Hi everyone! I'm a long time lurker here. I started planning my trip in December and a good friend recommended this forum. All of you have been amazingly helpful during the planning process, even if you didn't know it! My husband and I are just back from an awesome trip (both first timers!), and I wanted to share my success with anyone planning to go in the next couple of weeks. Note that I booked all of my FP 30 days out, which makes our days even more incredible.
Day One - Animal Kingdom - March 4th (Crowd Level 2)
8:30 In park, wandering Discovery Island. I was planning to rope drop KS because everyone on here said it'd be dead in the morning, but I found the whole rope drop process extremely stressful. Walking to Africa, people were racing by us with their massive strollers and crowding/pushing once we were "in line" for the Africa open, so we decided to leave the crowd and wander around Discovery Island instead.
9:00 Walking toward KS after the rope drop crazies clear out.
9:15 KS, gorilla falls trail, wandering around Harambe and watching the drumming show
10:40 1st FP - FOLK. Totally worth a fastpass! There was enough seating for standby but some of them were waaaay far back.
11:35 Mobile ordered Satuli from Africa, walked in and grabbed food/table immediately and skipped a huge line.
12:00 2nd FP - NJR (posted wait time was 45 minutes)
12:10 Used refresh to change the 3rd FP - KS (posted 65) from 1:50 to 1:05! Walked to KS, stopped for a long coffee and people watching break, tapped into KS at 1:00 exactly (posted 65). Then I refreshed at the 1:01 drop for a 1:40 NJR FP!
1:40 4th FP - NJR (posted 65), immediately refreshed for a 5th FP - 2:30 Nemo
2:10 Tapped into Nemo, enjoyed the air conditioning and refreshed for a 6th FP - 3:00 FOP! (posted 60 minutes)
3:40 Tapped into FOP and my first refresh for a 7th FP was FOP at 4:00!!! (posted 85 minutes)
4:20 Done with back to back FOP, refreshed for an 8th FP - 8:30 Rivers of Light
4:30 Ran into Kevin on Discovery Island! Then walked on to Dinosaur (posted 15 minutes)
4:50 Asia Trail
5:25 Walked on single rider Everest (posted 20)
5:50 Walked on it's tough to be a bug (posted 10)
6:15 Yak and Yeti dinner reservation
7:15 Chilling out and watching the Tree of Life
7:30 Went to Pandora at night, got dessert from Satuli
8:10 Tapped into Rivers of Light, which was totally unnecessary because the show was half empty.
Animal Kingdom Thoughts:
1. FOP was incredible and is totally worth playing the refresh FP game in order to ride, but I would never wait the insane 100+ minute wait times for it.
2. We really, really liked Navi River Journey!
3. Dinosaur was my husband's least favorite experience of the whole trip. He haaaaated it. I was also not a fan.
4. Strangely, he really liked It's Tough to Be a Bug and probably would have done it multiple times if I didn't distract him with dessert. He described it as "a haunted house with bugs."
5. We also really liked Rivers of Light and thought it was very memorable. That said, (hindsight 20/20) I wish I'd booked another KS fastpass instead of doing an ROL FP since the seating area was totally empty.
6. Aside from getting caught in the rope drop crush, crowds were not an issue whatsoever. We didn't wait in line for anything- bathrooms, food, rides, shows, etc. I lot of that probably has to do with the Crowd Level 2 (Touring Plans predicted 5), and also working the Fastpasses.
7. To any first timers, I would highly NOT recommend rope dropping. Showing up early was good, but standing in a mass with a bunch of anxious parents and cranky, tired children was not a good way to start the day. It was definitely worth the 15 minutes waiting for KS (our longest wait of the day) to not have to deal with that.
Day Two - Epcot - March 5th (Crowd Level 3)
9:00 In park, intentionally not rope dropping anything!
9:15 Living with the Land walk on... and the ride broke down for 15 minutes! They had to power it off completely and turn it back on.
9:45 1st FP - Spaceship Earth (posted 30 minute wait)
10:00 2nd FP - Nemo (posted 20), then spending awhile looking around the aquarium area
11 Lunch at Sunshine Seasons
11:30 Looking around the world pavilion, - Three Caballeros, Mexico, Norway, Reflections of China
1:00 3rd FP - Frozen (posted 70), pulled a 7pm Soarin FP then refreshed at 1:31 drop for a 3:10 Soarin. Wandered around Germany, Italy, America, and Japan.
