Which came first the chicken or the egg? (Fastpass+ v. Touring Plan)

[CourtneyO]

Hi All! I'm Courtney and I'm planning our very first Disney Trip for my sweet family of four, including my 7 year old daughter and 5 year old son. We are staying at the Poly Sunday, May 24th - Friday, May 29th. Although we will be there 5 nights I'm only anticipating 4 park days, but we have 5 day hoppers. I'm a planner by nature and have gotten some amazing information from the forums, but am still feeling much anticipation that at midnight tonight my fastpass window opens. So, I was hoping that I could breakdown my plans for ya'll and you could pipe in with your awesome feedback, tips and advice on everything, especially fastpasses and possibly put my nerves to rest? Like if I should schedule my FP's then make my TP's or the opposite. I'm so thankful for any help!

Sunday, May 24th
Flight arrives at 2:00 MCO
ME over to the Poly
No real plans - I figure we will unpack, grab a drink and wing it
Maybe hit the parks, maybe dinner at Tambu Lounge
Ideas are Welcome

Monday, May 25th - Magic Kindgom
Be Our Guest Breakfast - 8:25 - I'm thinking we will try to be there by 8, How early can we get in the parks? Also, how should this affect my touring strategy?
Rides Can't decide if we should get morning or afternoon passes
Be Our Guest Lunch - 11:35 - Does it seems dumb to eat at BOG twice?
More Rides - Possible Fastpasses
Afternoon Break 2:30-5:30
Back to MK for a few rides
Hoop De Doo - 8:30

Tuesday, May 26th - HS - Does this park deserve a full day?
I don't think we will make RD this day, so should I schedule all my FP's mid-morning before lunch?
Lights, Motor, Action looks neat, but will it work with my lunch ADR?
1:50 - Sci-Fi Lunch

8:30 - Cinderella Royal Table

Wednesday, May 27th - Epcot

No Plan at all this day - Ideas for when & what to schedule for FP would be great
We intend to Drink around the world in the evening with another couple, while our kids stay at the kid's club at the resort.

Thursday, - AK/Magic Kindgom

9:30 - Tusker House ADR - how early will we be allowed in the park?
3:00 - Pirates League MK - should I save my FP for MK?
8:30 - Wishes Fireworks Cruise

Friday, May 28th - Ohana Breakfast - Not a park day


So let me have it, what have I done wrong, not thought about, need to add, change? When & what park should I schedule FP's for? My 5 year old is only 42" so no coasters for him, but my daughter is game for anything. Again, Thank you for any help!

 

[nilla]

I'd put together a loose touring plan, then see what you get as far as FPs go. You might be planning for a 10am ride on Test Track, but the earliest available might by 1pm.

Once you have your FPs, make minor adjustments to your TP as needed.

We typically book FPs for late morning to early afternoon, so we can get more after we use our third. That's not always possible, though.

For the Epcot day, if you really want to ride Soarin', get FPs for that. Beyond that, it's really a toss-up. I usually go Mission: Space and Spaceship Earth. You might need to ride Test Track single-rider, unless you want to wait in the standby line or can swing it as a 4th FP. To do that, I'd make sure your first three are booked pretty early.

LMA runs on a set schedule and is really long, so it will probably interfere with lunch ADRs. You're probably better off trying to hit it later.

As for Thursday, I guess it all depends on which park has the rides you want to hit most.

 

[Alesia]

I find it easier to make a touring plan first, otherwise how would you know what time you need your fastpasses for?

Day-by-thoughts:
Sunday: I cannot imagine not going to the Magic Kingdom.
Monday: Looks fine.
Tuesday: I think DHS is worth a full day, others disagree. LMA is worth seeing if you can.
Wednesday: Turtle talk with Crush is not to be missed. Soarin' is great, too. And Living with the Land is surprisingly cool.
Thursday: You won't be able to enter before the park opens. A 9:30 ADR is a waste of the best time in the park. If you keep the ADR, you're probably going to need the fastpasses for AK.

