lorileahb
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2017
- Messages
- 1,115
Thanks to all of the tips and strategies on this site, we never waited more than 20 mins for any of rides (and we hit almost all of them) during our trip last week (a very busy time!). It was awesome! So, these are compiled from all of the threads and other tips from articles I read before we went:
1. Picked the park that did NOT have extra magic hours each day. And ate at T-Rex arrival day - called T-Rex directly to get the exact time we wanted as the Disney dining reservation website didn't have the availability we wanted... some of the restaurants in Disney Springs will also take their own reservations with much more availability.
2. Epcot
-Secured an 8 a.m. Akershus breakfast (I found the actual 8 a.m. time that week with one of the reservation finders). We got to Epcot at 7:30 a.m., they let us in about 7:45 a.m. and we were seated by about 8:05 a.m. We were able to ride Frozen Ever After and meet Elsa/Anna before the rope drop crowds. Plus, we requested Mickey waffles and they were happy to accommodate (an excellent way to kick off our park day). (Our alternate plan was to 8 a.m. Garden Grill and ride Soarin' before rope drop.)
-During early hours, we visited Nemo ride, Turtle Talk with Crush, Living on the Land, Meet Baymax - all with very little waits (5-10 mins).
-We used our fast passes during the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. timeframe when waits for rides were long... used Spaceship Earth, Mission Space: Orange and Soarin. The only big ride we chose not to hit (due to age of my youngest) was Fast Track.
-During the 10-1 time, we shared a couple of quick service meals in the building with Soarin (before our Soarin fast pass).
-Used our many snacks on the DDP to snack our way around Epcot... yum! Croissant/Doughnut near Canada, Pineapple Ice Cream, Frozen Grey Goose Drink for Me in France, Funnel Cakes, Egg Rolls, and so many other things I can't remember. Soooo full!!
-This ended up being a 95 degree day, so headed back to the pool - grabbed a couple of quick service meals to eat pool side. Skipped going back to park for Illuminations (we went to Disney fireworks next night).
3. Magic Kingdom
-Secured an 8 a.m. BOG breakfast (I found the actual 8 a.m. time that week with one of the reservation finders). We got to Magic Kingdom about 7:30 a.m., they let us into park about 7:45 a.m. and straight back to BOG (to left of castle). We had preordered our food, so when they opened BOG at 8 a.m., we walked straight in to pay (maybe a 5 min wait max) - our food came without issue, we got to sit in the West Wing, see all of the other rooms and enjoy our meal... out 8:40 a.m. without being rushed. Mine Train ridden twice before the rope drop crowd.
-On to Peter Pan before most of the crowds - longest wait of day, maybe 20 mins.
-On to Adventureland for Big Thunder Mountain - 5-10 min wait. Would have done Splash Mountain, too, but closed for mechanical issues.
-On to Frontierland for Pirates of the Caribbean - 5-10 min wait. Then watched the Pirate show (DS fought Jack Sparrow).
-Used our first 3 fast passes during the 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. more crowded timeframe. Jungle Cruise first (standby was 70 min by now, we were maybe a 10-15 wait).
-Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (no wait)
-Headed on to Haunted Mansion with Fast Pass.
-Headed on to Tomorrow Land for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin with Fast Pass (ended up with about a 15 min wait only because the ride was having mechanical issues).
-Rode the People Mover - 5-10 min wait
-Watched the show at the castle.
-Late lunch reservation at The Crystal Palace. The CMs were awesome! We had eaten and only 1 character had been by... they made sure within the next 20 mins we got to meet everyone else... including taking us over to Eeyore who was still on the other side of the restaurant.
-Snagged our next Fast Pass for that evening (for Splash Mountain).
-A little shopping for kids (who had some of their money for treats).
-Back to POR for a little rest for mom.
-Back to MK about 7:30 p.m., to Aladdin Magic Carpets (20 min wait), rode twice.
-Grabbed a few quick service meals to go and headed to hub for castle show and to eat watching fireworks.
