Critique my HS touring plan + should we even try JTA???

[veggirl]

This is for a July weekend day, which unfortunately also happens to be EMH morning at HS (and we're off property so no EMH...)

I made this using touringplans.com but honestly it feels really optimistic. We've never been to WDW before and I'm really hoping for some real world experience, i.e. there's no way you can do that or don't do that in the morning...

We have our DD8 and DS6 with us.

Plan:
Arrive before RD
Sign up for JTA
Toy Story FP+ 9:15 - 10:15
Voyage of the Little Mermaid 10am
Star Wars Launch Bay
Tower of Terror FP+ 10:35 - 11:35am
Lunch somewhere, can move around
MuppetVision 3D
Star Tours FP+ 1:15-2:15
Frozen sing along 1:30
Jedi Training 2:20
Star Wars: A galaxy Far, Far away 2:30pm
Indiana Jones 3pm
Beauty and the Beast 4pm

I'd love any fb, feel free to tell me this will never work, you won't hurt my feelings!

I'm also seriously considering dropping JTA after reading people are arriving at 8:30 and waiting 45 minutes. HS is our first park day and I can't imagine starting our very first day ever at WDW with a 45 minute to sign up. DD8 is really interested in JTA but DS6 is luke warm, I'm sure I could convince DD that it's better to not do it because of the wait. But I'd LOVE some advice here, any wait to avoid the wait?

Thanks!

 

[Blue32]

From the reports I have read, arriving at 8:30 is probably too late for a short wait for JTA sign up. You would probably want to arrive at the gates closer to 8 am.

 

[g-dad66]

This is for a July weekend day, which unfortunately also happens to be EMH morning at HS (and we're off property so no EMH...)

If there is any possible way for you to switch your HS day to a day without morning EMH, I highly recommend it.

The way it is, a long wait for JTA sign-up is going to be inevitable.

 

[jcdeberry]

We did HS on EMH morning and we had to wait about 40 minutes. Totally worth it, though. The line seemed to thin out after we went thru, so I think you will be fine if you show up early. You won't have time to do Star Tours in 15 minutes before Frozen sing along. Even with fp, it will take longer than 15 minutes to get thru. Also, keep in mind that you have to be back at JTA 30 minutes before your show. Good luck! We loved our HS day-enjoy! We made sure we did everything we wanted and the rest was gravy if we got to it.

 

[Jfsag123]

Unfortunately, I don't think the middle will work at all. There's no way you can do your 1:15-2:15 Star Tours FP before the 1:30 Frozen show and make the show. Also you wouldn't be able to see the 1:30 Frozen show then do the 2:20 JTA. You have to show up for JTA 30 minutes before your show time, so 1:50. The Frozen show is 30 minutes long, so won't finish until 2:00. Then you won't be able to make it to the 2:30 Star Wars show after that, as JT shows last 20 minutes.

As has been said, if there is any way you could move your park days around to not do HS on an EMH day it would make your day a lot easier. On our JTA day earlier this month they started letting people in the park by about 8:35 to start Jedi sign-ups, so we did most of our waiting time before the park even opened. I would say it's definitely worth making the effort for with a kid who is very into Star Wars, however it does take up a bunch of your day.

 

[SeeDisney]

you forgot to add Fastasmic and Star Wars fireworks....both are a MUST SEE!!

 

[highlander357]

Wow. I look at that plan and picture you sprinting all over the park for the entire day. Hopefully everyone in your group is on the same page. I would have a mutiny on my hands if I tried that.

I remember taking my wife and two young daughters to MK for one of the first times. I had the entire day planned from start to finish of attractions for my girls. As we are walking through the entryway right at the beginning of Main Street, a bus pulls up with 6 characters on it, who spread out to all corners of the courtyard and start signing autographs. Guess what happened to my minute by minute planning?

But we still have a great time. I was the only one who knew my plan was destroyed.

I don't get to WDW very often, so I understand trying to do as much as possible. But I wouldn't want a plan that is destroyed because DS wants a Mickey Bar and its not on the agenda.

Have a great trip.

 

[Bryan0316]

Ok. I have a few questions. So the Jedi training is a signup near the front gate right? What time should you get to HS to do this! We are going in December and my son will love this. Don't want to miss out.

I've also read they have different times throughout the day, so we could pick accordingly.

 

[jcdeberry]

The sign up is inside the park close to Indy. You can find it on the map for specific location. They have shows every 10 and 40 minutes past the hour til 7:40, which is the last show.

 

[jcdeberry]

Get there early before rope drop, so that when they let guests in, you can head straight there with a whole bunch of others. I was not the first person in, had a stroller, and I do not run. I had to wait 40 minutes to sign up and there were still plenty of times to choose from

 

[veggirl]

Thank you guys for the feedback! I have some follow up questions:

From the reports I have read, arriving at 8:30 is probably too late for a short wait for JTA sign up. You would probably want to arrive at the gates closer to 8 am.

If we got there at 8am does that mean we're really waiting 1hr for the park to open plus a few minutes in line? I thought I recall from the 40 min waits they were done by 9:15am, so I assumed part of their 45 minutes was before the park opened. @jcdeberry was your 40 minutes after the park opened? I guess I'm just thinking that getting their earlier = longer wait even if I'm done quicker after it opens. But if I'm missing something here let me know!

Unfortunately, I don't think the middle will work at all. There's no way you can do your 1:15-2:15 Star Tours FP before the 1:30 Frozen show and make the show. Also you wouldn't be able to see the 1:30 Frozen show then do the 2:20 JTA. You have to show up for JTA 30 minutes before your show time, so 1:50. The Frozen show is 30 minutes long, so won't finish until 2:00. Then you won't be able to make it to the 2:30 Star Wars show after that, as JT shows last 20 minutes.

