I got some great tips here so I thought I'd pass along some thoughts from our trip. Happy to answer any questions as well! We had a fabulous trip and although it was crowded between a combination of touring the first three to four hours and at night and using fastpasses we never waited more than 10 to 20 minutes for anything (other than Turtle Talk with Crush, 30 minutes plus, I am guessing they had no idea this attraction would be so popular). We didn't use any touring plans but I had borrowed unofficial guide from our local library and checked out their recommended days online (didn't always stick to their suggestions) and we always tried to hit the headliners first thing upon arriving at the park.
Magical Express. Worked out great for us, I would recommend using it. We landed around 4:45 pm on Thursday March 30 and were standing waiting to check in at BCV by 6pm. Went to dinner on the Boardwalk and luggage was waiting in our room upon our return at 9:15. We were staying overnight at an airport hotel the might of April 7 and had arranged a 9:40 pm Magical Express return so we could stay at Epcot until closing. Turned out we were the only people on the bus and the driver took us straight to our hotel (we obviously tipped him well when we said goodbye, but he just offered on his own).
Expedition Everest. Amazing ride, but everyone and their brother rushes there as soon as the park opens. We arrived at AK around 9:20 on March 31, went straight to EE and got fastpasses for 11:55 to 12:55. Had to leave the park early due to a sick child and returned on April 3 around 9:10 for another try, again went straight and got fastpasses between 10 and 11. Standby lines were 45 minutes+ both times. We found that if you go and get fastpasses right away you can then go into Dinoland and ride anything there without any wait whatsoever, then return to use your fastpass. Then we hit the safari, fastpass return time was about an hour ahead, perfect to grab lunch at Tusker House then ride. I was very nervous about the backwards part of EE because that motion can make me queasy but I had no problems at all. Everyone in our group, including ds7 who is not a big roller coaster fan, loved this attraction.
MGM. My touring chi totally broke down on this day. We were in the park from opening after closing for Fantasmic but we seemed to see very little, mainly because to fit in all the shows my kids wanted to see never left us with enough time in the afternoon to do anything else in between. The day we visited there were only three shows of Lights, Motors stunt show, two of whic conflicted with our lunch and dinner reservations, and they weren't offering fastpass. So between when we finished lunch at 12:30 pm and when the parade started at 5pm we only saw Indiana Jones, Lights Motors and Beauty and the Beast, because if we had gotten into a ride line we were afraid we would miss the next show. I will need a new strategy for next time, in the meantime I would recommend skipping Indiana Jones, didn't need that many stunt shows in one day and it would have opened time up for something else. Our other problem was that shows didn't start until 11:30 or later, so although we did TOT, Muppetvision and Star Tours in the am we couldn't get a show out of the way before our 11:15 lunch reservation. Next time I will plan a cs lunch to allow for more schedule flexibility.
Soarin/big attractions first thing after opening. We went to Soarin straight at opening and the wait time for the standby line was posted as 45 minutes. A cast member told us that it was really more like 20 so we decided to give it a try, and he was right. After that we learned to ask the cast member at a big attraction at opening whether the posted time was accurate, sometimes it was but sometimes the actual wait was much shorter and it made more sense to wait than to fastpass.
Evening shows. We got a great spot for Illuminations along the water outside of Norway and a great spot for Spectromagic in Frontierland near the Country Bears, both about 15 minutes before showtime. Don't know if this was a fluke or if these are less popular places so you don't need to queue up as early. We watched Wishes on the walkway from Frontierland back to the main hub. Had a good view, but the fireworks actually seemed to go off to the left of the castle (as you face it from Main Street) so we lost the very far left edge behind the trees, but we were very happy with our view (and the fact that we didn't have to arrive two hours ahead of time). Friends watched from the bridge from Tomorrowland and lost much of the show behind trees, so beware of this area. We always do Fantasmic dinner package, I still think this is a great way to go.
Pirates of the Caribbean was closed the entire time we were there, so the rumors about a reopening for all of April weren't true (nothing was posted about it opening for Easter week). Tomorrowland Noodle Terrace was also closed each of the three times we visited the MK.
