How many attractions an hour

[JosieMouse]

I'm trying to plan our days in the park. We have watched tons of videos on youtube, seen the planing dvd, and read over Disney's site mutiple times. I know the must do attractions for each of us. I'm trying to figure out how much we can actually get done in July. We're staying offsite and I don't know excatly what the FP situation will be by then. I have auatistic children who will have a DAS card. If I have to stand in line to get a return time to use the DAS, possiblystand in line at a Kiosk for FP+, and the attraction lines, then it seems like we won't get much done. Our plan is to be at the park by 10am, take a mid day break from 1pm-4pm, leave the park (ecxept AK) an hour before closing due to the fireworks. We'll be in the parks for 5 days. I will be following the easywdw crowd calander, as to which park to visit on what day. We'll be doing MK 2 days. I'm thinking 2 attrations an hour is realistic. Am I right or would we be able to do more?

 

[SA mom]

I have a child with autism, too, who was considered moderate on spectrum when we went in 2007 (now high functioning). I would recommend you being at park opening and using morning Extra Magic Hours.

By 10am, the lines in the summer are long. If morning EMH start at 8:00, time your arrival for about 8:10. The lines will have a cleared a little. My girl loved rope drop and the wait wasn't bad for her so we always arrive 30 minutes early.

On another note, she made so much improvement on our first trip, we immediately booked another trip 6 months later. For the first time, she was actually talking and talking about the same things we were. We had our first real conversations and she really started eating everything. I swear, the child existed on air prior to our 2007 Disney World trip. Other parents of children with autism wrote of huge gains, but I was a skeptic. They were sooooo right! It was like 3 years of speech/occupational/sensory integration therapy all in one.

I hope you have a fantastic time!

 

[chmurf]

depends on what attractions you're planning to do

with your DAS, you'll need to walk up to the FP+ return line, and ask the greeter to get a return time.
This return time will be written by the Cast Member on your son's DAS card (which will also bear the number of guests allowed to ride with him)
At the time shown on your DAS you'll need to go back to the FP+ line and show the DAS card to the Cast Member, and then again to the second CM at the point where FP and standby line merge.

you will not be able to get another return time before you've ridden the ride for which you have a DAS return time.

based on july 10th this year (crowd 6 at MK)
peter pan's flight was at 55 minutes, so you'll get a return time at 45 minutes with the DAS.
This means that, you'll need to wait for 45 minutes (wherever you want, you could even get something to eat, do another ride (like teacups standby) or anything you like (even use a FP+ on another ride)
and you'll need to allow a few minutes to do the FP+ line, plus the ride time.

in the end, riding PPF during peak hour will take you a full hour, so unless you manage to ride something else during that "DAS wait time", you'll only do one ride in that hour

splash mountain was 75 minutes, which means a 65 minutes return time on the DAS.

winnie the pooh was 35 minutes, so 25 minutes on the DAS.

riding Buzz Lightyear would have taken 30 minutes wait (40 minutes standby) and the time to ride.

You'll get 3 FP+ to use during your day, choose them wisely, and that will help get 2 rides done in one hour (FP+ and DAS combined)

but in July, I would rather anticipate 2 rides every 90 minutes.
And it depends when you go. If you go on July 4th, some rides show 120 minutes, so when you get a DAS return time it will be for 110 minutes later, so unless you ride something standby (which might obviously cause an issue) you'll only get 1 ride in 2 hours (unless you insert a FP+ ride in between)

To achieve a better ride average, I would get there at park opening (9am) at a park on a non EMH day. That's when the crowds are lighter.

I'm sure I painted a very grim picture here, but I think it's rather realistic for an "average" day in July.
If you manage 2 rides per hour, that's a very good average. Don't expect to do more, be prepared for much less.

I would recommend you being at park opening and using morning Extra Magic Hours.

We're staying offsite

 

[chartle]

I'm trying to plan our days in the park. We have watched tons of videos on youtube, seen the planing dvd, and read over Disney's site mutiple times. I know the must do attractions for each of us. I'm trying to figure out how much we can actually get done in July.

1. We're staying offsite and I don't know excatly what the FP situation will be by then. I have auatistic children who will have a DAS card. If I have to stand in line to get a return time to use the DAS, possiblystand in line at a Kiosk for FP+, and the attraction lines, then it seems like we won't get much done.