3:10 4th FP - Soarin (posted 35), refreshed for a 3:40 Test Track FP!!
3:50 5th FP - Test Track (posted 50), refreshed for Epcot Forever FPs (took a couple refreshes to get). Went back to the World Pavilion to see the American Adventure and Morocco.
5:15 Spice Road Table dinner reservations. Then went to France, UK, and saw the Canada movie
6:30ish Went to ride Figment, Living with the Land, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, and got photos with Joy from Inside Out and the Big Hero characters. All walk-ons, even the character meets, which is the only reason we got the Big Hero ones because neither of us have seen that movie. We went to Turtle Talk for about 5 minutes but walked out. There were maybe 10 kids and they were all running around screaming, climbing the seats and jumping off of them... basically, totally out of control while the parents did nothing but sit there watching them. None of them were even interacting with the screen, and I felt terrible for the CM and whoever was doing the voice for Crush. I get that it's Disney but please control your children, geez.
8:15 Dessert at Sunshine Seasons
8:45 6th FP - Epcot Forever, this FP was totally not worth it (see below).
Epcot Thoughts
1. Epcot felt WAY BUSIER than Animal Kingdom. There were lines to all the food and drink stalls and just lots of people hanging around everywhere. I thought it was going to be a Crowd Level 5+, but Touring Plans said it was actually only a 3. I cannot imagine going at a level 7+. Also, there were a lot of noticeably drunk people. =)
2. We loved Frozen and Soarin! Frozen is 100% worth the Fastpass, even for adults.
3. I wasn't planning on doing Test Track at all, and was shocked when a FP showed up because I hadn't seen one all day. That said... I thought Test Track was kind of lame? It was basically a car themed mini-roller coaster. I would definitely rather use a Fastpass on Frozen or Soarin.
4. We loved all the other boat rides!
5. Except: husband HATED the Figment ride with a burning passion.
6. Living with the Land, Nemo, and Spaceship Earth all broke down for 5-10 minutes while we were on them.
7. The Epcot Forever fastpass is a joke. They just cram you into a tiny space and make you sit on the ground? Why is this even a fastpass? Also, Epcot Forever was sort of forgettable and not that great, imho. I'd recommend skipping it and just riding Soarin over and over if possible. =)
Overall, we had an amazing time and completely lucked out of the crowd levels and fastpass refreshes. Thanks to everyone for your help! I hope everyone's trips are equally as magical. If you're going on a trip soon and have any questions, let me know!
Day One - Animal Kingdom - March 4th (Crowd Level 2)
8:30 In park, wandering Discovery Island. I was planning to rope drop KS because everyone on here said it'd be dead in the morning, but I found the whole rope drop process extremely stressful. Walking to Africa, people were racing by us with their massive strollers and crowding/pushing once we were "in line" for the Africa open, so we decided to leave the crowd and wander around Discovery Island instead.
9:00 Walking toward KS after the rope drop crazies clear out.
9:15 KS, gorilla falls trail, wandering around Harambe and watching the drumming show
10:40 1st FP - FOLK. Totally worth a fastpass! There was enough seating for standby but some of them were waaaay far back.
11:35 Mobile ordered Satuli from Africa, walked in and grabbed food/table immediately and skipped a huge line.
12:00 2nd FP - NJR (posted wait time was 45 minutes)
12:10 Used refresh to change the 3rd FP - KS (posted 65) from 1:50 to 1:05! Walked to KS, stopped for a long coffee and people watching break, tapped into KS at 1:00 exactly (posted 65). Then I refreshed at the 1:01 drop for a 1:40 NJR FP!
1:40 4th FP - NJR (posted 65), immediately refreshed for a 5th FP - 2:30 Nemo
2:10 Tapped into Nemo, enjoyed the air conditioning and refreshed for a 6th FP - 3:00 FOP! (posted 60 minutes)
3:40 Tapped into FOP and my first refresh for a 7th FP was FOP at 4:00!!! (posted 85 minutes)
4:20 Done with back to back FOP, refreshed for an 8th FP - 8:30 Rivers of Light
4:30 Ran into Kevin on Discovery Island! Then walked on to Dinosaur (posted 15 minutes)
4:50 Asia Trail
5:25 Walked on single rider Everest (posted 20)
5:50 Walked on it's tough to be a bug (posted 10)
6:15 Yak and Yeti dinner reservation
7:15 Chilling out and watching the Tree of Life
7:30 Went to Pandora at night, got dessert from Satuli
8:10 Tapped into Rivers of Light, which was totally unnecessary because the show was half empty.
