Double Double Disney Trouble - Two Moms of Multiples Makin' Magical Memories

[Kaykool101]

Wow, next time came quick.

Okay, I am not that funny. But I seriously have to get these posts up. At this rate we will be on the vacation and I will still be working on my PTR.

Lately, I have been working on a list of "Disney To Dos", things that I need to get done before the vacation. But that is boring. So I decided to continue my posts of Touring Plans. Yay! Okay, settle down there. It isn't "that" exciting.

DAY 3 – MAGIC KINGDOM

Finally, we are heading to Magic Kingdom. This is kind of a relaxed day, but we are going to have our first really late night. I am nervous about how the babies will handle it.

Park Hours: 9am to 7pm (MNSSHP is tonight, but we are not going. This was a decision we made as a group. But the concern is that the event runs from 7 to midnight and 6 tickets will run us over $250.00, then if the babies can't handle the late night... It was just too risky).

You are probably wondering why I chose MK on a day where it closes early when we aren’t going to the party. Well, because it closes early, it’s less attended in the morning. This makes it one of the better days to visit.

Today we will focus on FantasyLand. That’s right, one whole day for one land. But this is a huge land with lots of new things. And tons of attractions perfect for babies and preschoolers.

6:30am – Rise and Shine, my magic 30 minutes again.

7:00am – Leave by car for breakfast at Kona Café.

7:30am – Kona Café ADR. We should be a little bit early. I have budgeted an hour for breakfast. Hopefully, we can make it. *fingers crossed*

8:30am – Leave the Polynesian by monorail for the Magic Kingdom

9:00am – Park Opening, if we are a little early we will try to squeeze in a bathroom break??? I know there are bathrooms outside the park at Epcot, but are there bathrooms outside the park at MK? If not we should plan on using one at the Poly.

9:15am – Tinkerbell’s Magical Nook, okay, okay, this is more for the moms and Nana than the kids, but who doesn’t love a fairy. And hopefully Tink’s sister/twin is still there.

9:30am – Peter Pans flight, when the boys were 2, this ride scared them. I don’t know why. In the scenes where we could show them Captain Hook, they calmed down some because they recognized him from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I think they are going to like it better this trip. (Just to provide some context, at 2 the boys were afraid of everything that moved on its own. This included age appropriate toys and holiday decorations, so they were afraid of a lot of things at Disney World. Now they aren’t afraid of the toys that move on their own, so I think it will go a lot better.)

9:40am – Send someone for a Winnie the Pooh FP

9:50am – The Little Mermaid ride (I am super excited about this one!)

10:10am – Barnstormer, the boy’s first coaster!!! I think they will like it. When I showed them the youtube POV video they said they would ride it.

10:15am – Pete’s Silly Side Show Meet n Greets

10:45am – Mad Tea Party

10:50am – Ride Winnie the Pooh using the FPs from earlier

11:00am – Lunch at Be Our Guest!!! I want to sit in the west wing. Hopefully, we are early enough to get our pick and avoid an insane line. If there is a line, we will split up so a couple of people can take the boys to the bathroom and change diapers while the others stand in line. Once that is done, we should be ready to order and enjoy lunch.

12:30pm – Nap Time! We will take Disney Transportation back to the hotel for a midday nap or swim in the pool. I love the animation classes at Hollywood Studios, so if I can get the babies down and Aaron to watch them, I might go to the Lobby to try my hand at the Animation Class there.
???

I was originally thinking we would head back to the park at about 3:00 and ride the haunted mansion then go for an early dinner at Columbia Harbor House, but I am concerned the boys will still be scared of Haunted Mansion and I don’t know that it is worth the risk. So, I am not certain what we are doing. It might be best just to extend naptime/pool time.

4:00pm – Early dinner somewhere, we are going to have to eat at about this time. Since Lunch is at 11:00am and Ohana ADR is 8:30. Some sort of meal needs to happen. Maybe we just do dinner at Landscape of Flavors, maybe we go to Wolfgang Puck Express, maybe we do Gasparilla Grill at Grand Flo. This is the QS meal that isn’t set in stone. I imagine we will end up at Landscape of Flavors if we hang out at the hotel for an extended nap or Columbia Harbor House if we head on back to MK. Or we might just eat a big snack in the room if we spent the QS credit on arrival day. Whatever we decide to do, we need to be fed and back in the Magic Kingdom by 5:00 to finish up our day.

