To hop or not - new not hopping plan!

[sharona]

Background: We are not every year visitors but we have several trips under our belts before FP+. Also, DD and I recently spent 1 day at MK so I'm somewhat familiar with FP+ at MK but not with best usage at the other parks.

We'll be visiting WDW 12/11 - 12/14 (arriving 12/10 and leaving 12/15 so 4 full days). We're trying to decide which parks/which days so I can make a couple of ADRs next week when the window opens. Staying at the Dolphin. Based on the easywdw crowd calendar, we've come up with 2 possible plans:

Hopping. For this plan we would RD and tour using stand by until lunchtime, eat, sight see and then use our FPs for the 2nd park (except on MVMCP night, we would sleep in then FP at EP then the party).
Friday MK/HS
Saturday AK/EP-WS
Sunday EP/MVMCP
Monday HS/MK

Not hopping. Same strategy, RD then FPs in the afternoon/early evening.
Friday MK/MK
Saturday EP/EP-WS
Sunday AK/MVMCP
Monday HS/HS

My concern with the hopping plan is can we get on TT or Soarin without a long wait if we don't RD? We'll FP the other. Are there ever 4th FPs for TT or Soarin available? With the shorter park hours in winter, is hopping a waste of time? I doubt we'll take mid day breaks with those shorter hours. Maybe a nice off park dinner but most of our time will be in the parks. Also, I hate to pay for both hoppers and MVMCP for 5 of us if we don't need to hop.

My concern with the non hopping plan is that it leaves HS til the end and if the weather is nasty (it will be December after all), we could miss the Osborne lights which is on our must do list.

Previously, I would have made the decision to hop or not while at the parks but with FP+, that would not be workable. Also relevant, we are not interested in ToT, Mission Space, Dinosaur or any hard to get M&Gs. We plan to do a pre park breakfast at AK and/or MK.

Advice/input very welcome.

 

[gunderda]

I think with 4 days I would hop and give yourself a little more freedom. We are only going to disney for 2 days and I felt that was a little too short to take advantage of park hopping.

 

[Kirk]

How do you do MVMCP without hopping if you plan to do AK that day?

 

[Hootch]

Even though you are hitting Epcot early one morning, it seems you will not be at rope drop. Is this correct?

It is unlikely that there would FP availability after your first three FPs are finished and most likely the timing of the FP would be when you are in your evening park. The standby lines for Soarin' and Test Track get long pretty quickly. There is one solution if I'm reading your data correctly. You could FP Soarin' and use the single rider line for Test Track. With six seats in a car, there is often seats open and the line moves fast. It is not ideal, but could shorten you wait in line. The minimum age is 7 for single rider. We had a father and son in the car with us recently. The son was ten and he had another seven year old that was behind. I assumed someone else was with him.

It's the same issue in DHS with both TSMM and Rockin' Roller Coaster being tier 1. We FP TSMM and head as quickly as possible RNRC

 

[Alesia]

Option 1

 

[sharona]

How do you do MVMCP without hopping if you plan to do AK that day?

The party is a separately ticketed event, nothing to do with your park tickets. You can enter using your party ticket after 4.

 

[sharona]

Even though you are hitting Epcot early one morning, it seems you will not be at rope drop. Is this correct?

It is unlikely that there would FP availability after your first three FPs are finished and most likely the timing of the FP would be when you are in your evening park. The standby lines for Soarin' and Test Track get long pretty quickly. There is one solution if I'm reading your data correctly. You could FP Soarin' and use the single rider line for Test Track. With six seats in a car, there is often seats open and the line moves fast. It is not ideal, but could shorten you wait in line. The minimum age is 7 for single rider. We had a father and son in the car with us recently. The son was ten and he had another seven year old that was behind. I assumed someone else was with him.

