Please critique my plans!

[JennyMP03]

Today feels like an extra obsessive day. That being the case, please help me fine-tune my touring plan.



Dates: June 3rd-June 8th
Party: One 20-year-old woman and one 29-year-old woman (both armed with autograph books )
Interests: Most headliners/thrill rides, Princesses and some other characters, evening shows
Main strategy: Rope drop with focus on headliners, mid-day break, relaxed touring (shopping, dining, shows, low-wait attractions) in the evening

Tuesday, June 3rd:
-Leave at 6 AM for seven-eight hour drive
-Arrive at Pop Century around 3 PM, check in
-Drop bags in the room and head directly to MK.
-Anna and Elsa fastpass for 3:40-4:40 PM (Hoping we aren't super rushed trying to get there before the end of our window. We do have FP+ to see them the morning of our departure day too, just in case.)
-Dinner at CHH or maybe just some snacks like cream cheese pretzels and Dole Whip Floats. Maybe try to meet Tiana and Naveen somewhere in here if the line isn't too bad.
-FP for Peter Pan's Flight from 5:45 to 6:45, but I will switch this to Mine Train if it becomes available. (I do love this ride, however!)
-FP for Splash Mountain 6:45-7:45
-MSEP at 9, Wishes at 10
-With the idea that many will leave after Wishes, we'll spend 10:15-midnight riding attractions with (hopefully) low standby lines.

Wednesday, June 4th:
-9 AM rope drop at Epcot, go straight to Test Track.
-9:45 AM Akershus ADR- trying to get one around 10:15 to prevent us from being rushed with doing Test Track first
-Ride Maelstrom standby after we leave Akershus
-11:45-12:45: Soarin' FP+
-12:50-1:50: Spaceship Earth FP+
-1:55-2:55: Mission Space FP+
-We'll ride things like Figment, Living with the Land, Nemo, and check out the Seas exhibits in between FP+ rides if the lines aren't too long.
-After Mission Space, back to POP for a break
-Evening: World Showcase, snacks around the countries for dinner, Illuminations

Thursday, June 5th
-9 AM rope drop at Hollywood Studios, go straight to Rock n' Roller Coaster.
-Share a cupcake or other large baked sweet at Starring Rolls for breakfast (neither of us are able to eat more than a few bites of anything at once, so we have many shared snack-meals planned!)
-10:05-11:05: Tower of Terror FP+
-11:10-12:10: Toy Story Midway Mania FP+
-See Voyage of the Little Mermaid after TOT, maybe Indiana Jones between TSMM and lunch
-1:15: Lunch at 50s Prime Time (never eaten here! I think one of us will get the fried chicken and the other pot roast, but with our tendency to feel full so quickly, we will likely only eat five bites each. I hope we aren't scolded too harshly for our fleeting appetites. Or if we are, I hope they focus on my cousin and not me. LOL)
-2:10-3:10: Star Tours FP+
-Back to POP for a break. We can do whatever we feel like in the evening, but I was thinking Downtown Disney (and share a pizza at Wolfgang Puck's perhaps) or MK again. Maybe even AK first to go ahead and see Nemo and/or FOTLK if it's not too late, and then hopping over to DTD when AK closes at 7.

Friday, June 6th:
-As of now, marked as a free day to sleep in and go wherever our whims may take us. Leisurely breakfast at POP food court.
-- I was considering making some FP+ reservations for noon or later for AK (Safari, Everest, and Kali). It's not a recommended park per easywdw, but I figure it wouldn't be so bad if we only worried about our FP reservations and looked at the animal exhibits otherwise.
-No break today if we're sleeping in. Hop over to DHS for Sci-Fi dinner at 5:50 PM. (One of us will get a burger, the other onion rings, and we'll split it all. And still probably not finish most of it, but we'll try.) It's a Star Wars Weekend night, and there's two Fantasmic shows-- one at 9 and one at 10:30, and Symphony in the Stars is at 9:45. Not certain about this, but would it be best to catch the 10:30 showing of Fantasmic? I thought we could enjoy lower attraction lines during the 9:00 showing, then head to the theater as soon as Symphony in the Stars is over.

Saturday, June 7:
--As of now, marked as 8 AM EMH for AK. We may change our minds depending on how much of AK we've done during the previous days (but I do love AK and am not one who considers it only a half-day).
--Pretty flexible throughout the afternoon and evening, as well. If we go ahead with the early AK EMH, we'll need an afternoon break. Then whatever we want in the evening.

Sunday, June 8:
--Morning show at MK, which I have never managed to see! Find a cinnamon roll or something to split for breakfast.
--We have a backup FP+ for Anna and Elsa for 9:20-10:20 AM. I feel kind of terrible about holding this FP when it's so hard for people to get one, but I did wait up at midnight to book them because my cousin wants to meet Anna and Elsa (I do too!). If we make it to our FP on arrival day, I'll cancel this backup right away so someone else can get it.
--A couple of other FP+ for whatever rides we missed or want to do again.
--FP lunch around 12:30 at Be Our Guest when it becomes available for our dates.
--Head out for the drive home.