5:00pm - Gaston Meet n Greet

5:30pm – It’s a small world

5:50pm – Mickey’s Philharmagic

6:20pm – Dumbo

6:45pm – Enchanted Tales with Belle (just under the wire) or Casey Jr. Splash and Soak.

7:30pm – Head out of the park, we are going to be slow about this. Take a bathroom break, take lots of pictures. Soak up all of New Fantasyland that we can. Basically, the park is still open, but after 7:00 we can’t get on anything.

8:00pm – Board the monorail for the Poly and check-in for our 8:30 ADR. I figure we can bum around the Poly and explore while we wait.

8:30pm – Ohana ADR, hopefully we can draw out the experience until the 9:30 Hallowishes fireworks. If not, we will go down to the beach to watch them like everyone else. But I prefer to watch them in the restaurant. We did that last trip and it was amazing.

9:30pm – Hallowishes fireworks

9:45pm – Take our car, which is still at the poly, home.

10:30pm – Bedtime!?!?! I hope we are that quick. I am scared to death of keeping my boys up this late.

The evening waits concern me a little. While I know the morning won’t be bad, the afternoon might be tough. A wait at Dumbo is fine because the boys will love the play area and it is air conditioned. The wait I am most worried about is Enchanted Tales with Belle. I kept trying to do it first thing in the morning, but it just wouldn’t fit. It takes so long you lose a lot of the morning hours and waits on everything else get a little crazy. But still, I don’t know if two 4 year olds are going to handle a 30 minute wait very well. I think it is the longest wait we are facing the entire trip. But I do not want to miss it.

If we don’t make it, then I will probably use our departure day (which is a flex day) to visit the MK and do Enchanted Tales with Belle first thing. But we will see how it goes. I am also still trying to work it into our second MK day and that appears to be going pretty well. So we might skip it this day in favor of Casey Jr. Splash and Soak. Then we can change the boys out of their wet clothes after the park closes before we head to the poly.

 

[Magic2000]

I LOVE shopping at the Disney Store!!! My girls are now all grown up, but now I get to buy for my granddaughter! And I can't help what the baby needs! She will definitely be getting some Disney outfits for our trip!

I have a pretty good pin collection already, and I think I might get started with the Vinylmations! I didn't realize they did Vinylmation trading too! I think that might be something Cady and I will enjoy (and I'm sure her mom will love that I get her started on that! LOL)

Your Magic Kingdom day sounds great!!!! I can't wait for Cady to see the Casey Jr Splash area! We saw it on our trip after Thanksgiving, but it was a little too cool to let her get wet!

 

[indimom]

MK plans look great. I can't wait to see the new Fantasyland through your little guys eyes! That should be something else!
OMG, that Sophia picture is awesome. You need to blow it up and frame it when they hit junior high.

 

[Kaykool101]

I LOVE shopping at the Disney Store!!! My girls are now all grown up, but now I get to buy for my granddaughter! And I can't help what the baby needs! She will definitely be getting some Disney outfits for our trip!

I have a pretty good pin collection already, and I think I might get started with the Vinylmations! I didn't realize they did Vinylmation trading too! I think that might be something Cady and I will enjoy (and I'm sure her mom will love that I get her started on that! LOL)

Your Magic Kingdom day sounds great!!!! I can't wait for Cady to see the Casey Jr Splash area! We saw it on our trip after Thanksgiving, but it was a little too cool to let her get wet!

I would be broke if I had a little girl! I can't even imagine. How can anyone say no to all that cute princess and minnie stuff they have right now. It was hard enough passing on the $35.00 Buzz and Woody costumes. I wouldn't have had the strength to say no to the princess costumes!!! Buying for your grandaughter must be both a blessing and a curse.

So I have never done vinylmation trading at Disney World. We have done some practice trading at our local Disney Store and the boys have enjoyed that.

