We just returned from a great week and wanted to share a few tips that worked for us during the busiest time of the year.
#1 - Plan ahead: we read all the crowd calendars and planned to be in the park that was projected to be the least busiest that day. December 28th - Disney Studios; December 29th - Animal Kingdom; December 30th - EPCOT; December 31th - We avoided all parks that day!; and January 1st - Magic Kingdom.
#2 - Get there early - at rope drop. We choose one "big ride" to do first thing each morning - We did Rock n' Rollercoaster two times, Everest two times, Soarin' once, and Space Mountain once and Buzz Lightyear 3 times all before 9am.
#3 - FastPass + are very important. We booked most of our fastpasses for the mornings after 9am. We used our fastpasses as the lines were beginning to get long - and were done riding by lunch time. This gave us the afternoon to do other things that were less crowded like shows or other rides.
#4 - Be prepared for the crowds. It was very, very crowded and took a while to walk from place to place. If you're prepared to wait and not be rushed, it's easier.
#5 - Be prepared to miss a few things. With the smaller kids in our group, we prepared them that we could ride the rides we had fastpasses for and skipped some of the other ones.
#6 - Be prepared to wait in line if you really want to do a ride. Some rides just had long lines. But we discovered that the wait time posted and on the apps weren't always that long. Pirates of the Caribbean was posted 60 minutes - but it took us 39 minutes to get on. Tower of Terror had a 80 minute posted time - but it was 60 minutes from getting in line to being done with the ride.
#7 - Use the Disney app or Undercover Tourist app - the wait times were updated and were reliable.
#8 - Be creative - We made Bingo Cards and Scavenger Hunts before going. This gave us something to do in lines and to pass the time waiting. We had a group of 16, so we made it interesting by "buying" the Bingo Cards in the morning and giving out $$ for whoever got the most squares by the end of the day. We had teams for the Scavenger Hunts and took pictures. Lots of fun and kept everyone entertained.
#1 - Plan ahead: we read all the crowd calendars and planned to be in the park that was projected to be the least busiest that day. December 28th - Disney Studios; December 29th - Animal Kingdom; December 30th - EPCOT; December 31th - We avoided all parks that day!; and January 1st - Magic Kingdom.
#2 - Get there early - at rope drop. We choose one "big ride" to do first thing each morning - We did Rock n' Rollercoaster two times, Everest two times, Soarin' once, and Space Mountain once and Buzz Lightyear 3 times all before 9am.
#3 - FastPass + are very important. We booked most of our fastpasses for the mornings after 9am. We used our fastpasses as the lines were beginning to get long - and were done riding by lunch time. This gave us the afternoon to do other things that were less crowded like shows or other rides.
#4 - Be prepared for the crowds. It was very, very crowded and took a while to walk from place to place. If you're prepared to wait and not be rushed, it's easier.
#5 - Be prepared to miss a few things. With the smaller kids in our group, we prepared them that we could ride the rides we had fastpasses for and skipped some of the other ones.
#6 - Be prepared to wait in line if you really want to do a ride. Some rides just had long lines. But we discovered that the wait time posted and on the apps weren't always that long. Pirates of the Caribbean was posted 60 minutes - but it took us 39 minutes to get on. Tower of Terror had a 80 minute posted time - but it was 60 minutes from getting in line to being done with the ride.
#7 - Use the Disney app or Undercover Tourist app - the wait times were updated and were reliable.
#8 - Be creative - We made Bingo Cards and Scavenger Hunts before going. This gave us something to do in lines and to pass the time waiting. We had a group of 16, so we made it interesting by "buying" the Bingo Cards in the morning and giving out $$ for whoever got the most squares by the end of the day. We had teams for the Scavenger Hunts and took pictures. Lots of fun and kept everyone entertained.
