First Timer Needs DHS Touring Plan Advice!

[bigeyedfish]

Thanks so much!

We have a half day planned at DHS in January. I have never been before so I’m looking for advice. Is this a realistic plan?

DHS EMM 7:00 - 8:45 am. Hoping to arrive a little early to grab a cup of coffee and a pastry for the kids before TSL opens.

Ride SDD, AS2, and TSM. Meet the characters if my kids are interested.

At 8:45 am “rope drop” either Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster OR Haunted Mansion. Then ride the other.

Head to breakfast (included with EMM) at ABC Commissary at 9:30 am. Hopefully will take no longer than 30-40 mins.

Hoping to set up FPs at roughly 10:00 am, 11:00 am, and 12:00 pm. Hoping for Star Tours, Frozen Sing-a-long, and Beauty & the Beast.

Also hope to see Indiana Jones stunt show and Voyage of the Little Mermaid before leaving the park around 2:00 pm.

Thoughts? TY!

 

[g-dad66]

You won't really need FPs for Frozen or Beauty and the Beast.

Are you sure you won't want to ride RnRC, Tower of Terror (Haunted Mansion?), or one of the TSL rides again?

 

[coasternut22]

I plugged your itinerary into touring Plans. One problem is that you won’t be done with Rockin and Tower until 9:45 if you rope drop without fastpass. Touring Plans has you rope dropping TOT, walking to ABC, then standing in line for RR.

Then the order is as follows:
10:25 Star Tours FP
10:50 Mermaid
11:30 Frozen
12:00 Indy (3 minutes to here from Frozen)
1:00 Beauty

In order to do this, you are going to have to fastpass Rockin instead of Frozen. I picked 9:30-10:30 Rockin and 10:30-11:30 Star Tours. Here is what Touring Plans gave:

ToT
Rockin FP
9:40 ABC
10:30 Star Tours FP
11:00 Beauty
11:40 Voyage
12:30 Frozen
1:15 Indy

This is a very aggressive plan with no room for issues or delays at rides. My suggestion is to fastpass Rockin and to cut out one show. This will make life so much easier. But getting an early Rockin FP is also difficult. Knowing when you can get a Rockin FP is key to designing this plan. You could possibly switch it with the Mermaid slot. Even moving ABC to 9:00 is okay because TOT lines don’t build too much in the first half hour. It’s also a waste of a good tier 1 fastpass on Beauty but I get you will already have ridden all of the Toy Story rides.

 

[BMAEC]

Make sure you look at when the show times are for Frozen and Beauty and the Beast and take into account how long the shows are to make sure you have time to get from one show to the next. We were there this week and Frozen was 10:30-11:00 so there wasn’t a way to make the 11:00 showing of Beauty and the Beast, we had to do the 1:00. Both were really good shows! I recommend trying to sit in the middle of the theater for frozen- don’t want to spoil why, but I got mixed up on times and we ended up late and sitting in the front row and it was not a good experience. Ended up going again in the evening and sitting in the middle and it was like night and day! Also I believe the Indiana Jones show is 30 min so try to plan for that too. We got a lot done at HS but had a whole day there. My girls loved the little mermaid too and it’s pretty quick- maybe 12-18 min.

 

[sharonabe]

You won't really need FPs for Frozen or Beauty and the Beast.

Are you sure you won't want to ride RnRC, Tower of Terror (Haunted Mansion?), or one of the TSL rides again?

They are doing Early Morning MAGIC, so they will get multiple rides on all the TSL rides.

Then the order is as follows:
10:25 Star Tours FP
10:50 Mermaid
11:30 Frozen
12:00 Indy (3 minutes to here from Frozen)
1:00 Beauty

I think Touring Plans is crazy. With the opening of TSL, people have been reporting very low wait times for both RnR and ToT for the first hour. I think OP's plan to head there at 8:45 WILL work and they'll be done by 9:15-9:30 and able to head to breakfast. Plus TP has them criss crossing the park multiple times. But as I suggest below, they could FP+ one of them to guarantee their plan.

Hoping to set up FPs at roughly 10:00 am, 11:00 am, and 12:00 pm. Hoping for Star Tours, Frozen Sing-a-long, and Beauty & the Beast.

Also hope to see Indiana Jones stunt show and Voyage of the Little Mermaid before leaving the park around 2:00 pm.

The biggest problem you'll have is the show times. Mermaid runs continously, but Indy, Frozen, and Beauty have specific times. You may have to choose which ones are must dos and leave one (or two) for next time unless you can extend your time in the park.
As PP said you don't really NEED a FP+ for the shows, so if you wanted to FP+ RnR or ToT, that might help guarantee your morning will go as you have planned. I would set up a FP+ for one of them right at 9:00 and then do standby for the other. Check wait times to see which line builds faster and FP+ that one.

 

[bigeyedfish]

Wow, you guys are so helpful! TY! I will drop FPs for the shows and instead try for something else earlier in the morning. I think one ride each on RnRC and ToT will be fine. If we decide that we need to return to ride again or see more of the park we have our last day free to revisit whichever park we choose. TY so much!

 

[kniquy]

Thoughts? TY!

I don't think you need FP for any of what you listed. We have walked into beauty and the beast right at show time with no problems getting a seat. Even star tours if you hit right after you have breakfast will likely have a short wait. If you have hoppers you could possibly do the HS rides/shows without FP and save them for another park. If you don't have hopper i would actually use the FP for rides only - so book RnR and ToT for a second ride. ToT is always a must to do multiple times.

 

[bigeyedfish]

We do not have Hoppers. We have an afternoon rest planned and then will head over to MK DAH around 6:00 pm.