dougsmom98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2002
- Messages
- 2,333
We just got back from staying off site, group of 9 using FP+. Here is our experience:
We were super nervous about FP+ because we were staying off site and couldn't book them in advance, and we were going during President's Week and crowds were high. We chose to do MK on Tuesday 2/18. We purposely chose this day for Magic Kingdom because the park opened at 8 am and was open until 1 am for all guests. We figured that at least we would have plenty of time to wait in stand by lines if it came down to that. We arrived in the Magic Kingdom parking lot at 7 am and got right on the monorail to the MK. I panicked because the monorail lost power when we arrived at the Grand Floridian stop, but we were only delayed 7-8 minutes. We got to the MK and went through security and were about 8 guests back in the line to enter through the gates. We waited 5 minuets, and then they let us through the gates. While waiting in line, I had seen cast members with ipads on the other side of the gates. I didn't think they would be able to help me because I was an offsite guest, but I thought I would ask anyway. They said they would be happy to set up our FP+ schedule for the day. I was worried because there were 9 of us and I didn't know if they would be able to schedule the rides/attractions we wanted. I requested Thunder, Space, and ETWB. We got Thunder at 1:35, Space at 3:35, and ETWB at 5:30. I knew we would be in the parks all day and I was ok with those times. It was a huge relief to know that I had booked before we entered the park and didn't have to deal with the FP+ kiosks. After I was helped, the supervisor encouraged the people with ipads to go through the crowd and help other guests. I didn't see too many other people taking advantage of their help though.
A lot of people have said that stand by lines have been really long, we have been coming during President's Week for 9 years and we didn't think they were any worse than other years. Two popular attractions (Peter Pan, Thunder) were down for part of the day and that affected the wait times. Here is a breakdown of our day. I had written down times for a some things throughout the day to give some reference.
Park opened at 8 am here is the order of our rides:
1. Buzz (no wait)
2. Space (basically no wait)
3. Tomorrowland Speedway (10 minutes posted wait maybe a little longer...)
4. Pooh (5 minutes)
We wanted to ride Peter Pan but it was down until about noon and then the waits were too long.
5. Haunted Mansion (10 minutes)
6. Thunder (10-12 minutes)
7. Pirates (10-12 minutes)
10 am
8. Jungle Cruise (posted 20 minutes stand by only a 15 minute actual wait)
Took a short snack break with snacks we were carrying with us.
9. Journey of the Little Mermaid (arrived here at 11 am. 35 minutes posted stand by wait. We only waited 25 minutes).
10. LUNCH at Cosmic Rays
11. Stitch (no wait at 12:35)
12. Laugh floor (20 minute posted wait we just missed a show.)
13. FP+ Thunder Mountain (the posted wait time for stand by was 150 minutes! Our FP+ line took 7 minutes. One of the trains was broken down.)
14. Walt Disney World Railroad we don't usually ride this but crowds were really high at this point and we were pretty tired. We planned to get off in Fantasyland on the first time through, but we decided to go all the way around and rest and we got off in Fantasyland the second time through.
15. We checked out the wait for Dumbo and Barnstormer Barnstormer was not running and Dumbo was 45 minutes. We didn't do either. We let the kids get a little wet in Casey Jrs. Splash and Soak area and we took a bathroom break.
16. Tomorrow Land Transit Authority (no wait)
17. 3:50 pm - FP+ Space (FP+ line took 12 minutes standby was 60 minutes)
18. Carousel of Progress (no wait the ride got stuck 3 scenes into the ride so we never finished it).
19. Mickey's Philharmagic (about an 8 minute wait for the show before us to get over.)
20. 5:35 FP+ Enchanted Tales With Belle (4-5 minute wait)
21. It's a Small World (20 minute wait)
22. Tea cups (10 minutes)
At this point half our party went to find a spot for the parade and fireworks. We have been enough times that we didn't feel like fighting for a parade spot for the early parade. So we continued on...
23. Dumbo (10 minute wait)
24. Barnstormer (15 minute wait)
At this point my boys wanted to try to ride space again. They stood in a 40 minute stand by line.
My daughter and I did the Pete's Silly Sideshow and met the characters. It was 15 minutes to meet Goofy and Donald and then another 15 minutes to see Minnie and Daisy.
