Mid day tickets instead of mid day breaks with teens?

sharona

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
We have been to WDW a bunch of times and usually I convince the family that rope drop and a nice mid-day break is the way to roll. We tour from 8 or 9 until about 1pm then head back to our onsite hotel for a break then we usually hop to a different park for the night. Total down time for the mid day breaks, including travel back and forth is 3-4 hours. We've had a lot of fun and moderate success avoiding long waits with that strategy over the years.

Now that my dd16 and nephew are teenagers, it's difficult to get them on board for that type of schedule and frankly I'm not sure I want to get up that early every day on vacation and deal with cranky teenagers! We've decided to go with mid day tickets/no hopping instead of our usual routine. We have one day at Universal with express pass and one day for each of the WDW parks. We're also skipping MVMCP this time and attending MK-AH instead (after our EP day). AK is our getaway day for our 8pm flight. So we've got 12-close at MK and HS and 12 - 6ish at EP and AK. We're ubering everywhere so we don't have to deal with parking or returning a rental car. My plan is to get our FP as close to mid day as possible and then play it by ear from there. We'll be at the park sharply for 12pm admittance and plan to stay until close each night with a short QS break for late lunch/early dinner each day. The one park I worry about arriving late is HS as we want to do both SW attractions and SD and TSMM. I think 9 hours should be more than enough time for that plus some familiar favs like RnRC but the 2nd SW ride opening right before we get there concerns me.

Looking for input from anyone who has gone this route - pros and cons?
 
The upside of that kind of schedule at DHS, I think that park clears out pretty nicely in the evening. I bet you can get quite a bit done with good use of FP and staying until close especially if you are okay sacrificing nighttime shows.

Assuming no SWGE FP start, I would get SDD (plus useless tier 2s) shortly after arrival, attempt to take advantage of the rolling FP and also see any shows you want to in the afternoon/early evening. Start riding what you couldn’t with FP after dinner, save the worst waits (going to take a wild guess and say it will be ROTR lol) for right before closing.
 
Well, I have an AP, but I generally don’t get to the parks until around noon. I do my FP one right after the other, usually starting sometime between 12:30 - 1:30, or later if I want to do lunch in the park. If you use FP for your ”must do” attractions, then you know for sure you will experience those, and I can usually get FP for other rides after that. I get up well before dawn for work and refuse to do so on vacation!

So long as both SW rides do not have FP, I would try to get SDD for first thing on your DHS day, then hit TSMM, then go to SWGE to wait for the rides.
 
Sounds like a great idea. Last summer I took my teen and tween to WDW and Universal. On most days we didn't make it to the park until 1 PM due to their sleeping pattern. Needless to say we lost all our Fastpasses.
 
I gave up a couple years ago. Now I've adjusted to the new pattern, where I still get up early, go exercise for an hour, and eat breakfast at QS opening. Only now instead of heading out to the parks, I go back to the room and nap until DD16 gets up and ready. So, I make all FPs for 11 or later (knowing we can get to the park by 12) and just get into a Zen state of mind. I enjoy the friction-free time together more than making rides at rope drop!
 
The upside of that kind of schedule at DHS, I think that park clears out pretty nicely in the evening. I bet you can get quite a bit done with good use of FP and staying until close especially if you are okay sacrificing nighttime shows.

Assuming no SWGE FP start, I would get SDD (plus useless tier 2s) shortly after arrival, attempt to take advantage of the rolling FP and also see any shows you want to in the afternoon/early evening. Start riding what you couldn’t with FP after dinner, save the worst waits (going to take a wild guess and say it will be ROTR lol) for right before closing.

Good plan thanks!
 
Well, I have an AP, but I generally don’t get to the parks until around noon. I do my FP one right after the other, usually starting sometime between 12:30 - 1:30, or later if I want to do lunch in the park. If you use FP for your ”must do” attractions, then you know for sure you will experience those, and I can usually get FP for other rides after that. I get up well before dawn for work and refuse to do so on vacation!

So long as both SW rides do not have FP, I would try to get SDD for first thing on your DHS day, then hit TSMM, then go to SWGE to wait for the rides.

Nit sure what we’ll be able to get for FP since were not on site so will have to take what’s left at 30 days out...
 


Sounds like a great idea. Last summer I took my teen and tween to WDW and Universal. On most days we didn't make it to the park until 1 PM due to their sleeping pattern. Needless to say we lost all our Fastpasses.
I gave up a couple years ago. Now I've adjusted to the new pattern, where I still get up early, go exercise for an hour, and eat breakfast at QS opening. Only now instead of heading out to the parks, I go back to the room and nap until DD16 gets up and ready. So, I make all FPs for 11 or later (knowing we can get to the park by 12) and just get into a Zen state of mind. I enjoy the friction-free time together more than making rides at rope drop!

