What could we accomplish in an hour?

[AshleyNE84]

Hello all! First time poster. I've been to DLR once about 15 years ago. My mom and I will be heading to the parks Sept. 7-8th to celebrate our birthdays. We have reservations for the character breakfast with Minnie and Friends on Friday the 8th at 10am. We will be at rope drop when the park opens at 9am. My question is, what could we accomplish before going to breakfast? SP and HM will be down (incredibly bummed about this) and I know most people would suggest heading to PPF first. What else do you think we can do?

PS We will only be in the parks these two days. We plan to hit DCA on the 7th and DL on the 8th, no park hopper. If we don't have time or miss out on something then it will have to wait for next time, which hopefully won't be another 15 years.

 

[SMD]

What's PPF? Is SP Space? Convention wisdom says hit FL or TL first. Are you planning to stay all day? If so, I'd grab an Indy FP or use single rider, do POTC and Jungle Cruise, ride Indy. You could probably fit in Pooh or Splash single rider, and then you'd have gone most of that side of the park and can spend most of the day doing everything else and go back later to see everything at a slower pace. Though with only 1 park day you may want to do your character meal outside the park either before the 10am opening on the 7th or even before the 9am opening that day.

 

[AshleyNE84]

Sorry, I meant SM not SP as in Space Mountain and PPF was Peter Pans Flight. Still trying to learn all the abbreviations. Yes, we plan to stay in the park all day and will be using Max Pass as well. I know everything is pretty close together and I was trying to see what we could fit in an hour before we have to head to breakfast. I picked Minnie and Friends because it's my birthday and I wanted a chance to see most of the classic characters. I'd rather not do single rider as I really enjoy experiencing the rides with my mom.

 

[SMD]

Then go to Peter Pan and hope it doesn't take the whole hour. Then do whatever else you can get done in Fantasyland. You're probably better off checking in a little early at breakfast than trying to get too much in or crisscrossing the park. You're cutting out a huge chunk of your morning with breakfast, so you might as well start it early if possible and to make sure you get as many characters as possible, since I think the last seating is 10:40 and you might only get 1 rotation for some of them.

 

[AshleyNE84]

I thought I was being smart in my planning. I was hoping to do PP and POTC and maybe another ride before we sit down for a late breakfast and be able to ride more rides while most people are off to lunch. I just looked to see if I could change our reservation to something before the park opened but the earliest you can reserve is 8:40, which isn't available. I have the option to switch to 9 or 9:30 but then I feel like by the time we're done with breakfast, most rides that don't have FP will be REALLY backed up. Now I'm kinda bummed out.

 

[22Tink]

Could you make your breakfast later? It would give you a bit longer to get things done. We did a 10:40 seating last year and didn't miss any of the characters. Some even came to our table twice. Our day was our Magic Morning day so we had an extra hour of touring which helped but the extra 40 morning minutes could be helpful.

 

[rentayenta]

I think I would try to do breakfast later; spending those first couple of less crowded hours riding. What is the latest you can make a reservation for Minnie's?

 

[SMD]

If you wan to ride PP, I'd say just knock it out in the morning. It's not worth hovering around FL throughout the day to wait a little bit less. POTC is a fast loader and you could easily do it later in the day. What is your whole plan for the day? Are there any must dos, dinner ADR, or anything else?

 

[3monkeys4me]

Could you make your breakfast later? It would give you a bit longer to get things done. We did a 10:40 seating last year and didn't miss any of the characters. Some even came to our table twice. Our day was our Magic Morning day so we had an extra hour of touring which helped but the extra 40 morning minutes could be helpful.

We do the last reservation possible when we do Minnie's. The last time we went we still saw 12 characters. I think it was a 10:40 reservation. Anyway. we treat it as more of a brunch and then skip lunch and have an early dinner.

That extra 30 or 40 mins. will help you a lot getting stuff done. I would go do Peter Pan and anything you want to do in Fantasyland. I haven't used MAX pass yet, but it seems like you should be able to look up and pull whichever fast pass makes the most sense during that time.

Good luck and enjoy your birthday trip!

 

[22Tink]

We do the last reservation possible when we do Minnie's. The last time we went we still saw 12 characters. I think it was a 10:40 reservation. Anyway. we treat it as more of a brunch and then skip lunch and have an early dinner.

That extra 30 or 40 mins. will help you a lot getting stuff done. I would go do Peter Pan and anything you want to do in Fantasyland. I haven't used MAX pass yet, but it seems like you should be able to look up and pull whichever fast pass makes the most sense during that time.

Good luck and enjoy your birthday trip!

I'm not sure why you quoted me? You basically just repeated what I said. Did you mean to quote someone else?

