I am taking a trip to Disney this May 18-25. There will be 4 adults and 2 kids (ages 4&2 renting a double stroller). I’m the only person in the group who has ever been to Disney. I haven’t been in at least 10 years. I’ve done a lot of research and tried to come up with a touring plan that could work for my family. Seeing Elsa and Anna is our number 1 priority. Everything else is a wash. Can you please look over my plan and give any suggestions. I didn’t plan any attraction before 9:30 even though we plan to be at the park in time for RD because I know my family will be “in awe” as they walk down main street and I don’t want to push them too quickly. We will be doing AK, HS, and 2 other MK days. Although this is the only MK day I will have extra help with the kids. 2 adults are just doing one day each of MK, AK, and HS.
MK Day 1 (Thursday May 19)(Preferred park- level 5)
9:30 Fastpass+ Elsa and Anna at Fairy Tale Hall
9:50 Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
10:05 Mad Tea Party
10:30 fastpass+ Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
10:45 Cinderella and Rapunzel at Fairy Tale Hall
11:50am Lunch at Cinderella’s Castle Reservation
12:30pm fastpass+ Peter Pan Flight
1:10 pm Dream Along With Mickey Show
1:30-4:00 Break(my kids still take a nap and I can’t skip nap time if are staying for the fireworks)
4:30 Splash Mountain (get 4th fast pass- 4:30-5:30)
5:00 It’s a Small World
5:30 Pinocchio Village House (30 min dinner)
6:00 Enchanted Tales with Belle (get 5th fast pass – 5:30-6:30)
6:30 Dumbo Flying Elephants
7:00 The Barnstormer (child swap)
At this point I have two different plans before the electrical parade:
First one -
7:30 Meet Ariel
8:00 Under The Sea – Little Mermaid Journey (get 6th fast pass - 8:00)
OR
7:30 Mad Tea Party then Tomorrow land Speedway (2 adult and 2 kids)
7:30 Space Mountain (2 adult get 7th fastpass - 7:30)
9:00pm Main Street Electrical Parade (get seats by 8:15/8:20)
9:45pm Celebrate the Magic Show
10:00pm Wishes
Does this plan even seem possible with 4 adults and 2 kids? Do these fastpasses seem okay? Is there even a chance for getting the ones later in the day? I’m not hard set on this plan. Like I said our number one goal is to M & G with Elsa and Anna. Any suggestions are helpful.
I hope you get that fastpass for Elsa & Anna! That’s my daughter’s #1 priority too. Are you staying on-site? That said, you can try to get that fastpass for a specific time, but they’re hard to get and you should take whatever time you can. and even if your fastpass start at 9:30, I’d do something else first to take advantage of the shorter lines in the first hour. maybe Cinderella, because that line will be much longer by 10:45. I agree with leaving longer times for meals, but I think in a lot of other places you have less planned and will have extra time. I’d have some thoughts for what else you can add in then on the spot, things with shorter lines like the carousel and peoplemover.
I can’t comment on extra fastpasses, but I guess you can try and see how it goes. Since you list a baby swap for barnstormer, I assume you need one for 7 dwarves too. So maybe you don’t need all 6 fastpasses for that and can switch some to Splash Mountain? The things you’ll need extra adults for are anything that requires a baby swap, which is just roller-coasters. If the other adults have only that one day, then I guess for that day you should prioritize what they’re most interested in, and save some other stuff for your other days. Have you considered Buzz LIghtyear? We all love that.
I would take advantage of rider swap. I don’t know if you are going to be able to get your 4th, 5th, 6th FPP at those exact times. You may have to be a little more flexible.
I would maybe make two FPP for Adult 1 and Adult 2 (and one for DS4 if tall enough) for Seven Dwarfs - then use the child swap for the other two adults. Then I would make a FPP for Splash Mountain for Adult 3 and Adult 4 and use child swap for the other two.
With the “extra FPP” - you can schedule something for the little ones to do while others are riding the roller coasters. For example, my husband, took our two year old on WTP while I did Seven Dwarfs (they are right across the street) and then the little one can do the Jungle Cruise or Magic Carpet while adults ride Splash. You do just have to take the kids to the line first to get the child swap pass.
My other advice with going with people that have never been before is to slow down a little - it is overwhelming. Enjoy what you can do and don’t stress about the plan too much.
Where will you be staying? That break from 1:30 to 4:00 may not be enough time for a solid nap, depending on how long your kiddos sleep. If you’re at the Contemporary, maybe. If you’re at Pop? Not so much. I also would be concerned about only blocking off 30 min for dinner at 5:30. That’s the start of prime dinner hour, and you might not manage to be out in 30 minutes, especially if you’re including your wait time to order/get your food in it.
I’d also 2nd @PrincipalTinker re: things being too close together in that lunch-Pan-Dream Along block. I’d really anticipate lunch taking an hour, especially if, again, you have a few minute’s wait to be seated.
