HS: Unreasonable to set aside only one afternoon?

[Hope Soda]

We will be spending five days at Disney World with two little boys. We plan to park hop from AK to HS on our first day, which is a morning EMH day at AK, grab lunch at Hollywood & Vine at 1pm, then do what we can before Fantasmic! (7:00). I'm not too concerned with how much we'll be able to get done at AK, but I am hoping to rope drop Safari, check out the African trails, and hit Rafiki's; anything else is a bonus.

We will be devoting another day to AK later in the week, so we'll be using our FP+ for HS.

Between our 1pm lunch reservation and the 7pm Fantasmic! show, how much of the following can we actually do? Should we make a full day of it and do just one day at AK (we are major animal lovers, including bugs and dinosaurs)? The other 3 days will be a MK to Epcot hop, an Epcot to MK hop, and a full day at MK.

Toy Story Midway Mania
Disney Junior Live
Voyage of the Little Mermaid (will this actually be around in late November? - no showtimes currently listed)
Muppet*Vision 3D
Star Tours
Beauty and the Beast
Meet Olaf, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and/or Minnie (not a priority, as we'll meet all of these except for Olaf elsewhere during our trip)
Great Movie Ride
pick up snacks to munch while waiting for Fantasmic!
7pm Fantasmic!

Is the 2:20 Disney Junior show going to be impossible for us to make? If we did the 3:10 show, would we be able to squeeze in an appropriately timed TSMM FP+ before the show?

 

[Allen Conway]

For starters to answer your last question - there is FP+ for the Disney Junior show, but you can almost always get in without one. As far as having a 1PM dining reservation, I think you'll be OK as long as they aren't running behind on their reservations. Since it is a buffet you don't have to wait for food to arrive. That's a nice lunch though so if it were me I wouldn't rush it and enjoy the character buffet, even if it meant missing DJ.

As for the rest, my comments below:

Toy Story Midway Mania - this might be the only thing you do after finishing lunch and 7PM if you do not have a FP+; always a packed ride
Disney Junior Live - mentioned above
Voyage of the Little Mermaid (will this actually be around in late November? - no showtimes currently listed) - Hit or miss with lines. Sometimes the theater is full but right next to DJ, so check the time schedule when arriving at the park. Might be able to do 1-2.
Muppet*Vision 3D - easy to get into
Star Tours - lines can be 30+ minutes without FP+
Beauty and the Beast - can get into - large theater and great show. I have 3 girls and we all love it - not so sure about your boys, you might want to ask. Lots of twirling dancers in dresses.
Meet Olaf, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and/or Minnie (not a priority, as we'll meet all of these except for Olaf elsewhere during our trip) - yeah I'd put this last and do at MK or EPCOT as EPCOT has the one stop shop where you can see all the biggies in a row.
Great Movie Ride - easy to get into and typically a short wait <20 minutes
pick up snacks to munch while waiting for Fantasmic!

If for some reason you don't have a ride wait time app for your phone, make sure to get one. They can help on the fly figure out wothout walking across the park how long the lines are to make quick decisions.

Hope this helps!

 

[teacher100]

You should be fine at Animal Kingdom without fastpasses. I would get fast passes for TSMM where ever you decide to put it. Not sure how long the lunch would take.

 

[Hope Soda]

Thanks! We do have FP+ and were definitely planning to use two of them on TSMM and Star Tours. The third would probably be on Disney Junior, but I'm not sure about timing. If possible, I would use a 4th FP+ on Great Movie Ride, but I am not counting on that considering it will probably be at least 5pm before I exhaust my first 3.

I definitely don't want to rush all of our character dining experiences; I'd like to get as close to our money's worth as possible. That said, dining is tricky for us right now because DS6 frequently eats as much as a grown up (more than I do anyway, and I'm eating for two!), and he takes forever to finish all of the food he needs. At the same time, DS3 caps out at 45 minutes (at best), when it comes to remaining seated in a restaurant. I am hoping the characters making their rounds, as well as any character parades in the restaurants, will help keep his attention. How quickly does a party usually get seated at H&V?

