What time is Wishes on the night you’re planning to watch from TOTWL?
Just a little confused… you ruled out rd at MK, which is 10 minutes walk, after watching Wishes in the park, but plan to rd DHS the morning after watching from TOTWL. Apart from getting out of MK, there wouldn’t be much difference in the time to get to bed from TOTWL.
Or are you trying to avoid more than 1 rd?
The difference is on the Saturday we plan to go to Wishes in the MK, we’ll then stay for OUAT at 9:45 and not get back to the hotel till 10:30 or 10:45. That made me question our ability to RD the MK the next morning - but as of now we still plan on trying to stick to that plan - the TP is assuming RD.
For Wishes at TOTWL (also at 9 pm), we’ll hopefully be in bed by 9:45, making it a bit easier to RD HS the next day.
But as a first timer, that’s part of why I brought it up - if you think staying out late for Wishes --> OUAT followed by next morning RD is a bad idea, let me know! Thanks!
Ah, OK. I get it now.
I think it depends on your boys, and how good they are at getting up after a late night. I really can’t offer any insight, sorry! We have never done rd as a family, I did it at Christmas but just to watch the opening show…
That is one of the benefits of coming from the uk. We stay 2 weeks, once did 3. So no need to cram it in to just a few days. But others will have lots of advice on that.
About AK. My advice would be that you might want to allow more than the 20 minutes for each of the trails. In my experience you will almost certainly want to linger and watch a while.
DHS - as you get closer, make sure to plan in the March of the First Order. And the best place is along the route, not right in front of the stage. Your boys will love it! And there’s also a couple of storm troopers who will mingle with the crowds around the stage area during the day. The issue is you are going from the Path of the Jedi to the stage show part ( a galaxy far far away). But the March takes place immediately before the stage show, usually 30 minutes before it starts. I would plan a break of 30 minutes before Galaxy, put in a note that it’s for the March, and wait for the schedule to be confirmed. Path of the Jedi runs on a continuous loop so can be slotted in any time really.
You can meet Olaf right next door to Path of the Jedi and we walked straight in in the evening, no wait at all.
The projection show is impressive but not a firework show. The film clips used are mostly the same as the 10 minute Path of the Jedi. They use the theatre to project scenes, e.g.: the millennium falcon and the Death Star raid, and use fireworks to enhance it. I would probably choose Fantasmic as a first time visit.
Nickysyme:
Great suggestions! I appreciate you taking the time to look through the plans. Your tips on the AK trails and March of the 1st Order are prime examples of things I wouldn’t have thought of myself but I will definitely implement. So thanks very much for sharing your expertise.
Sounds like you have planned well. But I have to agree that you probably don’t need LYFT as much as you think (unless you just have credits or something). We stayed at Contempo last year and the buses were very regular - never had to wait more than 5 minutes. I think the bus service is much maligned for no reason especially the two resorts you are staying at. I’d save my money for that Guinness in Epcot:grinning: I would have definitely planned on Rivers of Light, but as someone else mentioned - no more fastpasses (you can keep checking) and no more dining packages for the day you will be at AK, but not the end of the world by any stretch.
Thanks, bethro23, for chiming in. You know, I have to say I’m a bit irritated about the whole Rivers of Light situation. I had 3 sources for my research in developing my Touring Plans in late January / early February:
1). This website. I meticulously combed through all the links on each park’s page, from attractions to entertainment to food.
2). The Unofficial Guide.
3). mydisneyexperience.com - I also combed through all attractions / shows on that site.
I found no mention of Rivers of Light. I first heard of it when I discovered the forums here last week, at which point I saw it on the mydisneyexperience site, where it was already booked up for FastPasses. Was this a sudden reveal, or had people known it was coming? Did I miss obvious information about it on the site? I confess I didn’t read the blog / news articles much, I just used the park pages and the drop down menu options on the touring plans. In any case, I missed out. It would have been hard to incorporate into our plans anyway, as it would mean rescheduling ADR at Sanaa, which was our #1 restaurant choice for the trip. But still, I’m wondering if there are other things I don’t know about now.