It's the same issue in DHS with both TSMM and Rockin' Roller Coaster being tier 1. We FP TSMM and head as quickly as possible RNRC

Thanks for your input. The adults and DD12 could use single rider for TT but I don't know if my nephew would do it. He'll be 13 when we go but he has Asperger's and is a bit leery of thrill rides to begin with so I don't see him riding that without his mom or me or my DD. I think he'll like it once he tries it but he'll be too anxious to ride "alone". For the HS RnRC/TSMM dilemna, I'm sure it will be just DD and I for RNRC. She will not use single rider for that so we'll have to RD it. The others can RD TSMM and we can all ride it again together with FPs later.

 

[Eandbmom]

Personally I would hop, but that is our touring style.

 

[Lucius Best]

My concern with the hopping plan is can we get on TT or Soarin without a long wait if we don't RD? We'll FP the other. Are there ever 4th FPs for TT or Soarin available? With the shorter park hours in winter, is hopping a waste of time? I doubt we'll take mid day breaks with those shorter hours. Maybe a nice off park dinner but most of our time will be in the parks. Also, I hate to pay for both hoppers and MVMCP for 5 of us if we don't need to hop.

My concern with the non hopping plan is that it leaves HS til the end and if the weather is nasty (it will be December after all), we could miss the Osborne lights which is on our must do list.

Previously, I would have made the decision to hop or not while at the parks but with FP+, that would not be workable. Also relevant, we are not interested in ToT, Mission Space, Dinosaur or any hard to get M&Gs. We plan to do a pre park breakfast at AK and/or MK.

We were always park hopping people, but on our first FP+ trip this April, we ultimately never upgraded to park hoppers. We decided it was more time efficient to just stay in one park. Our strategy was rope drop, with 3 FP+ reserved 10am/11am/12pm, then grab 4th FP at kiosk and have lunch, and wing it in the afternoon based on lines/crowds/weather.

You have one day at each park, and you're not planning on taking midday breaks, so I personally would not hop. If you want to save your 3 FP+ for afternoon, you can still do that without park hopping, and save the travel time. I would get hoppers if going during hot season (for pool breaks), or when parks open late at night (for rest breaks), or on a long trip where your 2nd trips to HS or AK might be half days and then hop somewhere else.

I do like your choice of days Epcot/AK on weekend and MK/HS not on weekend. If not at rope drop, TT and Soarin lines get long fast, we ended up riding TT single-rider, which was very quick in the morning. We didn't even try getting 4th FP at Epcot, many people here report that there's nothing good left, and we were planning to be in WS in the afternoon/evening anyway, didn't want to break up our relaxed WS touring by having to trek back to FW.

Not sure what you mean by weather getting nasty in December, it might get chilly at night?

 

[kwdw]

Not hopping option - for short trip - it takes TIME away from touring and for a short trip - it's an expensive addition, IMO. And - the parks have short days.

As for weather and Osbourne Lights.... I don't think that should be a concern. It's not like you are going to get a blizzard in Florida. Worst case is you get cold and wet. It's nice to see - but unless you wait in line for some special Photopass picture spots - this is going to take 10-45 minutes, IMO. You need to be there long enough for the lights to dance and to explore the street, but it's not that big a deal.

For the EP day - do one of the headliners at RD - and FP the other one.

For your AK/party day - be sure to hit AK right at rope drop to get most of the park in that day before heading to the party.

I'm headed a few days before you - 5 park days. (Each park one day, no park before party day)
I've got an AP this year - but it's still unlikely I'll hop at all. I might depending on my mood - but my plan involves no hopping. I went once before in early Dec. and the park days are just too short, IMO. Now - I DO recommend planning some TS meals. It was COLD the year I went and it was a blessing to have those long indoor meal breaks to warm up! But again - they do take up park time.

 

[sharona]

We were always park hopping people, but on our first FP+ trip this April, we ultimately never upgraded to park hoppers. We decided it was more time efficient to just stay in one park. Our strategy was rope drop, with 3 FP+ reserved 10am/11am/12pm, then grab 4th FP at kiosk and have lunch, and wing it in the afternoon based on lines/crowds/weather.

