Hi all… for the first time since the new FP system has gone into effect we’re doing a rather last minute (for us!) trip down to the world. We used to be Tour Guide Mike people but that site has long since closed. However, we learned how valuable planning can be.
Okay so that said, we made a little spreadsheet… cried our way through the loss of the old FP system, we’re probably only going to be able to get our one set of FP and we got those right at the midnight/60 day mark…
At some point the crowd calendar changed and puts EPCOT at a 9 on Nov 25th, all our FP are tied to EPCOT on Nov 25th as are a few restaurant reservations. We’re not the type of people that will melt down if we have to cancel food plans… we’ll grab something someplace. But the FP changes with the crazy amount of people over Thanksgiving week, even if we’re really good rope drop people make me think we planned for EPCOT on the 25th so we’ll survive EPCOT on the 25th.
I should probably add our past few trips I’ve tried to take at the less popular times of year and it worked very well. Those were relaxing WDW trips. But this is going to be crazy. We “know” this but we haven’t experienced it.
What do people think in general? Go in with our plan and take it how it comes? Swap parks? Maybe add on parkhoppers and jump over to MK after we have dinner? Or expect to stay in the park from rope drop on and handle it like “Busy EPCOT is better than NOT being at EPCOT”.
EPCOT is our favorite park as a family but I don’t want to ruin a day be being stubborn about going there.
Thanks!
Stop right there! Is there a day you think would be better? What do you love about Epcot? You have FPs so you know you are guaranteed to ride those attractions! You have ADRs so you know you’ll be able to sit in a restaurant and relax! You have a perfect plan!
Have you made a Personalized Touring Plan yet? That is one of the best ways to deal with CL changes, as you just re-optimize your plan and see what affect the new CL has. Also, what was the EP CL before the change? I’m surprised that it wasn’t a 9 to start with on Nov 25th.
Most of the FW attractions are very good at handling crowds. The only ones you might have an issue with are TT or Soarin (depending on which one you DON’T have an FPP for. WS might have a lot of people walking around, but there are very few “attractions” there, and the lines are usually moderate - even on a crowded day. I’d hang tight and just realize that Thanksgiving wil ALWAYS be crowded, and be prepared for it.
I’d be more concerned with a high crowd number at MK…
The key to your post is rope drop. Be at the turnstiles 30-45 minutes before park opening and you will be fine. I wouldn’t swap parks- you will eventually wind up back at EP, and it will still be crowded given the time of year you are going. Just tour efficiently those first 2-3 hours, and you will have most of the stuff done that you want to get done. You may have a short line here or there into the afternoon- but as long as you have the headliners done, the lines at the secondary attractions won’t be too bad until later in the day. Stick with your plan IMHO.
I just wanted to quickly say THANK YOU to everyone now that I’m back on a laptop. We took a deep breath and decided the entire week is going to be crowded and packed. We’re going to rope drop and we’re going to have a good time. We made a commitment to touring some local hotels etc if we’re feeling crowd pressed at the parks. We also MIGHT add the park hopper option to give us flexibility but truly my guess is rope drop and somewhat getting park bound for the days will mean we’ll be more than happy to go back to the hotel at night on the early side (we’re used to taking mid-day breaks, but not sure with the crowds if that will be worth it, we’ll do in park breaks)
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Sounds like you have a great plan- enjoy!