Mid August strategy question - AK EMH morning day with NO FP+?

[olive]

Apologies in advance that this is long, and thanks for any input!

We are getting ready to embark on our first trip to Disney since FP+ was launched. Although I have been to Disney maybe twelve times, I suddenly feel like I have no idea what I am doing! I have read a bunch on the boards, the unofficial guide and some blog posts in preparation. In part because we are going mid-August and based on the ages of our kids (they will be 3 and 8), we are planning on mid-day (from appx. lunch or post-lunch) breaks at the hotel for nap, swimming or both, and then a return to the parks. We have hoppers. We would get to the parks around opening, as we always have, though we may not be there precisely for rope drop each day. The day we check in to our hotel we will treat as a non parks day, just to swim in the weather allows, ride the monorail, whatever.

The first full day is EMH at AK. I was planning on heading over there for the day and doing as much as we can before the kids get pooped. If the 3 year old can nap in his stroller or on the ride back to the hotel (we will have a car), we can push through that day and possibly finish most of AK. We will be back to that park later in the vacation anyway, so we have no probably cutting things off and heading back to the hotel to pick up our AK visit another day. I would like to go to MK with the kids for dinner/evening rides though, just for a little while. I can't imagine not having them (or me!) see the castle right away. With this in mind, I was thinking it made sense to use our FP+ for MK later in the day rather than using them at AK. For the people who don't dislike AK (we actually adore it), have you managed to do it without FP+? If we did Everest, Dinosaur and Safari right off the bat (obviously not all three with the youngest), would we be okay? Maybe Primeval Whirl, too?

Sorry this is so long. With hopping, I am a little worried about the approach, especially when the hop is to MK.

 

[Robo]

If we did Everest, Dinosaur and Safari right off the bat (obviously not all three with the youngest), would we be okay? Maybe Primeval Whirl, too?

Everest
Safari
(then) Dino
(maybe) PW

 

[Alesia]

1. With this in mind, I was thinking it made sense to use our FP+ for MK later in the day rather than using them at AK.
2. For the people who don't dislike AK (we actually adore it), have you managed to do it without FP+?
3. If we did Everest, Dinosaur and Safari right off the bat (obviously not all three with the youngest), would we be okay? Maybe Primeval Whirl, too?

1. Yes, that's the smart way to do it.
2. I haven't attempted it, but there's no reason why it can't be done, especially on an EMH day.
3. you should be able to get all of that in by 9:30 or 10:00.

 

[Flipper]

We are also going mid August and plan on doing AK in the morning with no FPP, mid day break at the pool and then DHS at night with FPP. I find AK the most doable park without FPP in the morning. You should be able to do all 3 of those rides first thing before the waits get too long.

 

[olive]

I love all of you I feel like I just passed the FP+ test. Thanks also for the advice on attraction order Robo! This trip is going to be a special trial. Now I just have to figure out all of the other days!

 

[Lucius Best]

Sounds like a good plan to me, once you get the big rides out of the way, lots of shows and animals to see. I'd say if you're doing EMH without FP+, you'd want to try to be there at rope drop. Robo's suggestion of doing Everest, Safari, then Dinosaur, makes sense from a wait times standpoint. The other option with less walking would be to bang out Everest and Dinosaur before heading to the back of the park for Safari, which would have longer wait.

 

[Ismo]

Sounds like a good plan. We went mid August last year. I do recommend getting there at rope drop thought. The safari is best done in the morning during the hot summer as the animals tend to hid in the shade anyway in the afternoon. We have never needed a FP+ for the safari as long as we get to it early.

Everest can get quite a good line on it so it is probably best to go there first then Safari as the previous poster mentioned.

AK is probably my favorite park (if I were forced to choose), I might be the only one but I can spend days there. Then again I could spend a full day watching a squirrel in the backyard.

I think you'll be fine and be able to get quite a few things done. I will say that if you wanted to go on Kali River Rapids at all, that ride will get a very long line by 11am.