Week Before Easter FP and Itinerary Help Needed!

[swimrunmom]

Hello!
My family and I are headed to Florida for a beach vacation the week before Easter. I convinced my family to start the week staying at Disney with two quick days in the parks. We have been to Disney many times before, our most recent trip was spring break 2016. We know the parks will be crazy crowded. We do have park hoppers and plan on getting to the parks both days before rope drop. My children are 12 and 15 and my hope is to just get a few of their favorite rides in each park. What I can't figure out is how to best plan my fast passes. Our park days are the Monday and Tuesday before Easter. Our biggest priority ride is of course FOP. I'm assuming we will not get FP for FOP so right now my plan is to head to AK Monday morning as they have 7 AM EMH. So, my first question is how early should we arrive? How many rides should we realistically be able to fit in before 11? We want to ride FOP, Safari, Everest and Dinosaur. I was hoping to get Fp for Epcot that afternoon. How early could I realistically schedule them? We will be driving to the parks if that helps with logistics.

The second day we plan on heading to Magic Kingdom first, then HS. Again, we just are planning on hitting some of our favorite rides in each place. Personally I would want to skip HS, but I have teen boys who love thrill rides and Star Wars, so we have to get to HS at some point. Does it make sense to do rope drop at MK, ride as much as we can before things get out of control crazy crowded and have our fast passes for late afternoon in HS? I was thinking we would stay at HS to watch the Star Wars fireworks as well.

So, if anyone is still reading this long post are there any ideas on how to best plan this? Would it be better to have fp for first thing on our MK day then try for our additional passes at HS once we have used the MK ones? Normally we use bus transport to get to MK, but since we are headed to HS afterward, would it be better to drive? ANY help on all of this is very greatly appreciated!!!

 

[sharonabe]

I think planning your FP+ for your second park makes sense as getting those 4th FP after will be hit or miss, and I would want the FP+ for my must dos at the 2nd park. You should be able to get your must do's done at the first park by being there before rope drop. Does MK have a 7 am EMH as well? Keep an eye on that one.

There haven't been as many reports on the 7 a.m. opening at AK. Perhaps make that it's own question in another thread to get accurate information, but my gut says you're still going to want to be at AK no later than 6:30 and maybe 6:15 so you're at the head of the pack for FoP. If you can do that, then you'll definitely be finished with all you want to do at AK by 11:00. Personally, I'd eat lunch at AK then head to HS, so maybe first FP+ at HS around 1:00???

 

[swimrunmom]

Thanks so much for your advice Sharonabe! I will plan on making my FP's for Epcot starting around 1 the first day. So far MK hours are still only 9-9 on that Tuesday before Easter. I'm really hoping that changes. I think the earlier the opening, the less crowded it will be first thing.

Any thoughts on driving vs. bus transport for our second day? MK first thing, then hopping to HS.

 

[10CJ]

I would still look for a FOP FP just in case it is there if you are booking at 60 days.

 

[sharonabe]

Any thoughts on driving vs. bus transport for our second day? MK first thing, then hopping to HS.

That's a toss up. I know getting back to TTC from MK adds to the time, but it's going to be crowded and the buses will be full at closing. However, that also means the traffic getting out and back to resort at end of day will be yucky too. I guess it depends on which is the lesser of two evils for you. I hate driving around WDW, so would do the buses. We just hang around the park for awhile to let the bus crowds die down a bit.

 

[Gentry2004]

Thanks so much for your advice Sharonabe! I will plan on making my FP's for Epcot starting around 1 the first day. So far MK hours are still only 9-9 on that Tuesday before Easter. I'm really hoping that changes. I think the earlier the opening, the less crowded it will be first thing.

Any thoughts on driving vs. bus transport for our second day? MK first thing, then hopping to HS.

MK will likely open at 8am with a 7am EMH.