Please review my 3 most difficult days

[Mom2J&J]

My FP+ window opens tonight and I'm a little worried about what to do now that the A&E and Cinderella FP+ are gone/discontinued (according to theDibb). It was already a bit difficult due to trying to split my itinerary between boys who love rides and girls who love princesses. So, I've done a big reshuffle, but my mind is kind of fried. Would love your opinions.

I know I have the boys bouncing back and forth b/w Fantasyland and Space Mountain on MK Day 1, but it's the only way to keep everyone happy. I tried to build in enough time for their travel in the plan.

My family = me, DH, DS14, DS10, DD7

Tuesday, May 31 – Magic Kingdom
CL8, Most Recommended

Arrive at 7:30, park open at 9:00

8:40 a.m. – ADR at Be Our Guest (but plan to get in early & be finished and in line for 7DMT by 8:45)

8:45-8:55 - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train before park open, if possible

9:00 – 10:00 – BOYS to Space Mountain, ride twice if possible; GIRLS to meet Merida, Ariel, ride Journey of Little Mermaid

10:10-10:40 - All meet up & ride Barnstormer

10:50-11:30 - All ride It's a Small World (enough time here w/o FP?)

11:35-12:00 - All ride Seven Dwarfs (w/FP+ 11:00-12:00)

12:05-12:30 - Girls to Enchanted Tales with Belle, Boys to Space Mountain (w/ FP+ 12:00-1:00)

12:35 - LUNCH at Pinocchio Village Haus, sit upstairs

1:30-2:00 - Peter Pan (w/FP+ 1:00-2:00)

*Get 4th FP+

2:30 - 3:15 - Parade, Try to stand on bridge that connects the Pecos Bill area of Frontierland with the Big Thunder Railroad entrance.

Catch train back to main entrance to head back to FW cabins for the rest of the day.

*********************

Wednesday, June 1 – Hollywood Studios
CL7, Recommended

Arrive at 7:45, 9:00 park open

Boys – stay to right, turn right on Sunset Blvd. for internal RD toward RNR
Girls – Directly to Toy Story MM

8:50-9:50: GIRLS – Toy Story MM, meet Toy Story characters, Jedi Training sign-ups; BOYS – Ride Rock N Roller, hopefully twice

10:10-11:10: GIRLS to breakfast at H&V, BOYS ride Tower of Terror, maybe twice (w/FP+ 10:00-11:00)

11:15-12:00 All ride Star Tours (w/FP+ times 11:00-12:00)

12:10-12:40 All ride Toy Story (w/FP+ 12:00-1:00)

1:00 In line to see 1:30 Frozen sing along

*Get 4th FP+

2:40 Jedi Training Show (line up right side when facing the front to fight DV)

Launch Bay to walk around and hopefully meet some characters

4:00 – get a place for Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away show

Back to resort for a rest.

Return for Star Wars Fireworks

*****************************

Thursday, June 2 – Magic Kingdom
CL7, Most Recommended

Arrive at Magic Kingdom at 7:45, 9:00 park open

8:10 ADR at Crystal Palace

9:05-9:30 BOYS - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad; GIRLS – meet Tink, take train to Frontierland

9:35-10:05 BOYS - Splash Mountain; GIRLS - meet Aladdin and Jasmine

10:10-10:40 - Meet up at Pirates of the Carribean

(time built in to walk back up to Fantasyland)

10:50-11:15 - Haunted Mansion (w/FP+ 10:00-11:00)

11:20-11:50 - Big Thunder Mountain (w/FP+ 11:00-12:00)

11:55-12:30 - Explore Tom Sawyer Island

12:30-1:00 - Splash Mountain (w/FP+ 12:00-1:00)

Get 4th FP+

1:05-1:45 - LUNCH at Columbia Harbour House

Back to resort for rest

Back to MK for Wishes, ride late night rides

 

[sharadoc]

the only thing I see is that you're stressing yourself with multiple rides on the same attraction.

Your first day, girls doing Merida, Ariel and ride Little Mermaid may be difficult in one hour.

You're missing stuff that we love - Philharmagic, Tea Cups, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress, Jungle Cruise. Just my humble opinion, but focusing on the same couple of attractions eventually makes it boring!

At HS - Muppets is definitely worth it, for the fun and nostalgia factor. How about Beauty and the Beast show, Little Mermaid show,

Based on what your boys are doing, I see a trip to Universal in your future lol.

 

[sharonabe]

Since my two have grown out of it, I haven't kept up with Jedi Training norms. In the past, if you didn't go sign up at rope drop, it was pretty much a no go. Riding TSM AND meeting characters BEFORE you go to the sign up could mean all the slots are gone. I do remember seeing they had added more shows, so perhaps this is no longer the case.