After that, we had dinner at Cosmic Rays.
We headed to the bridge to Tommorland and watched the fireworks (10 pm). This is not the greatest spot, but we have seen them from the hub many times and it was better than fighting the crowds there. After the fireworks, we found a spot on the edge of the sidewalk of hub for the second parade (11 pm).
After the parade we rode Peter Pan (15 minute wait).
My son Mark wanted to ride Space (30 minute stand by) so he got in line for that and we rode Pooh (5 minutes). My son Mark waited for Space but was halfway through the line when it broke down. To make up for it, he was given a FP for Magic Kingdom to use by 2/29/14. It was of no use to us, but it was nice gesture. We exited the MK parking lot at 12:15 am
Overall impressions:
I was pleased to be able to book FP+ before I entered the park. The kiosk lines inside the parks were VERY long after the first couple of hours that the parks were opened.
We don't have a smart phones and we didn't bring my son's itouch to the park. I wish we had brought it and used a line app. We walked to the Storybook Circus area 3 times and didn't really do anything until the third time we ended up there because I wasn't going to wait 45 minutes for Dumbo and Barnstormer was done. A line app would have told me this. We did get a line app for Epcot and it worked well. My son also loved having a job (checking wait times) and using his itouch at the parks. The free wifi worked great.
In my opinion, ETWB was not that good. Even though we had a 7 and 8 year old girls' with us, it didn't seem that magical. I am glad we did it once, but we probably won't do it again unless the stand by line is short.
I didn't think the stand by lines were as long as they have been in years past during President's Week. That being said, the 8 am opening helped us a ton and the addition of a few attractions (ETWB, Journey of the Little Mermaid and all the character spots) does help to distribute crowds
I was prepared to hate FP+. While, I do miss FP- because we NEVER waited in a stand by line for any FP- attraction, FP+ was not the end of the world. We got to do a lot of attraction and I felt like everyone (on and off site guests) was in the same boat as us. It will be nice when off site guests can book in advance.
My teenagers did not like FP+ and were a little grumpy about their inability to ride headliners as much as they are used to, but they still had a good day.
We were super nervous about FP+ because we were staying off site and couldn't book them in advance, and we were going during President's Week and crowds were high. We chose to do MK on Tuesday 2/18. We purposely chose this day for Magic Kingdom because the park opened at 8 am and was open until 1 am for all guests. We figured that at least we would have plenty of time to wait in stand by lines if it came down to that. We arrived in the Magic Kingdom parking lot at 7 am and got right on the monorail to the MK. I panicked because the monorail lost power when we arrived at the Grand Floridian stop, but we were only delayed 7-8 minutes. We got to the MK and went through security and were about 8 guests back in the line to enter through the gates. We waited 5 minuets, and then they let us through the gates. While waiting in line, I had seen cast members with ipads on the other side of the gates. I didn't think they would be able to help me because I was an offsite guest, but I thought I would ask anyway. They said they would be happy to set up our FP+ schedule for the day. I was worried because there were 9 of us and I didn't know if they would be able to schedule the rides/attractions we wanted. I requested Thunder, Space, and ETWB. We got Thunder at 1:35, Space at 3:35, and ETWB at 5:30. I knew we would be in the parks all day and I was ok with those times. It was a huge relief to know that I had booked before we entered the park and didn't have to deal with the FP+ kiosks. After I was helped, the supervisor encouraged the people with ipads to go through the crowd and help other guests. I didn't see too many other people taking advantage of their help though.
A lot of people have said that stand by lines have been really long, we have been coming during President's Week for 9 years and we didn't think they were any worse than other years. Two popular attractions (Peter Pan, Thunder) were down for part of the day and that affected the wait times. Here is a breakdown of our day. I had written down times for a some things throughout the day to give some reference.
Park opened at 8 am here is the order of our rides:
1. Buzz (no wait)
2. Space (basically no wait)
3. Tomorrowland Speedway (10 minutes posted wait maybe a little longer...)
4. Pooh (5 minutes)
We wanted to ride Peter Pan but it was down until about noon and then the waits were too long.
