Would you?

[mainegurl]

Hey all!

I am super excited - only 11 days to go and as I review my park & dining plans, I'm thinking of switching park days around and not sure if that's a good idea since I'm sure I'll lose my FP's.....Tell me what you think - keep in mind we're really not rope drop people!

Original plan:
8/6 - 7:30 breakfast at Ohana's
HS for the day with FP's at 9:30 for RnR and 11:10 for ToT (touring plans crowd level 7)
Boardwalk in the evening

8/11 - 8:30 breakfast at Rainforest Cafe (a must for our family!)
AK for the day with FP's at 10:10 for FoP and 12:30 Lion King Show (touring plans crowd level 5)
8:00 pm dinner at Ohana's
Flight home early next morning

Since watching videos on YouTube my family REALLY wants to walk through Avatar land after dark. Even though AK is open until Midnight on the 11th and we could go return after dinner - we have an early flight the next day. I'm also assuming it would be near to impossible to change our Ohana dinner reservation to an earlier time this close.

Soooooo - I'm thinking of changing things up, knowing I'll lose my FP's:
Alternative Plan:
8/6 - 7:30 breakfast at Ohana's
AK for the day (touring plans crowd level 6)
Try to get a dinner reservation at Rainforest Cafe
Evening at AK

8/11 - Hollywood Studios (touring plans crowd level 8)
This isn't an all day park for us so afternoon at the resort (Poly)
8:00 dinner at Ohana's

What would you do??

 

[lifepaused]

Do you have park hopper tickets? How important is the FP's and are you able to get them on the different day? If you have a park hopper what you cold do on the 8/11 do HS at late moring/early afternoon, go to dinner (see if you change it to an earlier time, 5 or 6, then go over to AK and have a look around Pandora at Night.

 

[mainegurl]

Do you have park hopper tickets? How important is the FP's and are you able to get them on the different day? If you have a park hopper what you cold do on the 8/11 do HS at late moring/early afternoon, go to dinner (see if you change it to an earlier time, 5 or 6, then go over to AK and have a look around Pandora at Night.

We're not doing hoppers this time and I've been checking back frequently to try to move our Ohana dinner to 6ish but so far no luck
This will be our first time back since the old paper FP system is gone - I'm wondering if we should just try to wing it without the FP's

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Is it possible to do this without FP? Sure, but it means giving up a lot of touring time for standby wait times. Chances are good you will be able to switch around FP+ to accomodate at least one of the big rides at DHS and Lion King at AK. Chances are slim to none that you'll be able to reschedule your FOP FP+. If decide to do the park day switch, I would seriously consider dropping your O'hana breakfast to get to AK by RD or you may be looking at hours long standby wait times for FOP (for reference, current wait time at 11:00 am this morning is 225 minutes). I would also suggest calling Rainforest Cafe directly to make a dinner reservation as they will have more availability than the WDW system.

Instead of switching days around, you could also consider buying park hoppers and just going to AK on the evening of your DHS day instead of going to the Boardwalk. I think this all comes down to what you value more - time or money.

 

[Shellyred8]

I would ask your family what is more important: riding FoP or seeing Pandora at night. If you drop your FoP fast pass, you will most likely be waiting in a pretty long line to ride it if you don't get there at rope-drop. Perhaps others on here will have some insight as to if there are other "slower" times for FoP that you could take advantage of???

Is dinner at Ohana's a "must-do" for your family? If not, you might consider dropping that dinner and plan to dine in Pandora. We ate there for breakfast and lunch during our last trip and I was pleasantly surprised with their food. We enjoyed everything we had.

 

[madchatter]

We found Pandora to be quite a bit more impressive during the day. I'm glad we saw it at night also. But I wouldn't rearrange a trip to make it happen now that I've seen it both ways.

 

[shellyj]

I wouldn't give up the FOP FP. If Ohana dinner isn't must-do I would cancel (or switch to a different day, if possible) and plan to have dinner in the park or another resort and come back after dark.

I don't think I saw how early the flight is, but if you really don't want to change the Ohana reservation, would it work for you to keep your AK morning as-is, go back to the room and pack everything except the next days clothes and toothbrushes, go to Ohana, then back to AK for Pandora in the dark, walk around, leave before park closing?

 

[SG131]

I agree with others, don't give up FOP FP. You will lose hours at the park if you try to wait in stand by instead even if you go in the evening.

 

[MagicPlanning]

Go after dinner! Don't give up anything. You can sleep on the plane.

You'll be there and you have the opportunity. Carpe diem!

 

[Pkltm]

Go after dinner! Don't give up anything. You can sleep on the plane.

You'll be there and you have the opportunity. Carpe diem!

THIS!!

 

[robl45]

You can swap the days, but then whats the point, you'll spend your whole day standing in line. The tower of terror has been shorter lines lately, but the RNR coaster is always 60 minutes or more. Flight of passage is almost always 2 hours. I wouldn't give up my fast passes.

 

[mainegurl]

Thanks all for the responses!! I talked it over with hubby and the kids and we will keep the plan as is and sleep on the plane ride home if we have to!
(I'm still going to keep checking back for an earlier dinner time at Ohana but even if I can't we still plan to return to AK after dinner).

11 days out and the kids are so excited they packed their suitcases tonight LOL!

Vacation here we come!!!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Thanks all for the responses!! I talked it over with hubby and the kids and we will keep the plan as is and sleep on the plane ride home if we have to!
(I'm still going to keep checking back for an earlier dinner time at Ohana but even if I can't we still plan to return to AK after dinner).

11 days out and the kids are so excited they packed their suitcases tonight LOL!

Vacation here we come!!!

I have had great luck moving ADRs around as it gets close to my trip date. People hoard them, but then cancel them as it gets near the date so they don't get hit with the no-shown penalty.

Keep trying on the Ohana time. Good luck.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

(I'm still going to keep checking back for an earlier dinner time at Ohana but even if I can't we still plan to return to AK after dinner)

Keep trying, even once you've arrived at WDW. I often get plenty of times the day before as people cancel so w not to be hit with the cancellation/no show fee. I've picked up BoG and CRT this way.