving earlier in the week will have taken all the good FPs! But I really have no idea since this will be the first time I am using FP+.

 

[CAS239]

Yes FP Soarin. Sometimes TT is down due to weather, so at least you'll have Soarin FP. Get to park as early as you can and head to TT if you want to try to get them both done within that hour. Then use the FP for Soarin. Or rush to TT and have your Soarin FP set up for later in the day.

If you don't get there early though you'll be waiting quite a while. We were there two days ago and Soarin had a 70 min wait about 25 min after park opening. TT is usually about the same

 

[itchin2go]

Thank you! Hopefully I can get a FP! We are arriving mid-week of jersey week and I am afraid all the people arriving earlier in the week will have taken all the good FPs! But I really have no idea since this will be the first time I am using FP+.

Are you booking 60 days out? If so, you should have no trouble with FPs. I don't think you'll have trouble with TT or Soarin even 30 days out.

 

[kelleybean]

Maybe someone can comment on this ... what are the lines like for TT around closing? I would definitely FP for Soarin b/c that line is really, really slow. I'm wondering if that's a good option since getting there early is going to be hard.

 

[ErinCat]

Do the lines decrease late at night? Could they chill until then and be "night" people rather than RD?

 

[phillymummer]

We don't plan on spending the whole day in Epcot. Believe it or not.... it's not a full-day park for us. I know.... . After We use our FPs there, we will probably hop over to MK or DHS. I'm still working out that part of the trip.

 

[SeilerBird]

This will be the first time she will ride them, so SR line for TT is out of the question.

I don't understand your logic. There is no reason she can't ride it by herself. All you do is sit there and enjoy the ride. I always do SR at TT at RD and then a FP for Soarin'. Both are done in less than an hour.

 

[Accident]

Fp soaring and I've had under 20 minute waits when riding TT near the end of the night. Future world becomes mostly a ghost town by dinner time as most good food places are in world showcase. soarin never seems to become a shorter line.

We actually don't go in early, waiting for after lunch and we can walk on most of future world and be at world showcase by dinner. We dont' stop and do everythign after the ride though, epcot is a few rides with a lot of after ride activities..

 

[g-dad66]

Where is the dance workshop at? You might be able to get TT or Soarin done at 8:00 if you don't have to go far to get to the 9:00 workshop.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Do the lines decrease late at night? Could they chill until then and be "night" people rather than RD?

We rode Test Track via standby just a few weeks ago at about 8 pm. The posted wait was 40 minutes, but the actual wait was about 10 mins.

 

[ZoZo]

I don't understand your logic. There is no reason she can't ride it by herself. All you do is sit there and enjoy the ride. I always do SR at TT at RD and then a FP for Soarin'. Both are done in less than an hour.

OP said her daughter is very shy and wouldn't be comfortable sitting with someone she doesn't know.

 

[nherbert]

If your daughter is shy/nervous do not do test track single rider line it's not worth it. We are RD people we head straight to TT and are in and out in under 30 minutes every time. Sometimes we can ride twice before 9am if they send you through FP queue during EMH for the first people there. Walk Fast but do not run straight to TT. FP Soarin definitely much longer and much more boring queue. If you have to SD TT the queue is interesting. My then 6 year old was a fanatic for TT could not do it enough to satisfy him (but there is no way he would do single rider), was terrified of Soarin and only did in once.

Have fun,

 

[phillymummer]

Thanks everyone! I will FP soarin' and figure out a plan for TT. She may ride SR once she realizes how long the SB line is!

 

[thr33boys]

If you're going to fp soarin, I'd make sure you pick a time later in the morning or early afternoon just in case you find it too difficult to get up when the time comes. I think you do have an ambitious schedule and I'm sure you want your daughter to be well rested for her dance workshop as well as be able to hop to another park later in the day.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Funny, we did just the opposite last year! We had missed TT on our previous trip and I knew the boys absolutely wanted to try the new build-your-car thing, so we made a FP for that to be sure we got to do it! We went to RD (9:00 that day) and arrived maybe 20 minutes early. Weren't the first in line, but not too far back either. Once in the park, we headed straight to Soarin'. Not running! But I like to call it walking with purpose! We were in the very first ride of the day! In and out by 9:30 at the latest. The line had already jumped to 30 minutes by that time. But it worked great for us!!! We then did a few other things in the area and had a FP for TT at around 10:30. Worked out perfectly! We could have easily made a 9:30-10:30 FP for TT.

 

[juliekzp]

If you don't care about FPs for other Epcot rides, you could cancel the other two (in the morning, BEFORE you ride Soarin), then ride Soarin, then go to a kiosk and get TT FPs for later.