-On to It's a Small World (no wait) and the Ariel ride (no wait).
-To Splash Mountain with Fast Pass (down again for mechanical issues) - so, they gave us a fast pass to anything but Peter Pan or Mine Train... Big Thunder Mountain again... and one more time for fun.
-Back to POR via bus - exhausted but 100 percent happy.
-Space Mountain we missed, so next time... Splash Mountain we would have hit (tried twice) but mechanical issues... just means we must go back!
4. Leaving day, breakfast with Stitch at 'Ohana. The food was good and it was relaxing - they brought the food to you... and, we requested more Stitch waffles which they gladly brought.
-Rode the monorail loop as a last ride.
-Used our remaining snacks to get Mickey rice krispie treats to give to friends as surprises when we got home.
-Back to our room to change into swimsuits - swam and hot tub until we were ready to leave (cleaned up in the outdoor shower in our swimsuits by the pool).
5. Miscellaneous stuff:
-I carried a small crossbody bag with small container of sunscreen, hand sanitizer, tissues, disposable ponchos (which we had to use once, but then got to toss when rain stopped after 10 mins), a few tablets of motrin (which came in handy after Mission Space Orange for one DS), and empty water bottle (we filled up throughout the day at water fountains when we were thirsty and not wanting to wait in counter service locations for free cups of water).
-Did stop at counter service locations for free cups of water.
-Didn't use our snacks for regular drinks - got regular drinks as part of our meals. Just drank the free water... and used snacks for slushies, ice cream, other $5+ treats.
-If we had had any counter service meals left, I would have traded them in for snacks and stocked up on other goodies to share with friends when we returned home.
-We had a basic plan to the day, but whenever kids saw something they wanted to do or try, we were flexible and made it work... maybe we had to walk a little more, but glad we didn't get stuck in any crazy waits.
-I didn't use this idea, but thought it was great for young kids: one poster said they put full outfits in plastic bags, so when it was morning get ready time, she could just tell her kids to grab a bag and get dressed. Brilliant!
-Probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.
Hope everyone has an amazing trip! Thanks to help from this site, I know we did.
1. Picked the park that did NOT have extra magic hours each day. And ate at T-Rex arrival day - called T-Rex directly to get the exact time we wanted as the Disney dining reservation website didn't have the availability we wanted... some of the restaurants in Disney Springs will also take their own reservations with much more availability.
2. Epcot
-Secured an 8 a.m. Akershus breakfast (I found the actual 8 a.m. time that week with one of the reservation finders). We got to Epcot at 7:30 a.m., they let us in about 7:45 a.m. and we were seated by about 8:05 a.m. We were able to ride Frozen Ever After and meet Elsa/Anna before the rope drop crowds. Plus, we requested Mickey waffles and they were happy to accommodate (an excellent way to kick off our park day). (Our alternate plan was to 8 a.m. Garden Grill and ride Soarin' before rope drop.)
-During early hours, we visited Nemo ride, Turtle Talk with Crush, Living on the Land, Meet Baymax - all with very little waits (5-10 mins).
-We used our fast passes during the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. timeframe when waits for rides were long... used Spaceship Earth, Mission Space: Orange and Soarin. The only big ride we chose not to hit (due to age of my youngest) was Fast Track.
-During the 10-1 time, we shared a couple of quick service meals in the building with Soarin (before our Soarin fast pass).
-Used our many snacks on the DDP to snack our way around Epcot... yum! Croissant/Doughnut near Canada, Pineapple Ice Cream, Frozen Grey Goose Drink for Me in France, Funnel Cakes, Egg Rolls, and so many other things I can't remember. Soooo full!!
-This ended up being a 95 degree day, so headed back to the pool - grabbed a couple of quick service meals to eat pool side. Skipped going back to park for Illuminations (we went to Disney fireworks next night).
