HS brain mush...help me with my gameplan please....

[jagafen]

I think this is a side effect of being a Diser....we're the planning people. I'm trying to catch up on the FP+ changes from our last trip, and have a pretty good handle on the process for when we get to 60 days out. Right now, I"m trying to schedule our HS day, tweak HS ADRs for maximum flexibility, as I know closer to our trip, we'll probably have less of a chance to tweak anything ADR wise due to demand. It's also important to understand that the sole purpose of this trip is basically to check out Pandora and GE. We will have a park hopping day EP/MK on our first day. DH wants to walk around the new Fantasyland (so do I), but riding a bunch of MK attractions that evening isn't a make or break priority. We will have hoppers to use as well, so if for some reason we don't need all the time devoted to HS, we'll have some options as far as parks.

Because of the logistics of our trip, we're doing extra magic hours in the AM on our first full HS day. Our plan is to rope drop either GE with the rest of the world if we can't get FPs for any GE attractions, then head out and hit the parks with whatever FPs we're able to get booked. Alternatively, if we get FPs for Smuggler's, we'll at least have a bit of a gameplan that we can work from for the rest of the day. I"m trying to not book any ADRs/activities back to back, just because in my mind, we need to be flexible to alllow for the many unknowns. We're not going until the summer, so the things that I can book early, I have, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the FP gods are smiling on FP+ day.

Here's how our day is booked out so far....

Rope Drop GE or TSL depending upon where/when we get FP+
Morning is pretty flexible, due to no FP+ until 60 days out, and general inability to tell the future
CS lunch whenever we get hungry
1:25 Oga's Cantina for drinks. Probably won't eat anything unless we're feeling snacky.
3:25 Savi's workshop. Only 1 teen boy will participate. The other is fine watching.
5:30 Sci-fi for dinner
After dinner, book FPs ( after we use our 3rd mandatory, if available) for whatever we haven't gotten to yet, understanding that there will be NOTHING in GE available to FP unless we've already secured it. I'm assuming that if we get availability for an evening FP to Smuggler's @ 60 days out, the general strategy is to grab it when you can, and then try to modify it to earlier once we're in the park (if we're able to), yes?

By leaving 2 hours in between booked activities, I"m thinking that if the boarding groups continue into the summer-realizing that they might not, we can still work around the scenario in which our BG gets called, and we're holding onto FPs for another area of the park at the same time/within the 2 hour overlapping time frame for BGs. I think I've circumvented the BG/scheduled activity issue with the plan above. FWIW, we're fine traipsing from one end of the park to the other if need be to get everything "in". Is this a good, general plan (posted above, including how I see our day playing out), or is there something I"m overlooking due to brain mush?

The boys (2 17 y/o) will have 2 entire days in HS if they so choose. DH and I have a day and a half, due to our Victoria and Albert's reservation, and the need to come back and take showers and me get my hair and make-up done, which takes some time. We also have the option of spending part of our "transfer day" in HS, and I"m hoping that of any day, MAYBE we'll be able to get a FP for Smuggler's on this day. We're only spending 4 full days at Disney (with 2 to 2 1/2 of those devoted to HS) before going over to Universal, with some flex in our 5th/transfer day if there's more that we want to do before heading to The Other Dark Side.

At this point, I'm just looking for general validation that my brain is in the right place given the new to us changes regarding touring strategy and the popularity of GE in general.

 

[MomOTwins]

Couple of tweaks. One: I would not wait until after dinner dinner to book 4th and other FPs--I would book a 4th immediately after you tap into your 3rd fastpass during the day, while waiting in the FP queue for said ride. FP at HS frequently ends distribution earlier in the day due to the shortage of rides and high SWGE crowds. Two: On your smugglers run strategy, if the only time you can get is the evening, I would FP something else. Smugglers run is very high capacity so I don't expect the wait in the evenings to be too bad, even assuming waits get higher after FP starts being implemented. Thus, better to FP something else and roll the dice on riding Smugglers Run in the evening when the crowds thin.

 

[DisSurfer878]

Also important note: Don't bank on morning extra hours.

for the last three months HS has changed them at the last minute to evening hours. This is current through February and the end of March. March must have just changed because I only noticed it tonight after I looked

 

[wiggy500]

My suggestion is to be aware that you may end up redoing your Hollywood Studios plan about five times between now and when you go. At least that's been my experience so far. Disney keeps changing hours and fastpasses and boarding groups. Always in motion is Hollywood Studios.

 

[jagafen]

Couple of tweaks. One: I would not wait until after dinner dinner to book 4th and other FPs--I would book a 4th immediately after you tap into your 3rd fastpass during the day, while waiting in the FP queue for said ride. FP at HS frequently ends distribution earlier in the day due to the shortage of rides and high SWGE crowds. Two: On your smugglers run strategy, if the only time you can get is the evening, I would FP something else. Smugglers run is very high capacity so I don't expect the wait in the evenings to be too bad, even assuming waits get higher after FP starts being implemented. Thus, better to FP something else and roll the dice on riding Smugglers Run in the evening when the crowds thin.

Sorry if that was unclear..yes, 4th FP is booked as soon as we're able to, but timing logistically, it might not be a for a time frame that's until after dinner.

Thanks for the input on the possibility of a late Smuggler's FP. I know that would tie us up for getting a 4th FP, potentially, but I wasn't sure if I should grab what I could get when I could get it and then adjust on the fly.

Also important note: Don't bank on morning extra hours. for the last three months HS has changed them at the last minute to evening hours. This is current through February and the end of March. March must have just changed because I only noticed it tonight after I looked

Noted. Not knowing the true EMH schedule for when we plan on going is only complicating things. Personally, I'd prefer evening EMHs. I'll check March's hours to get an idea of what they're doing. I haven't checked park hours for a couple weeks anyway.

My suggestion is to be aware that you may end up redoing your Hollywood Studios plan about five times between now and when you go. At least that's been my experience so far. Disney keeps changing hours and fastpasses and boarding groups. Always in motion is Hollywood Studios.

LOL. Also noted. Always in motion as well is my brain . I did check dining reservations to see if we could flip flop our days a bit, and the availability/times we need are gone.