The only other question I have is, does everyone in the family know this schedule? Are they going to be okay if the timing just doesn't work out and they miss something or are they able to make changes on the fly in order to do what's most important to them? Your 2nd MK day just looks a little too tight to me. It could easily be 9:15-9:30 before you leave CP. That could throw the rest of the morning completely off. Do you have a back up plan that still allows you to make your FP+ times?

 

[Mom2J&J]

Good advice, thank you!

You're missing stuff that we love - Philharmagic, Tea Cups, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress, Jungle Cruise. Just my humble opinion, but focusing on the same couple of attractions eventually makes it boring!

I agree that we seem to ride many rides more than once. I'll go back and look through, but I do know that the boys will want to ride the thrill rides at least twice. Thanks for your insight.

The only other question I have is, does everyone in the family know this schedule? Are they going to be okay if the timing just doesn't work out and they miss something or are they able to make changes on the fly in order to do what's most important to them? Your 2nd MK day just looks a little too tight to me. It could easily be 9:15-9:30 before you leave CP. That could throw the rest of the morning completely off. Do you have a back up plan that still allows you to make your FP+ times?

My back up plan is "let it go it and move on" These plans are my best shot at a timeline that works with crowd calendars and wait times. It would be a miracle if it all worked out, so I am going in expecting to have to call an audible or two. Luckily, there isn't any ONE thing my kiddos are dying to do, so if we have to cut something out, I think it will be okay.

 

[Mom2J&J]

Your 2nd MK day just looks a little too tight to me.

I tweaked it a little, so we'll see - thanks for looking it all over.

Thursday, June 2 – Magic Kingdom
CL7, Most Recommended

Arrive at Magic Kingdom at 7:45, 9:00 park open

8:10 ADR at Crystal Palace

9:10-9:45 BOYS - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad; GIRLS – meet Tink, take train to Frontierland

9:50-10:35 BOYS - Splash Mountain; GIRLS - meet Aladdin and Jasmine

10:40-11:15 - Meet up at Pirates of the Carribean

(time built in to walk back up to Fantasyland)

11:20-11:40 - Haunted Mansion (w/FP+ 11:00-12:00)

12:00-12:30 - Big Thunder Mountain (w/FP+ 12:00-1:00)

12:35-1:15 - Explore Tom Sawyer Island

1:20-1:45 - Splash Mountain (w/FP+ 1:00-2:00)

Get 4th FP+

1:45 LUNCH at Columbia Harbour House

Back to resort for rest

Back to MK for Wishes, ride late night rides

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Three things; meeting Merida and Ariel, and riding the Little Mermaid ride might be difficult in an hour. I also wouldn't count on fitting in the Mine Train in that first ten minute window, I think I'd head straight to Merida or Ariel instead. And I'm also not sure two hours is enough time for breakfast, Toy Story, and meeting the characters that morning.

 

[ktlm]

I think your FP+ plan is fine (although we have always found that we could find a time to ride Haunted Mansion with a shorter wait where we didn't need FP+). I'm assuming this is just a main event plan and you intend on filling it with other things. I see some spots where depending on waits, you might get done much faster than you have planned and others that might take a bit longer. I think your issue with that first morning might be having Merida in the mix, since she is not close to Ariel and Journey of the Little Mermaid. We have entered WDW at rope drop, walked at a leisurely pace, ridden PP, and Journey and visited Ariel and been done with all 3 by 9:20. Without stopping to ride PP and being back by 7DMT at rope drop, you will probably be done with Journey and Ariel by 9:10. They should be walk on and walk in. The issue with Merida is that I don't think her meet starts until 9:15. If you head there and get in line first, even if you are at the front of the line AND assuming she will be right on time (which might be a big assumption as we have seen characters come out 5 or 10 minutes late multiple times), then the earliest you will be done with Merida is probably 9:20. Journey most likely will still be walk on by the time you get there, but Ariel might have a bit more of a line built up by then. If you go do Journey/Ariel first then you will likely be done by 9:10, but by the time you walk over to where Merida meets, you will be at the back of the line of the people who started lining up at 9:00, and if she is already out, which is a good possibility, the line will have built out faster from people seeing her and getting in line. I don't know how her lines have been lately, but last October when we were there, it still seemed like they were consistently long. You could book it over there fast after Ariel/Journey, and just hope that you aren't too far back in line, but if she is an absolute must see, then I guess I would probably go get in line for her first, then head to Ariel (taking a chance that her line would still be short), then Journey. If Merida is not a must see, then I would probably head for Ariel and Journey first and then do other Fantasyland things like Pooh, Philharmagic, Tea cups, or you could head back to Storybrook and see Minnie, Daisy, Donald Goofy with little to no line and ride Dumbo and Barnstormer which probably will still have little to no line that early (but it looks like you want to do Barnstormer later).

