Disney Itinerary and FP+ planning - Please help a newbie!

[Minkishly]

I'm a huge procrastinator and am only now starting to work on my itinerary because my FP+ window is coming up! Obviously I'm freaking out a little because I'm as savvy as a golden retriever in a lab coat with a beaker.

1. How do I decide on which park to visit each day?

On our last trip to Disney, the hubs and I mostly winged it, but allocated park days according to Touring Plans' calendar. Everything kinda worked out well for us then, but I know the parks have gotten a lot more crowded and the trip calendars aren't that accurate.

This trip, we'll be staying on site and our tentative plan is to schedule a mid day shower / nap break. This is the first time we'll be going in the summer, so we've never done the whole afternoon break before. On our last trip, we kinda soldiered on from 9am to 9pm straight for our 10 disney days, which resulted in a rather grumpy husband. (I, on the other hand, had no grumbles or regrets. I mean, this is Disney.)

The only way I know how to approach planning our trip is to go by the crowd levels on Touring Plans.. while factoring EMH in. So, we'd only go to a EMH park in the morning if we plan to rope drop that, otherwise we'd go to the park that had EMH the day before. Unless a different park had a markedly lower projected crowd level (eg if Epcot was a 5 and AK a 8, we'd go to Epcot even if AK had EMH the day before).

Am I even on the right track here?

** I should also mention that we have 10 day, park hopper tickets for Disney with a Toy Story EMM, BoG PPO, AK AH (falls within the 10 days), as well as a MNSSHP (outside of the 10 days).

2. How do I prioritize / book my FP+s?

I do know that the actual itinerary will be subject to change depending on what FP+s I manage to score. I do absolutely plan to prioritize FoP because I feel like we'd love that ride the most out of the newer rides. (We have EMM for DH, so I'm not too concerned about SDD). We're quite flexible on ADRs other than the dessert parties.

Problem is, I'm not too sure which FPs to book, and which time slot to go for. There are some that are pretty clear to me, eg FoP for AK, SDD for DHS, Mine Train + mountains for MK, Frozen for Epcot. But what I struggle with are the other FPs for rides that are a little older but are still popular. For eg, with Epcot, I can never decide whether to use the FP for Frozen, Soarin' or Test Track. Or if I get a FP for 7DMT, I don't know which mountain to leave as my 4th FP.

As for time slots, I plan to schedule them earlier in the day so that I can get more FPs. (Something I learned after getting locked into Fantasmic last trip and trying to survive the rest of the day in stand by). So maybe I'd get:

1st FP : 9am to 10am (use at 9.50am to 10am)
2nd FP: 10am to 11am (use once I'm done with the first FP ride and then try to move up my 3rd FP)
3rd FP: 11am to 12pm (use as early as possible and then try to get a 4th one in before we break for lunch and our mid day park break.

During our break, we'd fish for FPs and decide on which park to visit post break depending on which FP we can snag.

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Sample Prospective Plan

On the whole, a skeleton of the daily itinerary I have in mind would go something like this:

(on a non EMH day, park opens at 9am)

8.20am - arrive at park (is this early enough?)
Park open to 9.45am : get as many standby rides as possible
9.40 to 10am: 1st FP attraction (9am to 10am)
10.05am to 10.20am: 2nd FP (10am to 11am) | try to move up 3rd FP (10am to 11am)
10.30am to 11am: 3rd FP (if successful in moving up to 10am - 11am) or a standby if lines are short | try to get 4th FP
11.05am to 11.45pm: Lunch
11.50am to 12.15pm: 3rd / 4th FP (11am to 12pm),
12.30pm to 1pm: another standby if lines are short, exit park

By 1pm: Take bus back to POP.
2pm to 4.20pm: Nap + Shower + fish for evening FP
4.30pm: Take bus back to park

5.30pm to park closing : Dinner + whatever FP / standbys we can fit in.

I have no idea whether my time estimates are accurate or not, so it's more the sequence of events that I'm thinking of.

Basically, this is currently the way that I'm going to be planning my trip. I'm hoping that I'm not making any mistakes? I'm sorry if this post is longgggg and somewhat muddled. I'm feeling pretty muddled right now. I'd really appreciate all the advice I can get!

 

[kcp6763]

Looks like you have a good grasp on things. I like to make a spreadsheet for my planning. I start by looking at the park hours and start with any EMH that I want to do and put those in. Then like you said either use a crowd calendar (although some people don't put much stock in those) or go by previous EMH days. Another tip for the hard to get fastpasses like FOP or SDD is put those days later or last in your trip. When scheduling FPs just make a priority list. If SDD or FOP is at the top start with that and go from there. I schedule the hard to get ones as early as I can and then put everything else around them, usually early like you mentioned. Plug in your special events and dining on your park days as well and once you have it laid out things will come together and you can fill in the rest.

 

[holden]

Absolutely book FP+ in order of difficulty and put the most difficult at the end of your trip. That will dictate what days you visit each park. When deciding which one to prioritize (in your EP example), go with what is most important to you. For us, we FP+ Test Track. We don't really care about Frozen, and Soarin is easy to do at rope drop or with a Garden Grill reservation. We also book TT early in the morning because it often goes down as the day goes on.