Actually I’m an avid follower of a number of forums, some with serious “insiders” and no one had an opening date until Disney announced it. The soft opening came as another out of the blue surprise - so don’t be too hard on the various planning sites.
We have known for over a year ROL would open. Just has no clue As to when. It tried to open before but they had trouble. So bow it is finally open.
So do not feel bad. No boom would have written it up until it was known. Same with Pandora opening. It has been known just not the when. And even though I have heard 2019 for stars wars land i am not pinning my hopes on it.
I was doing more research for our final night at Epcot. Original plan was to go to France for a quick service dinner at Les Halles. The menu there looks fantastic - but being the last day I was worried about exhaustion and potentially having trouble finding a seat (lots of people saying seating there is at a premium).
Our countries included in our TP that evening are Canada, France, and Morocco. So just for the heck of it I started reading restaurant reviews for restaurants in those 3 countries. I discover that Spice Road Table has outdoor tables that supposedly are good for Illuminations viewing, and they have a reservation open at 7:50.
So here are the 2 plans:
Eat at Les Halles, dessert at L’Artisan des Glaces, watch Illuminations from France- UK bridge.
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=2321728
Eat at Spice Road, watch Illuminations from the table.
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=2368201
Any input? Thanks!
Very true…
I haven’t had a chance to try SRT yet myself, but it gets generally very good reviews. Only downside is that it’s “small plates” so you may need to order several if you’re a “big eater”. I had friends who went there and ordered 4 plates between the two of them and shared - they said it was just the right amount of food. It would definitely be the more “relaxing” experience - and it’s quite pretty.
This is my plan when I go in Dec. shh don’t tell everyone! 
I haven’t been yet, but I’ve read that the quantity is on the smaller side, so if your on the dp you might end up paying OOP for a few extras. Also read that they can’t guarantee you get an unobstructed view, or near the rail. But it never hurts to ask and be prepared to wait a bit right?
Sorry to let the cat out of the bag! I guess I was just trying to investigate whether the cat was worth letting out. 
We love tapas, so small plates don’t bother us. And apparently the tapas have been super-sized anyway when SRT made the transition to ADRs. I’m not worried - with F&G booths all around the Showcase I’m sure we’ll fill up one way or another…
Thanks!
Editing to reflect changes in my last day (Tuesday 3-21) plan for Magic Kingdom. After receiving advice that Pecos Bill’s might not have the best food options, I researched it further and found some pretty disheartening reviews (especially on cleanliness). On perusing the MDE site I saw an ADR for The Plaza come up, so I grabbed it. This required some reshuffling of the schedule and FPPs. Here’s the new plan:
Hollyweird Studios:
Are you doing a Fantasmic package at Brown Derby? I hope so. It’s a time saver, and you’re gonna eat anyway.
There is a little army green men show in “Pixar Alley” or Toy Story Alley? in the corridor between Launch Bay and TSMM. I don’t know why they do not list showtimes for it. It’s pretty funny. It’s a bunch of men dressed up like the little green army guys from Toy Story, and one of them has a megaphone. They put on a show - audience participation. It’s pretty fun.
Jawa Trading in launch bay. Bring some little trinkets. Conventional wisdom says the like shiny objects, but it all just depends. If they start toying with you, they are REALLY funny. Don’t be surprised if they start sneaking their hands into your bag while you are walking away.
When you exit Star Tours, you exit through a Star Wars store. At the front of that store, is an area with a bunch of bins that contain light saber parts. A cm will help your kids build their own light saber. You say your kids are Star Wars fans? Guess where you can spend an extra 20 minutes and about 80 bucks for two hand crafted light sabers? It’s actually pretty fun. The cm’s help them put them together, and also show them how to take them apart and put them together again. And oh yeah - expect to want to do Star Tours more than once. It is an absolute BLAST! It might make your tummy funny if you do it a few times in a row, but it is a BLAST!. Make sure your kids know to look at the screens in front on each side when they announce who the secret spy is! It might be THEM!
Indy fastpass. Is this a very high crowd level day? My assumption is that it would probably not be needed.
GMR - it might scare your kids, it very well might not. But it’s not just some nice little trip down memory lane of Snow White and Bambi. There’s some gunfights, and some things from the movie Alien.
