Good (early) morning!
I just finished my FP+ selections…literally got everything I wanted w/ the exception of FEA. which I sort of expected, but was still holding out a wee bit of hope for it, LOL.
I decided to get TT and RD Soarin’. It’s just my gut instinct based on every time I’ve compared waits. TT seems to have the occasional breakdown more than Soarin’, causing the SB line to be longer, and Soarin’ has surprised me with the shorter waits in the past few months. Other 2 FPs are for Nemo and LWTL.
But now I need all your expert opinions for my FEA strategy!! We still want to ride…and were planning to start our day in FW, using our FPs, and then heading over to WS for our 1:30 Akershus lunch, then staying there the remainder of the day for CLP (6:45 show, dining package w/ the Akershus lunch) and dinner that night at Biergarten. Wanted to end the night in WS for Illuminations as well. This is for Nov 29, CL5 day.
Is hitting FEA at RD the only sound strategy or can I plan on it later in the day as well so we can still start in FW?
We don’t mind waiting less than an hour (which I’ve seen many times I have checked, I guess it not being summer has reduced it…). I should add this is also an evening EMH day at Epcot…will FEA be running then?
You could keep checking back for a FPP, but if you only have one EPCOT day, you’re going to have to stand in line for 2 out of the 3 of TT, Soarin’, and FEA. The most obvious strategies are RD FEA or get in line right around park close, but you’ve got evening EMH to contend with, and close that day is 11:30 PM.
You have a couple of options, and I’m not sure if any are much better. You could RD it, but you have to be at the front of the pack or you’re waiting in a long line, and then you’re soo far away from Soarin’ that a line will have built by the time you get there. You could go last thing, but that’s pretty late, and if you’ve got kids along, they might be done way before that. You could wait in the standby line, during whatever part of the day the lines are generally lowest (I’m not sure when that is). Or, you could skip it.
Good luck, maybe you’ll get lucky and snag a FEA! I was so nervous yesterday b/c until two days ago it looked like decent availability (albeit for FP+ for 1) based on the TP availability page…then yesterday it dwindled to 8:55-9:30pm only! I woke up this morning thinking there was no way I’d get it lol. Good news is that we got literally everything else we wanted, including 3 7DMTs, one each of our MK days. That was a big deal because it’s one of our absolute favs but the lines are consistently sooooo long. Easily snagged TSM at HS too. Got that along w/ ToT and Star Tours.
Sort of thinking this…I plan to keep checking on the SB times on various days to see what we might expect. We COULD RD it if we had to (but if you can’t tell, that’s not my first choice, lol)…but for everything else we’re doing it makes sense to start our day in FW, so we’ll see.
Yes, we have to consider this…It’s nice that the park is open till 11:30 that night but I don’t know if I see us staying that late. Kids are 10 & 8 and while they’re not toddlers, they may be wiped before then. Plus we’re staying at WL so we need to catch the bus back over there.
Last thing I want is to affect the next day.
Overall I’m very happy w/ what we selected! It’s Disney, it’ll be fun no matter what! Just need to figure out our FEA strategy but I know it’ll work out somehow.
We got 3 7DMTs (one for each of our MK days), Toy Story for HS, and other great ones such as Splash, BTMR, Peter Pan, POTC, Pooh, Buzz, Star Tours, Test Track etc… Counting it as a big win!
Now if the dang Star Wars fireworks days/times for November would just populate I could rest until the trip lol…
I have been struggling with my plan for FEA as well. I did not even try Labor Day weekend but I want to see it in February. I think my plan will be rope drop and then FP Soarin (but I do not care for TT). With the 3 tracks I think you can find a reasonable stand by line for Soarin.
My advice is to keep checking. There were some weird things going on with FEA around our 60-day date. All Wednesdays in October had no availability. Then, suddenly, one day, they were all there. I had my choice of times (in the afternoon/evening) since I’d been diligent about checking back every couple of days.
On a busy August day we rope dropped Soarin and then quickly strolled to FEA. Had about a 35 min wait. Lots of people don’t realise it is open before 11am! In fact we queued longer for the M&G! That should work for you if the ride doesn’t break down! We fpp TT but that turned into a storm related disaster!!!
@haylekk, I am sorry you did not get FPP for FEA. Glad it went so well otherwise, though!
My kids are about the same ages, and I think what I would do is standy it as the last thing you do that day. My reason for saying this is that knowing it is the last thing of the day might give your family the stamina they need to get through a longer line. This plan might mean a little backtracking since I am thinking you are probably starting WS at Mexico to get to Akershus in the early afternoon. But you could make use of the Friendship boats across the lagoon if you are at the other side and it seems like too much walking. You won’t be bound by a particular time, so whether you finish your touring in WS during EMH or earlier than that, the lines should still have hopefully thinned out, versus the levels if you went there first thing in the afternoon.
That said, check before and after lunch, and if the posted wait time is under an hour, go for it, and one less thing to worry about!
So sorry @haylekk I have nothing profound to offer here. I have not been to EP since FEA opened. I would keep trying to get a FEA FPP. Someone reported getting one after the 30 day mark. Good luck!
