Impressions and Tips learned from a trip during the Dog Days

[Zippa D Doodah]

We just returned from four days in the parks (7/29-8/1). I had the good fortune to spend my birthday in MK, which is something I never thought I'd do. Some tips and impressions...

1) Magic Bands and FP+. Wowwww! I am so very impressed with the MB/FP+ system. The bands were so convenient. As I reflect on our touring, we stood in exactly two lines the entire trip an hour for 7DMT and 10 minutes for Mission: Space (a Brazilian tour group entered just before we did). We used our FPs and then kept getting more which allowed us to ride other rides immediately. I was amazed that things worked out so well given the prediction of high crowds.

2)FP kiosks. This is a major growing edge for MB/FP+. I notice that using the system was a very difficult challenge for first timers and especially those whose first language is not English. I saw numerous guests get very frustrated, and also clog up FP kiosk queues. This might be eased by adding the ability to add FPs on the MDE app.

3) Heat. We have been to WDW many times but never in the dead of summer before. I was prepared for unbearable conditions, but found it to be surprisingly manageable. Yes, it is hot and sticky but it is not like you are necessarily immobilized by the climate. The high was 101 on Thursday, and we spent that afternoon walking around World Showcase. Mind you, I am a 50 year old man in less than perfect shape and I made it through the trip just fine. Just be sure to drink water, then drink some more water and then follow that up with some water.

4) Zig when others zag. At MK opening both days we were there, 95% of guests rushed for Fantasyland. On our first morning we had 7DMT FPs (more on that later), so we headed for Liberty Square and Frontierland. We were the very first people to ride Haunted Mansion for the day, then we rode BTMRR twice, Splash, and PotC all with zero waiting -all before 10am. It is so much fun walking around empty areas of the park, even if you know the crowds will find you later.

5) Don't give up hope. We scored 7DMT FPs the day before our trip began. That particular ride seems to be the hardest but I am living proof that they do show up.

6) We found a new parade viewing spot that was quite nice. We were in a narrow area across from Sleep Hollow, just at the end of the bridge coming from the hub. This spot offered excellent character interaction, plus I was able to make some fantastic pics during MSEP with the castle as a background

7) POR was lovely as always. While we did enjoy the boat ride, getting around DtD was bit of a pain. I would probably skip it from now on until the work is done and walkways are cleared.

8) The construction walls in MK choked walking traffic in two key areas: between IASW and Peter Pan; along the bridge between Main Street and the hub.

9) I hate to add to the griping, but it seems painfully obvious that DHS and Epcot need more attractions. In the case of Epcot, attractions that are not so embarrassingly technologically outdated.

All in all, a wonderful but too short trip!

 

[Disfan1968]

Great to hear your report! We leave tomorrow (Sunday) for a twelve day trip with a big crew. Needless to say we are doing our best to get to sleep, but yet here I am peeking at my mobile.

 

[mdinme]

Thanks for that report Zip. Makes sense that folks with young ones are going to head to fant land. 7dmt is new so waits are going to be long. Add it to the list (soarin, tsmm, rnr, space, etc) of must have FP+ attractions, which is actually good helps to loosen up other rides. When avatar land opens itll loosen stuff too. Maybe.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

The "Just Back" reports are really amp-ing my anticipation! 37 days to go

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Maybe it's just me/wishful thinking since we have a tripped planned in 3 1/2 weeks, but it seems that crowds have been much more manage able this summer than in the past.

Glad you had a good time, OP!

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Maybe it's just me/wishful thinking since we have a tripped planned in 3 1/2 weeks, but it seems that crowds have been much more manage able this summer than in the past.

Glad you had a good time, OP!

Make no mistake, the crowds were there. But as a DISer who is savvy about FP+ you will be several steps ahead of them.