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Can you go to CRT or Akershus for one of your meals? That's a good way to knock out a lot of princess meets at once.

 

[willwork4cruise]

I use touring plans for this exact reason. It is amazing how accurate they have been for us in our planning. I highly recommend it!!

Edited to add:
Just to give you an idea this is our Fantasyland plan for next week:

Meet Arial 9:10am
Under the Sea 9:21am
Barnstormer 9:35am
Pete's Silly Sideshow 9:43am
Dumbo 10:01am
Mad Tea Party 10:12
Enchanted Tales w/ Belle (Fastpass) 10:21
CS Lunch at 11am
Prnce Charming Carousel at 11:36
7DMT (Fastpass) 11:44am
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Fastpass) 12:15
Back to hotel for Nap/Break

We did A&E last time so not ths time. I would enter your desired attractions into touring plans and optimize. It will tell you the best use of the time/fastpasses.

 

[caroline1851]

I think you've done an awesome job making all the kids happy and making sure they all get to do stuff they want. I was worried about your 6/2 day at MK...didn't seem like enough time, but you changed it a bit and to me, it's more doable. I've never done Tom Sawyer Island though and i'm not sure in that window of time, you'll have time. But I guess you can just wing it and decide to skip it if you need to. I think everyone would love buzz Lightyear; maybe try to squeeze that in somewhere.

 

[Alesia]

40 minutes is not enough time for Tom Sawyer Island. By the time you take the ferry over, you'll pretty much need to turn around and take the ferry back. If you can't carve out more time for it, just skip it altogether.

 

[buzznina]

Looking at your plans remind me of ours years ago.
Now our plans look like this, which we have enjoyed so much better
Monday: MK and our 3 FP+ rides
Tues: HS and our 3 FP+ rides
and so on, with maybe 1 or 2 ADRs(per trip, not per day) thrown in there.

 

[Mom2J&J]

I think your issue with that first morning might be having Merida in the mix, since she is not close to Ariel and Journey of the Little Mermaid.

Good to know! She's not a "must-see" for DD, so we'll scratch it!

 

[Mom2J&J]

I think you've done an awesome job making all the kids happy and making sure they all get to do stuff they want.

Thank you!

Can you go to CRT or Akershus for one of your meals? T

Yes, we have an Akershus on Saturday morning!

 

[Mom2J&J]

I use touring plans for this exact reason. It is amazing how accurate they have been for us in our planning. I highly recommend it!!

I have a TP account, but keep going back and forth between that and EasyWDW. People seem to be "passionate" about one or the other.

40 minutes is not enough time for Tom Sawyer Island. By the time you take the ferry over, you'll pretty much need to turn around and take the ferry back. If you can't carve out more time for it, just skip it altogether.

I've never done Tom Sawyer Island though and i'm not sure in that window of time, you'll have time. But I guess you can just wing it and decide to skip it if you need to.

Easy to skip. I just threw it in there because I didn't have anything else. Thanks!

 

[willwork4cruise]

I have never tried or heard of EasyWDW. TP has worked well for us every time. Now I will have to peek. lol

 

[pa. dad]

I have 2 sons only but one year we went with my brother and his family and he as 2 daughters and a son. So some things just didn't appeal to everybody.

One thing I'll add= there are a fair number of things that might appeal to everybody. Things like Buzz or Pirates or haunted mansion or jungle cruise. The more of those you can find, the less time you'll have to be split up.

 

[ktlm]

I use touring plans for this exact reason. It is amazing how accurate they have been for us in our planning. I highly recommend it!!

Edited to add:
Just to give you an idea this is our Fantasyland plan for next week:

Dumbo 10:01am
Mad Tea Party 10:12

Not sure how old your kids are, but just a warning that if they are little the evil (our term for it) Dumbo play area may slow you down considerably here. Our first trip after they opened that thing, DD got drawn into it and we had an awful time getting her out. Even if Dumbo is walk on, if your kids want to go in the play area, they will give you a beeper that beeps in 8 minutes so you can use it to try to get them out. Last time we were in there, it did not seem as bad, but I remember that first time it was a bunch of kids who did not want to leave and a bunch of exasperated parents trying to drag them out to ride the ride. The beepers were going off and the kids were up in the play structure and not coming down. CMs were even trying to help the parents by going up into the play structure to bring the kids out. Dumbo should be walk on at 10, so if you can keep the kids out of the play area entirely, you should be able to ride it and get over to the tea cups by 10:12, but if the kids get sucked into that play area you might have a problem!