starshine514
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2010
- Messages
- 3,164
I wanted to say thank you to everybody who gave advice for ST FP strategy, touring w/ small kids, strollers, etc.
Skiingfast, we followed your FP strategy for Star Tours our first (MM) day - making it our second FP before hopping to CA. We had a 12:30 return time.
Hydroguy - we following your FP strategy for ST our second (non-MM) day - making it our first FP. We got an 8:55 return time.
We found that the FP return line for ST still took about 30 minutes, but was much better to the hour+ everybody in the standby line was waiting. We didn't have any trouble using our FPs after their expired time.
We ended up w/my friends not joining up with us until about 11:30 on Sunday morning, so we got a lot of the HR rides done with short lines. We hustled over to Splash first, only to find it wasn't running yet. So, we rode BTMRR (walk on) a couple of times instead. On Tuesday, we went to BTMRR first, but had bit of wait b/c they were only running one train. Very disappointing...
We also walked through the regular outside queue for Splash, only to be directed to the exit w/ our ECV (didn't get a H/A guide this trip and Splash had been down our previous trip). We watched the people who had been behind us in the queue, and about 40 other people board before they allowed us to board. To all the people out there who see a wheelchair or ECV as a FOTL pass, believe me, it isn't. This trip more than ever we had to wait extra for nearly every ride due to it (sometimes the same amount of time, but never any quicker). However, my DH didn't ride a single FL ride with us, which is the area that may give people the FOTL perception.
We caught Fantasmic! on Sunday night. I sort of had forgotten about it until about 8:15.
We did the light tower trick and it was great! Got to be right at the rail. Had to pick up the kids (no, I didn't allow my friends to hold their kids on their shoulders), so that they could see everything, but the front-and-center view was great! We saw WOC last trip and liked it, but I did like F! better. I think it was the variety, there just seemed to be 'more' to it.
We rode the LM ride 4x. My DD4 loved it. I thought it was good. I don't really expect that much from kid's dark rides. My friend's son (he's 3) got a little scared in the Ursula part. Our longest wait was mid-day on Sunday. We waited 20 minutes. Our wait about 10:30 on Sunday morning was 5 minutes. Most of the time we went by, the posted wait time was 15 minutes.
For our May trip, we bought the PP CD. For this trip we didn't. In May, we had done the Visa M&G and received 2 free print cards. We received another one this trip and I went to the Photo Center in CA to redeem them. I explained to the girl that we had forgotten to get them last trip. She looked at the card and said we could still use them (they expire in October). I had read on the board that supposedly they were changing the policy and that you could only use them for the Visa M & G pictures. This was not our experience. She let us use them for any character photo. So, we got two princess prints and one w/Duffy (we thought the Duffy borders were adorable). I really liked how they could add multiple effects to the pictures and move the signatures around. If you're only going to purchase a photo or two (not doing the CD), I think doing so in the park is a great idea, so much more flexibility than online.
I noticed that both Mickey and Duffy were regularly in their M&G locations in CA (they hadn't been for our May trip). I also noticed a LOT more PP photographers out and about in the park. We had a hard time finding them during our May trip, but they seemed to be everywhere (by the carousel, by the Tomorrowland sign, etc) this trip. I guess that may be another benefit of going during high season!
As far as the walk goes, I think Super 8 would be fine for adults. However, I thought it was too much for my girls and brought our double stroller. They loved that, but by the second day I was sore and by the third day, I was ditching the stroller at every opportunity b/c it hurt so much to push it. I think next time, we'll be back to the single stroller and staying at a closer hotel!
Skiingfast, we followed your FP strategy for Star Tours our first (MM) day - making it our second FP before hopping to CA. We had a 12:30 return time.
Hydroguy - we following your FP strategy for ST our second (non-MM) day - making it our first FP. We got an 8:55 return time.
We found that the FP return line for ST still took about 30 minutes, but was much better to the hour+ everybody in the standby line was waiting. We didn't have any trouble using our FPs after their expired time.
We ended up w/my friends not joining up with us until about 11:30 on Sunday morning, so we got a lot of the HR rides done with short lines. We hustled over to Splash first, only to find it wasn't running yet. So, we rode BTMRR (walk on) a couple of times instead. On Tuesday, we went to BTMRR first, but had bit of wait b/c they were only running one train. Very disappointing...
We also walked through the regular outside queue for Splash, only to be directed to the exit w/ our ECV (didn't get a H/A guide this trip and Splash had been down our previous trip). We watched the people who had been behind us in the queue, and about 40 other people board before they allowed us to board. To all the people out there who see a wheelchair or ECV as a FOTL pass, believe me, it isn't. This trip more than ever we had to wait extra for nearly every ride due to it (sometimes the same amount of time, but never any quicker). However, my DH didn't ride a single FL ride with us, which is the area that may give people the FOTL perception.
We caught Fantasmic! on Sunday night. I sort of had forgotten about it until about 8:15.
We did the light tower trick and it was great! Got to be right at the rail. Had to pick up the kids (no, I didn't allow my friends to hold their kids on their shoulders), so that they could see everything, but the front-and-center view was great! We saw WOC last trip and liked it, but I did like F! better. I think it was the variety, there just seemed to be 'more' to it.We rode the LM ride 4x. My DD4 loved it. I thought it was good. I don't really expect that much from kid's dark rides. My friend's son (he's 3) got a little scared in the Ursula part. Our longest wait was mid-day on Sunday. We waited 20 minutes. Our wait about 10:30 on Sunday morning was 5 minutes. Most of the time we went by, the posted wait time was 15 minutes.
For our May trip, we bought the PP CD. For this trip we didn't. In May, we had done the Visa M&G and received 2 free print cards. We received another one this trip and I went to the Photo Center in CA to redeem them. I explained to the girl that we had forgotten to get them last trip. She looked at the card and said we could still use them (they expire in October). I had read on the board that supposedly they were changing the policy and that you could only use them for the Visa M & G pictures. This was not our experience. She let us use them for any character photo. So, we got two princess prints and one w/Duffy (we thought the Duffy borders were adorable). I really liked how they could add multiple effects to the pictures and move the signatures around. If you're only going to purchase a photo or two (not doing the CD), I think doing so in the park is a great idea, so much more flexibility than online.
I noticed that both Mickey and Duffy were regularly in their M&G locations in CA (they hadn't been for our May trip). I also noticed a LOT more PP photographers out and about in the park. We had a hard time finding them during our May trip, but they seemed to be everywhere (by the carousel, by the Tomorrowland sign, etc) this trip. I guess that may be another benefit of going during high season!
As far as the walk goes, I think Super 8 would be fine for adults. However, I thought it was too much for my girls and brought our double stroller. They loved that, but by the second day I was sore and by the third day, I was ditching the stroller at every opportunity b/c it hurt so much to push it. I think next time, we'll be back to the single stroller and staying at a closer hotel!