I got the idea from FauntleroyFAN07's TR. His 4 y.o. seemed to really like trading. So when they were on sale for 2.99 I picked up a bunch.

I think the Tales and Whiskers and High School sereies are on sale for 2.99. I want some Tales and Whiskers because I actually like those, but I have probably spent enough as it is. I do not know how people afford them at 13/each!!!

Right now they are all sitting on my desk at work (except for the evil Queen of Hearts who is sitting on the dash of my car, obviously I have to keep her separate from the others, or she will harass them). People come up all the time and ask me about them. I still haven't worked out a great explanation. Their Disney, its Mickey, but mine aren't really disney because they are mostly the Under the Big Top series. eh.

I can't wait to trade them out for ones I like!

I hear you get soaked at Casey Jr. It isn't just like a little sprinkle here and there. You come out dripping. If we have time we might change the boys into trunks before they play. But I like doing it at the end of the day so we can change their clothes. I am nervous about getting wet

MK plans look great. I can't wait to see the new Fantasyland through your little guys eyes! That should be something else!
OMG, that Sophia picture is awesome. You need to blow it up and frame it when they hit junior high.

My sister will not force the classic princesses on them. So I don't know how much of "new" fantasyland is for them and how much is for us. But it is what I am most looking forward to! I know they are going to LOVE Peter Pan this time. Just wish they would sprinkle some Jake into the queue or ride or something (lol, that would probably be sacreligion to some other devoted fan). They are also going to like Winnie the Pooh, the Mad Tea Party, and my boys are going to Love It's a small World. It should be a fantastic day. It and AK are the two days I am most looking forward to.

Is it wrong that I love your suggestion to blow up the picture.

 

[Kaykool101]

Just when I think everything is settled...

I just made a whole bunch of changes to this day. Originally, I had us spending a half day in the park and leaving early. Now, I have changed that to a full day with a nap. We aren't doing anything in addition to what I had planned before, but now Nana and Keara are taking the boys back to the hotel for a nap, while Aaron and I Dine with an Imagineer.

Originally, I had them continuing to tour. But after thinking about it, I was nervous about them having to manage all 4 boys on their own. Okay, okay, mostly I was nervous about the Lights, Motor, Action blechers with 4 kids. Both Nana and Keara would have a baby and a 4 year old to keep alive and that felt like a tall order when I added in precarious heights.

DAY 4 HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

6:30am – Rise and Shine (eek! This came way too fast considering we didn’t get to bed last night until 10:30pm), we might be able to push this to 6:45 if we have been doing well with our 30 minute mornings.

7:15am – Leave the Hotel, like our wake up time, we might be able to push this until 7:20 or 7:25 but we can’t leave at 7:30 or we will be late.

7:45am – Arrive at HS and check in for our Hollywood and Vine ADR.

8:00am – Hollywood and Vine ADR. Like all breakfasts, I have budgeted an hour for this experience. I have no idea if that is reasonable. Let’s hope it is.

9:10am – The Legend of Captain Jake Sparrow. I haven’t heard great things about this, but I really want to see it anyways. I won’t wait in line longer than 10 minutes. I know it is just a little side attraction and I do not expect much. I think it might scare the children who will be having fun at Hollywood & Vine anyways, so if I go on it, I will leave the kids with Keara or Nana at the restaurant, ride, and return.

9:25am – The Great Movie Ride

9:50am – Art of Animation Character Meet n Greets. The top priority here is to grab as many character meet n greets as we can before the Disney Junior stage show. Sorcerer Mickey, Wreck it Ralph, the Incredibles, as well as, Sophia and Jake in the courtyard.

10:30am – Disney Junior Live on Stage. This was the 4 year olds favorite last trip. I imagine it will be again.

After this we may part ways if Aaron and I keep the Dine with an Imagineer Lunch that we have planned. It would run from 11:30 to 2:30 at the Brown Derby. Since everyone else has an 11:00 ADR, Aaron and I will use this time to do my favorite attraction, Animation Academy. We will also check Rockin Roller coaster FP times as it is Aaron’s favorite attraction. If the FPs are good after our lunch (2:30ish), we will grab an FP before we go to lunch.

