Just Back from great trip!!!!

[elmo2wdw]

Got back yesterday from a great trip!!!! We were in the parks 5 days...we were able to do everything we wanted to do at least once - some things we did several times. It was crowded but very managable. Went to the parks early and took breaks at the pool in the afternoon. Fastpass helped a lot with the rides that had waits of 40+ minutes (Pooh and Peter Pan 70-80 minutes). It was hot but who cares we were in Disney!!!!!

We saw an alligator at Magic Kingdom again....this one was big ...5-6 feet!

Happy to answer any questions......

 

[BrianMonk]

We saw an alligator at Magic Kingdom again....this one was big ...5-6 feet!

Where at?

Did he happen to be cruising down main street checking out the sites?

 

[Missy1961]

Do you think the long waits for Pooh & Peter Pan were because IASW is closed?

 

[elmo2wdw]

The alligator was in the water close to Tom Sawyers Island. He was just floating and taking in the sun. We were walking on the "boardwalk" along the water when we saw him.

I think that Pooh and Peter Pan are always packed and having ISAW closed makes it worse. We rode both with no problem first thing in the morning but by 10:00 the wait was up to 70- 80 minutes.

We use the day after plan.....we go the day after early entry and we always get Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Philharmagic and the Carousel done in the first hour and half with little to no wait.

We did try EE at Magic Kingdom this time and we won't do it again. We were at the entrance before opeing and in the first hour we only got 2 rides done. Fantasyland was a mad house and the waits were to 30 minutes within the first 15 minutes of opening.

 

[Aisling]

Do you think the long waits for Pooh & Peter Pan were because IASW is closed?

Wow, I never thought of this, that Pooh and PP will be extra long because of no IASW. Those rides seem to aleways be a long wait, and now it's probably going to be longer.

 

[Cinderella37]

I don't know if IASW being closed will affect other Fantasyland attractions. It has usually been a walk-on, even in very crowded times (around July 4, for example), not really attracting hordes of people that would now be looking for an alternative. The lines for Pooh and Peter Pan have always been long, as OP stated, and it seems since Peter got Fastpass, the standby lines are even longer.

 

[elmo2wdw]

You can see some of our gator pics here. Bear with me, I'm slowly working on this.

www.geocities.com/elmo2wdw/gator.html

 

[bjakmom]

We use the day after plan.....we go the day after early entry and we always get Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Philharmagic and the Carousel done in the first hour and half with little to no wait.

elmo2wdw - did you use the day after plan at any other parks? if so, how did that work for you? My sister is going alone with her 3 boys and they do not want to do EMH (Aug), so in helping her plan, I'm figuring her best bet is either day after EMH or day before EMH. TIA !

Glad to hear you had a great trip - we can't wait to get back !!!

 

[elmo2wdw]

We use the day after plan for all the parks...and it always seems to work for us! We get to the park before opening so we can get right into the park and for the first hour or two we get to the most important attractions to us......these are the attractions that usually have long waits by lunch! Yes....it means getting up early on vacation but with 3 kids we are use to it and it also means everyone is happy because we get to go on all the rides without long waits.

Our rule of the thumb is we will not wait more than 20 minutes for a ride. With the day after plan...we get on most rides with less than a 10 minute wait in the first hour or two. Then the rest of the day if the wait is more than 20 minutes we Fast Pass it and do other things while we wait for our Fast Past time.

Another trick is we always get a Fast Pass for something before we take our pool break. So that when we come back to the park we can get right onto a ride without a wait.

Hope this helps!