 

[snayak]

I made touring plans with my preferred attraction order on my preferred days (and put in ADRs or whatever).
I hit EVALUATE (not OPTIMIZE!) and looked at what attractions had the longest wait
I booked FP+ for those at about the those times and never waited more than 20 minutes for anything in October - EXCEPT when we deviated from the plan.

On the off chance you don't get the attractions for exactly what time you want, don't worry, just update your TP. Other than the super high demand ones (7DMT & A&E) you should get what you want 30 or 60 days out depending on crowd levels.

I set walking speed to very slow (or whatever) to allow the most amount of time between attractions.
Worked out really well for us.

 

[ellie05]

I agree that Tusker house at that time is a waste of park time. I would make touring plans first and try to get the fp+ for the times the plan gives you.

 

[MrsHull]

I made touring plans with my preferred attraction order on my preferred days (and put in ADRs or whatever).
I hit EVALUATE (not OPTIMIZE!) and looked at what attractions had the longest wait
I booked FP+ for those at about the those times and never waited more than 20 minutes for anything in October - EXCEPT when we deviated from the plan.

On the off chance you don't get the attractions for exactly what time you want, don't worry, just update your TP. Other than the super high demand ones (7DMT & A&E) you should get what you want 30 or 60 days out depending on crowd levels.

I set walking speed to very slow (or whatever) to allow the most amount of time between attractions.
Worked out really well for us.

This is what we do, too. Except, I hit optimize first to get the recommended plan and then changed things according to our preferences, then hit evaluate. We only saw a surprise line for Jungle Cruise last April/May, and I think that was also because we slightly deviated from the plan.

Also, don't discount doing rider swap. You can get a fast pass for the adult rider and your older child so that at least the "big kids" can go on the roller coasters, even if your 5 yo can't.

And, I would not do BOG breakfast and lunch in the same day. There are SO many good restaurants to try. But, then again, I haven't had the pleasure of trying BOG yet. So, I may not know what I'm talking about.

 

[Richard M Nixon]

I would suggest making your TP, plug in your ADRs, then optimize the plan so that it is most efficient. Take the ride with the longest wait time and tell TP you have a FP+ for it. Then optimize again and repeat until all 3 FP+ are selected. That way you get the greatest time efficiency out of your FP+ selections.

 

[tink9702]

Sunday, May 24th - with a 5 & 7 year old I'd hit the pool on arrival day.

Monday, May 25th - Magic Kindgom - I would NOT do BOG twice in the same exact day. I'd cancel the breakfast personally since it's a bit late and you're probably not going to be done until 9:30 and you'll miss the first 30 minutes of the park being open. We like to schedule FP+ for late morning/early afternoon at MK so 11, 12 & 1. From MK it takes awhile to get to Hoop De Doo (I've read to plan 60-90 minutes for transportation) but have no experience personally. I'd figure that out though before deciding to head back to MK to go on rides since you may not have enough time to do that if you stay at the Poly until 5:30.

Tuesday, May 26th - HS - Depends on how many shows you'll want to see if HS is a full day. LMA early show starts at 1:20pm and it's 30 minutes long. If you aren't hitting RD this day then schedule FP+ for Toy Story Midway Mania, STar Tours & one other. There is very little available for a 4th FP+ here unless you want Fantasmic! so whatever times work for you for FP+.

Wednesday, May 27th - Epcot - Soarin', Spaceship Earth (if you want to do it early morning) & Mission Space for FP+. Rope Drop Test Track. I'd throw the things you want to do into Touring Plans to figure out times on this one because it's heavily dependent on what your family likes.

Thursday, - AK/Magic Kindgom - I believe you will be let in when the park opens at 9 (8:45ish maybe) unless it opens at 8am on the day you are going? Personally I'd move the Tusker House ADR to 10:30 and take more advantage of less lines at the beginning of the morning, or to 8am if that's available. Yes, save FP+ for Magic Kingdom. If you hit Everest & Dinosaur at RD and then get a FP+ for Safari OR hit Safari at RD and FP+ Everest & Dinosaur you'll be fine and experience very little waits at AK.