Dd and I used to be such early birds! now I find myself sleeping in and being on her schedule when we’re on vacations and even sometimes at hone on the weekends. But getting up early suits me better and when I sleep in and get a late start for anything, even weekend errands and chores, I feel like I only get half as much done.
 
Nit sure what we’ll be able to get for FP since were not on site so will have to take what’s left at 30 days out...

Not only will you be limited by the FP+ offerings, your chances of getting a worthwhile 4th FP will be pretty slim as well...
 
Dd and I used to be such early birds! now I find myself sleeping in and being on her schedule when we’re on vacations and even sometimes at hone on the weekends. But getting up early suits me better and when I sleep in and get a late start for anything, even weekend errands and chores, I feel like I only get half as much done.
If you prefer to get up early talk to your daughter about it. Maybe you can do a combination of some days early and others sleeping in and taking it easy. We always go early and even though our older teens would sleep in sometimes at home, when we are on vacation they are up and ready to go. I can’t imagine waiting till noon every day to go to the park. I know many do it and are successful but we get much of what we want done before noon, slow it down and spend the evenings relaxing by the pool. Do what you want, but it seems like you would rather get up early and since I’m sure you are paying for the trip, I think she should compromise at least a few days. She may surprise you and be more than willing to get up early
 
Not only will you be limited by the FP+ offerings, your chances of getting a worthwhile 4th FP will be pretty slim as well...

They sure do make it unattractive to stay off site. If there had been any on site accommodations available that worked for our group we would have taken them.


If you prefer to get up early talk to your daughter about it. Maybe you can do a combination of some days early and others sleeping in and taking it easy. We always go early and even though our older teens would sleep in sometimes at home, when we are on vacation they are up and ready to go. I can’t imagine waiting till noon every day to go to the park. I know many do it and are successful but we get much of what we want done before noon, slow it down and spend the evenings relaxing by the pool. Do what you want, but it seems like you would rather get up early and since I’m sure you are paying for the trip, I think she should compromise at least a few days. She may surprise you and be more than willing to get up early

We have always done rope drop - I’m ok with giving the mid day start a try. Our total park time will be about the same. Our days of commando touring at rope drop were fun but we’ve been enough times that we are going to relax and enjoy the atmosphere this time instead.
 
They sure do make it unattractive to stay off site. If there had been any on site accommodations available that worked for our group we would have taken them.

Not only that you are staying offsite, but that you can't book any FP to be before noon, and then you have to wait until you've used all 3 FP before you can even look for a 4th and then it may be too late - all the FP would be gone. We've gotten 4th FP at 11:30 AM. You couldn't have even used one by then, KWIM? If your kids are fine with that, that's great, but I hope they have a good trip even if they don't get to ride very much.
 
I was onboard with your plan until you said you're offsite. I have had trouble at 60 days out getting FP for earlier than 2 or 3 on my first day. I imagine you will have to wait until later in the day to get some of the better rides. I think without RD you will be losing a lot of time waiting in line for headliners.
 
Not only that you are staying offsite, but that you can't book any FP to be before noon, and then you have to wait until you've used all 3 FP before you can even look for a 4th and then it may be too late - all the FP would be gone. We've gotten 4th FP at 11:30 AM. You couldn't have even used one by then, KWIM? If your kids are fine with that, that's great, but I hope they have a good trip even if they don't get to ride very much.

I see your point and totally get it. We’re going to Universal with express pass on day one and the MK after hours event on day 3 so there will be tons of riding for the kids. I should add that my nephew has special needs and while he loves to ride, we do set a slower pace when we travel with him because he needs frequent breaks. And my mom78 will be with us so the extra rest will work for her as well.


I was onboard with your plan until you said you're offsite. I have had trouble at 60 days out getting FP for earlier than 2 or 3 on my first day. I imagine you will have to wait until later in the day to get some of the better rides. I think without RD you will be losing a lot of time waiting in line for headliners.

We got FP for close to 12 for each day for Space, Soarin, EE and TSMM. Weren’t able to get any for FOP, SDD or 7DMT and strangely, BTMRR but that could be because MK is closing early that day. Hoping the early close will keep crowds down at MK that day.

I think we’ll be ok. Overall crowd levels are expected to be 5 out of 10 during our dates according to most sites.

Would love to hear from anyone who actually used the mid day tix????
 
Would love to hear from anyone who actually used the mid day tix????

I haven't been since the new tickets were offered, but we made a similar shift in touring style as my DS grew up, even using the regular ticket. We were complete rope drop people when he was little, and switched to late start/nighttime touring when he was a teen.

Disney works both ways, and I definitely think it's worth a shot!
 
FP's for harder to get attractions like SDD and FOP are easier to get in the evenings. Although we went with your original touring plans in September, we could only get SDD 630-730 at 60+1, and FOP at 730-830 at 60+4. I said then if our kids were old enough to push through until closing, those mid day tickets would be wonderful.
 

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