So? Any advice? Feel free to rip it apart and show me where I've gone wrong or make suggestions for things you love and wouldn't miss. My little cousin lost her brother about a year ago and she's never been to Disney, so I want to make this a great trip for her!

 

[JennyMP03]

One specific issue I have:

I do want to see the Festival of Fantasy parade but can't determine a good time to do so. Maybe during one of our free days or afternoon breaks.

I think I read that they sometimes have one in the morning at 11. If they did on our departure day, I'd book at FP+ for the parade at 11 then go to lunch at BOG before heading home. Does anyone know if the earlier parade is becoming a regular thing?

 

[VP037388]

Just a couple of observations...I think you are going to be rushed to see Anna/Elsa that first day. Can you move the FP until later? Since your cousin is a first timer she will be overwhelmed at first (in a good way).
The Akershus breakfast is great and you should stick with the 9:45. At 11, they start serving lunch. You go later, you get caught in the transition, it's likely to be less of an experience. Fewer character interactions. Keep the sleep in day! We always forget to do this and we always want a morning "break". Looks like it will be a fun trip!

 

[JennyMP03]

Just a couple of observations...I think you are going to be rushed to see Anna/Elsa that first day. Can you move the FP until later? Since your cousin is a first timer she will be overwhelmed at first (in a good way).
The Akershus breakfast is great and you should stick with the 9:45. At 11, they start serving lunch. You go later, you get caught in the transition, it's likely to be less of an experience. Fewer character interactions. Keep the sleep in day! We always forget to do this and we always want a morning "break". Looks like it will be a fun trip!

Thanks so much for your advice!

Unfortunately, I think Anna and Elsa stop meeting after 5. I would love to visit them much later so we wouldn't be so rushed, but I didn't see any later times available. We're going to be pressed for time getting to them, but after that, I hope we can slow down so my cousin can look around MK and really appreciate her first time there!

I agree with you on Akershus-- I wouldn't want to go too close to 11. Maybe I will try for 10 if I happen to see it just to give us 15 extra minutes between Test Track and making it to our ADR.

 

[minmate]

I think you are going to be rushed for first day A&E too. Were you planning to check-in at Pop? Don't underestimate how long check-in might take at this time of day. I might just forgo this one and commit to the last day one. Also be sure to go to your Splash FP earlier in your window. We staked out spots for MSEP last night about 75 minutes before the parade and still were in the second row. To be fair, there were six of us though so we needed more space than you will.

Also, I agree with keeping the 9:45 Akershus. You should be able to get there fine as long as you get to Rope Drop fairly early. Plus the 10:15 one could push up against your Soarin' FP if you run into delayed seating, slow service or slow princess rounds.

Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[dachsie]

I think you would be better off leaving at 5am if you want to make Anna and Elsa that first day. It's early but maybe you will be so excited to leave you will have the energy to do that. THe rest looks great - you may even forego those breaks in the middle of the afternoon if things are going well

 

[JennyMP03]

I think you are going to be rushed for first day A&E too. Were you planning to check-in at Pop? Don't underestimate how long check-in might take at this time of day. I might just forgo this one and commit to the last day one. Also be sure to go to your Splash FP earlier in your window. We staked out spots for MSEP last night about 75 minutes before the parade and still were in the second row. To be fair, there were six of us though so we needed more space than you will.

Also, I agree with keeping the 9:45 Akershus. You should be able to get there fine as long as you get to Rope Drop fairly early. Plus the 10:15 one could push up against your Soarin' FP if you run into delayed seating, slow service or slow princess rounds.

Hope you have a magical trip!

I think you would be better off leaving at 5am if you want to make Anna and Elsa that first day. It's early but maybe you will be so excited to leave you will have the energy to do that. THe rest looks great - you may even forego those breaks in the middle of the afternoon if things are going well

We were indeed planning to check in first. I am afraid getting up at 4 AM to leave at 5 would mean we won't make it until midnight without being exhausted... hmm, Anna and Elsa do throw a wrench in our plans! Maybe I'll see how things are looking once we arrive at Pop, and if it seems like we're going to miss it, I'll cancel A&E for that first day and save it until the FP we booked on the last day. I hope we can manage it on the first day because little cousin was so happy when I told her I managed to get a FP for it on our arrival night.

I may keep our Akerhsus time where it is after all. I was hoping we'd start getting into Epcot around 8:45 anyway, so surely we could do Test Track and walk back to Norway in a full hour.

I have some things to think about. Thank you both for your input!