I am overwhelmed about fast passes! Could use some help with trip planning...

[riddlemethis]

Hello everyone!

My family and I are taking our first trip in late April, 2017. I have our basic itinerary down but I am having trouble planning Fast Passes.

Having not been to Disney since I was 13, I have no idea which fast passes to grab for my family. I would appreciate any and all advice.

My family... I love roller coasters, my husband likes them most of the time.. 8 y/o is just beginning to branch out and ride stuff- he enjoyed the small (and allbeit somewhat terrifying) coaster at the state fair. 6y/o is terrified of everything (including dumbo) - but he rode a ferris wheel for the first time and fell in love. He is bummed that Disney has no ferris wheel! lol


My questions:

Do I enter the park and go left? Right? Does it matter?

How long are fast pass lines?

How do fast passes work with child swap? I read somewhere that if you get a fast pass for Parent 1 and Parent 2, then get the child swap for both kids, essentially the kid can ride twice and go with each parent? Is that right?

Are there any rides that are low intensity and don't come off the ground? The 6 y/o will ride things that stay on the ground but he was too tall for some at the state fair. What passes should I get for him?

Are there fast passes for shows? I have seen a few tidbits of information about that.

Honestly, there is SO MUCH INFORMATION to shift and read through I would love feedback from you all!!

My expectations aren't too high and I'm not trying to over-plan... I just want some kind of direction for how long it takes to walk to this ride or that, how long will we be in line.. I would prefer a linear path around the park compared to jumping all around for fast passes but some backtracking is always allowed.

*sigh*
I've been overloaded with Disney planning for so long now I don't even know how to navigate my real life!! lol That's a bit dramatic.


Here is my itinerary:

Wednesday: Fly in, party at Beach Cub (our hotel)
Thursday: cape may cafe character breakfast, Magic Kingdom, 3:30 fantasy festival, 10pm wishes
Friday: Magic Kingdom, Whispering canyon 7:00 pm- uber back to hotel
Saturday: Animal Kingdom, lunch at sanaa at 1:30, Rivers of Light
Sunday: sleep in, explore day, kona cafe at 1:05 at poly, kids are doing the day care service this night from 4pm to midnight.
Monday: Walk to epcot, meet donald duck at some point, IllumiNations 9:00
Tuesday: Hollywood studios, Jedi Training, 8:30 Fantasmic.
Wednesday: swim and then head home that afternoon.


My husband doesn't want to plan too hard, but I definitely know that we want to use all the fast passes possible.

Thank you for any advice you all could provide, I truly would appreciate it! Even links that don't have a ton of superfluous information- I think I may be on overload.

 

[sharonabe]

I can't help with the parent swap/FP thing, but my suggestion to you is to sit down with your 6 yr old and watch some YouTube videos of WDW attractions. There isn't anything like state fair rides at WDW, so it's a little difficult to help you with him. Here are my suggestions for watching:

MK
Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Jungle Cruise, People Mover, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion (may be a little scary, but don't know), It's a Small World, Speedway, Buzz Lightyear. Show like attractions like Monsters, Inc, Mickey's Philharmagic, Carousel of Progress, should be fine for him.

EP
Test Trak, Spaceship Earth, Three Cabelleros, Frozen ride, Nemo

HS
Toy Story Mania should be great, but watch it to be sure. All of the shows are good. Star Tours is a simulator ride. Great Movie ride should be okay too.

AK
Safari and the shows, the train over to Rafiki is good. Watch Dinosaur, but it is very shaky, rough.

Good luck!

 

[riddlemethis]

Thank you!!! We will absolutely check them out!

 

[OB1]

Obviously you have a great group of people to help and share. Reading post and info will be your friend. This has been helpful to some of my friends - http://**************.net/. There is also a companion book. the Easy Guide to WDW. You don't have to buy the book to learn what you need, but the book may short cut your reading. It may also be available in your local library, so worth a look.

Child swap is for kids that are not able to ride an attraction (ex: 4 yr old can not ride space mtn). SO - parent 1 can ride while parent 2 will wait with the child. Then parent 2 can ride while parent 1 waits.

