Epcot and HS same day (what order?)

[Dashcomplete]

Hi all,

Is there a clear order in which to do Epcot and HS if you were to spend a half day in each park?

We are a group of adults looking to prioritize the following rides:
Soarin
Test Track
Frozen

Midway Mania
Tower of Terror
Rockin Roller Coaster
Star Tours

My thought is the following
PPO dining at GG
-Soarin immediately afterwards
-rush to Frozen (standby)
-Test Track single rider line

then HS for the following:
Tower of Terror (fastpass)
Midway Mania (fastpass, tier 1)
Star Tours (fastpass)
Rockin Roller Coaster, single rider line

We will have access to SDFP/dummy bands but so that might be another strategy to use those in the morning park. Projected Touring plans crowd estimated to be a 6 for both parks. Any thoughts?

Has this already been exhaustively discussed? If so can you point me in that direction? thanks.

 

[Accident]

If you want to see the star wars fireworks, do HS second. If oyu want to do illuminations do epcot second.

 

[loves to dive]

the only thing I'd do different would be rope drop Frozen then go to Soarin and single rider TT. It would really depend on the time of year as to which one I did morning and which one I did afternoon. If it were during F&G or F&W, I'd do Epcot afternoon and HS morning. I'd rope drop TSMM, then do ToT and the rest. I'd then do my FPs in Epcot. You could possibly be out of HS by around 11 if you timed everything right and were just riding rides and not doing anything else there. You could even do an early FP at HS and immediately get on MDE and book your FP for Epcot but chances of getting Frozen same day are pretty slim.

 

[Anal Annie]

Are you onsite guests that can take advantage of EMH's? Do you know if either park has EMH's on the day you're planning to go which might be an advantage in your morning park to get there early? We rarely book FP's for EP because of the tiering structure and lack of rides to use the FP's on but we also wouldn't do FEA standby unless it was during PM EMH's or something. On this past trip we did book some FP's at EP because we were there during a busy week and we had our DS with us who hadn't done either the new Soarin' or FEA before. I think with your current plan you're probably going to have a pretty long wait for FEA if you don't do it FIRST. It's a cute ride but not worth a 90 min.+ wait IMO. And as already mentioned which nighttime show are you most interested in? What about Fantasmic?

 

[ErinsMommy]

Ive never heard of a single rider line for RnRC unless something has changed there, but IMO I would FP that before I would FP Star Tours.

 

[Dashcomplete]

Thanks for all the responses. It's very helpful

rope drop Frozen then go to Soarin and single rider TT

Great point.

Are you onsite guests that can take advantage of EMH's? Do you know if either park has EMH's on the day you're planning to go which might be an advantage in your morning park to get there early?

The day in question is a Friday in early June (crowd calendar 6) with no EMH in either park.

I guess the crux of my question is whether people commonly do this combination and whether most people are doing in a specific order.

 

[Anal Annie]

Ive never heard of a single rider line for RnRC unless something has changed there, but IMO I would FP that before I would FP Star Tours.

There is most definitely a Single Rider line at RNC - the entrance is right next to the FP return line. BUT it is sometimes closed. I am not sure what criteria they use on whether or not they have it open. But we've done it probably once per trip.

The day in question is a Friday in early June (crowd calendar 6) with no EMH in either park.

I guess the crux of my question is whether people commonly do this combination and whether most people are doing in a specific order.

We always park hop and generally don't follow any "rules" on which parks we combine together on which days. I usually do plan at least half of our days using EMH's either way. If we stay out late we don't do the AM the next day. If we're planning an AM EMH then we don't do a PM one the night before. On our recent January trip we did end up having one day that we did HS in the AM and EP in the evening (it was an EMH's evening at EP). I had left the afternoon / evening open as a flexible time to choose last minute what to do. We chose EP because it was open later when all of the other parks were closing early. While we don't normally plan our FP's in our morning park we did that day 'cuz we had left the evening open - it was on a Sunday. I'm trying to remember what we did when we got there. We probably didn't get there until between 5 and 6:00. I think we did Soarin' standby and then single rider TT before looking for something to eat. It was freezing that night so we ended up finding an 8:00 San Angel Inn slot 30 minutes prior so we went over there to warm up. EMH's started at 9:00 so then we walked over to FEA after Illuminations to ride that during EMH's. That's actually all we got done. By the time we finished up at FEA there really wasn't a lot of time left and it was COLD so we packed it in.

We are planning a trip for July 4th week right now. I printed out the easywdw crowd calendar from LAST July to use as a little guide (since Josh hasn't been updating them lately that's all I have). Last July HS had PM EMH's on Fridays in July but this year they're at MK AM on Fridays. We went the first week in June last summer and a couple of weeks before we went they changed some of the EMH's around from 1 park to another which frustrated me to no end because we'd already planned our days out. One day did involve HS but I can't remember now exactly what they changed. My experience is that they will likely extend park hours a couple of times between now and then so planning this far out is just like throwing darts. The EMH's for summer are not following the same days as what they are during the winter nor are they the same as last summer. Frustrating to plan as they change things all the time. I personally think combining those 2 parks together is fine. I'm not sure why you're even questioning the combination?

 

[dwheaton]

I'd second what the others say about rushing first to Frozen. If you aren't going to use FPs at Epcot, that's the best choice. It does involve a lot more walking, but it's going to keep you from waiting more than an hour for Frozen (if not a lot more). Soarin' may have a 30-minute wait, and Test Track has single rider.

Your FP choices at DHS make sense to me. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster does have a single rider line, and it's open on most days. I did go on a slow day in January where it wasn't active. In June, I suspect the single rider option will be open.