If the SOP is still a fastpass given to you when you sign up for Jedi, take that into account. If you are not allowed to use it for TSMM, maybe the parents can take a turn on Rockin Coaster, or TOT (tower of terror is…you need to do tower of terror if you like drops. You NEED to.)
Check for fastpasses at Epcot as soon as you check in for Meet Mickey!
So much great help…
1). There is a Fantasmic package available at 12:05 that day at Hollywood Brown Derby… but I am super hesitant. We were planning on doing the Lounge version of the HBD - cheaper menu, same drinks list. First come first served starting at 12. I had read on this site that FPs / dining packages don’t really matter for Fantasmic - you have to line up an hour early regardless. Is it really worth it?
2). Great tip!
3). We had read about the Jawas- my kids are already excitedly planning on what trinket to bring to trade.
4). We are definitely excited about Star Tours - BUT, extremely worried about it at the same time. Many people comment they get far sicker on it than Mission Space. My 8 year old can’t handle rides at all - if you’ve ever heard of Idlewild Park in Ligonier, PA- they have the absolute tamest roller coaster you’ve ever seen, and afterwards he was sick and had diarrhea for hours. But he’s so desperate to ride it - he loves Star Wars so much. We’re going to give him some Dramamine, I scheduled it at the end of the day just in case - but more than once? Not sure about that.
5). It’s a crowd level 6 or 7, a spring break week. What else would I use the FPP for though?
Great advice! So helpful. Thanks again.
Fastpasses…no. Dining packages, yes! We only watch F! with a dining package, you get center seats and do not need to be there an hour early (we usually show up 30 mins before). The fastpass seats are on the edges and you do need to be there before they let standby in. Go with the dining package, you won’t be sorry.
I can easily do Star Tours, but Mission Space (both orange and green) make me motion sick. Hopefully your son will do okay on it. Ask if you can sit in the first or second row on Star Tours, apparently most people think the back row on that ride is the worst place to be if you start to feel sick.
Now for your TP’s:
Day 1: AK looks good for a late start and early stop. Kali at the end is good in case you get soaked. I’d hit EE single rider too if you can, that ride is definitely worth riding multiple times.As for ROL, I changed our days around to make it work for our trip in early April. Can’t say if it is worth it yet, but I am excited to see the new show. If you were to see it, would it be this evening or Saturday evening? Sanaa is a great restaurant (as long as it is still light out so you can see the animals) but Tiffin’s is amazing too and is in the park if you wanted to see ROL.
Day 2: [quote=“shermND, post:1, topic:31832”]
is MS:Green still too rough for someone with a weak stomach
[/quote]
Yes, in my opinion. I do not have a weak stomach and can ride most anything. Orange is horribly disorienting I felt terrible for 2-3 hours after riding. I tried Green after that (different trip) and it wasn’t as bad, but I still felt yucky. I wouldn’t think your son with the weak stomach could handle it. There are barf bags near your seat if that tells you anything.
I would not stop at Living with the Land after Test Track. To be very effective this morning, be at the gates by 8:15am. Head straight to Test Track when they let you in, and then immediately head to Soarin. Don’t stop to see things, tell your kiddos you will see all they want to see after Soarin. Ride LWLT after Soarin, this ride almost always has a short line. Soarin is probably the most boring queue in all of WDW, there is literally nothing to look at. Even better, see if you can get an early ADR at Garden Grill. A pre rope drop breakfast gives you priority access to Soarin before they let the rope drop crowds in. This worked great for us last month, the characters were fun, and the breakfast was delicious!
Your flow is a little weird- from Soarin building, back over to Mission Space, and then to World Showcase, but not going in on the closest side to Mission Space. I can’t seem to make the flow better though, so I guess it works. Also, the flower and garden festival will be going on. Make sure you try some foods and drinks from some of the booths- I think there are 15 of them this year, and they aren’t to be missed. Personally I would eat from them instead of fish and chips since you guys enjoy good food. The fish and chips are fine, but the food booths are fantastic. Most of the items are small, easy to share so you can try more things. All off the menus are here.