As has been said, if there is any way you could move your park days around to not do HS on an EMH day it would make your day a lot easier. On our JTA day earlier this month they started letting people in the park by about 8:35 to start Jedi sign-ups, so we did most of our waiting time before the park even opened. I would say it's definitely worth making the effort for with a kid who is very into Star Wars, however it does take up a bunch of your day.

I wish we could go a non-EMH morning but alas, we're going with extended family and this is the only day we can do DHS.

I'll move around the middle of the day where I have the Star Tours / Frozen sing along / JTA back to back, thank you guys for pointing that out! And in general looking at spreading things out for more stops / spontaneous things. In general I love a plan but I also have no problem throwing it out when things just happen I'm probably going to drop JTA I just don't see how I can fit it in without spending a lot of time waiting and dropping some other things.

Thank you all for the fb!

 

[jcdeberry]

The park opened at 8 am for EMH. We were in line til 8:40 and then went to the launch bay. My son loved it, so the wait was worth it. He played in line with some other kids while we waited and the line moved at a steady pace.

 

[veggirl]

The park opened at 8 am for EMH. We were in line til 8:40 and then went to the launch bay. My son loved it, so the wait was worth it. He played in line with some other kids while we waited and the line moved at a steady pace.

Thank you! Do you know if I can get in line this early if we don't have EMH?

 

[jcdeberry]

To give you an idea, this is what we accomplished on Memorial weekend at HS.


Rope drop 8am
JTA sign up til 8:40 (my DH and Dd11 rode RnR twice)
Star wars launch bay (meet Chewbacca and Kylo Ren)
Tower of Terror fp
Buzz, Woody, and green army man pictures
Toy story fp
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Star Tours fp
Backlot express for lunch
Return to resort for rest 1:00pm
Back to HS 4:30
Minnie's Seasonal Dine at H&V
Disney Jr show
Jake character greeting
Great Movie Ride (4th fp)
Star Tours (5th fp)
JTA 7:40pm
Tower of Terror (6th fp)
Fantasmic was cancelled because of thunderstorms, so we called it a night at 9pm

 

[jcdeberry]

Thank you! Do you know if I can get in line this early if we don't have EMH?

I really don't know. We have always stayed on property.

 

[yulilin3]

This is for a July weekend day, which unfortunately also happens to be EMH morning at HS (and we're off property so no EMH...)

I made this using touringplans.com but honestly it feels really optimistic. We've never been to WDW before and I'm really hoping for some real world experience, i.e. there's no way you can do that or don't do that in the morning...

We have our DD8 and DS6 with us.

Plan:
Arrive before RD
Sign up for JTA Plan 30 minutes just to be on the safe side
Toy Story FP+ 9:15 - 10:15 let's say you get into the ride at 9:45am
Voyage of the Little Mermaid 10am No way you will make the 10 am show
Star Wars Launch Bay Not sure how long you want to spend in here, it can be from 20 minutes to an hour depending on what you want to do
Tower of Terror FP+ 10:35 - 11:35am
Lunch somewhere, can move around
MuppetVision 3D
Star Tours FP+ 1:15-2:15 You would have to ride ST at 1:10 to be able to make it to FSA at 1:30pm
Frozen sing along 1:30
Jedi Training 2:20 You have to be at the JT sign up at least 30 minutes before your show time
Star Wars: A galaxy Far, Far away 2:30pm Even if you did JT at 2:20pm you won't make it to SWaGFFA at 2:30pm
Indiana Jones 3pm
Beauty and the Beast 4pm

I'd love any fb, feel free to tell me this will never work, you won't hurt my feelings!

I'm also seriously considering dropping JTA after reading people are arriving at 8:30 and waiting 45 minutes. HS is our first park day and I can't imagine starting our very first day ever at WDW with a 45 minute to sign up. DD8 is really interested in JTA but DS6 is luke warm, I'm sure I could convince DD that it's better to not do it because of the wait. But I'd LOVE some advice here, any wait to avoid the wait?

Thanks!

Check all the red comments I wrote. You have a very busy plan, I would try and cut some things down. Prioritize what you and your group wants to do. Pick 3 things that are must do and plan around that. If you have extra time everything else will be bonus. I know that it is tempting to try and do everything in one day.

 

[yulilin3]

Thank you! Do you know if I can get in line this early if we don't have EMH?

You can get in line outside the park during EMH, then at 9am or close to it they let non emh guest in.

 

[jcdeberry]

To give you an idea, this is what we accomplished on Memorial weekend at HS.


Rope drop 8am
JTA sign up til 8:40 (my DH and Dd11 rode RnR twice)
Star wars launch bay (meet Chewbacca and Kylo Ren)
Tower of Terror fp
Buzz, Woody, and green army man pictures
Toy story fp
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Star Tours fp
Backlot express for lunch
Return to resort for rest 1:00pm
Back to HS 4:30
Minnie's Seasonal Dine at H&V
Disney Jr show
Jake character greeting
Great Movie Ride (4th fp)
Star Tours (5th fp)
JTA 7:40pm
Tower of Terror (6th fp)
Fantasmic was cancelled because of thunderstorms, so we called it a night at 9pm

As you can see, we didn't get to see all of the shows. We prioritized and let the kids dictate what they wanted to do, which was more rides less shows.

 

[veggirl]

Since it's an EMH day, will crowds clear out in the afternoon? I'm wondering if I should move Launch bay to the afternoon? Also Frozen Sing-Along morning or afternoon for crowds?