I am planning a trip to WDW for 8/17-8/22 and I am getting super stressed with all the planning.
Last time we went MK was a disaster—even with a touring plan. It was super crowded and I think we only did three rides because my DH and 16-year old stepson didn’t want to wait in line. I ended up with late day FP reservations and we left without using them because I couldn’t find any rides with available FPs and no one wanted to wait to use them. This time it will just be DH, me and our 5 year old. DH works nights so I was originally thinking I would plan for later days but not too late because of the 5 year old (2-8/9 pm). But remembering the disaster of last time with late day FPs, I’m questioning that approach.
CL are estimated to be 4 for our MK day. Anyone have experience with a late start with that type of CL?
We have started a TP at lunchtime with success. We do combine rope drop days with late start days for our trips. But we get our 3 FPs and ADR for the day and grab extra FPs after we do our first 3. We also plan attractions that don’t have as much of a wait.
Our last big family trip was during a slow time (early Feb, most of our days were CL4-5), did 8 park days straight. Only 1 rope drop day, we prioritized nighttime events (shows/fireworks, etc).
Most of our pre-booked FPs were late morning/early afternoon. Worked great, picked up a lot of same-day FP after we’d burned through our 3.
I think low crowds will make a HUGE difference on your experience.
good question; although with the week you are planning you may be good with later start. I have a couple late day arrivals for October, because I refuse to rope drop every day, so my late days could be problematic.
I think you can definately have a successful day especially with a 5yo. Even if you only have 3 FPP. I believe Len and Jim say the target is 11 experiences to feel it is “worth it”. I remind myself of this because I think liners are more like a “20 experiences” crowd. So for example on CL4 day you could:
FPP: 7DMT
2 FPP: BTMRR
FPP: Splash
Do pirates adventure to get Pirate’s FPP
Ride Pirates
Play in Dumbo queue
Ride Dumbo
Shortish waits
8. Buzz
9. Magic Carpets
10. IASW
11. WTP
12. Little mermaid
13. Magic Carpets
14. People Mover
Medium Waits with good chance at FPP availability
14. Jungle Cruise
15. HM
16. Some but not all M&G
Only PP and SM are out of reach without a long line but could swapped for another FPP. This doesn’t include:
Afternoon parade
HEA
HOP
20.COP
Tikki Room
Country Bear
Speedway
Barnstormer
Which are also options.
You’ve got this! Don’t let the planning stress you out!
Wow! This is awesome. Heading back into the TP tool now to run the numbers based on your suggestions. Thank you so much!
And you make a good point about 11 experiences. I usually only put 8 into the tool because I know my family will want to have flexibility to do things that catch their eye.
I love that you posted this question…My 19yo DD and I are going to WDW in early May, and I have set up my TPs to start at 11 or 11:30 each day. I have to be realistic since we DD will have just completed her sophomore year at Univ. and will want low stress mornings. So NO RDs for us! I respect that. We want a fun Girls’ vacation and know we may miss some attractions but that’s fine. We are lucky that CL are 3-4, and we have FPP for all the must do rides. The most important thing is to HAVE FUN!!!
Spring Break of 2017 CL 10 we started a Friday at Magic Kingdom at Noon with lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern.
There were three of us…two adults and an 11 year old.
We had lunch at LTT, dinner at Columbia Harbour House, and stopped for Dole Whips at Aloha Isle.
Also did a fair amount of pin trading.
Things we did besides eat: Pirates 2x, Magic Carpets, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Tiki Room, Country Bears, Tinker Bell M&G, Chip & Dale M&G (so awesome), Peter Pan, Philharmagic, Small World, 7DMT, rode the train, and Haunted Mansion.
Our stay will mostly overlap yours - we arrive Sunday and leave Friday. We intend to go to MNSSHP on Tuesday night (a day I don’t intend to use our park tickets) - arriving at 4 - and I’m hoping that will be a good time to do the MK rides that we might not otherwise get to. I’ll be taking my three 6 year olds (while dad and older two hit up Harry Potter), so we really plan on bumming around all day, staying as late as they will handle, and then have a late start at whichever park we hit up Wednesday. (I haven’t decided. HS v. AK.)
I was thinking about taking the MNSSHP approach. But I think my 5 year old would get obsessed with trying to get all the candy rather than ride the rides.
I was just at MK this past Saturday – 8am opening, we arrived at 7:20. We rode, all before 11am with literally ZERO wait:
Main Street Vehicles
Peter Pan
Winnie the Pooh
Buzz Lightyear
Barnstormer
Dumbo
Little Mermaid
Haunted Mansion (with FP+)
Pirates of the Caribbean (with FP+)
Then we caught the boat to Tom Sawyer’s Island at 11:05, poked around there, and left midday. I cannot say enough about how helpful it is to get there early. AND I modified our third fastpass for later that evening, when I found one at 7pm for 7DMT (!!).
That said, I’m sure you can make a solid midday arrival TP that would get you on a bunch of rides. CL4 is pretty low – when we were there on Saturday it was a CL of 8. You’ll probably have a better chance of getting additional fastpasses later in the day than we did. Keep poking around this forum and you’ll find tons of helpful hints and strategies!
I have several late starts planned also, very similar situation but with 3 young adults, two of whom will just be finishing finals, and everyone in the family except for me is a night owl anyway. I will admit I threw in the towel and bought club level FP. The crowd levels will range from 4-10 and we don’t go to WDW very often, plus I can’t race all over the park riding the odd FP we might be able to pick up for the 5 of us.
This is not a solution for everyone, and maybe not for the OP, but if anyone reads this who is on the fence about it, it’s another thing to consider.
I consider it to be like trip insurance, only I’ll actually use it.