Also, don’t rely on getting a 4th and 5th FP in your plans. You can hope for it and try your best, but if other people have beaten you to them, you’re going to be out of luck. Or, you might get something, but not at the time you were hoping for. Personally, I look at any FPs beyond my initial three as a bonus, not as something to rely on.
I’d also second @LaurenB on slowing down and enjoying the experience. Enjoy what you’re able to get to, and certainly try to get to as much as possible, but don’t overlook the details because you’re in a rush.
Agreed on the not planning for extra fastpasses. When we were there in early December, some of the worst lines we saw were at the FastPass machines to get extras. As a result, we didn’t bother trying to book extras most days. It’s nice if you can get them, but I don’t think DIS has the system down well currently as waiting to see if I might avoid a wait wasn’t appealing at all to our party. Now if a machine is wide open…
Before I read the other replies three things jumped out at me. (1) You need to allot 90 min for CRT. (2) SIX FPPs? I’ve never been able to get a 4th that I really wanted, and Splash and Space Mountain are two of the most popular attractions in the MK. I would work a TP assuming that you WON’T be able to get these and if you do, so much the better.
Are the first 3 FPPs ones that you actually have, or are hoping to get? If the latter, I wouldn’t really sweat the details of a plan until you have these set - availability (and lack thereof) could change everything.
Unless you are staying at one of the monorail resorts, you need to figure 45-60 min - each way - to get back and forth to tour hotel; that’s 1.5 - 2 hours out of your planned 2.5 hour break. Will that give you enough time at the resort?
At 4:00 or 8:00 you might be able to wait, order, and eat at a CS in 30 min, but at the peak of dinner time, it’s going to take a lot longer…
Splash seems very out of place in this TP. Almost everything else is in FL, and Splash is about as far from FL as you can get. Even assuming that you can get a 4th FPP for Splash (unlikely) in that exact time window (even more unlikely), and that you actually board right at 4:30, it’s going to be a challenge to ride and then get all the way back to iasw by 5:00.
You have 15 min between Pooh and the Tea Cups. Even if Pooh was a walk-on (which it will NOT be at 10:00 on a CL 5 day), you’d be hard pressed to ride and make it to the tea cups in 15 min.
Is this a plan that was generated using the personalized TP generator on the web site, or is this one that you just worked out on your own?
Another thought. Are the two adults, for whom this will be the only MK day, there to enjoy what the park has to offer, or are they there just to help you with your kids? This is not meant to be a snarky question. I ask because many of the best attractions that adults typically enjoy (e.g. PoC, HM, JC, BTMRR, Buzz, HoP, CBJ) are missing from the plan. If I was spending a day at the MK and missed out on these and did almost nothing but the kid-focused rides/attractions in FL, I would not be happy. Maybe they could stay behind in the park when you take the kids back to the hotel for a break and try to catch a few of those attractions then…
Thanks everyone for your suggestions and information! This plan was created on TP app and everything “lined up” with the times, but I had the same concerns most of you had and was wondering if it just looked good on the app or if it was really something that could be accomplished. I too thought more time might be needed for meals. We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. The two “extra” adults are just along for the enjoyment of watching the kids expression and experiencing Disney with the two kids. They don’t like roller coasters and would not normally pick a theme park as a vacation destination. They chose to go because they wanted to experience it with the kids. That being said my husband and I do like roller coasters, but we are focusing this trip on the kids. We will do child swap if wait times are low, but I’m not using a fastpass on a ride unless it’s not needed for something else. Also, I wasn’t banking on those extra FPP at the end of the day(wishful thinking maybe). I stuck them in to see what everyone’s thought about the ability to attain them (I have my answer). I can’t decide how detailed to make my TP. I’m typically a type A person who thrives off schedules and planes. However, I don’t want to rush anyone and I do want to “enjoy the experience”. I have already accepted the fact that we won’t ride a whole lot the first day (I’m really fine with that). I’m really just unsure of how many attractions/events I should plan for a day (4, 6, 10???) My two “set” times are 11:50 Lunch and I would prefer a 1:00/1:30-4:00/4:30(?) break for the kids if we plan to try to catch the fireworks. I know I can’t get FPP until 60 days out, and I was planning to get E & A, 7DMT, and PP. We are spending most of our time doing “kiddie” stuff. I threw Splash in there because my oldest DD is tall enough to ride it and I think she would like it. Any other thoughts or suggestions you have I would gladly be open to. The last time I went I was in college (with the old fastpass system) and we just ran from ride to ride using fastpasses.
Since you have non-rollercoaster adults, maybe you should get 3 fastpasses for 7DMT and 3 for Splash? If you do a baby swap for both, then the 3 of you could even ride a 2nd time. or you could just concentrate on Fantasy Land that day and no trek out to Splash, since you have other days. When it’s just the 4 of you, you can get 2 fastpasses for 2 different rollercoaster and generate what you need for the other adult with baby swap. That gives your daughter 2 rides, but each of you one.