11:00am – Sci Fi Dine In ADR for Keara, Nana, and the boys. They are going mostly for a light snack. Not an actual lunch. Just long enough to cool off and let the boys see the restaurant.

12:00 to 3:00 – Nap time for Keara, Nana, and the boys. If the 4 year olds aren’t tired, they can go to the pool to cool off for a bit. They will need to head back to the park by 2:45 or 3:00 at the latest.

3:20pm – Muppet Vision 3D, this is when Aaron and I will rejoin the group after our lunch. Hopefully we were able to squeeze in Rockin Rollercoaster and maybe even ToT before they get back to the park.

3:50pm – Phineas & Ferb meet n greet, as well as, Lightning and Mater and a potty break before Lights, Motor, Action. That might be tight!

4:30pm – Lights, Motor, Action stunt show. We may leave after Lightning comes out if the boys aren’t into it. I believe they will love it, I am just kind of hoping to duck out early because it is so HOT in those bleachers.

5:10pm – Star Tours, we all want to ride this, so we will use child swap. The 4 year olds are technically tall enough to ride. But I do not know if it will scare them or not. Keara showed them youtube clips and they were excited. Someone will run and get FPs for this during the Meet n Greets. The group waiting to ride will change diapers and take a potty break.

5:30pm – Jedi Training Academy show. Not sure if we are going to try to get the 4 year olds in it or not. They don’t know anything about Star Wars really. But it could be fun for us adults to watch and they like anything where they get to swing a sword. Haha. *sigh*, boys. Actually, my bigger issue with getting the boys into the show is that we have stand in line to sign-up, and then show up at the show 30 minutes prior and then the show is 20 minutes long. If we choose to do this, it could eat up a nice hunk of our day.

6:00pm – Exit the park

6:30pm – Dinner at Pepper’s Market

7:30pm – Leave to return to the Hotel, if we are still missing T-Rex, then here is another opportunity to try (and probably our last).

8:30pm – Bed Time!!! Obviously a little later if we go to T-Rex

 

[Kaykool101]

So I have been a little blue about my vacation. Why you ask? Well, most of the planning is done. I have ran through it so many times, there just isn't much left to do.

I have bought all the outfits. I have touring plans for every day. The reservations are set. Sure there is one or two little things that require my attention. But nothing exciting. The trip is even paid for. Now all I have to worry about is spending money for those little extras that pile up on a trip as well as who is going to watch my dogs.

A little of my lack of excitement was due at least in part, to the lack of news for parks and resorts coming out of D23. That was a huge bummer.

So today, I logged back on to the disboards and visited the News and Rumors board to rekindle some excitement. And low and behold what do I discover?!?


Fastpass plus has opened for my dates and resort. So after checking my email for an invite that wasn't there. I logged on to my Disney account. I was not disappointed!!! I am going to get magic bands and fastpass +. I am thrilled.

Off I go to make my reservations now.

I guess my touring plans are going to be changing some. However, I am mostly going to try to schedule the big rides for the times I was considering anyways. I don't think I want to try and move everything around at this point. It will just eliminate our need to run all over the park to get fastpasses.

I will post when I am done and then hopefully get up all the plans for our vacation over the next week or so.

Now I am excited again! Thank you Disney for delivering that jolt in just the nick of time!!!

 

[Magic2000]

I feel the exact same way!!! Everything is done - now what am I supposed to do for the next 3 weeks????? I even considered changing resorts just to have something new to work on. But I know my granddaughter will LOVE staying at the All Star Movies, so I guess we'll stay.

I have to admit that I do have a collection of Mickey antenna toppers for my car - I think I have just about all of them. And every time the season changes, I change my antenna topper. I currently have the Mickey ice cream one on since it's summer time. I mean, you can't have Mickey Halloween if its almost Thanksgiving - or a Valentine Mickey when its almost Easter?? Lol

My daughter and I are still thinking about whether to do the evening EMH at Hollywood Studios - that's the only time you can do the Disney Junior Block Party. Jake is supposed to be there.... But it's a little late for Cady..... We just aren't sure if we'll stay for it or not. Are yall planning to do the party?