 

[crazylady]

I think you'll be fine but you could always borrow some time from one of your MK days if you go and find you don't have enough time there. My little boys love HS. 3 days at MK would be too much for us.

 

[Hope Soda]

Ah, we're not actually doing 3 days in MK. The hop to MK is for a BOG dinner and Wishes, as our 2 MK days are party nights. We may or may not get tickets for the party night on the last day of our trip, but I am not counting on it and hopping is the only way we'll see all of the evening shows when we're there.

 

[keishashadow]

We will be spending five days at Disney World with two little boys. We plan to park hop from AK to HS on our first day, which is a morning EMH day at AK, grab lunch at Hollywood & Vine at 1pm, then do what we can before Fantasmic! (7:00). I'm not too concerned with how much we'll be able to get done at AK, but I am hoping to rope drop Safari, check out the African trails, and hit Rafiki's; anything else is a bonus.

We will be devoting another day to AK later in the week, so we'll be using our FP+ for HS.

Between our 1pm lunch reservation and the 7pm Fantasmic! show, how much of the following can we actually do? Should we make a full day of it and do just one day at AK (we are major animal lovers, including bugs and dinosaurs)? The other 3 days will be a MK to Epcot hop, an Epcot to MK hop, and a full day at MK.

Toy Story Midway Mania
Disney Junior Live
Voyage of the Little Mermaid (will this actually be around in late November? - no showtimes currently listed)
Muppet*Vision 3D
Star Tours
Beauty and the Beast
Meet Olaf, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and/or Minnie (not a priority, as we'll meet all of these except for Olaf elsewhere during our trip)
Great Movie Ride
pick up snacks to munch while waiting for Fantasmic!
7pm Fantasmic!

Is the 2:20 Disney Junior show going to be impossible for us to make? If we did the 3:10 show, would we be able to squeeze in an appropriately timed TSMM FP+ before the show?

Define late November. Hope it's "not" prior to or the weekend of Thanksgiving. All bets would be off. The week after is doable as to crowds.

Not sure if you're using your FP @ AK or MGM. I'm going with u are going into MGM without FP. If not, many of the following still applies.

If you are taken on time @ H&V, you still can figure on at least an hour, so you're up to 2 pm start time to ride.

If you want decent seats for Fantasmic, you need to typically be in line an hour (if not more) early, let's say 6 pm

This gives you 4 hours...time to start picking & choosing.

Muppet vision is going down next Mon, not sure if back up in Nov. The Movie Ride has had longer than expected waits our last few visits this year.

Little Mermaid is easy, Star Tours often has a short wait. Beauty and Beast can be crowded depending on # of shows. For some reason it is the show we tend to skip, not necessarily by choice and I'm talking a full day in the park.

Obtaining any additional TSMM FP @ 1 pm is not realistic IMO. I'm sure there are those who say they' er been able to snag it but I have been shut out consistently. If you are agreeable to whatever posted standby wait time (90 to 120 min not uncommon that time of day) it's workable. Not the way I choose to spend my time in the parks.

You need to prioritize your wants and then look at the wait & show times.

I'd skip the sit down meal and grab & go lunch. If on DP could always use credit for late dinner after Fantasmic somewhere.

Good luck planning your trip.

 

[Hope Soda]

Define late November. Hope it's "not" prior to or the weekend of Thanksgiving. All bets would be off. The week after is doable as to crowds.

Not sure if you're using your FP @ AK or MGM. I'm going with u are going into MGM without FP. If not, many of the following still applies.

If you are taken on time @ H&V, you still can figure on at least an hour, so you're up to 2 pm start time to ride.

If you want decent seats for Fantasmic, you need to typically be in line an hour (if not more) early, let's say 6 pm

This gives you 4 hours...time to start picking & choosing.

Muppet vision is going down next Mon, not sure if back up in Nov. The Movie Ride has had longer than expected waits our last few visits this year.