 

[Remy is Up]

No reason to feel muddled. It is certainly a lot of information to take in and absorb at once for someone who has not been in a while. Dont trust the crowd level calendars because at this point they are pretty much hit or miss with a finger in the wind. Better off planning in logical ways and basic understanding of FP/Refresh/EMH etc and what you want to accomplish. I always start with a skeleton for people who ask me to help and work things in from there. You said this is a summer plan, so Im assuming late summer since you also said MNSSHP falls just outside the 10 days, so mid august?? If thats the case will you be ahead of the SWGE opening? Im assuming that is a yes also.
Based on that keep these things in mind when it comes to using EMH. Morning EMH are invaluable and highly suggested.
The days should be standard at this point prior to SWGE: MK Friday AM, AK Saturday/Monday AM, DS Sunday AM, Epcot Thursday AM. Tuesday and Wednesday are Evening EMH at Epcot and MK.
Since you have 10 Day Hoppers, the idea of mid day break is incredibly smart. Also, the Added expense of DS EMM and AK AH isnt necessary if you use EMH/FP/ Refresh. If it were me planning a trip like this understanding how to use the system to maximize things without extra spending on events:
Saturday Arrive, relax, evening at any park to see the nighttime show
Sunday Studios EMH Youll knock out a ton by Noon (1-2 at the latest if you want to reride something or just walk leisurely) and have your break then pick a quiet park for the evening or even have a nice dinner then go to springs or see Bob, something like that
Monday EMH AK Get there early and youll get FoP plus knock out the rest of the park by Noon-1PM and have your break and still have an evening choice
Tuesday/Wednesday- Just pick something you want to do and enjoy it- No Morning EMH parks
Thursday EMH morning at Epcot- can be done by 2 or so and have the break and an evening choice
Friday EMH at MK in the morning should be done by 2 or so and then have the afternoon evening
Saturday- EMH at AK..Do the same thing you did Monday.

By doing that and using FP and then refresh, youll get your breaks, have relaxed evenings and have flexibility on ADRs to eat where you want.

 

[gap2368]

With 10 park days you can take things slow. I would book FP for the morning starting about 30-45 minutes after the park opens of your going to RD. you can do each park 2 days And the the last 2 day maybe your favorite park

The afternoon break is something I do and I give my self 4-5 hours from leaving the park to getting back. Or I do park open to about 7 pm if I want to see the parade at the MK.

 

[Minkishly]

Thank you all so much for your advice and replies! I'm floored by how generous and helpful everyone is.

Sorry I took such a long time to respond. I had a freak accident and got a cut on my left cornea so I've been visually impaired for a while. I did my FPs with an eye guard on, so yay me. Everything did go well, although that FoP morning slot was still a very tricky one to get. 7DMT and Frozen were very easy, and I got a morning SDD on 60 + 4 (which was my first DHS day anyway).

 

[andthenjsaid]

My only thought on your daily schedule is your time estimates in the morning for your FP. Even with a FP it can take 20-30 minutes to get through a ride - you might still have to snake through the ubiquitous Disney lines that snake you through multiple rooms with glimpses of the boarding platforms before snaking through another room (although granted they are much shorter windy roads for FP holders, I'm still amazed sometimes at how far they still make you walk). And you have to join up with the regular stand-by line, which can mean standing there for 5 minutes while the standby line goes in, depending on how long it is. So I think 20 minutes back-to-back-to-back is extraordinarily optimistic, especially if your rides aren't right next to one another. I'm sure plenty of people will pipe in now saying they've made it work, in which case I tip my cap to all of you! But it would involve some hustle, and I am just beyond my hustle-through-Disney days.

 

[Luxurious_Lumiere]

Do you have 10 park days, or are there down days in there?

With 10 park days (or even if its a few less) you definitely have the ability to take your time and not rush. So thats a great benefit for your trip.

I am a huge proponent of the afternoon break. A little siesta will always help you get through the day better. However, if traveling to your hotel from the current park seems like itll take forever and you arent in the mood for a nap, you can also simply leave to another resort.
For instance: on an MK day, take a boat ride or monorail to the Polynesian. You can have an affordable quick service lunch at Capt Cooks, have a dole whip, lounge in the lobby with AC, or have a drink at Tambu Lounge upstairs. Grand Floridian is nice option too, have a drink and relax on a couch while the band plays Disney tunes. I think it's best to plan your siesta, whether at your resort or other offsite location, around 1pm as the crowds get craziest during midday.


Fast Passes
Magic Kingdom: Not a "tiered" fast pass park. So you have five rides where you will want fast passes: Mine Train, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan. If you have multiple MK days, then you can get whatever two you missed on your first day in the second MK day. Once you use the first three in the morning and are looking for additional fastpasses, the rides with next longest waits (in general) are: Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Buzz Lightyear. So aim for one of those.

EPCOT: The tier one attractions are the only 3 you usually NEED a fast pass for. I may be in the minority but I always go for Soarin. It just has such a boring queue. We do single rider line for Test Track, and attempt to do Frozen when World Showcase opens (even if you wait, at least that queue is interesting). For the other two, I do Spaceship Earth (it tends to have a line in the morning) and then either Living With the Land or Journey Into Imagination (the third one doesnt really matter here tbh)

Animal Kingdom: Obviously Flight of Passage is your main goal for tier one. For the other two, definitely do Kilimanjaro Safari (waits get long, and its nice to be able to do this one early in the day when the animals are more active) and Expedition Everest. Of course: I dont care for Kali River Rapids and skip that ride, but if riding Kali is important to you, then you might opt for that one instead and do single rider for Everest or try to score it later in the day. Lots of people do Dinosaur for one of their initial past passes, but you can usually find a time where the wait is only 20 minutes or so.

Hollywood Studios: Slinky Dog Dash for tier one. Other two: Rock N Roller Coaster (another boring queue that is outdoors and hot) and Tower of Terror (currently, one elevator shaft is down for maintenance. So lines for this will be extra long for a bit).