 

[lustergirl]

Nice to hear a positive review

 

[daisy87]

Hi could I ask what sort of fast pass selections you made before you got there? I've been trying to decide what would be best late morning afternoon or evening slots, seems like your plans worked well so just wondering what strategy you used? Thanks

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Hi could I ask what sort of fast pass selections you made before you got there? I've been trying to decide what would be best late morning afternoon or evening slots, seems like your plans worked well so just wondering what strategy you used? Thanks ��

For our four days I made the following FPs (times approx):

7/29: Peter Pan (11:15am); BTMRR (12:30pm); 7DMT (3:30pm). For this day I lucked into the 7DMT FPs the day before our trip! If I had it to do over again I would probably switch out the BTMRR set because you can just ride until your heart's content during the first hour. We followed this up with FPs for Buzz (twice), HM, Pooh, and Under the Sea later in the day.

7/30: TSMM (9:30am); SW (10:30am); ToT (11:30am). We arrived a few minutes after 9 and were able to ride RnR before TSMM. I noticed that ToT ran out of FPs early, which was a surprise to me. Anywho, it was easy to ride RnR using the single rider line later in the day too. We also added FPs for GMR and Fantasmic. The F! FPs were unnecessary.

7/31 Spaceship Earth (9:45am); Soarin' (11am); Maelstrom (1pm). The SSE FPs were utterly unnecessary. It was nice to have the Soarin' FPs but this was a day when they were testing out this weird "no standby queue" idea, so keep that in mind. Maelstrom queue was 30 minutes or so but we breezed right thru. It was 101 degrees that afternoon so we left at 5 and did not return

8/1: greet Mickey (10:30am); Jungle Cruise (12:15pm); Space Mountain (1pm). We wanted a traditional family pic with Mickey. This saved 30 minutes. Skipped JC because we were eating at Be Our Guest. Followed up Space with several FPs. we stood in line an hour to ride 7DMT, the only line we stood in over all four days!

 

[ariane37]

The "Just Back" reports are really amp-ing my anticipation! 37 days to go

23 days here
And yes, the just-back reports totally get me excited!!

Zip, you mentioned TOT FP's running out early (which kind of stinks). Any idea if the RnRc FP's ran our early, too? We have ours set for mid-morning and will most likely ride once right at park opening, but we like riding multiple times and I hoping to get at least one more FP for later in the day. This was also my plan for TOT but at least *usually* the SB line for that isn't as long as RnRc.

Thanks!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Nice! I feel the same way about the heat….it's so hot, yeah, oddly it's ok. I think going in and out of the AC is the key. Glad you had a nice trip

 

[edk35]

Good to hear.... we will be arriving Disney on Friday. Our first day...we are going to MK with a 3 nighttime fast passes because we won't arrive until mid afternoon. Friends of ours went over the 4th of July week and they said the same as you for MK...head to Frontier Land and do that and Adventure Land stuff while others are in FANTASY land.

 

[Smile4Me]

For our four days I made the following FPs (times approx):

7/29: Peter Pan (11:15am); BTMRR (12:30pm); 7DMT (3:30pm). For this day I lucked into the 7DMT FPs the day before our trip! If I had it to do over again I would probably switch out the BTMRR set because you can just ride until your heart's content during the first hour. We followed this up with FPs for Buzz (twice), HM, Pooh, and Under the Sea later in the day.

7/30: TSMM (9:30am); SW (10:30am); ToT (11:30am). We arrived a few minutes after 9 and were able to ride RnR before TSMM. I noticed that ToT ran out of FPs early, which was a surprise to me. Anywho, it was easy to ride RnR using the single rider line later in the day too. We also added FPs for GMR and Fantasmic. The F! FPs were unnecessary.

7/31 Spaceship Earth (9:45am); Soarin' (11am); Maelstrom (1pm). The SSE FPs were utterly unnecessary. It was nice to have the Soarin' FPs but this was a day when they were testing out this weird "no standby queue" idea, so keep that in mind. Maelstrom queue was 30 minutes or so but we breezed right thru. It was 101 degrees that afternoon so we left at 5 and did not return

8/1: greet Mickey (10:30am); Jungle Cruise (12:15pm); Space Mountain (1pm). We wanted a traditional family pic with Mickey. This saved 30 minutes. Skipped JC because we were eating at Be Our Guest. Followed up Space with several FPs. we stood in line an hour to ride 7DMT, the only line we stood in over all four days!