2. Our plan is to be at the park by 10am,

3. take a mid day break from 1pm-4pm,

4. leave the park (ecxept AK) an hour before closing due to the fireworks.

We'll be in the parks for 5 days. I will be following the easywdw crowd calander, as to which park to visit on what day. We'll be doing MK 2 days. I'm thinking 2 attrations an hour is realistic. Am I right or would we be able to do more?

1. See 3 for the off site part. Can't comment on the use of a DAC.

2. Not a good idea. In that first hour you will get a ton done. You may even get the majority of Fantasy land done.

3. If you mean leave at 1 and return at 4 this maybe ok if you get to the parks at 9:00 AM (rope drop) since you will be close to the front and can walk back to your car. (i'm assuming you have a car if not that's a whole other thread). For the MK though you will have leave the park, get on the ferry or the monorail to the TTC, take a tram or walk to your car and then get back to your hotel. That three hour rest will only really be around 2 hours due the fact that you will have to do it all again in reverse getting back to the MK. It would be better to get there early and just leave at say dinner time. You will get a lot more done.

If you are just looking for down time a trip around the monorail and a stop at one of the resorts can be just as relaxing. You could also take a boat over to Fort Wilderness and hang out on the beach and check things out over there.

4. The MK is the only park that has a real Fireworks show and the only one where its a little bit hard to avoid them. At DHS, Fantasmic is not at all fireworks but more of a stage show and outside the theater you may not even know its happening. At Epcot there is more fireworks but you could head towards the front of the park and do Nemo or any other attraction that are still open.

Also to sum up WDW is not the kind of place where you can think about how much can you do in an hour. Some attractions like Ellen take 45 minutes from start to finish. you should be concentrating on getting things done where the line builds early and doesn't let up either early or with FP and then fill in with stuff that normally, even in summer, doesn't have long lines like the tiki room. Not all lines are going to be 40 minutes plus long.

This spring break look at the ride waits on the My Disney Experience app or http://www.easywdw.com/waits/ picking days that have similar crowd numbers and you will see not everything is long wait.

Even today which I'm sure is a 10 there is still a lot do with minimal wait times

http://www.easywdw.com/waits/?&park=All&sort=time

 

[summermac]

I agree that you need to be at the park by rope drop. Not parking the car. Literally in line at the parks, especially in July and especially if you want to take a mid-day break.

We went in June 2009 and by 10/11 the crowds were out of control!

 

[chartle]

Just wanted to add. Touring strategy is more like a jig saw puzzle or playing Tetris.

You kind of want to fit stuff in the most efficient manner. Don't worry though since its not that hard. You mostly just don't want to crisscross the park too much which can be hard in AK when you are trying to fit rides around shows.

 

[Alesia]

In general, I figure 3 attractions per hour for the first 2 hours the park is open, 2 attractions per hour for the next 2 hours, and one attraction per hour after that. There's a lot more that goes into it though.

I would stronly advise you to rethink your strategy, though. You should either arrive for rope drop or take an afternoon break - not both.

Also, keep in mind that a 3 hour break is going to be very short if you're staying offsite. Just getting to your car is likely to take 30 minutes, then there's the drive to wherever you're staying, plus the trip back. That only leaves you an hour of rest time.

 

[JosieMouse]

Thanks for the advice every one. We'll aim for 9 instead on 10. We're going the last week of July. My kids are rather wired when it comes to rides. I have 3 that's autistic and 2 average developed children (one's not much of a rider, but my oldest is the last go get it type. My oldest will ride anything, but the other 3 are picky). They don't really like rides that go in the air, are dark, loud, or has a lot of flashing lights. We don't have a very long must do list, but I know that can change once we get there and they see everything in person. Last July I downloaded the MDE app and the ride times for the ones they like weren't very long (15 to 40mins). They are into things like the Tea Cups. I'm going to check it again now and during spring break time. A mid day break for us is a must. I can't be in that heat that long or I will get sick and we're doing lunch offsite. We can't afford the food at Disney. We'll be doing either CRT or BOG on the girls BBB day and that's the only "meal" we'll be doing at the parks. To give an example here is the must do's for MK:

Jungle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
Under The Sea
Prinec Charming Regal Carrousel
Pirates of The Caribbean
Buzz Lighte Year
Big Thunder Montian Railroad
The new Snowwhite roll-a-coster
Enchanted Tales with Belle
Princess Fairytale Hall
The rest would be the parades and Character meet and greets ( the princesses and Pirates of the Caribbean)
The list for the other parks are about half this. sounds like we should be able to get on all the rides they want to get on for now and a few meet and greets. We should be okay, right? Please say yes.

