Is there only one strategy these days?

[momof2n2]

Thank you for the replies. Glad to hear it's not the majority who feel it is three-and-done. That is never enough for us.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Here's just an example of what can be accomplished at MK in just 4 hours (8 pm to midnight) on a crowd level 8 summer evening without FP+.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the parade and fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

 

[larryz]

Thank you for the replies. Glad to hear it's not the majority who feel it is three-and-done. That is never enough for us.

Definitely not. Despite the more crowded "feel," we were able to hit 11 attractions in MK between rope drop and 3:30, with time out for lunch.

 

[larryz]

I do have pre-opening ADRs. There. That's another strategy!

And very effective it was. We were standing at the rope Thurs morning, watching the ADR people go by.

I laughed every time I heard, "Look, we're the first people in the park today!" I heard that remark several times over the half-hour we waited for rope drop...

 

[ShannonMB]

Trying myself to plan our touring plan Strategy for a trip soon.

I'm going to be at an 8+ crowd level day. Planning to be there for rope drop. Is the following feasible to do before noon (first 3 hours of the day):

Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Splash Mountain
BTMRR
Haunted Mansion

In roughly that order?

I hear the left side of the part is pretty quiet in the mornings and I have my FP+'s booked for the afternoon (Seven Dwarves, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain).

Thoughts and feedback would be appreciated.

Like another poster said, start with BTMRR and Splash, then head down through the Adventureland stuff and then back up through the breezeway to Haunted Mansion. Works like a charm and you will be done well before noon! We'll be utilizing this MK strategy in just a few weeks! We also will take the train back to Frontierland. I don't know that it saves any time, but it's a nice relaxing way to get back there as long as you have another MK day to walk down Main Street. Last year on a fairly busy day at MK we took the train to Frontierland and rode BTMRR and Splash, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, then hopped the train to Fantasyland and were at BOG in time for our 10:30am lunch reservation!

Edited to add: This was on a 9am opening day.

 

[Shanti]

Utilizing extra magic hours is often overlooked on these boards. It's so simple...and so effective, as long as you and the family are okay with the early or late hours. Everyone says parks are terrible on EMH days because newbie park guests flock to them, but it seems that since FP+, a lot more guest attention is going to booking FP's than to scheduling for EMH.

We like waking up early & hitting rope drop or pre-opening ADR's some days, then sleeping late, arriving in the afternoon & closing down the park with PM EMH on other days.

I'm also not a fan of spending all 3 pre-planned FP's right away as 1.) that can cause you to be under time pressure as you zip around the park and 2.) you're busy FP-ing while standby lines are the lowest, hence missing one major benefit of arriving early, and 3.) FP's for the top rides sometimes aren't available day-of, at least not at desirable times. On the days we hit RD, we standby as many rides as possible until the afternoon crowds, and that's when our FastPasses begin. We do shows / snacks / meals between those spaced-out afternoon FastPasses. We also often like saving a FastPass for a parade or fireworks.

There is more than one good way to tour the parks, and there always will be.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Don't be afraid to get the extra FP for just whatever is available. As weird as it felt to us to FP Small World after seeing the wait times we were glad we did.

 

[Mikie]

Thank you for the replies. Glad to hear it's not the majority who feel it is three-and-done. That is never enough for us.

I'm genuinely confused by the "three-and-done" comments. I really can't tell if they are exaggerating to make a point, or if there are people who literally use a days' park ticket, bother with bus travel times or parking/trams, ride only 3 attractions and leave a park.

While I was not motivated to return to kiosks for multiple FP+'s, and I traveled with a slow-moving group of 12 at a moderate+ time of year (crowds 6-8), AND we arrive at not-quite-rope-drop, we rode far more than 3 rides a day, kept ourselves very busy and wore ourselves out! We don't do midday breaks, instead slowing down with a TS lunch, shows, or long A/C rides like Ellen. Between not taking a break, and traveling with pre-schoolers, we only last until 7-8 most nights before we're pooped and leave for a TS dinner or swimming at the resort. We make it through to evening fireworks 2-3 times on an 8day trip.

I can only guess that 3-and-done people are frequent travelers who have specific favorites that they want to ride multiple times and not-so-favorites they want to skip. We go infrequently enough that we want to do everything every time (no more likely to skip Its A Small World or Aladdins Carpets than Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain) and there's simply not enough time to do more than 2-3 trips on any one ride, so the difficulty of getting multiple RockinRollerCoasters is not really a problem for us.