I see on 8/1 you skipped the Jungle Cruise FP+. Did skipping that FP+ affect your ability to book additional FP+ during that day after you had used the others? Also where were the best places you found to book additional FP+ at in each park?

 

[daisy87]

For our four days I made the following FPs (times approx):

7/29: Peter Pan (11:15am); BTMRR (12:30pm); 7DMT (3:30pm). For this day I lucked into the 7DMT FPs the day before our trip! If I had it to do over again I would probably switch out the BTMRR set because you can just ride until your heart's content during the first hour. We followed this up with FPs for Buzz (twice), HM, Pooh, and Under the Sea later in the day.

7/30: TSMM (9:30am); SW (10:30am); ToT (11:30am). We arrived a few minutes after 9 and were able to ride RnR before TSMM. I noticed that ToT ran out of FPs early, which was a surprise to me. Anywho, it was easy to ride RnR using the single rider line later in the day too. We also added FPs for GMR and Fantasmic. The F! FPs were unnecessary.

7/31 Spaceship Earth (9:45am); Soarin' (11am); Maelstrom (1pm). The SSE FPs were utterly unnecessary. It was nice to have the Soarin' FPs but this was a day when they were testing out this weird "no standby queue" idea, so keep that in mind. Maelstrom queue was 30 minutes or so but we breezed right thru. It was 101 degrees that afternoon so we left at 5 and did not return

8/1: greet Mickey (10:30am); Jungle Cruise (12:15pm); Space Mountain (1pm). We wanted a traditional family pic with Mickey. This saved 30 minutes. Skipped JC because we were eating at Be Our Guest. Followed up Space with several FPs. we stood in line an hour to ride 7DMT, the only line we stood in over all four days!

Thanks so much for this info it is amazing!! I have my fast passes scheduled for similar times as you so hopefully my plans will work as well as yours did, thanks again it's great to hear from people who've had success with the new system, gets me really excited for our trip!! 13 sleeps encounting

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Zip, you mentioned TOT FP's running out early (which kind of stinks). Any idea if the RnRc FP's ran our early, too? We have ours set for mid-morning and will most likely ride once right at park opening, but we like riding multiple times and I hoping to get at least one more FP for later in the day. This was also my plan for TOT but at least *usually* the SB line for that isn't as long as RnRc.

Thanks!

I honestly don't recall whether the RnR FPs were out or not. After the first ride it was just me and DD17 in my family who wanted to ride it more. We got in the single rider line and had no wait each time so I didn't even look at FPs for RnR. DD rode it more than I did. I think she rode it eight times that day! She reported waiting 15-20 minutes once and that was about the only wait she had using single rider.

I see on 8/1 you skipped the Jungle Cruise FP+. Did skipping that FP+ affect your ability to book additional FP+ during that day after you had used the others? Also where were the best places you found to book additional FP+ at in each park?

Skipping the JC FP+ had no effect on ability to book additional FP+s.

For booking additional FPs I had luck with the kiosk near Buzz in MK, also the one in the walkway connecting Liberty Square and Adventureland. I found the one in Fantasyland at Philharmagic to be always crowded and would recommend not using it.
In DHS it was easy to get FPs at ToT kiosk. In Epcot I got them with no waiting at the breezeway outside Mouse Gears. Since we did not have hoppers I didn't make it over to AK so I have nothing to report from there.

 

[ariane37]

I honestly don't recall whether the RnR FPs were out or not. After the first ride it was just me and DD17 in my family who wanted to ride it more. We got in the single rider line and had no wait each time so I didn't even look at FPs for RnR. DD rode it more than I did. I think she rode it eight times that day! She reported waiting 15-20 minutes once and that was about the only wait she had using single rider.



Thanks! Going to try and talk DS12 into doing the single rider line this time. Before our Feb. trip-our first with FP+ - he and I would ride RnRc 5-9 times each visit to HS Weren't able to do that in Feb. but we're going to try our best to get back up there this month!