Try to catch Serveur Amusant in France, it is our favorite of the entertainment options in WS. You will be impressed! We like to watch while enjoying an ice cream (there is a great ice cream shop in France). His last show is at 4:30, so make sure to see him this day and not the day you arrive at 5pm.
Day 3: What is this sleeping in thing at Disney? I know not about that. 
Plans seem okay. I would only take the monorail once, it breaks down a lot. It will be much faster (and less frustrating) to just walk over to MK, that is the perk of staying at BLT/CR. Also, the walkway from BLT/CR has its own security checkpoint. If you take the monorail you will have to go through the main area with everyone else. I am all for using a perk if you have it!
Day 4: Looks good except for the wait at Haunted Mansion. As soon as you use the 7DMT fastpass, get on your phone and try to book another. I bet HM will be available. I have had great success with extra FPP after using the first 3.
I would watch the parade from just in front of Liberty Tree Tavern restaurant. Great view and in the shade.
Definitely make rope drop, the lines are shortest in that first hour.
Day 5: I already mentioned getting a dining package at HBD for F! above if you can stomach the cost. You won’t make the Indy show at 1:15 though if you do that, plan 90 minutes. You probably want a later show, though FPP for the shows is not necessary. I would book Tower of Terror, it has the most amazing theming. My kids have ridden it since age 5.
Also, I see you have Jedi Training arriving at 6:55. Last show is at 6:40 and you have to check in 30 min early. Which show do you actually want? Right now you are eating when you will need to be checking in.
Day 6: Looks good, glad you changed Pecos Bills to the Plaza. Much better choice in my opinion. Just know that if you leave MK at 3 for a rest, and have to leave for Epcot at 4:30, you won’t actually get much rest. Are you going to take the monorail over? As for dinner…that’s a hard choice. There is so much good food in Epcot. I have not eaten at either of those restaurants, but we are planning Spice Road for our upcoming trip. It really comes down to whether you want a table service or a quick service. I think both are great choices, but Les Halles seems more like a breakfast/lunch place to me, whereas Spice Road and Illuminations seems like a nice way to spend your final evening.
Hope this is helpful. Good job planning for your first trip!
Wahoohokie - I truly appreciate your thoughtful and insightful response! Thanks! 
Fastpasses…no. Dining packages, yes! We only watch F! with a dining package, you get center seats and do not need to be there an hour early (we usually show up 30 mins before). The fastpass seats are on the edges and you do need to be there before they let standby in. Go with the dining package, you won’t be sorry.
If anything, I think we’ll look for a package to replace PizzeRizzo. We’re not terribly excited about the legendary WDW pizza flatbread, but it’s the one food the kids love most, and we won’t have had any at this point on the trip. Perhaps we’ll look for a package at Mama Melrose instead… I just can’t stomach paying those prices for HBD, while still excited to try some of their food over in the lounge at lunch. If we did the HBD package we’d wind up missing Indy too.
Day 1: AK looks good for a late start and early stop. Kali at the end is good in case you get soaked. I’d hit EE single rider too if you can, that ride is definitely worth riding multiple times.As for ROL, I changed our days around to make it work for our trip in early April. Can’t say if it is worth it yet, but I am excited to see the new show. If you were to see it, would it be this evening or Saturday evening? Sanaa is a great restaurant (as long as it is still light out so you can see the animals) but Tiffin’s is amazing too and is in the park if you wanted to see ROL.
Question about the single rider situation: Can a 6 year old ride the single rider line? Would the adult ride first to be there waiting at the end for him?
I think we’ve given up on ROL. There are no FPPs left and it seems like the standby line can get crazy. We’ll have had a very late travel night the night before and have a long day the next day at EPCOT, so I think it’s better to have dinner and head right for the sheets.
Great tip on LwtL! I was never happy with it being in between the 2 heavy hitters, but the algorithm insisted. I found that I developed some pretty good skills using this software - it’s much more an art than I initially thought. At first you think the algorithm will do the work for you, but I quickly realized I could only hit “optimize” the first few passes at each plan as I was adding in attractions, shows, and meals - then eventually I had to start manually reshuffling and using the “evaluate” button. My goal was always to get those “wait” times down to 0, or else line them up beside a meal or break. I think I did pretty well.
