Ever changing trip plans-questions

#1

Hi all! I’ve been lurking a lot lately, and I’ve been trying to keep up with all of the changes. Originally, my DS12 and I were going to take a trip in mid July, but as soon as DH saw our magic bands arrive, he decided he wanted to go, too. :joy:. So, now we are scheduled to go the first week of August for 8 nights. It will just be the 3 of us-me, DH, and DS. DS and I are rope drop to close people with breaks in the AC during the afternoon. DH hates to rope drop and isn’t bothered by any rides or attractions he might miss; he’s there more to simply enjoy being in the parks and being with me and DS. So, with that said, here are my questions for now…

  1. I already have our park passes reserved, and we have park hoppers. If DH meets up with me and DS later in the day, will he have to first tap in to the park we have reservations for, or can he meet us really later in the day at the park we hop to?

  2. How late during the morning can we change our park pass reservation?

  3. I updated our TPs yesterday, and holy moly the estimated wait times on some days have nearly doubled!! In the past, the longest we have EVER waited in line anywhere at Disney is about 20 minutes (mid summers and perfecting the FPP game). Are waits for things like Millenium Falcon really going to be around 85 minutes in the evening?

I have lots more questions but “real life” for the day starts in about 5 minutes. I appreciate any answers, comments, or suggestions. Thanks so much!! :blush:

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#2

You have to tap into the first park to be able to park hop to another park. He would need a park pass for the second park you go to if he wanted to be able to go straight there.

My understanding is that you can change your reservation any time (before you go to a park) as long as there is availability.

I haven’t been since September, so I will defer to others on what wait times have been like lately!

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#3

Thanks! I figured he would have to tap in to the first park or change the park pass reservation, but it’s good to have confirmation on that.

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#4

Right now HS is estimating a crowd level of 3 for the days we are there which is what it has shown since I made our TPs a couple of weeks ago. When I went to optimize yesterday, many of the wait times predicted for HS nearly doubled even though the predicted crowd level is still at a 3. Do they update the estimated wait times prior to releasing updated predicted crowd levels?

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#5

That’s a good question for @SteveBloom. I know TP did a blog Feb 26 about updating CL for March. I’d think it would be about time for another update, but they may be waiting to see how this spring break season goes.

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#6

If park hours change, we will update wait times predictions within the next 48 hours. If the wait time predictions do not move the crowd levels a lot, we may just leave the current crowd levels, especially if it is in the next 14 days.

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#7

Thanks Steve; that makes sense. I know it’s impossible to predict what things will be like later in the summer let alone just a few weeks ahead of time!

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#8

The Touring Plans Blog has a daily post about wait times observed in MDE. If actual wait times are submitted by Liners, they will often mention how those compare to MDE. For example, here is the latest post:

And here is a paragraph on Splash Mountain:

Splash Mountain had an average wait time today of 55 minutes. Its 7-day average is 67 minutes, so today ranks #4 for this week. Its 30-day average is 69 minutes, so today ranks #24 for the past month. We received 6 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 63% of the posted wait time.

Note that the average wait of 55 minutes is the MDE version, so the actual wait was 55 x 63% =
~35 minutes. Not bad!

That day they didn’t have any submissions for MFSR, so I went back to the post for Sunday:

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So the actual average wait was 54 minutes that day.

The other helpful tool is the chart of wait times over the course of the day. As you can see, for HS it pays to be in the park by 10am or wait until after 1pm to ride the headliners, especially close to park close. Each park has a slightly different pattern - Epcot is similar to HS but more pronounced, AK builds gradually all morning and tapers off more slowly, and MK stays busy pretty much all day after 10am.

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#9

Thanks, Jeff. This is all very helpful!

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#10

Okay, so next question…

Currently we are booked for All Star Movies. We literally have this trip already paid for in gift cards I’ve acquired through various cash back apps and cash back rewards over the past 2 years. When it was just me and DS, I booked ASMovies because, as DS put it, all he needs is “a bed to crash in at night and a pool to swim a few times.” Now that DH is coming along, I’m thinking about upgrading to CSR. Don’t want to do Pop since skyliner will probably be unreliable with summer storms and such. DH and I have discussed our options, and he doesn’t want to get stuck in a far outlying building at CSR and have to walk a long distance to the food options. Yet, he’s concerned the room at ASMovies will be a bit cramped for the 3 of us. (DS just turned 12 two weeks ago and is already 5’8”!!) Any input on resorts is much appreciated!

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#11

Are there any rooms in Gran Destino? I really don’t think the walking at CSR is all that bad. The transportation is what I hate (but I hate multiple bus stops and that’s several resorts).
The ASM refurb looks really nice…has me contemplating staying there instead of AoA.

#12

If we switch to CSR, I would love to stay in Gran Destino, but I know that’s even more costly. Our “free” trip wouldn’t be so free anymore, but it would be so nice! :joy: Plus, DH and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary just 5 days before we leave for Disney, so maybe we should splurge. Hmmm… does Disney ever do anything “extra” or special for celebrations?

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#13

Well, my question about double the wait times at HS has been answered today. The predicted crowd level jumped from a 3 to a 7! :flushed:

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#14

Yeah the CLs for some of my dates jumped a bit too and I am not feeling these lines. The more I look at wait times, the more I want to cancel my trip. I know it’s possible to have a good time still, we just are spoiled by never waiting in line. I’ve been trying to brainstorm other things we can do in the parks besides rides.

#15

Ours were Agent P in Epcot and SotMK in MK. Both of which have been closed. Along with A Pirate’s Adventure in MK.

I’m also trying to think about this for our June trip.

Lots of trails we can explore in AK. Star Wars Datapad in HS. The kids said they want more time on Tom Sawyer Island, but even that seems to have a longer wait time than I’ve seen.

How much of the Epcot WS pavilions are open?

#16

I think the Kidcot stops are open, and there is Wilderness Explorers at AK. There’s something at Epcot right now for Easter - an egg hunt or something. Maybe they will add something for summer. Or just bring back FP :rofl:

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#17

I hope they bring back FP before our August trip! :joy: Some of our predicted wait times for rides are now at 85 minutes plus!

#18

Same! I’m beginning to question if it will be worth in the August heat waiting in lines that are an hour and a half long (or maybe more) with nothing else additional opened up or fast passes back yet…