July FP vs. standby priorities for mixed group

[bakerjay]

Bear with me, this may become lengthy and/or complicated! But here we go...

My parents are taking the 5 grandkids to WDW in July. They will be going 7/24 - 7/26. They will arrive 7/24 but likely NOT by RD. They will leave on 7/26 but not until at least dinnertime. So they have most of both days and one full day. They will have park hoppers and as of now are staying offsite though I'm working hard to get them to move onsite.

I am trying to help them plan for FPs. I know they can't book any until 30 days out (or 60 if I can get them to move) but the issues we're running into are my two nephews are really not fond of coasters or any sort of thrill ride and my niece and my kids definitely are (FYI, kids are 11, 13, 15, 16, 16). Knowing they are going at prime heat and crowd times and knowing that hot FPs will be tough to come by, I'm trying to come up with a strategy for them all to hit the things they want to while minimizing wait times.

All of that said, the priority parks are definitely MK, AK and Epcot. HS would be only to see Fantasmic one of the nights and hit anything available to ride/do. I'd like to try to have them only get FPs for rides they will all go on together since it will make logistics much easier.

7/24
Epcot:
All would like all rides, only exception might be Test Track
Thoughts: Go straight to Soarin and get FPs for TT (or vice versa) and FP for Turtle Talk and ?? Since they likely will not be there by RD, not sure how feasible this is but in general, I think that Epcot will be the most easily navigated park for the day that they can't get there by RD. Probably also the night they will try to hit Fantasmic.

7/25
MK:
All would like - Peter Pan, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Tomorrowland Speedway, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, POTC
Only some will like - BTMR, Space Mountain
Thoughts: Those who want to, go straight to BTMR and/or Space Mountain (stinks that they are in opposite areas) and get FPs for Peter Pan, Splash and Haunted Mansion

7/26
AK:
All would like - FoP, Na'vi River, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, It's Tough to be a Bug
Only some will like - Everest and Dinosaur
Thoughts: Knowing how hard it will be to get FP for FoP, go straight there at RD and then FP any others except Everest and hope that those who want to get on Everest will be able to pick up a FP later or get on standby

Any thoughts are much appreciated. I haven't been to WDW since mid June 2015 so I'm not even sure anymore how popular some stuff is vs others. Used to be that Peter Pan would back up quickly but maybe not anymore? BTMR used to be pretty easy to get on in the first hour or so but again, maybe not anymore? And we have never been there in July so I have no idea what crowds will really be like.

 

[Klayfish]

July isn't peak crowd season, it's actually pretty light. Nor are top tier FP+ hard to come by, with very limited exception. We're offsite people and go in July very often. We have no trouble getting FP+ for most of the rides on your list. The only one that's really a challenge is FoP.

Epcot, I'd suggest going straight to TT, then FP+ Soarin. The rest of the rides there really don't need a FP+ anyway, so just pick whatever you want (you didn't mention FEA, so I left it out).

MK, Go right to Space or PP, pick one. Get FP+ for the others. All the ones on your list aren't really hard to get FP+ for, except perhaps Space (but you can get it if you refresh)

AK, FoP is hard. If you're going to be there for rope drop, then go there. FP+ Na'vi and then the rest are easy to get as FP+

 

[bakerjay]

July isn't peak crowd season, it's actually pretty light. Nor are top tier FP+ hard to come by, with very limited exception. We're offsite people and go in July very often. We have no trouble getting FP+ for most of the rides on your list. The only one that's really a challenge is FoP.

Epcot, I'd suggest going straight to TT, then FP+ Soarin. The rest of the rides there really don't need a FP+ anyway, so just pick whatever you want (you didn't mention FEA, so I left it out).

MK, Go right to Space or PP, pick one. Get FP+ for the others. All the ones on your list aren't really hard to get FP+ for, except perhaps Space (but you can get it if you refresh)

AK, FoP is hard. If you're going to be there for rope drop, then go there. FP+ Na'vi and then the rest are easy to get as FP+

Interesting. I would have thought other than Easter week and Christmas, July would be one of the busiest times of the year. Good to know you think otherwise.

Also, what is FEA?

 

[Klayfish]

No, actually July is pretty slow, comparatively speaking. There is always a crowd at WDW, so it's not a ghost town by any stretch. But it pales in comparison to Xmas, Spring Break, Thanksgiving, etc... Surprisingly, both June and July have been very light...we've taken 2+ week long trips the past 3 summers (both June and July) and are doing it again this June. With the exception of 4th of July weekend, it's been quite low crowds. In fact, last July I remember walking Epcot one morning with my wife and marveling at how empty the park was.

FEA = Frozen Ever After

 

[bakerjay]

No, actually July is pretty slow, comparatively speaking. There is always a crowd at WDW, so it's not a ghost town by any stretch. But it pales in comparison to Xmas, Spring Break, Thanksgiving, etc... Surprisingly, both June and July have been very light...we've taken 2+ week long trips the past 3 summers (both June and July) and are doing it again this June. With the exception of 4th of July weekend, it's been quite low crowds. In fact, last July I remember walking Epcot one morning with my wife and marveling at how empty the park was.

FEA = Frozen Ever After

Good to know! And yeah, FEA is not of interest to anyone in our party. I guess, thankfully, since I would imagine it's a hot commodity!

 

[disneyvoice]

That's actually a pretty decent time to go as far as crowds. My advice with kids that age who have different preferences is that it is perfectly safe for them to go off on their own and ride what they want. I would suggest asking each kiddo what they really want to ride and then split up into two groups and ride things that way. It will likely be easier to find FPs for a smaller number of people at a later date. You could try to schedule them at around the same time so the group is only separated when they are doing FPs for a short period of time if everyone primarily wants to tour together.

I think at 13 kids can have their own MDE (it might be 12 or 14, can't remember) so they can actually schedule all their own FPs. That's what we started doing with our son when he was younger. DH and I made FPs for what we want and he likes to go off on his own and things we don't necessarily enjoy like Space Mountain.