GG’s only ADR time is 8:35 - a bit too late for us, I think. We’ll take our chances at RD.
Is there any advantage to lining up for RD at the International Gate? Further walk to get to TT, I know - but maybe less people?
Ahh yes, the F&G - the great mystery of our trip. We definitely are the kind of people who love festivals like this, and I did read the menus. I just didn’t know where to work it in! I think it’ll be one of those - snack as you go whenever wherever - kind of things. Regarding YF&C, that’d definitely be the one to sacrifice to do F&G booths - but it’s St. Patty’s Day. Having lived in Northern Ireland, we’ll be nostalgic for a chipper. We’ll see how it goes.
Good rec on the Serveur Amusant - we definitely want to incorporate the street entertainment, I think we were just planning on being open to whatever we stumble across. We’ll find this one. I also went ahead and replaced Kabuki Cafe with L’Artisans des Glaces, now that we’ve replaced Les Halles with SRT on our other EPCOT day, I needed to fit in the ice cream today!
Did not know about the separate security check - great nugget. We’ll take the monorail to Kona Cafe on Sunday so that’ll be enough I think.
So my original plan was after 7DMT to get on the app for BTMR FPPs - do you think I have a chance at both BTMR and HM? I was worried as the BTMR seem to go quick when I check in on the Lines app.
Also on the topic of BTMR - I showed my ride-averse 8 year old a YouTube vid of it - he gives it a hard pass. Should I try to convince him to give it a try? (note - he’s not scared of theming/dark/effects, just the coaster itself).
Good catch on the JT times! Glad I have you guys to look over these for me. That’s a definite change from when I made this plan a month ago. There were two later shows beyond the current schedule. I doubt I would have caught that one my own. [quote=“Wahoohokie, post:22, topic:31832”]
Day 6: Looks good, glad you changed Pecos Bills to the Plaza. Much better choice in my opinion. Just know that if you leave MK at 3 for a rest, and have to leave for Epcot at 4:30, you won’t actually get much rest. Are you going to take the monorail over? As for dinner…that’s a hard choice. There is so much good food in Epcot. I have not eaten at either of those restaurants, but we are planning Spice Road for our upcoming trip. It really comes down to whether you want a table service or a quick service. I think both are great choices, but Les Halles seems more like a breakfast/lunch place to me, whereas Spice Road and Illuminations seems like a nice way to spend your final evening. Hope this is helpful. Good job planning for your first trip!
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You’re right, not much of a break, but we’re heading to EPCOT regardless, so either we’ll rest for a short bit or just keep on keepin’ on. We’ll see how we feel on our last day. I can cut PeopleMover and Carousel of Progress if need be - those are more just an exercise in nostalgia for my visits there in the 80s.
Fantastic advice! thanks so much!
TT and the Algorithm:
The software might be correct. It might know of an expected “dip” in wait time after the initial onslaught of rope droppers. I saw three examples of the software outsmarting conventional wisdom on my trip, and it was cool as sh*t!. Just sayin. I bet if you changed the order, and evaluated, you might see that the tt wait time or the lwtl wait time is expected to be longer based on the data it has - just a thought on why it might be trying to order it that way.
This is what we do. I love HBD, but it is expensive for the F! dining.
You have to be 7. Of course Disney won’t know how old he is, but they will ask him. The adult can go first or second, many times you will be on the same ride vehicle.
You did very well for a first trip. I only use evaluate now, as I know the parks very well and know what orders make sense. There is definitely an art to it, and it is so worth it when you are there and everything works exactly as you planned.
Less people, but very few bag checks. Only do it if you are staying at one of the resorts there. You will be fine at the front gates.
Agree.
Yes. Even on busy Memorial Day last year I got a ton of FPP at MK. This past January on a Sunday I think I had 15 in a day easily.
This is one of my favorite rides, has been since I was a kid. My kids love it too, and have since they were tall enough to ride it. Is he going to ride 7DMT? If so try that first and if he does well, let him know BTMR isn’t much faster.
No! Don’t cut these! 
We love them both so much, but maybe it is nostalgia (I first went in the 80’s as well). My kids enjoy too though. Both of those rides are like taking a break anyway.
You are welcome. Hope it was helpful.