Definitely the necessity of "lowering your expectations" depends entirely on what your expectations were in the first place. I must have had too low of expectations previously, because I haven't had to adjust them in recent trips.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I'm so glad I found this thread as I've been driving myself bananas trying to plan and strategize our park days for this trip to the point that I'm ready to throw in the towel . This will be our first Disney trip since FP+ was rolled out and we have five kids toddler to teen with various interests, we may stay offsite for the entire trip instead of doing an onsite/offsite split stay, and to further complicate matters we may be bringing both my mom and DH's mom along who both have health sensitivities and dislike being out in the heat. We also very much want to spend at least a couple days visiting other central FL area parks (kids want to go back to Legoland and Sea World is on our must do list); but since we only travel to the Disney/Orlando area once every few years we really don't want to do just a Disney-only trip or a Florida non-Disney trip even though we know that doing one or the other would make things easier and less expensive

 

[SplashMo]

Ok. So I know that's hyperbolic, of course.

But I've been using the DIS to plan trips since 2007 & the boards seem so quiet these days JUST as I'm approaching my time to make FP+ reservations!!!

I've been reading regularly since early 2013 and it almost seems like the only strategy these days is to arrive at RD & ride as much as possible til 11:30/12, have three consecutive FP+, and then go back to the resort and people watch, swim, or drink.

AND take longer trips to get to do as much as you used to do in shorter ones.

As someone who only has 5 park days over one week, please tell me there's more hope than this.

I would get park hoppers.

Your plan is correct for MK. However go for 5 and 6 fastpasses and also ride without FP+ for many rides.

Say you do

1.5 MK
1.5 Epcot
1 DHS
1 AK

The way I would approach this is

1 day as described in MK. RD and then FP+ after 2 hours. Then additional FP+ and also rides without FP+ till close. Do all night shows this day.
.5 day in MK RD without FP+. Have FP+ reservations for SOARIN in Epcot. Eat Dinner there with an ADR and watch illuminations. See the world showcase.
1 Day Epcot. RD with FP+ the TT. RD SOARIN. explore the world showcase. Have dinner with ADR.

DHS day. RD with FP+ stay all day and see F+.

If you do not care about TSMM or Jedi Training academy you could do the following before arriving to park:

RD Epcot with FP+ for TT. Only hit SOARIN and TT before 11 AM and then hop to DHS.
RD MK for two hours then hop to DHS

AK Day Rope Drop AK without FP+ stay as long as you like. hop to another park for evening as AK closes early

 

[SplashMo]

The other detail is use easywdw to pick the best days in the park when you are staying the entire day in the park and for AK as well. For days when you are hopping after only two hours use this information for the second park.

 

[castlegazer]

I have been off the boards for a long time, but my strategy for an upcoming summer two park day trip is as follows and may be different than those always purported as gospel nowadays:

Morning: MK in only Tomorrowland until 12:00
Leisurely pace and two FPs: Space Mountain and we're debating between needing one for the Speedway or Buzz
Then off to Barnstormer and that area for character meets
Next FP: SDMT
Lunch booked at BOG for 1:00
Then back to resort

Evening is at Epcot WS to do a leisurely pace and Agent P
If we can get it, FP at Frozen

The next morning we start back at Epcot to do Future World at a leisurely pace.

1:00 Coral Reef lunch then back to resort

That evening is MK and its open until midnight, so we are back there doing the remainder of the park in whatever pace we can.
Three FPs here for the evening - Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and we're still discussing the last one.

We are really striving this trip to do this at as much of a leisurely pace as we can. We have made many mistakes in the past trying to do too much in the morning after RD. I really highly do not advocate a morning kamikaze plan.

My only concern is not being able to see the 3:00 parade in any of these plans.

 

[lucifie]

There isn't a listing of available FPs.

The best strategy for your family is to utilize Rider Swap/Switch. Book FPs for height restricted rides for two or three people and after they ride, three will get to ride on the Swap by going through the FP line. This will maximize the # of rides your family can accomplish.

This is a great idea. My youngest is big enough for most rides, but you can use child swap for kids who don't want to go, right? Let's say, for example, we want to ride Rock n Roller coaster. One of my kids is too small and another won't want to go. My DH doesn't like roller coasters. Could I book the FP for 3 and then use rider swap and the same 3 go again? Or would my DH have to go with the kids? Or could we swap MagicBands? Is that allowed?