Child Swap with Tall Enough but Scared Child. We had no problem using child swap at TOT for ds7, who met the ride requirements but didn't want to ride.
Well, hope that's helpeful to someone. We visited all four parks and rode all the biggies except RNR and Mission Space if anyone has any questions.
Magical Express. Worked out great for us, I would recommend using it. We landed around 4:45 pm on Thursday March 30 and were standing waiting to check in at BCV by 6pm. Went to dinner on the Boardwalk and luggage was waiting in our room upon our return at 9:15. We were staying overnight at an airport hotel the might of April 7 and had arranged a 9:40 pm Magical Express return so we could stay at Epcot until closing. Turned out we were the only people on the bus and the driver took us straight to our hotel (we obviously tipped him well when we said goodbye, but he just offered on his own).
Expedition Everest. Amazing ride, but everyone and their brother rushes there as soon as the park opens. We arrived at AK around 9:20 on March 31, went straight to EE and got fastpasses for 11:55 to 12:55. Had to leave the park early due to a sick child and returned on April 3 around 9:10 for another try, again went straight and got fastpasses between 10 and 11. Standby lines were 45 minutes+ both times. We found that if you go and get fastpasses right away you can then go into Dinoland and ride anything there without any wait whatsoever, then return to use your fastpass. Then we hit the safari, fastpass return time was about an hour ahead, perfect to grab lunch at Tusker House then ride. I was very nervous about the backwards part of EE because that motion can make me queasy but I had no problems at all. Everyone in our group, including ds7 who is not a big roller coaster fan, loved this attraction.
MGM. My touring chi totally broke down on this day. We were in the park from opening after closing for Fantasmic but we seemed to see very little, mainly because to fit in all the shows my kids wanted to see never left us with enough time in the afternoon to do anything else in between. The day we visited there were only three shows of Lights, Motors stunt show, two of whic conflicted with our lunch and dinner reservations, and they weren't offering fastpass. So between when we finished lunch at 12:30 pm and when the parade started at 5pm we only saw Indiana Jones, Lights Motors and Beauty and the Beast, because if we had gotten into a ride line we were afraid we would miss the next show. I will need a new strategy for next time, in the meantime I would recommend skipping Indiana Jones, didn't need that many stunt shows in one day and it would have opened time up for something else. Our other problem was that shows didn't start until 11:30 or later, so although we did TOT, Muppetvision and Star Tours in the am we couldn't get a show out of the way before our 11:15 lunch reservation. Next time I will plan a cs lunch to allow for more schedule flexibility.
Soarin/big attractions first thing after opening. We went to Soarin straight at opening and the wait time for the standby line was posted as 45 minutes. A cast member told us that it was really more like 20 so we decided to give it a try, and he was right. After that we learned to ask the cast member at a big attraction at opening whether the posted time was accurate, sometimes it was but sometimes the actual wait was much shorter and it made more sense to wait than to fastpass.
Evening shows. We got a great spot for Illuminations along the water outside of Norway and a great spot for Spectromagic in Frontierland near the Country Bears, both about 15 minutes before showtime. Don't know if this was a fluke or if these are less popular places so you don't need to queue up as early. We watched Wishes on the walkway from Frontierland back to the main hub. Had a good view, but the fireworks actually seemed to go off to the left of the castle (as you face it from Main Street) so we lost the very far left edge behind the trees, but we were very happy with our view (and the fact that we didn't have to arrive two hours ahead of time). Friends watched from the bridge from Tomorrowland and lost much of the show behind trees, so beware of this area. We always do Fantasmic dinner package, I still think this is a great way to go.
Pirates of the Caribbean was closed the entire time we were there, so the rumors about a reopening for all of April weren't true (nothing was posted about it opening for Easter week). Tomorrowland Noodle Terrace was also closed each of the three times we visited the MK.
Child Swap with Tall Enough but Scared Child. We had no problem using child swap at TOT for ds7, who met the ride requirements but didn't want to ride.
Well, hope that's helpeful to someone. We visited all four parks and rode all the biggies except RNR and Mission Space if anyone has any questions.