You have one day at each park, and you're not planning on taking midday breaks, so I personally would not hop. If you want to save your 3 FP+ for afternoon, you can still do that without park hopping, and save the travel time. I would get hoppers if going during hot season (for pool breaks), or when parks open late at night (for rest breaks), or on a long trip where your 2nd trips to HS or AK might be half days and then hop somewhere else.

I do like your choice of days Epcot/AK on weekend and MK/HS not on weekend. If not at rope drop, TT and Soarin lines get long fast, we ended up riding TT single-rider, which was very quick in the morning. We didn't even try getting 4th FP at Epcot, many people here report that there's nothing good left, and we were planning to be in WS in the afternoon/evening anyway, didn't want to break up our relaxed WS touring by having to trek back to FW.

Not sure what you mean by weather getting nasty in December, it might get chilly at night?

I was thinking cold and rainy but that may just be the New Englander in me!

Not hopping option - for short trip - it takes TIME away from touring and for a short trip - it's an expensive addition, IMO. And - the parks have short days.

As for weather and Osbourne Lights.... I don't think that should be a concern. It's not like you are going to get a blizzard in Florida. Worst case is you get cold and wet. It's nice to see - but unless you wait in line for some special Photopass picture spots - this is going to take 10-45 minutes, IMO. You need to be there long enough for the lights to dance and to explore the street, but it's not that big a deal.

For the EP day - do one of the headliners at RD - and FP the other one.

For your AK/party day - be sure to hit AK right at rope drop to get most of the park in that day before heading to the party.

I'm headed a few days before you - 5 park days. (Each park one day, no park before party day)
I've got an AP this year - but it's still unlikely I'll hop at all. I might depending on my mood - but my plan involves no hopping. I went once before in early Dec. and the park days are just too short, IMO. Now - I DO recommend planning some TS meals. It was COLD the year I went and it was a blessing to have those long indoor meal breaks to warm up! But again - they do take up park time.

We weren't planning to do RD at EP but since it's a 9am opening, it's not really that early to get there from the Dolphin so if we don't hop we may RD each park. As for dining, we hope to do AK Tusker House and MK BOG pre park opening breakfasts. We're not big fans of WDW table service (overpriced and underwhelming IMO) but you make a good point about the meal being a break. We'll have to think on that.

 

[scrapquitler]

How do you do MVMCP without hopping if you plan to do AK that day?

MVMCP is a separate event with a separate admission ticket, so you don't need the parkhopper.

 

[sharonabe]

You have one problem with your non-hopping plan: Dec 11 is a party day, so you would not have the evening in MK. You could switch this day with your last day. Do HS on the 11th and MK on the 14th.

Oh, and as of right now, there is no pre-park BoG in December.

 

[TeachTink]

We are going for 3 days/4 nights basically the week before you. We are getting park hoppers because MVMCP is messing up our schedule. We like to be at the parks all day.

We are planning:
Thurs - Epcot
Fri - MK/HS
Sat - ?/MK

Adding the park hopper is cheaper than a party ticket ($50 per ticket for hopper vs $79 per party ticket). So basically we arranged our schedule around the party days.

 

[itchin2go]

We don't do hoppers unless we feel like there's a compelling reason to add them. To me, it looks like you have a viable plan without hoppers, so I don't know why you would add that expense and trouble .... again, unless there's a compelling reason. Only you can decide that.

Regarding Epcot: On our last trip, we did FP for Soarin and rode TT standby at rope drop. Even then, there was a substantial line. I would imagine the line later in the day would be enough for us to say "no thank you". Just from reading these boards, I gather that it's difficult to get Soarin or TT as a 4th.

 

[sharona]

You have one problem with your non-hopping plan: Dec 11 is a party day, so you would not have the evening in MK. You could switch this day with your last day. Do HS on the 11th and MK on the 14th.

Oh, and as of right now, there is no pre-park BoG in December.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll have to see if I can get a workable non hopping schedule.

We are going for 3 days/4 nights basically the week before you. We are getting park hoppers because MVMCP is messing up our schedule. We like to be at the parks all day.