 

[JediBonas]

You seem to really have everything figured out! Wowza, two sets of boy twins, good luck to you all at Disney . I have boy/girl twins and my son is a bull in a china shop, couldn't imagine two!

 

[Kaykool101]

I feel the exact same way!!! Everything is done - now what am I supposed to do for the next 3 weeks????? I even considered changing resorts just to have something new to work on. But I know my granddaughter will LOVE staying at the All Star Movies, so I guess we'll stay.

I have to admit that I do have a collection of Mickey antenna toppers for my car - I think I have just about all of them. And every time the season changes, I change my antenna topper. I currently have the Mickey ice cream one on since it's summer time. I mean, you can't have Mickey Halloween if its almost Thanksgiving - or a Valentine Mickey when its almost Easter?? Lol

My daughter and I are still thinking about whether to do the evening EMH at Hollywood Studios - that's the only time you can do the Disney Junior Block Party. Jake is supposed to be there.... But it's a little late for Cady..... We just aren't sure if we'll stay for it or not. Are yall planning to do the party?

So glad I am not alone in the pre-disney, post-planning blues.

Have you checked to see if you can make FP+ selections? I didn't get an invite, I just logged on to my account and clicked the FP+ button and instead of the usual little blurb popping up, it let me pick a day and start making selections. It has been a pretty awesome day.

I found out about the block party a little too late in my planning. Don't get me wrong. When I stumbled on it on kennythepirate's app, I strongly considered dumping all my plans out the window and making it a priority. But ultimately, we don't have park hoppers (at ~$50/ticket that is a 300.00 savings), so I would have to commit to HS for the day and there is only one day our entire trip that HS has evening hours. And that day is Monday, which also happens to be the most crowded resort day of our stay. So when I added crowds plus the late hour plus having to redo the schedule and dining ADRs, I decided it wasn't worth it. But I was tempted.

Have you seen pics of Sophia at HS? She looks awesome!

You seem to really have everything figured out! Wowza, two sets of boy twins, good luck to you all at Disney . I have boy/girl twins and my son is a bull in a china shop, couldn't imagine two!

It is always a pleasure to meet another mother of multiples. Boys and girls are so different. I imagine having twins just exagerates the differences. How old are your twin? I would have loved a boy/girl set. Alas, it was not in the cards. But my boys are awesome and I am super greatful for them.

 

[Kaykool101]

I thought I would share my thoughts on my FP+ experience so far, but I don't have much time. Unfortunately, that means I will have to be brief. I know, that never actually happens.

I have spent a good portion of my day working on making selections. I have 4 days done, including updating my touring plans.

According to the software, it is saving us a decent amount of time.

My initial take away is, "hey, this might actually work."

As you can tell from my plans, I am a firm believer in rope drop. And therefore my selections have not been what I would have thought.

How so? you ask.

Well, I would have thought the e-tickets would have eaten all my FP+s up. However, to everyone out there wondering who was going to reserve Magic Carpets of Aladdin, appearently it is me.

No, no, wait. It actually made sense. At 9 minutes on my second MK day Magic Carpets of Aladdin was by far my longest wait. Everything else was 5 or less. Because we are hitting the big attractions for the day during Extra Morning Magic hours it was a long wait. No granted, at 16 minutes if we choose to ride Pirates, it will be our longest wait. But I decided against it since we might skip the attraction if the kids are afraid of it. And, I figure 16 minutes indoors is alot more tolerable than 9 minutes in the heat.

One of my other selections ended up being the speedway. I HATE this attraction. The boys want to ride it and I convieniently left it out. The line is just too long! And in the heat! We melted last time. However, since I had a FP+ slot open, I thought, hey why not.

I was shocked to see myself getting some of the "lesser" attractions that had not previously had FP. But I think it makes sense for my group.

When I am able to post my completed plans, you will be able to see what I mean.

I am not going to lie, some of the appeal of the new FP+ attractions is that I know I will be able to grab FP for the usual if I need them, whereas that option is not available for the new stuff. Once the old FP system goes away, I might not feel the same. But we shall see...

