fp+ times for first day?

[sunflowerfields]

Our flight is suppose to land at 10:55 a.m. (It is a non stop flight if that makes a difference.) I am trying to figure out what time we should be able to make fast pass+ choices for Animal Kingdom that day. Our dinner reservation is for 4:00 that afternoon at Yak & Yeti. Is it reasonable to think we should be able to get to the park by 1?

Or should I try to change the dinner reservation time to 5 if I could to give us a little more time? I made it early because we have little ones and they will have been up since 5:30 that morning. Hoping they will sleep on the plane so they won't be quite so tired.

I appreciate any help trying to make the best choices. Thank you!

I should say we are taking the Disney busses from the air port.

 

[LaurenT]

1 pm will likely work - it actually gives you until 2 pm to get there and use it. What I would do is book the first FP for an attraction that will be easy to reschedule if you need to - so that if you miss the window you can just rebook the FP for after your dinner. Basically, don't make the safari your first FP

 

[crafty91]

IMO 1pm is ambitious. You don't mention if you are taking Magic Express, staying on property or offsite, driving yourself, etc. a couple things to remember, if you take Magic Express it will stop at other locations. Traffic in Orlando can be tricky so even if you're driving. Are you going straight to the park with your bags? If not you have to get to your hotel and check in then do something with your bags and then get back to AK which isn't the easiest park to get to. Plus AK closes "early" compared to other parks.

I would say if there is something at AK you are dying to do I'd say AK for another day and do a "lighter" park like EPCOT on day one.

 

[LaurenT]

IMO 1pm is ambitious. You don't mention if you are taking Magic Express, staying on property or offsite, driving yourself, etc. a couple things to remember, if you take Magic Express it will stop at other locations. Traffic in Orlando can be tricky so even if you're driving. Are you going straight to the park with your bags? If not you have to get to your hotel and check in then do something with your bags and then get back to AK which isn't the easiest park to get to. Plus AK closes "early" compared to other parks.

I would say if there is something at AK you are dying to do I'd say AK for another day and do a "lighter" park like EPCOT on day one.

Op says she's taking Disney bus from airport .... I assume that's ME and that they're staying onsite. ME is not usually more than 90 minutes - even with stops and waiting for them bus at airport. If they're not getting their bags themselves, they should be at resort by 12:30. If their first FP starts at 1 pm, they should be fine getting there in time for the 2 pm close of that window. And if they book less popular one as their first ride, they'll have no problem moving it if they hit any speed bumps.

 

[crafty91]

All I'm saying is there are a lot of variables, the biggest being the flight arriving on time. Just hate for them to miss something BIG they would like to do.

 

[sunflowerfields]

Yes, we are taking ME from airport and staying on site. We plan to check in and then go right to the park. I should have posted more info. We are staying at All Star Music. Thanks for the replies. I was looking at it like we would HAVE to be there right at one for our first fast pass ride. LaurenT, I see what you are saying about having until 2 to do our first fp+. We won't have a vehicle at all so will be taking Disney transportation the entire trip.

Thank you both so much for the replies.

 

[ktlm]

For us, typically we are hitting a park approximately 3 hours after the plane lands. Usually it is about 90 minutes from the time we step off the plane until we are walking into the resort (one time it was 2 hours- one time we walked right onto the bus and it took off right after we sat down and that was just under 60 minutes). After that, you have to get checked in, take a quick look at the room and a bathroom break, go down to transportation and wait for a bus to the park. You then have to get through bag check and any entry lines. By that time, it is usually 3 hours from landing. The earliest I would do the first FP+ would be 1:30 to 2:30 and I would not make that first one for anything you will be upset if you miss in case something takes longer.

One other thing is are you going to feed them anything for lunch if the plane lands at 10:55 to keep them going until the early dinner? If you stop at the airport for a quick fast food lunch or a snack, that will slow you down- or if you stop at quick service at the resort. I would think if you are having dinner at 4, you would want to stop at the airport- other wise resort quick service is probably going to wind up too close to dinner.

 

[minnie mum]

I agree with ktlm. With little ones, you are going to have to factor in feeding them lunch. I'd push back dinner to 5:00 if possible, and make your first FP for 2:00. If you manage to get into AK early, you can do something with a short standby line.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

I'm assuming you're going in March if you are more than 60 days out? Unless you need to go to a park that day, I would say just hang out at the resort and swim and maybe get dinner at Disney Springs. We have little ones too and I know how little kids love hotels and swimming pools. I'm just thinking if you check in and then have to rush to a park, they might not like that too much.
But your kids might be laid back and just go with the flow and not mind going to a park.

 

[sunflowerfields]

We are going May 21-25 and have to do Animal Kingdom that day. I wish we could/would have done the first day with no park.
We are a group of 16 and this is the only time we could make it work for everyone. I want to get these choices made early since there are so many of us. I was/am hoping that we can be ready to go back to resort after our dinner and then get a good nights rest and start out the rest of the trip well rested.

There is so much planning to do getting this trip all ironed out but I know it will all be worth it! Whoever mentioned feeding the kids at some point, thank you! That hadn't crossed my mind yet!

 

[LaurenT]

We are going May 21-25 and have to do Animal Kingdom that day. I wish we could/would have done the first day with no park.
We are a group of 16 and this is the only time we could make it work for everyone. I want to get these choices made early since there are so many of us. I was/am hoping that we can be ready to go back to resort after our dinner and then get a good nights rest and start out the rest of the trip well rested.

There is so much planning to do getting this trip all ironed out but I know it will all be worth it! Whoever mentioned feeding the kids at some point, thank you! That hadn't crossed my mind yet!

Take sandwiches with you and feed them on the plane. It'll keep them busy during the flight and leave you with one less thing to do.