 

[FreeThinker]

Hi, I have 5 kids, too! We've went the last 2 years, and based on your list this is what I would do:

First MK Day, arrive at 8:30, with a good breakfast ate, and a snack packed. Kids should be rested and ready for a BIG day! Go straight to Enchanted Tales With Belle! It will still be about 9:45 when you get done. When you exit, go to the new Mine Train ride, then anything Ariel. Hopefully you can stop and get the fast-passes you want at the rides in Tomorrowland and the New Fantasy Land. Those are the only 2 places I would do, and I would leave by 1PM to eat lunch. I would take a packed snack and eat that when they start to get hungry. Get back to condo and eat lunch, take a rest, and then eat an early dinner. Go back around 6PM and take a snack or two. Make a list of the rides you didn't get done that morning and figure out which ones have shorter wait times when you arrive and do those. If you don't want to watch the light parade or fireworkds, that's great! Most of the people will, so wait times close to the light parade get super-short! We got there at 6PM last year and rode Alladin's Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise (with FP got before getting in line for ALladin), Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mtn. Railroad (with FP), Splash Mtn, then around to It's a Small, Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Ariel ride and meet and greet, everthing in the StoryBOok Circuis area (Goofini, Dumbo several times w/ the 2 year old) all of that in just a few hours, and we never waited more than about 20 minutes! Most were walk-on after 9PM b/c everyone was at the light parade. If you don't have to, I would really suggest just going to MK once per day, either morning or night, and using the rest of the day at DTD Or just swimming. Going into and out of MK takes a while b/c you have to park, get in line for the monorail, then get into line to check your bags, then get into the actual line for the park. It can take up to an hour if it's busy! If you want to be at MK at Rope-Drop, leave your place by 8:15 or you won't make it! MK is the worst to get in to and out of, and also the most crowded.

 

[michelle06]

To get an idea of what your day might look like, I would suggest going to touringplans.com. You can register for a free or paid subscription. However, you can personalize your own touring plan for free. Put in the date your are planning for, the time you will be there, and the rides you want to do. Then optimize it. It will give you the best plan of attack to minimize either your wait times or walking (criss-crossing the park). It will calculate your wait times, ride times, and walk times to give you a better idea of how much you can get done in one day.

Go to touringplans.com
At the top, under touring plans, go to "personalized touring plans"
click "create a plan"
go from there. It's pretty user-friendly.

 

[CarrieR]

RideMax would be another good option. Your dates won't be available yet, but closer to the date you can play with it a bit.

Several of the rides on your list can see long wait times, some to my puzzlement. I would anticipate that by July, you may be restricted to three FP+ and legacy FP will be gone. If you arrive (at park gates) by 8:45, make your FPs for the bigger rides on your list 11-12, 12-1 & 5-6, it might work out. You can ride the bigger rides standby at rope drop, then move into your FP+ selections. Take your mid-day break, return in time for your last FP+ and then ride more minor items.

If your kids have difficulty with loud noises, I would leave MK & EPCOT ahead of the fireworks. DHS & AK will be a non-issue. Be aware that you can hear the explosions quite far away - we have heard Illuminations go off from inside DHS and walking near Bay Lake Tower. Going inside a building dampens the noise significantly.

To answer your original question, it is highly variable. If you tried to standby Soarin today in the afternoon, you would average .25-.33 rides per hour. But two nights ago, near closing at AK, you could easily have hit a dozen laps on EE near closing. They were sending everyone through the FP line, and you could walk up and board the next train. Easy to lap over... and over... and over...

 

[JosieMouse]

Free Thanker thanks for the plan of attacck. Love hearin form other big families. I will checkout touringplans. That sound like exactly what I need. I have one more question. On our first MK day the girls will be doing BBB. I want to get an apointment by 8:30, but with the new 180+ 10 that may not be possible. What would be the easiest time to get in the BBB at MK or is their even such a thing. lol