Tuesday 9/10 - party of 2 - 1 day park hopper and MNSSHP tix - staying onsite (previously sought advice staying offsite, but I bit the bullet and got a room!!!)
So, given now that we can use EMH and going to the MNSSHP, please help me make a park order and ride plan of attack.
Priority rides and pertinent park opening hours:
AK - EMH 7am FoP, Everest
HS - EMH 6am ToT, RnR, SDD, look around GE (or might there be a chance to ride anything in GE?)
EC - no rides, probably eat quick service or F&WF snacks - visit Japan, Italy, England
MK - JC is not open during MNSSHP, so if we want to ride, we will need to be in line by 6pm -focus on rides the rest of the evening - party ends at midnight
That’s a pretty long day! But doable. I wouldn’t count on riding MF but I also wouldn’t put it on the chopping block just yet. See how your morning goes.
If you do AK first you will be out by 9am. HS do ToT, RRC the SDD (no FP’s get you finished by 1pm; w/ a FP for RRC @ 10am or SDD @ 11am, you would be done by noon). Add about 2 - 2.5 hours if you want to ride MF, 1 hour if you just want to walk through GE. Alternately, if you do HS first, Tot (looks like it opens at 6am), RRC, SDD the MF, spending 45 mins at GE, you could be to AK by about 10:30 and done by 1pm. The advantage to doing HS second is you can get to EP quickly and you can enjoy GE without worrying about how much time you are eating up.
getting through some high priority rides before the park gets too crowded, saving potentially a lot of time
being able to use FPP in a different park
If you start at AK, the advantages are:
not having to get up as early
getting through FOP and EE with relatively little wait
You didn’t talk about transportation. Will you be using Disney transportation? If so, it probably makes the most sense to do HS, then EP, then MK in a row using boat or walking between HS and EP and monorail between EP and MK, and MK is by default the last park. That would lead me toward choosing to go to AK first. If you can do AK first and get one Tier 1 FPP in HS, then you will have fairly long waits in line at HS, most likely, except for the one FPP. You probably will have a hard time getting a FPP for SDD at this time.
With DHS opening at 6am, normally I would say start there without FPs.
But you want to do FoP, and you are highly unlikely to be able to get an FP for it. So maybe start there, assuming you are prepared to arrive by 6am. Do FoP and Everest.
High tail over to DHS. Here I’m torn. You’re unlikely to get an FP for Slinky and you want to get that and MF out of the way before the end of EMH.
But we don’t know how busy Galaxy’s Edge will be. Maybe head to Slinky first, then to Galaxy’s Edge before the end of EMH. Ride MF first, look around and then maybe do the rest of the park with only a tier 1 FP booked.
Once you tap in, try for FPs for Jungle Cruise later, before the party starts, and something else in MK. Finish in DHS, hop over to Epcot and lastly to MK in time for those FPs before the party.
If you RD FOP and SR EE you will be able to arrive on DHS before the 9am opening time, maybe even before 8am (if you Lyft and have a good RD experience)
After arriving at DHS you will have fun transportation options between parks (boat to Epcot, monorail to MK)
I would:
Schedule 1 tier FP for DHS, the earliest you can get + 2 burner tier 2s for earlier if possible
Arrive super early at AK to RD FOP and be on the first group out
Go directly to EE (at this time SB might be so short that you don’t even need SR, but SR is still an option)
Lyft to DHS
Do as many of your non-FP rides as possible, and then do your FP
Try for a same day FP for whatever is missing
Breakfast at Docker Bay 7 (if they allow you in GE) - timing depends on lines, what FP do you get and your hunger
Do whatever is missing
Boat to Epcot
Lunch at your favorite Epcot quick service or at a F&W booth
Rope dropped FoP and made onto the first group. Bought a ham and cheese croissant from a cart in Asia, ate it before riding Everest. Then made our way to Dinosaur.
Bus to HS. Rode ToT, shopped, then walked through GE. Didn’t ride SR, but could have as it was only a 35 minute wait. Road SDD with FP.
Boat to Epcot. Visited UK, then had “lunch” as we nibbled and shopped our way from France to Norway. Road FEE, sipped in La Cava, shopped Mouse Gears, then enjoyed SE.
Monorail to MK. Entered at 4:30. Road JC, Tiki Room, Splash, BT. Dinner break at Pecos Bills. Onto PoC, HM, 7DMT, TTA, Space, watched the Headless Horseman, went back to PC to see the live pirates added for the party, and ended the evening visiting the ghost on the HM lawn.
Boat to Grand Floridian where we caught an Uber ride back to the Hard Rock Hotel.
It was a long day, but it was surprisingly easy. Thank you all for the advice!
I know these perils well, were BFF’s