Animal Kingdom Thoughts:
1. FOP was incredible and is totally worth playing the refresh FP game in order to ride, but I would never wait the insane 100+ minute wait times for it.
2. We really, really liked Navi River Journey!
3. Dinosaur was my husband's least favorite experience of the whole trip. He haaaaated it. I was also not a fan.
4. Strangely, he really liked It's Tough to Be a Bug and probably would have done it multiple times if I didn't distract him with dessert. He described it as "a haunted house with bugs."
5. We also really liked Rivers of Light and thought it was very memorable. That said, (hindsight 20/20) I wish I'd booked another KS fastpass instead of doing an ROL FP since the seating area was totally empty.
6. Aside from getting caught in the rope drop crush, crowds were not an issue whatsoever. We didn't wait in line for anything- bathrooms, food, rides, shows, etc. I lot of that probably has to do with the Crowd Level 2 (Touring Plans predicted 5), and also working the Fastpasses.
7. To any first timers, I would highly NOT recommend rope dropping. Showing up early was good, but standing in a mass with a bunch of anxious parents and cranky, tired children was not a good way to start the day. It was definitely worth the 15 minutes waiting for KS (our longest wait of the day) to not have to deal with that.
Day Two - Epcot - March 5th (Crowd Level 3)
9:00 In park, intentionally not rope dropping anything!
9:15 Living with the Land walk on... and the ride broke down for 15 minutes! They had to power it off completely and turn it back on.
9:45 1st FP - Spaceship Earth (posted 30 minute wait)
10:00 2nd FP - Nemo (posted 20), then spending awhile looking around the aquarium area
11 Lunch at Sunshine Seasons
11:30 Looking around the world pavilion, - Three Caballeros, Mexico, Norway, Reflections of China
1:00 3rd FP - Frozen (posted 70), pulled a 7pm Soarin FP then refreshed at 1:31 drop for a 3:10 Soarin. Wandered around Germany, Italy, America, and Japan.
3:10 4th FP - Soarin (posted 35), refreshed for a 3:40 Test Track FP!!
3:50 5th FP - Test Track (posted 50), refreshed for Epcot Forever FPs (took a couple refreshes to get). Went back to the World Pavilion to see the American Adventure and Morocco.
5:15 Spice Road Table dinner reservations. Then went to France, UK, and saw the Canada movie
6:30ish Went to ride Figment, Living with the Land, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, and got photos with Joy from Inside Out and the Big Hero characters. All walk-ons, even the character meets, which is the only reason we got the Big Hero ones because neither of us have seen that movie. We went to Turtle Talk for about 5 minutes but walked out. There were maybe 10 kids and they were all running around screaming, climbing the seats and jumping off of them... basically, totally out of control while the parents did nothing but sit there watching them. None of them were even interacting with the screen, and I felt terrible for the CM and whoever was doing the voice for Crush. I get that it's Disney but please control your children, geez.
8:15 Dessert at Sunshine Seasons
8:45 6th FP - Epcot Forever, this FP was totally not worth it (see below).
Epcot Thoughts
1. Epcot felt WAY BUSIER than Animal Kingdom. There were lines to all the food and drink stalls and just lots of people hanging around everywhere. I thought it was going to be a Crowd Level 5+, but Touring Plans said it was actually only a 3. I cannot imagine going at a level 7+. Also, there were a lot of noticeably drunk people. =)
2. We loved Frozen and Soarin! Frozen is 100% worth the Fastpass, even for adults.
3. I wasn't planning on doing Test Track at all, and was shocked when a FP showed up because I hadn't seen one all day. That said... I thought Test Track was kind of lame? It was basically a car themed mini-roller coaster. I would definitely rather use a Fastpass on Frozen or Soarin.
4. We loved all the other boat rides!
5. Except: husband HATED the Figment ride with a burning passion.
6. Living with the Land, Nemo, and Spaceship Earth all broke down for 5-10 minutes while we were on them.
7. The Epcot Forever fastpass is a joke. They just cram you into a tiny space and make you sit on the ground? Why is this even a fastpass? Also, Epcot Forever was sort of forgettable and not that great, imho. I'd recommend skipping it and just riding Soarin over and over if possible. =)
Overall, we had an amazing time and completely lucked out of the crowd levels and fastpass refreshes. Thanks to everyone for your help! I hope everyone's trips are equally as magical. If you're going on a trip soon and have any questions, let me know!
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