Hello! My husband and I made a last-minute decision to visit Disney with our 4.5 & 2.5 year old sons. Having not been myself since I was a child, I thought we’d just do the visit “low key” with “minimal planning”. Fast forward to me having fallen down the rabbit hole of WDW Google, and coming across wonderful sites like this that tell me where to go, when - and I now know that under no circumstances will I just show up and hope for a good trip, especially with 2 little ones in tow! Unfortunately I had haphazardly chosen our FP+s before finding & registering with this site. When I do my plans on here now for MK, it often tells me that it hasn’t added in my FP+s for various reasons - FP+ not necessary, may not fit in time-wise, not a good use of FP+, etc. Not knowing a) which of these reasons it is that the plan doesn’t add it and b) enough about the park in general, let alone using a plan, should I change my FP+s to better align with what a TP would recommend/approve/utilize? I am nervous that if I start to change my current FP+s individually, I will lose good FP+ times in a domino effect and mess up our whole rough schedule. Note, our FP+s are for attractions I believe my kids will enjoy and can ride on based on heights/age, so it’s not as though I didn’t take that part into consideration.
I am still holding on to my casual nature about the trip in that we plan to arrive when parks open (one benefit of children who have never slept past 6:30 am a day in their lives!) and leave to go back to our resort by about 1 pm; other than dinners, we’re going to semi play evenings by ear/how everyone is doing, and currently are using our 3 FP+s for those 9 am - 1 pm hours. If we complete the 3rd and it seems we are okay to go back to a park for the evening, I’ll use the 4th then (unless that is a silly strategy - I am second-guessing everything now). However, for me, this makes my morning/early afternoon plans even more critical.
I appreciate your suggestions in helping me balance having lots of fun without becoming a drill sergeant, or being that clueless person who stands around for 40 minutes trying to figure out what to do.
I would suggest posting some of your FP plans plus other rides you hope to ride to get feedback on if the rides you want need to be Fast Passed or not. It also matters if you’re planning on going early (rope drop times) or just showing up when the kids get moving in the morning plus what time of year you’ll be there.
Some rides like Peter Pan aren’t headliner type rides, but queue slowly so a FP is a really good idea. Others like Small World have a higher peak capacity so the lines are seldom very bad to ride. In general the Touring Plans tools are going to have good data on typical wait times and following their suggestion is likely wise. But I wouldn’t give up FP’s unless you can book something better…
I assume we’d hit the early time for these. Also these were the suggested times when I did it on MDE, other than the A&E, which I switched something out to get. We are staying at a Disney resort, but booked after the 60 day window, so I doubt I had prime selection when I did it.
April 17th:
10:30 - 11:30 Buzz Lightyear
11:50 - 12:50 Tomorrowland Speedway
1:20 - 2:20 Meet Anna & Elsa (this is the only time I could get, and that was thanks to a wonderful suggestion from this group’s Facebook page. This one I can’t lose as my kids are obsessed with A&E and I am lucky to have it at all)
April 20th:
9:20 - 10:20 Peter Pan’s Flight
10:35 - 11:35 Winnie the Pooh
12:55 - 1:55 Dumbo
We’d like to do 7DMT but I am uncertain how they will be once they see it - I don’t want to waste a FP+ on it if they see it and think they don’t want to go on - or may do a switch if one will do it but the other will not, and both parents want to go?
Would also like to do, in no particular order, and not make or break: Small World, Jungle Cruise, Mad Tea Party, Magic Carpets, maybe Little Mermaid Journey…and leave time if they’d like to repeat something, or one of these scares them/doesn’t interest them at all and we have to switch it up.
I have no problems with your selections, or your times, though a couple raise my eyebrow. Just personal preference, but I’d probably swap out Tomorrowland Speedway for Jungle Cruise. I also wonder if a lunchtime Dumbo FP+ is the best use of that resource. I’d un-Fastpass the Dumbo and re-optimize (still ride it, just not FP+), and with 2 boys those ages, I’d look to add a FP+ for PotC instead. Boys, pirates… peas and carrots.
If your TP is suggesting other rides and times, and those are still available, I’d certainly recommend you follow the advice of the software.
If you are going for low-key, and also enjoy awesomeness, I’d make a point of scheduling in the Tiki Room.
Those ages might be a bit young for SDMT? It’s a tough call, because if your older one turns out to be up for it, it’ll be too late because you can kiss a FP+ goodbye. What about scheduling it for your second MK day instead of Dumbo, and on your first day let the older boy see SDMT. If it’s intimidating, just get on the app and swap Dumbo back in?
You have good choices on the first day. Buzz and Tomorrowland will usually have openings throughout the day if you play around with other options, but definitely don’t give up A&E if that’s a must! 920 is a little early to start FP+'s on the second day so I would plan on riding Peter Pan towards the end of the time slot after getting in other rides between RD and 1020. Dumbo can be busy with a long wait, but my kids love the play area that they can do while you wait- also is a nice break for adults from walking/heat.
Regarding possibly going back to the parks later in the day, my recommendation would be to make a FP+ before you leave. Once it’s scheduled at a kiosk you can change it with the app but you can’t make a new one on the app.
My kids are a little older but I’d say definitely check the height requirement for 7DMT for your 2.5 yo. Crasstastic has a good point about making it a FP+ for day 2. Ride the Barnstormer and let him see 7D (it’s honestly not too much more intense, just longer) and decide from there. If he’s into it check the rules/tricks for rider swap and allowing him to ride it twice with both parents.
With those age boys, Buzz, Tomorrowland, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, are probably the biggest FP+ winners.
I like the common suggestion to have your children watch YouTube videos of the various attractions to see what they like. It will give you a better lead time on making FP+ and schedule choices than waiting until they are in the park to see things firsthand.
Thank you all so much, this has really helped make the TPs “click” for me; I wasn’t really getting that maybe a wait doesn’t warrant FP, even if it’s a popular attraction. And yes for the YouTube videos, once we tell them we are going…they love the rides at the shore each summer, but you never know. Thank you again for your help!
I just thought of this, if you do end up riding 7DMT with the kids, put a hand behind their heads for the first lurch up the hill. On our first ride ever, my DS4 hit the back of his head so hard there was a raised lump and he cried through the whole ride! It was just unexpected when it lurched forward, and he was all excited and wiggly.