Strategy help

[brookew]

Disney people.

It’s been a while, and I’m out of practice...

What’s your fast pass choices (not thrill rides)?
Do you use rider switch to double your fast passes (or does that still work)?
What’s your favorite dinner ressies?
Have you ever stayed at shades of green?
How early do they release extra magic hour schedules for planning purposes?

There will be five kids with us… Ages one through nine

 

[mesaboy2]

Disney people.

It’s been a while, and I’m out of practice...

What’s your fast pass choices (not thrill rides)?
Do you use rider switch to double your fast passes (or does that still work)?
What’s your favorite dinner ressies?
Have you ever stayed at shades of green?
How early do they release extra magic hour schedules for planning purposes?

There will be five kids with us… Ages one through nine

You may find the FP FAQ helpful, specifically Post #8, for FP suggestions.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

OP - I’d recommend you post your dinner reservation and Shades of Green questions on the Restaurants and Resorts boards, respectively, you’ll get better answers there. Questions about Rider Switch are best suited for the Disney for Families board.

For the Extra Magic Hours schedule, Disney releases their park calendar on a rolling 180 day basis. Park hours themselves that far out are very likely to change in many cases (and therefore the actual times of the EMHs), but the days of the week they appear on the calendar aren’t likely to change (possible, but not common).

FastPass selections - well, that’s highly personal as we all have our favorites. It would help other posters if you could define “thrill ride” - otherwise you’ll get opinions all over the board.

Happy planning.

 

[3SpoiledPrincesses]

For my family we don’t consider Disney as having “thrill rides”. Our FP choices are usually:

MK: BTMR, SDMT, PP
AK: Safari, Everest, and FOP
EP: Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Land
HS: SDD, TOT, RNR
**i think that I read that HS is changing and all of the above are now Tier 1. So, would probably try to snag a SWGE FP or SDD first, then whatever is in Tier 2.
We always stay at SOG. The rooms are clean and the hotel has been renovated. You can’t beat the price and location. It’s an easy 10 minute walk to the Polynesian where you can take Disney transportation. SOG also has their own busses. You can look at the schedule on their website.

We use a mixture of transportation. Ex: going to MK, we walk to the Poly and take the boat or monorail. Ex: going to AK we take the SOG bus.

There is a STBX in the lobby which is great for grabbing a coffee or snack. There is also a small to go place downstairs by the bus stop that is open in the morning hours.

The employees are friendly and the hotel grounds are beautiful. If you have a preferred location or want adjoining rooms, give them a call or email. They are very accommodating and try to honor requests.

ADR’s really depend on your taste in food and how much your willing to spend. My ages kids 9-16, enjoy The character breakfast at Ohana, Hoop Dee Doo, Beaches and Cream, The Plaza in MK, and Yak & Yeti in AK.

 

[brookew]

For my family we don’t consider Disney as having “thrill rides”. Our FP choices are usually:

MK: BTMR, SDMT, PP
AK: Safari, Everest, and FOP
EP: Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Land
HS: SDD, TOT, RNR
**i think that I read that HS is changing and all of the above are now Tier 1. So, would probably try to snag a SWGE FP or SDD first, then whatever is in Tier 2.
We always stay at SOG. The rooms are clean and the hotel has been renovated. You can’t beat the price and location. It’s an easy 10 minute walk to the Polynesian where you can take Disney transportation. SOG also has their own busses. You can look at the schedule on their website.

We use a mixture of transportation. Ex: going to MK, we walk to the Poly and take the boat or monorail. Ex: going to AK we take the SOG bus.

There is a STBX in the lobby which is great for grabbing a coffee or snack. There is also a small to go place downstairs by the bus stop that is open in the morning hours.

The employees are friendly and the hotel grounds are beautiful. If you have a preferred location or want adjoining rooms, give them a call or email. They are very accommodating and try to honor requests.

ADR’s really depend on your taste in food and how much your willing to spend. My ages kids 9-16, enjoy The character breakfast at Ohana, Hoop Dee Doo, Beaches and Cream, The Plaza in MK, and Yak & Yeti in AK.

Im very confused. I normally book a package. Doing this at SOG is confusing.
I need to know extra magic hours before I make dinner ressies. We want to eat at Chef Mickeys. We want to go to MK on extra magic day. The hours don't release until the same day that ressies open.
When you purchase park tickets, do you have to specify which day you are going?
Im unsure on what order to do all of this...and how early.

 

[3SpoiledPrincesses]

Im very confused. I normally book a package. Doing this at SOG is confusing.
I need to know extra magic hours before I make dinner ressies. We want to eat at Chef Mickeys. We want to go to MK on extra magic day. The hours don't release until the same day that ressies open.
When you purchase park tickets, do you have to specify which day you are going?
Im unsure on what order to do all of this...and how early.

I have only ever bought Military Salute tickets from SOG and no, you don’t have to tell SOG what days you are going. They don’t care. The tickets you buy from SOG are regular Disney tickets. You can buy the same tickets that Disney sells at the gate. There is no tax at SOG.

They will email you an order form to fill out if you want to purchase tickets there. The email will contain the current price list. You fill out the form and email it back. You do need to sign it, so you will need to send them a picture of the form or scan it before you email it back. Then within a few days, someone from SOG will call you, verify the order and get the remaining numbers of your CC. They will email you the back of the tickets so that you can add them to MDX and make FP+.

As for ADR’s, even if you booked a package at an on-site resort you would still have to wait for extra magic hours and park times to be released. If your unsure about ADRs matching up with extra magic hour days, then I would make multiple Chef Mickey ADR’s then cancel once you figure out your park days.

By staying at SOG your basically just booking things separate. Your hotel and tickets can be linked by YOU to MDX. ADR’s you make just like you would if you had a package.

For the order, I would make your reservation at SOG first. It can book up fast, especially around school breaks and holidays. After you make your room reservations, call SOG and ask them to link your reservations. A basic room is for 5 people, so I’m assuming you will have more than one room. You can request adjoining rooms, close to the lobby, close to the pool, specific wing, etc...

Next, try to figure out your park days and what ADR’s you want. I always make a list of ADR’s with the date and time so that I can mark them off as I make the ADR.

Next make your ADR’s 180 days out.

Watch for your SOG email for tickets. I think you can get the form on their website as well, if you want to do tickets earlier. If you need help, give them a call. They’re super friendly.

60 days out, make your FP+.

If you have old magic bands you can still use those. I purchased ours from the Disney store this year for our trip and plan to use them again for our trip next year.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I can't comment on Shades of Green, but here is our FP selections typically:

MK - Peter Pan ( the Q is fun but not for 120 minutes ) Haunted Mansion ( my husbands fav ) and either Pirates of the Caribbean ( my favorite but you don't always need a FP for it ) or Buzz Lightyear. My husband is not a roller coaster person so we skip Space Mountain, Big Thunder and Seven Dwarfs.

EP - Frozen Ever After, Test Track and Spaceship Earth.

HS - they've changed the tiers so I don't think these apply but we have done Star Tours, Fantasmic and Toy Story Mania.

AK - Flight of Passage, Safari and Rivers of Light.