2 adults, 2 young adults. My son wants to (ideally) ride ToT and Slinky at night, and we want to do F! at 9pm. If we lined up our LLMPs for evening (ToT, Slinky and TSMM), will we have trouble doing things like the little mermaid show and the frozen show without LLs? I am debating coming early and banging out what we can first thing including EEH, taking a break, and coming back with LLs, or, starting the day slowly with breakfast and pool time and coming in early afternoon and staying (with the later LLs.) We will buy ind LL for RoTR. I guess we could book TSMM first and then we can have one LL to keep rebooking?
Usually we are RD, break, evening return people, but saving the LLs for evening is a different thing for me to consider. Also, we often choose rides at the end of the night for a last headliner walk-on, so making room for the shows is throwing me off as well. With my son’s gf traveling with us, we are prioritizing the evening shows in the 3 parks we are visiting.
I do fear ride breakdowns in the evening, but can’t control that.
Crowd level is a 3. Again, priorities are TSMM, Slinky and ToT, and RoTR. Ok to skip MMRR and the other Star Wars rides if necessary. Would like to do Little Mermaid, frozen show, maybe villains, and maybe Beauty and the Beast but probably won’t do all of them.
I know I should be putting all of these scenarios into the tool. Will do that next! Thanks for reading!
I have never needed LLs for the shows. Of course, I’m disabled and sit in the back, but the auditoriums are huge. The only advantage to LLs for these is you go in earlier and are closer to the front. The shows start when they start.
Sundown is at 8:05 on May 8th. I think if you get a ToT LL around 8, you could do that and Fantastic but Slinky and ToT after 8 would be too tight for me.
I agree that you don’t need a LL for these shows. Generally other than super busy times and the first month or two of a show’s debut, LLs are not necessary for shows, though they can be nice to have for better seating if you have an open spot.
I agree, I would only do one ride at 8pm and be to Fantasmic by 8:30pm.
Btw, I took it to mean they wanted to ride ToT (period), and ride Slinky at night. So I would recommend putting ToT earlier if you want Slinky after dark or at dusk.
Maybe but then I am concerned that time is plan to walk from Toy Story Land to Fantasmic. ToT is a much shorter walk. Of course I am a big fan of ToT at night. There is nothing quite like the elevator doors opening and seeing HS all lit up.
Darn late sunset! Forgot to think about that. I agree can’t do both after 8. We want to get in line for F! at 8:30. I do think they would love ToT at night, and they like that better than SDD anyway.
I was thinking that it is more important for Slinky to be at night since it is fully outdoors, but if you prefer ToT that is definitely better for getting to Fantasmic afterward!
Your ideal plan sounds very similar to my ideal plan!
I created a TP from 3:15 to 9, but I’m having trouble fitting everything I want into it with some last minute requests from the kids. We may end up heading over (from Riviera, so easy trip) sometime in the morning for meets and shows.
I do not think there will be any issue getting shows without LL.
Definitely have an early LL or burner - Frozen Singalong is centrally located (note: it has a different grace period than a normal ride, I think, so plan to tap in, not expire).
If you use a ride you want early like TSMM, a 9am LL won’t fall out of the grace period until right before noon and you can book another Tier 2 after it expires at 10.
I would lock Slinky regardless of when. My priority is Slinky with lights, but I don’t want to have to run over to ToT and back.
I also have to make a choice between Slinky or ToT after dark, unless I blow up my schedule to choose a day when HS closes at 10. I note that you won’t have final times until ~2 weeks before (currently seems to update on Friday), so that might happen for you too!
(I really want to know when they turn on the lights - is it before sunset / is it predictable?)
I definitely would create a plan because the shows eat up time, just to be sure. Also, the Villains show anecdotally gets canceled more frequently than you might expect.
So helpful, thanks! I was trying to avoid the world of the burner LL since it just adds another layer of things I need to refresh myself on, but I am in so deep now, why not??? When is your trip? Enjoy! And thanks for the reminder about a possible hours change. That would be amazing, but I will be shocked if they extend hours for our trip. Fingers crossed though. I cannot believe how late they post everything, given the amount of planning that is required.
My trip starts on Sunday! Our HS day currently is Sun 4/26 (est. 3 crowd level) - Sat it closes at 10 (est. 4 crowd level). (There’s a very outside chance we could pop over for night rides on Sat if we got very lucky / still have energy.)
I hope all goes well and please share any experiences upon your return if you have time! Sounds like the crowds will be similar during our stays. Is there a late parade at MK, and are you doing it? Would love to hear if you do fireworks and late parade, as I will hopefully be attempting that (parades are not on my calendar yet.) Have fun!
I would love to see the late parade - I am worried that twilight / not full dark at 8:45 won’t give me the ideal experience!
There is a late parade on 4/23, so I’m going to hope people aren’t too tired. If we watch the early parade, it will be from Town Square / Main Street so that we can get the dessert post-party quickly afterwards.
With the post-party, it doesn’t seem that long to wait for the parade, but since the late parade goes Frontierland → Town Square, it wouldn’t get to the front of the park until 11:15-11:20? We could eat / head up to Frontierland, watch the parade, then head out (assuming we beat the parade as it goes slowly around the hub)…
Times are loaded through May 2 now, so shouldn’t be long for your updates! It looks like we’re lucky to have a late parade on Thursday, but you should hopefully have them Friday/Saturday (I forget which day you’ll be at MK)?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and plans, I find it very helpful. I hope things work out for you to see the late parade! That is true about the darkness, but also, I love the idea of smaller crowds for the second parade. I like your idea about watching in frontierland and then walking to the exit while everyone else watches. Might steal that!
I am eagerly awaiting any updates to the calendar. I would be so thrilled to have a 2nd parade, and perhaps even more, an extra hour in DHS. I know that is a long shot. I guess if they don’t add it, that means it won’t be as busy, so I guess that is good too.
We may end up heading over (from Riviera, so easy trip) sometime in the morning for meets and shows.