Going to Disney World for the FIRST Time this June need advice

[ShadowBoxer]

Hi Disboard community!

I am Will and as you can tell I am new to these boards. Anyway, I found out about this site via google and thought it would be a good resource for me since I am going to Disney World for the first time this coming June! Now, I am traveling solo and I am 27 years old. I found a killer Disney deal on Priceline.com and was like might as well ha ha.

Anyway,I am flying out from Virginia on a Friday morning and I will get there in Orlando by 4pm and I will be there until that Monday until 3:30pm which is when my fly leaves out. So I am trying to maximize my time in the parks. I am looking at getting 3 day tickets with the park hopper option. Now I heard that June is a crazy packed month at Disney, so I assume I might need to get fast passes as well. But I was wondering if Disney World had any single rider lines for any rides and attractions at the 4 parks?

The Major rides I wanna hit while I am there are

Tower of Terror

Toy Story Mania

Star Tours

Dinosaur

Expedition Everest

Haunted Mansion


(Other rides/ attractions if I have time)

Kilimonjaro Safaris

Aerosmith Rocking Roller Coaster

Bugs Life

I have looked on the website and noticed that the parks to have extra magic hours during the few days I will be there which will help. I am also staying at a Disney Value Resort.

So do you all have any additional advice or tips for a first timer doing Disney World solo? I do have a lunch reservation at Be Our Guest so that's good right??? But any other MUST do's that I am missing that you all would recommend? I know I won't be able to see everything Disney World has to offer this time, but I do plan on going again next year with my family. Thanks in Advance!!!!

 

[WDGPCFR]

Welcome to the Boards. This site is my main source of information when planing my trips to WDW. My first suggestion would be to add a fourth day to your ticket and drop the park hopper. If I remember correctly the price per day drops dramatically starting on the fourth day. You will spend so much of your day in the park you won't want to waste time traveling between parks. Pick the things you want to do and make a plan. If you do Disney haphazardly you will waste a lot of time. Keep reminding yourself you are going back and enjoy yourself. Research right up to the week you leave.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Thanks!!! Yea I have the Disney app for my iPhone so I know I am gonna still be tweaking my plans up until I leave.

 

[redheadx3]

You might consider the 4 day ticket and then see if you really need the hopper. If possible, plan to go to the park with evening emh on Fri. and morning emh on Mon. If you are using Magical Express bus service to airport, they will pick you up at 12:30 on Mon. This will make it hard(short) to hit a park on Mon. morning without an emh.
At Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios you can get most of the rides done in a half day, that's skipping the shows.
Tell us your dates and we can help you make a park plan.
You definitely need to get the 3 fast passes and then try to get extra FPs once those are used.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Cool.

Well I my trip is June 19th-June 22nd.

I will be in Orlando at the airport by 4pm that Friday of the 19th. My flight leaves at 3:30pm that Monday the 22nd.

I know it's a short trip but I am also planning on doing some other traveling this summer. And like I said, the Priceline package price was a STEAL for Disney World. I also planning on doing a longer Disney World Vacy next year with the family.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

If you are staying onsite you can book your fast passes 60 days out. Friday is good because most places run Saturday to Saturday so you get a fast pass jump plus going solo should be easy to get all you want. I think Expedition Everest , Test Track, Rockin Rollercoaster all have single riders. Not sure about the rollercoasters or the Star Tours because I have motion sickness and can't ride those sort of things. Look around for Mesaboy on the boards because there are some killer links in the signature and lots of good tips. Since your wants are pretty spread out among the parks, you should be able to get everything on your list, plus using the single rider angle.

ETA: Be sure to look around at the rides at MK. That is by far the most popular park and seems to be the crazy busy one. You may also consider Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Peter Pan sounds like a liddie ride (and it is) but it's one of my favorites and always a must do.

 

[karly05]

Yep, Everest, Test Track and Rock-n-Roller Coaster are the ones with Single Rider lines - which is a good thing because of the FP+ tiering at Epcot and DHS - you can prebook FPs for Toy Story OR RnRC, but not both; likewise for Soarin' OR Test Track but not both. Those are the only official single rider lines, but stay alert in all the attraction lines - sometimes the CMs will call out a request for a party of 1 or 2 to fill a ride vehicle.

I'm very pro-Park Hopper (I know not everyone is). I like touring Epcot in the afternoons/evenings (great places to eat - and/or drink if that's your thing). I think the most important thing for that short a trip is to figure out your absolute priorities (sounds like you've done that) and build your park days around that.

 

[redheadx3]

I just looked at June hours. There isn't a morning emh on Monday, so hopper may be the better choice.
Here's what I would do, a couple of different plans.

plan 1 (3day ticket with hopper)(commando style- bring your energy drinks)
Fri. Epcot with evening emh til 11:00
Sat. MK 9-12 emh 12am-2am (taking a break mid day to stay up late)
Sun. AK emh at 8am til 2:00ish & hop to HS 3:00ish -10
Mon. sleep in

plan 2 (4 day ticket no hopper)
Fri. MK til 12am
Sat. HS emh at 8am-9 9-10
Sun. AK emh 8am-9 9-6
Mon. Ep 9-11:30 (ride Soarin, Test track)

plan 3 (3 or 4 day ticket with hopper)
Fri. MK til 12am
Sat. HS emh 8am-9 9-2 hop to Epcot til 9pm or tired
Sun. AK emh 8am-9 9-2 hop to Epcot til 9pm or tired
Mon. Revisit favorite park or sleep in

Be sure to get those FP's If you choose to hop to another park & you made it to the morning emh to first park, I would get my fp's for the afternoon park.

