I will be staying at Swan for the first 4 days and yet to book for the last 2 days. Somewhere I read that after parking at MK, you need to monorail to reach from parking lot to entrance which is why I was confused.Now trying to decide where I should stay for the last 2 days.
“There is no parking at the Magic Kingdom. Instead, you park at the Ticket & Transportation Center lot, catching a tram to the Ticket & Transportation Center, and then take a monorail or ferry to the Magic Kingdom (this was done, among other reasons, so the Magic Kingdom has a “magical” introduction to guests).” from Time-Saving Disney World Transportation Tips - Disney Tourist Blog
If staying at The Swan you will not be using the Monorail. That’s what you need to know.
However to give you a better idea of what will happen when you arrive:
Here’s, basically, how getting to MK works if you drive your car and park there as you said you want to do
You park. A tram will take you from the parking lot to what is called the TTC - the Ticket & Transportation Center. This is where you will go through security screening / bag check. From here you will take a Ferry to the main gates of MK and enter the main gates.
This is partially correct. The ferry is the main way the majority of guests will get to MK. Most mornings the monorail does not stop at the TTC. It only picks up guests from the Deluxe resorts. Later in the day and at closing the monorail operates more frequently.
No matter how you leave the TTC to get to the MK main gates it only takes a few minutes. I believe you are overthinking this part of your trip.
EMH tends to happen pretty much at same days / times each year. You can look at the previous year’s crowd calendar to see what dates / parks had EMH.
WDW finalizes their operations calendar about 12 - 14 days in advance.
DHS has been the exception to this, right now, as the crowds coming to SW:GE for RotR have exceeded expectations and have needed to add earlier hours. These haven’t been EMH, but instead earlier regular park openings.
Ok,I admit to only reading part of this, but here is my advice regarding jet lag. We came in from the PNW. For about a month or more, I set my alarm and got up earlier and earlier each day to get closer to eastern time. Every few days, I would move it back 15 minutes. It was still an adjustment when we go to WDW, but we rope dropped every day including the 6 a.m. EEMH at HS our first day in the parks. I would always rope drop. And I am not a morning person.
When I saw the calendar for past years around Easter, I see that the park hours for MK has been extended till midnight and AK extended to 9:30 or 10:30 pm. DHS also seems extended little except for Epcot. can I expect the same for this year as well?
If you want to go April 2020 I’d get booking the second resort soon. Some of the room types at the resorts near MK are already sold out.
I also agree about the 2020 Unofficial Guide. I just got mine last week. It has basic information for people planning a first trip as well as tips for experienced trip planners. Great information.
Have you made any actual personalized Touring Plans yet? That’s really one of the first steps to seeing if those dates work best for you. You can look at the CLs on the crowd calendar as a guide, but really picking out what you want to do and comparing it on different dates will truly show you what parks will give you the lowest waits / maximum fun
yes I did. thanks Working on Fastpass ride selection which is going to open this Friday. Is Slinky Dog Dash worth the wait time? I feel it is a normal roller coaster. what is special about it? Would I have a better chance for ROR in DHS if I go on Morning EMH? what are the Pros and Cons of choosing DHS on Morning EMH.
With the tier thing for FP, its getting very confusing the select the FPs. I should account for their locations in the park so I dont waste time in walking. Any tips for selecting FPs or top candidates for FPs in each park?
It’s a fun ride, but not a “big” coaster. It’s meant for families. It does go really fast, but no loops / twist or such. I’d recommend watching a YouTube video of a ride of it. There’s nothing to really spoil. It’s an outdoor coaster.
Currently, the only way at all to ride RotR is get to the park at least one hour before park opening and try to get a Boarding Group. These are a virtual queue and it’s almost a lottery to get one. They are gone within 2 minutes most mornings. This is not an exaggeration. If you are unfamiliar with Boarding Groups you can read this very through article:
If you get to the park about one hour before EMH - you’ll be able to do multiple “big” / popular attractions before the park even opens. If you can’t get there that early then try not to get there any later than 30 minutes before EMH. Otherwise, you’ll be in a big line just to get into the park.
No. You need to go after the most popular. The time you save waiting in line will offset any walking to get there.
Top 3 FPP per park:
MK – 7DMT / PPF / Space Mt.
EP – FEA / TT / Soarin – These are all Tier 1 – none of the Tier 2 are hard to get
AK – FoP / KS / EE
DHS – SDD / MF:SR / ToT / RnR — I added one here due to the SDD & MF:SR being in the same Tier
How can one ride even before the park opens? I cannot be there so early so I give up on RoR. Should I prefer or avoid parks with Morning EMH specifically DHS, Epcot and AK?
To be clearer - What I mean is if you want to take full advantage of EMH you need to be lined up at the park entrance and ready to enter the park one hour before EMH starts. There will be enough on-site guests that arrive 30 minutes early that makes a massive crowd of EMH guests trying to get in. You only get that one hour before all guests can enter - losing 10 - 15 minutes of that time getting through security and the park gates is like missing out on at least on “big / popular” ride.
If you can’t be there at DHS at least one hour before park opening then, as Boarding Groups are currently being distributed, it’s really hard to get a “guaranteed” BG.
For reference here is the line today - one hour & 15 minutes before park opening for ppl trying to get RotR BGs:
If you can’t take advantage of EMH by arriving early, my advice is to go to the park that isn’t doing them that day. There will be more guests going to the park hosting EMH than the rest.
Working on Fastpass ride selection which is going to open this Friday. Is Slinky Dog Dash worth the wait time? I feel it is a normal roller coaster. what is special about it? Would I have a better chance for ROR in DHS if I go on Morning EMH? what are the Pros and Cons of choosing DHS on Morning EMH.