MichiganDVC
Can barely see my Kool-aid bath with these Rose-co
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2010
- Messages
- 1,089
I visited WDW on Friday, Feb 21st - so the heart of President's week! Since I was driving from the Tampa area, I arrived at the MK parking lot at 8:00am and was at the gate by 8:15. Rope Drop occurred at 8:50-ish.
Here was my minute-by-minute MK touring strategy using FP+ and Rope drop:
1. Bathroom at Tomorrowland Terrace
2. Buzz Lightyear 8:55-9:03
3. Little Mermaid 9:15-9:23
4. Dumbo 9:28-9:32
5. Small World 9:40-9:57
6. Peter Pan (FP+) 10:00-10:08
7. Bathroom at Rapunzel's
8. Haunted Mansion 10:15-10:30
9. Brief Shopping at Pirates of Caribbean store
10. Pirates 10:45-10:57
11. Dole Whip at Aloha Isle 11:00-11:20 (longest wait of the day)
12. Tomorrowland Transit Authority 11:30-11:40
13. Stuck at/watching afternoon parade in front of castle
14. Jungle Cruise (FP+) 11:50-12:07
15. 12:15, exit park.
I only used 2 of 3 FP+s because I had an 11am FP for BTMRR, but chickened out. Publicly, I said that because Splash was down for refurbishment that BTMRR would be super busy, even with FP+. This was a lie. I chickened out.... Had I done BTMRR, I probably would have been in the park until at least 12:45.
Day 2:
Renewed Annual Passes the night before, so I couldn't make any FP+ until then.
1. Ate lunch at Spice Road Table 11:15-11:45
2. Harp stop at Yorkshire County shop 12:00
3. Spaceship Earth 12:15-12:35 (had a FP+, changed it B/C I thought we wouldn't make it due to lunch, but turns out I could have! Instead, waited in standby. 15 minute line was more like 5 minutes.)
4. Dos Equis at La Hacienda during thunderstorm 12:55-1:15
5. Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico - 1:20-1:30
6. Maelstrom in Norway 1:40-1:50 (FP+)
7. Shopping in China and Germany
8. Head back to car 3:00
Good things about FP+:
1. I was able to cancel my FP for BTMRR and make it for Pirates, even though I didn't need it once I got there. Since I ended up going to the TTA in Tomorrowland, I could have made a FP for Buzz (since I rode it standby earlier) but chose not to.
2. Even on one of the busiest times of the year, I was able to ride 9 MK rides with little to no wait (and only two with FP) just by arriving at rope drop. Was able to schedule Land, SE, and Maelstrom while walking into Epcot on Saturday morning. (I know, I know...not Soarin', not Test Track)
3. If I were the adventurous type, I would definitely make Space Mountain a FP+ priority as this standby line was long pretty much immediately. Otherwise, even Peter Pan was walk-on between 9:00-9:20.
Not-so-good things about FP+
1. I wish you could change your FP+ times and experiences more efficiently using iPhone. I usually had to move one ride to later in the evening just to get it out of the way and then move another ride into the earlier, desired spot. It was just annoying and time consuming. Same thing happened in Epcot the following day... Couldn't readjust times, but some of it was my own poor choice to try to micromanage! If I had left the FPs how I originally scheduled them, I would have been fine.
Here was my minute-by-minute MK touring strategy using FP+ and Rope drop:
1. Bathroom at Tomorrowland Terrace
2. Buzz Lightyear 8:55-9:03
3. Little Mermaid 9:15-9:23
4. Dumbo 9:28-9:32
5. Small World 9:40-9:57
6. Peter Pan (FP+) 10:00-10:08
7. Bathroom at Rapunzel's
8. Haunted Mansion 10:15-10:30
9. Brief Shopping at Pirates of Caribbean store
10. Pirates 10:45-10:57
11. Dole Whip at Aloha Isle 11:00-11:20 (longest wait of the day)
12. Tomorrowland Transit Authority 11:30-11:40
13. Stuck at/watching afternoon parade in front of castle
14. Jungle Cruise (FP+) 11:50-12:07
15. 12:15, exit park.
I only used 2 of 3 FP+s because I had an 11am FP for BTMRR, but chickened out. Publicly, I said that because Splash was down for refurbishment that BTMRR would be super busy, even with FP+. This was a lie. I chickened out.... Had I done BTMRR, I probably would have been in the park until at least 12:45.
Day 2:
Renewed Annual Passes the night before, so I couldn't make any FP+ until then.
1. Ate lunch at Spice Road Table 11:15-11:45
2. Harp stop at Yorkshire County shop 12:00
3. Spaceship Earth 12:15-12:35 (had a FP+, changed it B/C I thought we wouldn't make it due to lunch, but turns out I could have! Instead, waited in standby. 15 minute line was more like 5 minutes.)
4. Dos Equis at La Hacienda during thunderstorm 12:55-1:15
5. Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico - 1:20-1:30
6. Maelstrom in Norway 1:40-1:50 (FP+)
7. Shopping in China and Germany
8. Head back to car 3:00
Good things about FP+:
1. I was able to cancel my FP for BTMRR and make it for Pirates, even though I didn't need it once I got there. Since I ended up going to the TTA in Tomorrowland, I could have made a FP for Buzz (since I rode it standby earlier) but chose not to.
2. Even on one of the busiest times of the year, I was able to ride 9 MK rides with little to no wait (and only two with FP) just by arriving at rope drop. Was able to schedule Land, SE, and Maelstrom while walking into Epcot on Saturday morning. (I know, I know...not Soarin', not Test Track)
3. If I were the adventurous type, I would definitely make Space Mountain a FP+ priority as this standby line was long pretty much immediately. Otherwise, even Peter Pan was walk-on between 9:00-9:20.
Not-so-good things about FP+
1. I wish you could change your FP+ times and experiences more efficiently using iPhone. I usually had to move one ride to later in the evening just to get it out of the way and then move another ride into the earlier, desired spot. It was just annoying and time consuming. Same thing happened in Epcot the following day... Couldn't readjust times, but some of it was my own poor choice to try to micromanage! If I had left the FPs how I originally scheduled them, I would have been fine.