 

[Dashcomplete]

I personally think combining those 2 parks together is fine. I'm not sure why you're even questioning the combination?

Combining the 2 parks is a done deal, but I'm just trying to figure out the order based on people's experiences. Thanks for sharing yours!

I'd second what the others say about rushing first to Frozen. If you aren't going to use FPs at Epcot, that's the best choice. It does involve a lot more walking,

If I am rope dropping Frozen, I would lose the benefit of a pre-park opening garden grill reservation, right? So I should probably just cancel that and just join the rope dropping masses.

 

[erionm]

Ive never heard of a single rider line for RnRC unless something has changed there.

RnRC is one of only three attractions at WDW that have a single rider line. The other two are Test Track and Expedition Everest.

 

[ErinsMommy]

RnRC is one of only three attractions at WDW that have a single rider line. The other two are Test Track and Expedition Everest.

Ugh I never knew this! For all these years I avoided it because daughter didn't 'height' into it yet and I didn't want to keep the family waiting through that long line.

 

[Owl X]

...
The day in question is a Friday in early June (crowd calendar 6) with no EMH in either park.
...

Note that Disney sells an Epcot After 4 Annual Pass for Florida residents.
Epcot will most likely have much larger crowds in the evening than in the morning on a Friday due to locals.

 

[Squirlz]

Ugh I never knew this! For all these years I avoided it because daughter didn't 'height' into it yet and I didn't want to keep the family waiting through that long line.

Last time I did it I was the only "single" person in the line. The rest were families and groups of friends. They would let the line back up all the way to the door then fill an entire car with "single" riders. Didn't work well at all.

 

[tlmadden73]

I would think you would have better luck fast passing one of the Tier 1 rides at Epcot, (like Frozen) and not worrying about a PPO reservation (if the only reason you are getting it IS to basically jump ahead on the Soaring line), taking two throwaway Fast Passes at Epcot as early as you can get them and then using your 4th, 5th, 6th Fast Passes on the rides at DHS.

Though due to the popularity of TSMM, that may be tough to get, but if you save time by getting Fast Passes at RnRC and Tower of Terror in the afternoon, then doing Standby for TSMM may not be that bad. I just don't see DHS being that busy (and thus same day Fast Passes available) due to its perceived "lack" of attractions and all the construction.

So I say:
Soaring - Rope Drop
Test Track - Single Rider
Frozen - Fast Pass
.. then Fast Passes for two other Tier 2 rides .. have lunch and head over to DHS.

Then book the 4th Fast Pass for whatever is available (and closest in time) and head over to DHS for the day and then get the 5th, 6th or whatever fastpasses.


.. or I saw you had dummy bands (second MDE account?) honestly (despite using a loophole) that would probably be the best bet.

 

[ArielSRL]

I've been doing a little SDFP research lately...checking what is available at 8/9am on the app or website and I have seen Soarin available several times. The caveat is I didn't pay attention to the times available....they may have all been in the afternoon/evening and that wouldn't really help you with Epcot AM touring.

Did you book a package or were your tickets separately purchased? If separately purchased, you can check for same day availability yourself.

 

[Dashcomplete]

Note that Disney sells an Epcot After 4 Annual Pass for Florida residents.
Epcot will most likely have much larger crowds in the evening than in the morning on a Friday due to locals.

GREAT information! thanks. I didn't think about that.

I've been doing a little SDFP research lately...checking what is available at 8/9am on the app or website and I have seen Soarin available several times. The caveat is I didn't pay attention to the times available....they may have all been in the afternoon/evening and that wouldn't really help you with Epcot AM touring.

Did you book a package or were your tickets separately purchased? If separately purchased, you can check for same day availability yourself.

Good call. I have an AP so can check the FP availability. I never thought to do that. Has anyone ever SDFP Soarin or Test track early in the AM?

So I say:
Soaring - Rope Drop
Test Track - Single Rider
Frozen - Fast Pass
.. then Fast Passes for two other Tier 2 rides .. have lunch and head over to DHS.
Then book the 4th Fast Pass for whatever is available (and closest in time) and head over to DHS for the day and then get the 5th, 6th or whatever fastpasses.
.. or I saw you had dummy bands (second MDE account?) honestly (despite using a loophole) that would probably be the best bet.

OK, yes. I generally try and use my dummy bands in the AM park and scheduled FP in the PM park. I like your recommendations and would be nervous about missing the TSMM which is my favorite ride.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

I've found the RnR single rider line to be super slow. It gets really backed up and can be 30+ minutes. Test Track about the same though. I've had much better luck with Everest single rider.

 

[PattiPB]

I guess the crux of my question is whether people commonly do this combination and whether most people are doing in a specific order.

We've done that combination in theme parks both ways, and for me it's all about where I went to be for the night entertainment. HS almost always wins, because Fantasmic! and now the Star Wars show beat Illuminations for everybody in my family.

 

[cindyfan]

Thanks for all the responses. It's very helpful
Great point.
The day in question is a Friday in early June (crowd calendar 6) with no EMH in either park.
I guess the crux of my question is whether people commonly do this combination and whether most people are doing in a specific order.

I think a previous post stated whichever night-time entertainment you would like to see pretty much decides the order, if that doesn't matter... then I'd do Epcot second in order to really enjoy the World Showcase! That is what we almost always do!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My husband and I are doing Epcot first and then go to DHS for the evening.

He wants to see the Star Wars laser show so I booked us the dessert party as a surprise for him. It's a meh show to me but I know he'll love it and I'll love the desserts and drinks like I did the first time. LOL