5. Haunted Mansion (10 minutes)
6. Thunder (10-12 minutes)
7. Pirates (10-12 minutes)
10 am
8. Jungle Cruise (posted 20 minutes stand by only a 15 minute actual wait)
Took a short snack break with snacks we were carrying with us.
9. Journey of the Little Mermaid (arrived here at 11 am. 35 minutes posted stand by wait. We only waited 25 minutes).
10. LUNCH at Cosmic Rays
11. Stitch (no wait at 12:35)
12. Laugh floor (20 minute posted wait we just missed a show.)
13. FP+ Thunder Mountain (the posted wait time for stand by was 150 minutes! Our FP+ line took 7 minutes. One of the trains was broken down.)
14. Walt Disney World Railroad we don't usually ride this but crowds were really high at this point and we were pretty tired. We planned to get off in Fantasyland on the first time through, but we decided to go all the way around and rest and we got off in Fantasyland the second time through.
15. We checked out the wait for Dumbo and Barnstormer Barnstormer was not running and Dumbo was 45 minutes. We didn't do either. We let the kids get a little wet in Casey Jrs. Splash and Soak area and we took a bathroom break.
16. Tomorrow Land Transit Authority (no wait)
17. 3:50 pm - FP+ Space (FP+ line took 12 minutes standby was 60 minutes)
18. Carousel of Progress (no wait the ride got stuck 3 scenes into the ride so we never finished it).
19. Mickey's Philharmagic (about an 8 minute wait for the show before us to get over.)
20. 5:35 FP+ Enchanted Tales With Belle (4-5 minute wait)
21. It's a Small World (20 minute wait)
22. Tea cups (10 minutes)
At this point half our party went to find a spot for the parade and fireworks. We have been enough times that we didn't feel like fighting for a parade spot for the early parade. So we continued on...
23. Dumbo (10 minute wait)
24. Barnstormer (15 minute wait)
At this point my boys wanted to try to ride space again. They stood in a 40 minute stand by line.
My daughter and I did the Pete's Silly Sideshow and met the characters. It was 15 minutes to meet Goofy and Donald and then another 15 minutes to see Minnie and Daisy.
After that, we had dinner at Cosmic Rays.
We headed to the bridge to Tommorland and watched the fireworks (10 pm). This is not the greatest spot, but we have seen them from the hub many times and it was better than fighting the crowds there. After the fireworks, we found a spot on the edge of the sidewalk of hub for the second parade (11 pm).
After the parade we rode Peter Pan (15 minute wait).
My son Mark wanted to ride Space (30 minute stand by) so he got in line for that and we rode Pooh (5 minutes). My son Mark waited for Space but was halfway through the line when it broke down. To make up for it, he was given a FP for Magic Kingdom to use by 2/29/14. It was of no use to us, but it was nice gesture. We exited the MK parking lot at 12:15 am
Overall impressions:
I was pleased to be able to book FP+ before I entered the park. The kiosk lines inside the parks were VERY long after the first couple of hours that the parks were opened.
We don't have a smart phones and we didn't bring my son's itouch to the park. I wish we had brought it and used a line app. We walked to the Storybook Circus area 3 times and didn't really do anything until the third time we ended up there because I wasn't going to wait 45 minutes for Dumbo and Barnstormer was done. A line app would have told me this. We did get a line app for Epcot and it worked well. My son also loved having a job (checking wait times) and using his itouch at the parks. The free wifi worked great.
In my opinion, ETWB was not that good. Even though we had a 7 and 8 year old girls' with us, it didn't seem that magical. I am glad we did it once, but we probably won't do it again unless the stand by line is short.
I didn't think the stand by lines were as long as they have been in years past during President's Week. That being said, the 8 am opening helped us a ton and the addition of a few attractions (ETWB, Journey of the Little Mermaid and all the character spots) does help to distribute crowds
I was prepared to hate FP+. While, I do miss FP- because we NEVER waited in a stand by line for any FP- attraction, FP+ was not the end of the world. We got to do a lot of attraction and I felt like everyone (on and off site guests) was in the same boat as us. It will be nice when off site guests can book in advance.
My teenagers did not like FP+ and were a little grumpy about their inability to ride headliners as much as they are used to, but they still had a good day.