 

[AshleyNE84]

So I just switched our reservation to 10:40. Hoping we will be able to ride a lot more and then rest for awhile and have a nice brunch, skip lunch and have an early dinner. Our plan is to attend the late Fantasmic! show so we can have a good view of the fireworks. No extra money for a dinning package. Thanks everyone for responding!

My mom and I are best friends and we went to WDW back in 09 and only got to spend 2 days their as well, but we had park hopper tickets and I don't remember how we were able to fit everything in! I turn 33 and she will be 61 on the 14th so not huge milestones but I wanted to do something special this year! So excited!!!

 

[22Tink]

So I just switched our reservation to 10:40. Hoping we will be able to ride a lot more and then rest for awhile and have a nice brunch, skip lunch and have an early dinner. Our plan is to attend the late Fantasmic! show so we can have a good view of the fireworks. No extra money for a dinning package. Thanks everyone for responding!

My mom and I are best friends and we went to WDW back in 09 and only got to spend 2 days their as well, but we had park hopper tickets and I don't remember how we were able to fit everything in! I turn 33 and she will be 61 on the 14th so not huge milestones but I wanted to do something special this year! So excited!!!

I think you'll be happy with the later breakfast time. Have a great trip!!

 

[twitch]

Since you've said that you're using MaxPass, this information may be helpful: on Jul 31, I was able to book an 8:30 FP at 7:35... as soon as I entered the turnstile. Also, on Jul 31, I was at the rope at 7:45, and finished PP by 8:20.

So... for instance, you might be able to do PP, either Dumbo or Alice, and then Matterhorn (using a FP). Those would all be close by to Plaza Inn. If PP was not a *must see*, then you might knock out a lot of the less popular dark rides during that same time.

Also, note that with MaxPass, you'll be able to book your next FP while you're eating.

 

[AshleyNE84]

Since you've said that you're using MaxPass, this information may be helpful: on Jul 31, I was able to book an 8:30 FP at 7:35... as soon as I entered the turnstile. Also, on Jul 31, I was at the rope at 7:45, and finished PP by 8:20.

So... for instance, you might be able to do PP, either Dumbo or Alice, and then Matterhorn (using a FP). Those would all be close by to Plaza Inn. If PP was not a *must see*, then you might knock out a lot of the less popular dark rides during that same time.

Also, note that with MaxPass, you'll be able to book your next FP while you're eating.

Very helpful! Thank you so much!

 

[beachdreamr1229]

How set are you on Peter Pan? Just asking because in my experience, in the time it takes to do Peter Pan, I can fit in between 4 and 6 attractions. We usually start with Indy if it's up and running and PotC (and HM when it's open), then run over to FL for Snow White, the carousel, Mr. Toad, and Pinocchio. If we still have time, we can do IASM in that hour, though it's often pushing it.

 

[AshleyNE84]

How set are you on Peter Pan? Just asking because in my experience, in the time it takes to do Peter Pan, I can fit in between 4 and 6 attractions. We usually start with Indy if it's up and running and PotC (and HM when it's open), then run over to FL for Snow White, the carousel, Mr. Toad, and Pinocchio. If we still have time, we can do IASM in that hour, though it's often pushing it.

Of all the "kiddie" rides in FL, PP would be my top pick. I can live without Snow, Pinocchio, Dumbo, and the carousel. If we had time later in the day I would still ride them though.

 

[SMD]

Don't leave out Alice. It makes much better use of the LED effects than PP does. If I had a choice between Dumbo and Astro Orbitors, I'd pick AO, it's a much better view.

 

[AshleyNE84]

Don't leave out Alice. It makes much better use of the LED effects than PP does. If I had a choice between Dumbo and Astro Orbitors, I'd pick AO, it's a much better view.

Definitely doing Alice. Don't plan on doing Dumbo or AO, but if we have time we'll see!

 

[3monkeys4me]

I'm not sure why you quoted me? You basically just repeated what I said. Did you mean to quote someone else?

Sorry! I was agreeing with you. I should have stated that I was seconding what you had said.

 

[DLRExpert]

Skip Peter Pan and come back to it much later in the day when you have done everything else. Focus the first hour at Fantasyland.

9am-10am: When the park opens use the path that heads towards the Matterhorn and veer left. Ride Alice first (use MP to get FP for Matterhorn), then Dumbo, Toad, Casey Jr., Pinocchio, Snow White, use FP for Matterhorn.

10am-1040: Ride Jungle Cruise, then Pirates, check Fantasmic FP.

1040: Lunch, while at lunch get FP for Star tours, then Buzz, then Indy, Splash, Thunder.

ME