 

[Karin1984]

I'm sure the moderators will move your post to here http://disboards.com/forums/everything-fastpass.197/
Read the first few posts in this thread as a start. It has a list of rides & shows that have FP. http://disboards.com/threads/fastpass-frequently-asked-questions.3491680/

Keep in mind FPs are a tool, not a goal. Your goal is a pleasant family vacation, don't aim for a perfect FP schedule.
Your plan looks good, but I wouldn't do 2 days of MK in a row, I would begin/end with it. I would swap HS & the 2nd MK day.

Do I enter the park and go left? Right? Does it matter?
Depends on what rides you want to do.

How long are fast pass lines?
Hard to say, you are going during Easter(?) so also expect lines with FP. Usually they are shorter than standby, but it's not necessarily front of the line.

How do fast passes work with child swap?
Can't help you here, but just go to FP board and use the search option with 'child swap' and tick the box 'title only'

Are there any rides that are low intensity and don't come off the ground?
Besides shows, I think everything comes off the ground, even the horses on the merry-go-round. The play areas. How is he with boats? Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, and Small World.
How is he with moving vehicles, then Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Light Year (which should be a must for a young boy) etc.
I would advise as well to watch clips on youtube. Can his big brother help to get over the fear?

Are there fast passes for shows?
Yes, you will find a list in the thread above with general information.

 

[emsparkles]

Do I enter the park and go left? Right? Does it matter? Now you book your FP+ on MDE people tend to go to where their first booked attraction is. So its not so much of an issue which way you want to go.

How long are fast pass lines? You book them on MDE via the app on your phone or desk top. There are screens available to book FP+ in the parks but I wouldn't advise it unless you have to. Always book your allocated three per day via MDE at your 60 day in advance point (espesh if you want the headliner attractions, good luck getting Frozen at any stage after exactly 60 days out!). Even if you dont go to that park on that day and need to change at least you have SOMETHING booked! Use the screens in the park only if you have to (like the app isnt working). We ended up waiting 20mins in MK for a screen to book an additional FP when we had used our first three booked ones.

How do fast passes work with child swap? Afraid ive never done this (we dont go to Disney with children so no idea about the ride swap) sorry.

Are there any rides that are low intensity and don't come off the ground? There is loads of rides suitable for a 6 year old. Watch some youtube videos of ride through. Things like Winnie the pooh, peter pan (perhaps this may be suitable, its does 'fly' but very low intensity), speedway, jungle cruise, pirates of the carribean etc

Are there fast passes for shows? Yes pretty much most shows now have a FP area. Again you need to book these in advance on MDE.

Hope that helps and good luck planning and getting the fast passes you want! Im getting ready to book mine on the 27th December for my trip in Feb. Its very exciting!

 

[ArielSRL]

I recommend touringplans.com. They have some pre-made plans and you can make your own. It does help with FP suggestions as well. Some parts of the site are free. Some are available through subscription but its only like $12 per year and if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the home page there is usually a discount code. Well worth a subscription.

 

[riddlemethis]

Thank you all!

 

[gap2368]

one thing I will say about FP do not book any FP for the first 60 to 90 minutes the park is open as this is when the lines are the shortest and you can get a lot done just doing stand by there are ride that are normally long

at MK they tend to be

7DMT ( long when park opens and stays long)

PP ( if you can do it with in the first 15-30 minutes not bad and very cool interactive line, so if you can try and do stand by)

these will be short in the mornings but tend to be long latter.
space mountain
BTMRR
Splash mountain
HM

EPCOT

TT if you can do this with in the first 15 minutes you should be fine ( this ride also has single rider line)
soaring ( if you can do this with in the first 30 minute you should be fine
FEA if you do not have a FP walk very fast to this ride

HS

TT
TSMM
RNR
but you should be fine if you get there at RD and head to one of then

AK

Everest

dinosaur



most lines will be long between 10:30-11ishto park close ( unless the park is open very late then you will get some short wait. )

best thing to do is rope drop if you want to do rides