Oh yeah, this was suppose to be short. More to come on FP+ and how my plans have changed.

 

[Kaykool101]

I just started looking at HS FP+, and it is looking like we are going to get to go on Toy Story Mania both HS days!!!

So excited.

 

[JediBonas]

It is always a pleasure to meet another mother of multiples. Boys and girls are so different. I imagine having twins just exagerates the differences. How old are your twin? I would have loved a boy/girl set. Alas, it was not in the cards. But my boys are awesome and I am super greatful for them.

Same here . They are complete opposites, my daughter's a tiny thing but totally the boss! My son is super big (99th percentile for height) but such a sweetheart, he just needs to realize how big he is. They are 21 months, we'll be celebrating their 2nd bday at Disney!

The whole FP + thing has me worried. I'm a planner but I don't want to plan out rides so far in advanced, especially because I don't know how the kiddos are going to be or even what park we'll be at when.

 

[Kaykool101]

Same here . They are complete opposites, my daughter's a tiny thing but totally the boss! My son is super big (99th percentile for height) but such a sweetheart, he just needs to realize how big he is. They are 21 months, we'll be celebrating their 2nd bday at Disney!

The whole FP + thing has me worried. I'm a planner but I don't want to plan out rides so far in advanced, especially because I don't know how the kiddos are going to be or even what park we'll be at when.

That is awesome. We took my nephews to Disney for the first time about a month after their 2nd birthday. We had a great time. Day 2 was a nightmare, but after we got over that hump they adjusted to the pace nicely. Their favorites at 2 were Hollywood and Vine Character meal, Disney Junior Live on Stage, Epcot Character Spot (because they could see them all one after the other, no the case since the redo), Buzz and Woody meet n greet, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. And my sister says one of her favorite moments was when they interacted with Alice and Mary Poppins at 1900 Park Fare. We didn't plan princess stuff, so not alot of face character time, but what little we did was amazing.

I can see the drawbacks of FP+ for the person who does not pick out their parks in advance. But that is the purpose of FP+. Disney wants guests to commit to which park they are going to visit before they arrive. I will say this of FP+. Until they disable the FP legacy system. Don't worry about what you select for the trip. Just pick the attractions you know you are going to want to do. If you use them, yay, if not, don't worry about it.

Until they roll out FP+ to off-property guests there will be ample availablity, even day of.

As someone who plans out my Disney Days to the minute, I still found commiting to an exact ride time alot more difficult than I expected. I imagine that is going to be a challenge for most guests, especially if it was difficult for me.

 

[Kaykool101]

I actually had all my days planned and written up, just waiting to be posted. Then I got FP+! So I am reworking all my days. I have scheduled FP+s for every day of my trip except for departure day and Epcot Day 2 (World Showcase). I have not decided if I will schedule anything for my World Showcase day. I worked very hard on that schedule so that we would make some of the shows on time. I do not want to go changing it. And almost none of the attractions are FP+ attractions. Maelstrom is the only exception, but I doubt we go on it because it will scare the boys.

Now I am going to go back through my new FP+ adjusted schedule day by day. I will also provide some thoughts about my experience of FP+ along the way.

First, I want to let everyone know that while, at times, I find planning a Disney trip to be a chore, for the most part, I enjoy doing it. I do not mind moving stuff around and thinking about the logistics of everything. I would prefer to have a solid plan going into the trip than to be spontaneous.

That being said, there were times I found FP+ to be cumbersome and difficult. That may be because I have more solid plans than the average guest. So for someone who is less of a planner it might actually be better.

I read a statement by a cast member somewhere that the Disney website works better once you are activated for FP+. In my experience, this is not true.

My chief complaint is the site is very slow. Each page takes at least 5 to 10 seconds to load. This is very lengthy in world of web page loading. Further, booking or changing a FP+ is a 6 step process. So it is time consuming to make the slightest change.

The initial booking of the 3 FP+s at once gives you an option of 4 different time sets. These never worked for me. Further, they frequently overlapped with dining reservations I had booked. Then it would say that a FP+ (that didn’t overlap a dining reservation) overlapped with a dining reservation when there was not one scheduled at the time shown. So in this interface, ADRs are not syncing up correctly.

