I could use some help planning our last day in Disney. We have a 5:00 PM flight and hope to do a half day at DHS (our first visit). We have the following FPP for that day:
9:40: Little Mermaid (plan to skip this one)
10:40: Star Tours
11:55: Slinky Dog
The other attractions we most want to see are Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, and Rock Coaster. Also Muppets 3-D and Indiana Jones if we could fit them in. (Considering our limited time and fact that we are not huge Star Wars fans, I’m inclined to skip Galaxy’s Edge altogether and save that for a future trip.)
My plan would be to get to the park around 8:30 and leave by 2:00 at the latest. How much do you think we could realistically fit in? And which ride would you suggest doing first? The TP software has us going to TSM first with a 90 min wait - is that realistic or will we get on sooner? That would allow us to fit in ST, TOT, SDD, RNR, in that order. But no Muppets or Indiana Jones. Any other suggestions for the most efficient plan?
It really depends on when you’re going and what the CL is that day. You could probably fit in 5 rides on a super busy day. If you’re taking MDE to the airport, they will want to pick you up at 2:00.
If you arrive 30 min before park opening and queue up, you should basically be able to walk onto TSM. Last Thur we walked into HS a few minutes before a 7am park opening and road TSM twice by 815am.
I believe the TP software assumes you’re arriving right at park opening. ToT seems to be one of the easier same day fast passes to pick up after you use your initial 3.
I think you have the right idea already with TSM first. You might struggle to get Indiana Jones because there are only 2 possible show times you could hit and one is in the middle of your SDD FPP, but you should be able to make everything else work. Good luck!
Ok, cool. I redid our plan with a 15 min placeholder break for TSM and reoptimized and now I’m able to just about squeeze everything in before 2:00. I also just saw some of the recent threads about TP showing crazy long wait times for DHS rides first thing in the morning even on low CL days, so I’m hopeful that’s just a glitch and the waits won’t be as bad as the software suggests!
Also, what do folks think the likelihood is that Disney will continue the 7 or 8 AM opening times for DHS into February? I know the current calendar shows 9 AM openings in February but I’m assuming that could change?
February is one of the slowest times at WDW. (This is why they do refurbishments in this time). I don’t see them continuing to open before 9am until Spring Break season - about two weeks after your trip.
I didn’t chime in on your plan as you seem to have an idea of what you can / want to do now. IMHO - be as flexible as possible on your departure day as you’ll have to keep an eye on the clock. You’ll need to be at MCO about 2 hours early for your flight to get through security and etc…
Also, if you are not taking the MDE to the airport - keep an eye on your flight status. On my last trip, I was about to leave the parks at 2pm to get on my 5pm flight. I got a notification that my flight was delayed until 7pm (it was really 9pm!) However, that gave me two more hours to play instead of sitting at an empty airport terminal.
Thanks, that’s good to know. We are planning to Uber to the airport so will make sure we keep an eye on our flight. The only lingering question I have is whether it definitely make sense to do TSM first as opposed to ToT or RnR? Here is a link to my current plan:
We can’t see the plan. You have to “Publish” it. To do so, click on your plan. In the large gray box, at the top of the page & before all your activities, click Edit. A pop-up window will appear. You originally saw this when making the plan with dates & times. Right above the blue “Save” button you’ll see a check box next to “Publish this plan”. Check that and you’ll be taken back to the plan. Now in the large gray box, at the top, you’ll see a link that you can click / copy & paste
If you show up early enough to RD, head to SDD first instead of TSM. If you make it on without too long a wait, switch your Tier 1 FPP to ToT. Ride TSM second, then RnRC. Then ride ToT when your FPP comes up. Tap into LM and ride ST as soon as you can so you can get another FPP for whatever you’ve missed or didn’t have time for at that point (maybe RnRC). Watch for the same-day drop times.
I’m not an expert by any means but just throwing this out there as an option. It would be nice to free up your 4th FPP earlier in the day instead of having to wait until 12:30pm, right before you have to leave.
All that said, I think the plan works just the way you have it.
It is tight! You don’t have much wiggle room and you have no breaks during that 4 hours. IME - At some point someone is going to want to pee / drink / shop.
I, also, think you are underestimating the queue at TSMM. From where you are at RD and slowly walked back to TSL will take about 7 minutes easily. Then you queue for a few minutes, assuming the ride is ready on time. Then it’s 8 minutes ride time. I’d be safe and say 20+ minutes.
Can you still make everything if your morning doesn’t start off exactly as planned or if you have to take a 10 minute break somewhere?
(I’m going to tinker with your plan to see…)
EDIT - after tinkering with your plan…
Make your RD a meal at “Woody’s Lunchbox” for the amount of time you think you need to RD and complete TSM instead of a generic break. (IME - this is 20 - 25 minutes)
Right now TP thinks you want to RD next to ToT with a 1 minute walk to that ride.
This will give you a better walking time estimate to Hollywood Blvd and those queues. (I have set the speed to “very relaxed” since I don’t know your preferred speed.)
I managed to do it all, but there’s no room for bathroom / drink breaks or any distractions.
(I hate to say it, but I think you’ll need to drop Indy. I love it! One of the original “MGM / Hollywood” shows still operating) You can wait until you get “boots on the ground” before deciding what might need to be skipped, but I’d be prepared to have to miss something
Oops, sorry, didn’t have my coffee yet! What I meant to ask is whether they still dropped the ropes 15 min prior to official opening at DHS? That what I had read, which led me to believe I might be able to get on and off TSM at or around 9. (But I agree with you - I’ll be prepared to drop some things day of, sadly probably Indy and/or Muppets, so that we can fit in the headliners…)
It’s never something you can rely on. They do this if Ops has notified the RD CMs that the rides have finished their morning maintenance or if there is an overwhelming number of people waiting at RD. They do the RD as soon as the CMs get the “all clear” signal or official park opening time whichever is first.
At the worst case they walk you all the way back with the rope up and doing, literally, slow “baby steps” to move the crowd while giving the attractions the few extra minutes they may need if they are behind.
That’s what I saw as your options too. They’re both great. Indy is the easier to drop as it has set start times. You can go to Muppets at your convenience.