Little Mermaid is easy, Star Tours often has a short wait. Beauty and Beast can be crowded depending on # of shows. For some reason it is the show we tend to skip, not necessarily by choice and I'm talking a full day in the park.

Obtaining any additional TSMM FP @ 1 pm is not realistic IMO. I'm sure there are those who say they' er been able to snag it but I have been shut out consistently. If you are agreeable to whatever posted standby wait time (90 to 120 min not uncommon that time of day) it's workable. Not the way I choose to spend my time in the parks.

You need to prioritize your wants and then look at the wait & show times.

I'd skip the sit down meal and grab & go lunch. If on DP could always use credit for late dinner after Fantasmic somewhere.

Good luck planning your trip.

It's not actually not quite that bad, time-wise. This is for November 28th, the Monday after Thanksgiving, which crowd calendars have around a 4 or 5, (overall, not necessarily for AK, specifically), depending on which calendar you look at.

I would skip the H&V lunch if it were just me and DH, but I know my kids will LOVE it and this trip is really mostly about them (and a little bit about me... but I'm getting my choice at BoG later in the week). This meal is the one their most excited about. Also, our H&V reservation is a Fantasmic package, which I believe means we would need to arrive by 6:30 for guaranteed seating? That's what I've read, but I'm not 100% sure. I assume that the ticket we are given in the restaurant will give us a specific arrival window. Getting snacks before Fantasmic may take some time, so I think the 2pm-6pm window for attractions is probably not that far off.

BUT I do have 3 FP+ to use and I will be making those reservations 61 days out. I would think there SHOULD still be afternoon FP available for TSMM and Star Tours, which should save me some time.

Does anyone know if the Little Mermaid show will still be around then? The other shows all have schedules (or ranges of times, depending on the type) posted for November already, so I'm wondering if it's going to be available to us.

 

[keishashadow]

It's not actually not quite that bad, time-wise. This is for November 28th, the Monday after Thanksgiving, which crowd calendars have around a 4 or 5, (overall, not necessarily for AK, specifically), depending on which calendar you look at.

I would skip the H&V lunch if it were just me and DH, but I know my kids will LOVE it and this trip is really mostly about them (and a little bit about me... but I'm getting my choice at BoG later in the week). This meal is the one their most excited about. Also, our H&V reservation is a Fantasmic package, which I believe means we would need to arrive by 6:30 for guaranteed seating? That's what I've read, but I'm not 100% sure. I assume that the ticket we are given in the restaurant will give us a specific arrival window. Getting snacks before Fantasmic may take some time, so I think the 2pm-6pm window for attractions is probably not that far off.

BUT I do have 3 FP+ to use and I will be making those reservations 61 days out. I would think there SHOULD still be afternoon FP available for TSMM and Star Tours, which should save me some time.

Does anyone know if the Little Mermaid show will still be around then? The other shows all have schedules (or ranges of times, depending on the type) posted for November already, so I'm wondering if it's going to be available to us.

The week after Thanksgiving traditionally thought to be one of the lowest crowd wise. My son's family last went 2 years ago and said it was far less crowded than the Pop warner week early Dec for example.

Ok, so if you are using your 3 FP selections should have no issue with obtaining them via your onsite booking window. If Star Tours is family fav prob could easily work it in twice via watching the wait times on the app.


Your tix will state the F arrival time window. Be aware that they open those seats approx 20 minutes prior to the show to all.

 

[Klayfish]

No matter how you slice it, you're only going to have from roughly 2pm until 6pm to actually tour the park. That's a lot to squeeze in one afternoon. You probably won't get to it all, especially if you want to see the 3 shows you listed. They all take time, and the Great Movie Ride is a 15 minute ride once you get in. Yes, you can use FP+ to help minimize your waits, but I still don't see any way you'll get all that done. So you'll have to prioritize. I would definitely FP+ TSMM, and then my other two would be Star Tours and Great Move Ride. That will really help cut down time you're just standing in line. Anything else you can squeeze in between those FP+ is great. If Muppets reopens by November, do it right before/after Star Tours, since it's next door. Do Little Mermaid around the Movie Ride, because they're fairly close to each other.