We are planning:
Thurs - Epcot
Fri - MK/HS
Sat - ?/MK

Adding the park hopper is cheaper than a party ticket ($50 per ticket for hopper vs $79 per party ticket). So basically we arranged our schedule around the party days.

We're looking forward to the party so I'd rather pay for that than the hopper. Plus if we go somewhere else on party day in the AM it will be like having a 1 day hopper when we go to the party.

We don't do hoppers unless we feel like there's a compelling reason to add them. To me, it looks like you have a viable plan without hoppers, so I don't know why you would add that expense and trouble .... again, unless there's a compelling reason. Only you can decide that.

Regarding Epcot: On our last trip, we did FP for Soarin and rode TT standby at rope drop. Even then, there was a substantial line. I would imagine the line later in the day would be enough for us to say "no thank you". Just from reading these boards, I gather that it's difficult to get Soarin or TT as a 4th.

Yeah, looks like we'll need to work out the EP thing. Even if we get there for RD, there is no way my nephew will be able to handle the stampede to Soarin or TT. Have to figure out a way to have FP for both on different days.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

We did the exact same trip as you last year 12/10-12/15 and hopping was essential to us. We actually never even made it to AK which was in our plans, but we decided to spend more time at DHS and MK. Highly recommend hopping and getting to DHS early just in case there is weather that last day. Enjoy, the quick trip was actually our favorite because of the Christmas stuff.

 

[itchin2go]

Yeah, looks like we'll need to work out the EP thing. Even if we get there for RD, there is no way my nephew will be able to handle the stampede to Soarin or TT. Have to figure out a way to have FP for both on different days.

If it helps, I wouldn't characterize what I saw as a stampede. You don't have to be at the front of the pack to still be able to ride one of them standby. The Test Track line we stood in looked long. Like - I've never seen it that long. But it moved really fast.

Now, I've heard there is an all-out stampede for Anna & Elsa and Mine Train at MK. The Soarin/Test Track business wasn't anything like that. People moved at a good clip, purposefully, but it wasn't aggressive. At MK, we headed straight for Frontierland, so we missed out on most of the Fantasyland mayhem. I did see some young parents attempting to sprint down the sidewalks of Main Street with Starbucks in hand.

But FP for Soarin and Test Track on different days would work great too.

 

[sharona]

If it helps, I wouldn't characterize what I saw as a stampede. You don't have to be at the front of the pack to still be able to ride one of them standby. The Test Track line we stood in looked long. Like - I've never seen it that long. But it moved really fast.

Now, I've heard there is an all-out stampede for Anna & Elsa and Mine Train at MK. The Soarin/Test Track business wasn't anything like that. People moved at a good clip, purposefully, but it wasn't aggressive. At MK, we headed straight for Frontierland, so we missed out on most of the Fantasyland mayhem. I did see some young parents attempting to sprint down the sidewalks of Main Street with Starbucks in hand.

But FP for Soarin and Test Track on different days would work great too.

We like to head to Frontierland at RD too. Last visit was just to MK and DD and I rode BTMRR 4X, Splash, POTC and HM all walk on beginning at 9am. We started from a pre RD ADR at CP and were way ahead of the RD crowd. I've done the TSMM and Soarin stampedes previously and that is really what it felt like from the front of the pack, can't imagine being in the middle of it and for those with little ones I totally would have been worried some determined adult would trample them. Of course that was 5 years ago so things may have calmed down a bit now that people can FP+.

 

[sharona]

If we go with option 1 and hop, on Saturday we could save our FPs for the afternoon at EP and do AK all stand by. AK is a must for my nephew. We'd want to do the safari at RD then head to EE for DD and I then maybe KJ if it's not too cold to get wet - could we get those 3 in early with minimal waits??? AK is most recommended for that day by easywdw. Would pre-park breakfast at Tusker House be better or would it be smarter to do lunch when the park is at it's most crowded? Is the lunch a character meal? Can't miss that as it will be our only one for the trip. Haven't been to AK in forever. After the 2 or 3 rides, we would explore and see Nemo or FOTLK. What's the current process for the shows - do you need to FP or can you reasonably do standby?