After you book you initial three attractions, you can change the time or attraction if you would like. It gives you available times. But does not show times 2 hours after each ADR. For me, in this small test, that was not an issue. When we go park wide, this is going to be a problem for people with several dining reservations. Because it will limit the number of available FP+s even more. I personally, feel 2 hours is excessive. Because the window stays open for an hour. I think 1.5 would be more reasonable. But I suppose they are trying to avoid people complaining to the restaurants about not moving fast enough to make FP+ times. I would prefer a warning that said to make the reservation at my own risk or something.

My reservation for the Pirates League did not display or factor in to my FP+s.

So now that I have gone over a little bit about my experience with the interface. Let’s move on to my new Epcot Day 1 schedule.

You can see my original plan here. I think the most notable change is the addition of Character Spot. By doing FP+, I was able to eliminate some of the running around. But the big bonus was Character Spot is an FP+ attraction. Therefore, I was able to add it back in. Originally, I made the decision to omit it from the schedule because you must visit at park opening or the wait time gets too high (over 10 to 15 minutes). Therefore, I had to decide between Sum of All Thrills at park opening or Character Spot. Sum of All Thrills won. However, with a FP+ the wait time is much more reasonable, and I added it back in. Now our schedule looks like this:

DAY 1: EPCOT

9:00am – Epcot Park opening, we might be a little late because of breakfast.

9:00am – We head straight for Sum of All Thrills. The kids and I will get traditional FPs for Test Track and then bum around Innoventions while the rest of the adults ride Sum of All Thrills a few times.
9:45am – Ride Test Track using child swap and our FPs (if legacy FPs are not an option we should still be fine with standby).
10:15am – Journey into Imagination. This will be the first ride for the babies. So I am excited.
10:30am – Epcot Character Spot using our 10:00 to 11:00 FP+
11:00am – Lunch at Sunshine Seasons
12:00pm – Return to Hotel for mid-day nap
2:45pm – Leave Hotel to Return to park
3:20pm – Ride Living with the Land
3:40pm – Ride Soarin using child swap and our FP+ reservation for 3:30 to 4:30
4:30pm – Dinner at Garden Grill
6:00pm – The Seas Pavilion. We will all ride the Seas with Nemo (using 6:30 to 7:30 FP+), tour the main tank and exhibits, and see Turtle Talk with Crush.
7:30pm – We will all ride Spaceship Earth on the way out of the park.

All in all, not a big change. The Legacy FP for Test Track is the only one I am planning on. We will see if any more creep in. However, based on my plan, I could deal with not having access to the legacy FP system. We will see if that holds up once I am there.

I have heard several criticism about FP+ being limited to 3 from people who claim to get 8 to 12 in one day. I make very solid plans. And in my experience if you are running around getting 8 to 12 FPs in a day, you are spending more time collecting FPs than it would take for you just to ride the ride and move on. For example, if you grab a FP then go to the other side of the park to use a FP then come back to ride the FP you just got, you could have spent less time in line than you did backtracking to get the FP in the first place. So I imagine those people will be able to accomplish about the same amount even without the FPs. Just a guess those. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Right now my only concern for the future of FP+ is the availability of FP+ times. In this test, there were more than enough times to choose from, but I was hugely limited because of park hours, existing FPs, and ADRs. That problem will only compound when availability shrinks.

 

[Magic2000]

It's getting really close now!!!!!

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Kristin. Having used FP+ this last trip I can say that once you get beyond the frustration of logging on and confirming your tickets, and choosing the fp+ options, at the parks it worked great. We had a few issues at first but the CMs were flexible.

I agree with you that there were plenty of time options but I worried that the system wasn't recognizing all of my ADRs and such.

Great planning with all the details for your Epcot day!

 

[EllieBride]

Hooray - your trip is nearly here. I hope you have a magical time and look forward to hearing about it soon.

 

[Mommy2BnB]

All of your park plans look great! Hope FP+ makes your trip better.

 

[emmysmommy]

I hope you are enjoying your trip and I can't wait for you to come back and share with us!!