 

[aretha30]

Depends, do you have any Star Wars fans? This will throw a loop into any plans you have. Our 8yr old is a massive SW fan and we spent one afternoon just checking out the stage shows, launch bay, character meets, and of course the fireworks (they are can't miss, such an amazing show, we went back last night to see them again). We originally planned 2 half days one being just 3 hours and ended up spending up more than that. We are thinking of going back tomorrow morning to make sure we got everything done we wanted to.

 

[Nancyg56]

One more thing to consider: how old are your kids? I know we did not take our DGD to Fantasmic when she was DIsnye Junior age, (Bear in the Big Blue House back then) She would not have liked it. Last December my DDIL, a friend and I sat directly behind a family with two kids, one about 3 and the other 6 or so. The little one was build in Mom's arms, and the older one kept his face inside Dad's armpit. This is Mickey's nightmare and while it is Fantastic for many, it can tighten youngsters.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Half a day is plenty a park under construction.... and Like you I would prefer to spend more time at AK

The Great Movie Ride is tired and in desperate need of help so skipping it won't be a problem

 

[dreiwhit]

On our last trip down to WDW, we arrived at DHS at 10am and saw Fantasmic that night In between we did:

Star Tours
Muppet Vision 3D
Lights Motors Action
Indiana Jones show
Great Movie Ride
Disney Jr. Live Onstage
TSMM
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
For the First Time In Forever: Frozen Sing Along

And, we had about 45 minutes for lunch in there as well.

We didn't get to see Beauty and the Beast and One Man's Dream - we ran out of time. And there were some times where we only had five minutes between the end of one show (Indiana Jones) and the start of another (Disney Jr.) We didn't do ToT or RnRC because the kids didn't want to and my wife and I have issues with our lower backs. We did have FPs for Star Tours, GMR and TSMM.

Your plan is doable. I would set up your FastPasses as you planned and set up a touring plan in advance. And, I would I would do all my character meet & greets at other parks and only see the ones at DHS that you can't see anywhere else.

FWIW, my son, my father-in-law and I arrived at Fantasmic about 30 minutes before the show started and got good seats (near the top row, away from the water.) My wife, daughter and mother-in-law were finishing up Little Mermaid and met us at Fantasmic.

 

[Momof2Singers]

One thing that will save time is NOT to get a Beauty and the Beast fast pass. You have to check in early. We chose to just walk on and saved 20-30 minutes. We were there 2 full days last week, Tues and Thurs, and returned on Fri night for fireworks, because my girls wanted to spend a lot of time in the Star Wars area. We ate one day at 50's prime time which took an hour, the other day we ate sandwiches and snacks at Starring Rolls, much quicker and totally enjoyed it. Like one said, it depends on the age of your kids. If they are young and are not into the nostalgia of this park, you will get thru it quickly. My DD's stopped for every photopass/memory maker photographer they saw and got amazing photos. These guys have really stepped up their game since we were there in 2012. The photographer in front of the statue near Hollywood blvd pulled light light sabers and did a complete shoot with my daughter, he was amazing. Its all about what is best for your family.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

With lunch and Fantasmic you're only going to have about four to maybe four and a half hours for rides and shows, once you figure in how long it takes to eat and the wait for Fantasmic. The shows easily suck up a half hour each, (more for Beauty and the Beast,) and you'll be rushing all day.

 

[Hope Soda]

Thank you all. My husband is sort of into Star Wars, but the rest of us are not. Star Tours was the only Star Wars themed thing we were thinking we'd do. My kids are 3 and 6 and the 3 year old is fearless. I think they will like Fantasmic, though I haven't actually watched it to see what it's really like. I am thinking of extending our trip a day and just doing whatever park we want to revisit the most that day. We won't have FP+ planned out in advance for that day (I mean, I'll bet on a park 60 days out and pick 3 there with no guarantee that's where we'll go), but hopefully we'll be able to get all of the tough rides throughout the rest of the week. If we end up feeling like we missed too much at HS, we can go back at the end of the trip.