3. Magic Kingdom
-Secured an 8 a.m. BOG breakfast (I found the actual 8 a.m. time that week with one of the reservation finders). We got to Magic Kingdom about 7:30 a.m., they let us into park about 7:45 a.m. and straight back to BOG (to left of castle). We had preordered our food, so when they opened BOG at 8 a.m., we walked straight in to pay (maybe a 5 min wait max) - our food came without issue, we got to sit in the West Wing, see all of the other rooms and enjoy our meal... out 8:40 a.m. without being rushed. Mine Train ridden twice before the rope drop crowd.
-On to Peter Pan before most of the crowds - longest wait of day, maybe 20 mins.
-On to Adventureland for Big Thunder Mountain - 5-10 min wait. Would have done Splash Mountain, too, but closed for mechanical issues.
-On to Frontierland for Pirates of the Caribbean - 5-10 min wait. Then watched the Pirate show (DS fought Jack Sparrow).
-Used our first 3 fast passes during the 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. more crowded timeframe. Jungle Cruise first (standby was 70 min by now, we were maybe a 10-15 wait).
-Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (no wait)
-Headed on to Haunted Mansion with Fast Pass.
-Headed on to Tomorrow Land for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin with Fast Pass (ended up with about a 15 min wait only because the ride was having mechanical issues).
-Rode the People Mover - 5-10 min wait
-Watched the show at the castle.
-Late lunch reservation at The Crystal Palace. The CMs were awesome! We had eaten and only 1 character had been by... they made sure within the next 20 mins we got to meet everyone else... including taking us over to Eeyore who was still on the other side of the restaurant.
-Snagged our next Fast Pass for that evening (for Splash Mountain).
-A little shopping for kids (who had some of their money for treats).
-Back to POR for a little rest for mom.
-Back to MK about 7:30 p.m., to Aladdin Magic Carpets (20 min wait), rode twice.
-Grabbed a few quick service meals to go and headed to hub for castle show and to eat watching fireworks.
-On to It's a Small World (no wait) and the Ariel ride (no wait).
-To Splash Mountain with Fast Pass (down again for mechanical issues) - so, they gave us a fast pass to anything but Peter Pan or Mine Train... Big Thunder Mountain again... and one more time for fun.
-Back to POR via bus - exhausted but 100 percent happy.
-Space Mountain we missed, so next time... Splash Mountain we would have hit (tried twice) but mechanical issues... just means we must go back!
4. Leaving day, breakfast with Stitch at 'Ohana. The food was good and it was relaxing - they brought the food to you... and, we requested more Stitch waffles which they gladly brought.
-Rode the monorail loop as a last ride.
-Used our remaining snacks to get Mickey rice krispie treats to give to friends as surprises when we got home.
-Back to our room to change into swimsuits - swam and hot tub until we were ready to leave (cleaned up in the outdoor shower in our swimsuits by the pool).
5. Miscellaneous stuff:
-I carried a small crossbody bag with small container of sunscreen, hand sanitizer, tissues, disposable ponchos (which we had to use once, but then got to toss when rain stopped after 10 mins), a few tablets of motrin (which came in handy after Mission Space Orange for one DS), and empty water bottle (we filled up throughout the day at water fountains when we were thirsty and not wanting to wait in counter service locations for free cups of water).
-Did stop at counter service locations for free cups of water.
-Didn't use our snacks for regular drinks - got regular drinks as part of our meals. Just drank the free water... and used snacks for slushies, ice cream, other $5+ treats.
-If we had had any counter service meals left, I would have traded them in for snacks and stocked up on other goodies to share with friends when we returned home.
-We had a basic plan to the day, but whenever kids saw something they wanted to do or try, we were flexible and made it work... maybe we had to walk a little more, but glad we didn't get stuck in any crazy waits.
-I didn't use this idea, but thought it was great for young kids: one poster said they put full outfits in plastic bags, so when it was morning get ready time, she could just tell her kids to grab a bag and get dressed. Brilliant!
-Probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.
Hope everyone has an amazing trip! Thanks to help from this site, I know we did.
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