Make your TPs and evaluate again before you leave. Make your 3 FPPs as early in the day as possible. If rides are a priority, RD. They are predictions. Use Lines for times in the parks. We were not able to move any of our FPPS earlier.
We were at HS on December 18. It was CL 1, believe it or not. It was predicted to be CL 5. The park opened at 7. We arrived around 8:45.
After getting BG, we went to use our FPP for SDD and then did a 15 minute SB for TSM. We could have done Aliens but didn’t. The character meet and greets were long. We shared a breakfast bowl and Christmas tart at Woody’s. Line was short but we did mobile ordering. Service was fast and food was yummy. We toured Toystory Land before using Star Tours FPP.
We checked wait time for Olaf Meet and Greet, 10 minutes. When we were done, the wait was 40 minutes!
It was very cold. We went to Trolley Cafe for hot drinks and shared a carrot cake cookie. 
We were just going to tap in for Muppets. But the thought of being in a warm room for 30 minutes was too much of a draw!
Checking Lines posted times, we decided to SB SR. We waited less than 55 minutes, eating our packed lunch in line. That’s where I left my phone, in one of the 28 pods! The exits to the pods all look the same when I tried to go back! It was after 1 when we talked to the ride’s CM about my lost phone.
While in line for SR, I scored a ToT FPP for 1:20. There were other FPPs but for after 6 pm. We hiked across the park to ToT. At the 2:31 drop, while boarding the elevator to ToT, DS scored another FPP for ToT! That was the only Tier 1 FPP available.
We did a 45 minute Single Rider for RNR. DON’T recommend single rider. Do SB.
We checked Lines and did a 20 minute SB for TSM.
We returned to ToT to use our FPP.
It was 5 and this is when DH noticed that they were already calling BG 116. We were 119.
We shared a churro and a cream cheese pretzel. Since my phone was still lost, nobody else got the push notification that our BG was called. (When I got my phone back later, I saw the push notification came at 5:29.) DH checked his MDE and saw that they were calling through BG 120!
We hiked up to GE. People were crowded around the entrance with hopes their BG would be called. They scanned our bands and we walked and walked and walked.
We had no idea how long we would need to wait in the queue and we were bookended by our 8:15 ADR. I counted it a blessing we already made it this far. I warned my family that it could go down while we are in line or we may have to bail to go to our ADR. Everyone was looking forward to a good dinner.
We kept on queuing and queuing and queuing.
With a civil and a mechanical engineer in the family and an aspiring aerospace engineer in the family, we were amazed with the technology and moving pieces, and totally can understand why the ride was going down so often.
From the first resistance in the queue to getting off the ride it was about 55 minutes. And GE is so cool at night.
From 8:45 am - 7:15 pm, we got on all the rides except Aliens. We got on ToT and TSM twice! We got everything we wanted done except the night shows. We didn’t feel rushed. The two extra ToT FPP helped. We were content.
HS Day 2 was Monday, December 23, CL 10. We were supposed to be at KSC but went on Friday to watch the rocket launch. So, we had to cancel Friday’s FPPs for HS and rescheduled FPP for HS for Monday. Challenging. But I got an RNR early but the Tier 2’s were later in the afternoon, not ideal for SDD. We had a a free FPP from the night before, which we used for SDD. Then, we stood in line for ST and TSM, 50+ minute wait. That’s about all we did between 8:45 and 4.