 

[scottmik2]

The best advice that I give people is to look into the Disney restaurants and once you have decided which ones you want make reservations ASAP. We found that this really added to our experience. In Epcot, eat at one of the World Showcase country restaurants. We liked Mexico and Japan.

 

[Mywishes3]

I'd keep in mind park hours may change.

I'd also look at easywdw.com for Josh's best days, to maximize. I'd read the thread mesamom has here on this thread for FP+.

Some say it's shorter lines during Wishes, or Fantasmic. Know you can't do it all but we had a blast just hitting the parks for the "mountains"(roller coasters!) so we did enjoy our park hoppers to be able to do that. It's up to you.

 

[Mikie]

Welcome!! As a solo traveler, you can have a great time in a few days at the parks - especially since you say you're planning to go again next year, so you know anything you miss, you'll get to see again.

I think you'll probably have good luck getting fastpasses for your favorite rides as listed. In Hollywood Studios, try to get FP for Toy Story, Tower of Terror and Star Tours. At opening, go straight to Rockin Roller Coaster for the shortest lines of the day. If you love it (I do!) it does have a single rider line and hopefully you'll be able to ride with reasonable waits multiple times. Tower of Terror has tolerable waits many times of the day, so I'd ride it once with fastpass and keep an eye on the wait times listed on the app to know when it's a good time to go hop in line again. This park is tricky for me to schedule due to its many shows - you should look up descriptions and reviews of the various shows to see which sound good to you and look up the show schedule so you can get a feel for your day. This park isn't very large to get around, but mixing in rides with show times can be tricky.

At Animal Kingdom, definitely don't miss the safari! It's a good choice for a fastpass, along with Everest and Dinosaur. Safari gets pretty long lines throughout the day, but Everest and Dinosaur can have reasonable standby sometimes, especially the single rider at Everest. It's Tough To Be a Bug is good, but you shouldn't need a fastpass for that. I love the Lion King show here and doing the walking trails. Flame Tree BBQ is delicious when you need to refuel!

At Magic Kingdom, Haunted Mansion is a good choice for a fastpass and shouldn't be too hard to get. If you like roller coasters, you shouldn't miss Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain - they're fun and iconic! I love Be Our Guest as your lunch reservation - the prices are more reasonable than dinner sit-downs because it is considered a counter service, but the food is good and gets delivered to your table for you, so I find it much more relaxing and comfortable than a traditional counter service - and the theming is great!

If you love fireworks, I'd try to go to the night show in every park! (Animal Kingdom doesn't have one) If you don't want to do all of them, definitely pick one. Fireworks at Disney are a great part of the atmosphere. If you don't do them everywhere, using that time to go on rides while everyone ELSE is watching fireworks is also a great idea.

I have trouble posting links in my ipad, but the great thread with info on choosing fastpasses is titled something like Fastpass+ Priorities and Strategies . . . by Mesaboy2 and is almost always on page 1 or 2 of this Theme Parks board.

 

[ProTraderColin]

You'll have an unforgettable time. Remember, June + Florida = serious heat. Don't forget the sunscreen, fluids, and a hat.

 

[soniam]

I wouldn't say June is crazy busy. It's busy, but it's not July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, or Easter week. When we have been in early June and late July it seemed just a tad less busier than when we went the week before last (3/17-21). However, you definitely want to have a plan, book meals as soon as you can, and get those FP+. I like the Touring Plans website for stock and custom plans, restaurant menus, and crowd levels. Some of the services, including the Lines app with wait times and FP+ availability, require a small charge $8-13, I think. I have used their plans for all of our trips with great success.

Good luck. You will have a blast.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and advice! I defintely will be looking at the other threads to maximize my time there this year and start to plan for the longer stay with family next year!

 

[slaveone]

Also remember first weekend in June is Gay Days. It gets a little more crowded at MK on Saturday but is fun. Also the first two weekends in June are Star Wars Weekends at DHS. This is very busy, very fun, and should be missed by no star wars fan.

 

[cakebaker]

With only 2 full days in the parks, I'd definitely keep the hopper option. I'd also skip any adr's as they are time eaters, but BOG is a great choice. I'd take 1 day with a AK/HS split. I'd do AK in the morning with no fp+ then HS in the afternoon scheduling fp+ there. If you're wanting to get all 4 parks in I'd do Epcot one morning using rope drop/single rider lines then quickly hop to the MK using fp+. Hopefully you'd be able to catch Illuminations on Friday evening. It's a whirlwind trip, but with careful planning you should be able to do it. Going solo makes things much easier!