 

[hiroMYhero]

This is a great idea. My youngest is big enough for most rides, but you can use child swap for kids who don't want to go, right? Let's say, for example, we want to ride Rock n Roller coaster. One of my kids is too small and another won't want to go. My DH doesn't like roller coasters. Could I book the FP for 3 and then use rider swap and the same 3 go again? Or would my DH have to go with the kids? Or could we swap MagicBands? Is that allowed?

The Swap pass will be good for a few days and any 3 guests can ride on the Swap. All you need to do to get the Swap Pass is to show the child who is too small to the CM at the FP entrance.

You can also swap MagicBands or your husband can take the non-riders on a different FP attraction.

 

[kangamama]

I'm really grateful to see a thread with some alternatives to "what do you mean you aren't planning on rope drop??" being discussed. So thank you to momof2n2 for getting the conversation started!

What about shows and similar attractions? I.e. Non-rides. You don't need to be there at rope drop or have a fast pass plus to do shows, they are never that busy, so you can save these till the afternoon. Not to mention in-park meals, walk-around areas (world showcase, Animal Kingdom trails), shopping, live entertainment, "streetmosphere", parade and fireworks....

My question dovetails on this, because I'm planning for us to experience a lot of non-ride stuff on our trip. Specifically, are there any shows for which FP+s are truly necessary or recommended? I'm considering getting them for Finding Nemo Musical, Turtle Talk with Crush, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, Frozen Sing Along.... Even during a peak season (Easter week), are the waits for these shows reasonable?

 

[lucifie]

I'm really grateful to see a thread with some alternatives to "what do you mean you aren't planning on rope drop??" being discussed. So thank you to momof2n2 for getting the conversation started!



My question dovetails on this, because I'm planning for us to experience a lot of non-ride stuff on our trip. Specifically, are there any shows for which FP+s are truly necessary or recommended? I'm considering getting them for Finding Nemo Musical, Turtle Talk with Crush, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, Frozen Sing Along.... Even during a peak season (Easter week), are the waits for these shows reasonable?

How old are your kids? I haven't been to most of the shows, but 3 years ago my kids were 9 (almost 10), 7, 4 and 2. I think the 7 year old liked it, but was getting toward too old for it. The 4 year old liked it and the 2 year old couldn't have cared less. The almost 10 year old has special needs and she also didn't care. I thought it was pretty cute, but we went at an off-peak time and as I recall, didn't have to wait. Having seen it, I wouldn't waste a FP on it, unless you have big Nemo/Crush fans.

 

[lucifie]

The Swap pass will be good for a few days and any 3 guests can ride on the Swap. All you need to do to get the Swap Pass is to show the child who is too small to the CM at the FP entrance.

You can also swap MagicBands or your husband can take the non-riders on a different FP attraction.

That's good to know. Is the swap pass added electronically to your ticket/band or is it a physical pass? And can it only be used for a child too small or can it be used for a child who is big enough, but scared?

 

[hiroMYhero]

That's good to know. Is the swap pass added electronically to your ticket/band or is it a physical pass? And can it only be used for a child too small or can it be used for a child who is big enough, but scared?

It's a physical pass.

There was a thread the other day where it was confirmed that the Swap Pass was given when children weren't brave enough to ride even though they were beyond the height minimum. You can just show your too small child - you don't have to show both children.

 

[lucifie]

It's a physical pass.

There was a thread the other day where it was confirmed that the Swap Pass was given when children weren't brave enough to ride even though they were beyond the height minimum. You can just show your too small child - you don't have to show both children.

There might be situations (Space Mountain) where the little one is big enough and says she wants to go, but changes her mind.

 

[Ava]

RD is starting to get sadly funny. People are starting to get ridiculous with rushing in, you think it was the start of the Boston marathon now when they open the gates.

Agree on this! I like to see the opening show at MK at least once per trip, but for the other parks I prefer to arrive right around park opening. By then the crazy rope drop crowds have cleared the gates but wait times at most attractions are still low. Even when we are at MK for the opening show/rope drop, we'll hang back after the show and just make our way in when the crowd lets up a bit. Since we aren't trying to hit the most popular attractions first thing (we use FP+ for those), we still find short waits when we get in slightly after 9:00.