MK Strategy Help Needed Please!

[chasemac]

We will be in Disney world right after the New Year, traveling with my DH, and 2 kids - DD 9 and DS 7. Our last trip was in 2011 so we are new to Magic Bands and FP+. We also had to change dates at the last minute, so we booked this trip less than 30 days out which is really stressing me out!

We will have two MK days, a Sunday and a Wednesday. My thoughts were to try and split up MK, doing Liberty Square, Frontierland & Adventureland one day and Fantasyland/Tomorrowland on the 2nd day, since I couldn't get 7DMT FP's for the Sunday. The Sunday we are there will be the last day that Splash Mtn is open before being closed for refurbishment. This is the main ride my daughter remembers from 2011 and she loved it then. So we definitely want to make sure and ride that multiple times.

Right now I have FP for Splash at 10:30 and a Haunted Mansion FP at 12:30, coinciding with our lunch at LTT. My initial thoughts are head straight to either Adventureland and Frontierland until our lunch at LTT, then do Haunted Mansion. But I am not sure what to do after that? I have a Peter Pan FP for later in the afternoon, but now that I am thinking of not even doing Fantasyland on Sunday, what should I switch it out for? Or should we go with the crowds at Rope Drop and go straight to 7DMT and ride a few things in Fantasyland before heading over to Splash Mtn & Frontierland? I am wondering if I would even need the FP for Splash Mtn at that early in the day? Maybe do Adventureland/Frontierland on standby in the morning, then have afternoon FP's lined up to ride a few of them again? (if I can get them)

I am trying to leave the afternoon open and maybe leave around 2 or 3, in case we want to go rest before heading back into the park for a 6pm dinner at Be our Guest and some more rides (MK is open until midnight). Or we may just hang in there and leave by 8pm. I don't think we could handle rope drop to midnight.

Sorry for all the questions - just need some advice on the best way to tour MK over 2 days this late in the game. The main attractions we are interested in definitely doing over the 2 days - Splash Mtn, Big Thunder Mountain RR, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, maybe Pooh, Peter Pan, Under the Sea and 7DMT, Small World, Space Mtn, and Buzz Lightyear. Thanks in advance for any guidance! I used this board religiously to plan our 2011 trip and it was wonderful. I have been spending lots of time on here this last week reading and catching up on what has changed since then!

 

[g-dad66]

A couple of thoughts:

1 - I wouldn't do the Rope Drop rush to 7DMT if I were you. You could still have a 40-60 minute wait for it. Ugh. I'd just save 7DMT for the day with the FP+.

2 - Peter Pan is very close to Liberty Square, just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Haunted Mansion, in fact. So I think it's a good choice for your 3rd FP+ on Sunday. Small World is right there too, so it might be do-able if the wait isn't too long for it.

3- Line for Splash isn't likely to be long at 10:30 (could be quite short, in fact, if weather is cold), but since it's a priority and Sunday is your only chance for it, I'd stick with the FP+ if I were you. If you do Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and Big Thunder prior to 10:30, you'll be in good shape (because these 3 will have long lines by 11:00 or so).

4 - On Wednesday, I'd get FP+ for 7DMT, Space Mountain, and either Pooh, Under the Sea, or Buzz, if I were you.

 

[chasemac]

Thank you so much! I had pretty much talked my self into not doing 7DMT on the first day since I could get a much more reasonable FP on our 2nd MK Day. I think I just wanted someone to tell me I wasn't crazy for not rushing to 7DMT like the masses! Ha!

I appreciate the tip about Peter Pan being close to Haunted Mansion. I hadn't mapped that out yet and don't remember from our 2011 trip. My kids loved this ride - this is the only thing my DS, then 3 years old remembers.

My goal will be to do Jungle Cruise, POTC, Splash and maybe BTMRR before our 11:30 lunch at LTT. If I can't, maybe I can score a FP for one of those later after using my initial 3. I definitely want to try and ride Splash more than once and preferably once at night.

You were reading my mind on my FP's for our 2nd MK day. I figured us starting out in Tomorrowland with mid-morning FP's for Space Mtn and Buzz Lightyear, then heading over to Fantasyland in the afternoon and riding what we can before our FP's for 7DMT at 4:30. Should I switch out the Buzz Lightyear FP for something in Fantasyland since we will be in Tomorrowland for the morning when it is hopefully, less crowded?

Thanks again for your help!