I tried to pick good days. The CLs went up pretty drastically recently, but the TP wait times didn’t change much. Here’s to hoping. I did ‘optimize’ after adding all the attractions, and then rearranged (ad infinitum) based on trying to balance minimizing walking and wait times.
True. I guess I meant whatever it is when you show up before they open to us off-siters, but after there already a bunch of people ruining my plans.
Ah! Well spotted! Yes, I’ll redistribute our time.
Thanks–I was having trouble remembering this from our last trip. Very good to know.
No, not necessary. But I was trying higher-CL days and EMH as much as I could figure. I am more than open to the idea that I’ve over-complicated things. It’s my MO.
Okay, I tried to reread it as brutally honest. One question: you seem to think I have extra time at Epcot, and @SneakyPete seems to think it is irredeemable–or at least too ridiculous to allow speech. Who’s right?
Both, maybe. The morning seems like a lot of running around, what with going back to Norway first thing and then all the way back to the Land and Seas pavilions, then back to Mexico.
But you have time at the end, before Illuminations. Depending on where you’re planning to watch it from, maybe you could spend some of that time exploring the pavilions nearby. Not doing Agent P that late, but eating, watching acrobats, etc.
I was really trying to help. Maybe trolling a little but it was a slow morning and some threads need some drama to get things going and catch everyone’s attention.
Anyways, you might get lucky. It seems that CLs are coming in much lower than originally predicted. Last week was marathon week which is usually very busy and there even was a Level 1 on Sunday for MK instead of the predicted 5!
Apology or whatever accepted, @SneakyPete. I am seriously asking: why is my plan so ridiculous if I evaluated and the TP says it works? Isn’t the entire point of the ‘evaluate’ function that it takes into account CLs and historic wait time data? I realize not everything goes to plan, etc. (I am 43, one learns by mid-life), but what should I be accounting for that I’m not?
First - I apologize in advance for trying to throw a wrench in your plans but, I have to pass along a concern from my DIL (multiple, unsuccessful knee surgeries). I mentioned your DS20 and his recent surgery to her. She highly recommends that you plan on him having access to an ECV or wheelchair. We know it’s an extra expense but her experience touring at Disneyland was that she just got worn out by halfway through our day. Even keeping walking to a minimum and taking sit down breaks frequently left her in pain. She was extremely disappointed in herself as she did not expect it to be a problem for her. I well imagine that a 20 year old will be even more disappointed if he can’t keep up the pace. I would at least check with his Orthopedist about the effects of walking 10 miles a day.
Hey! So first off, your plans are ambitious, but I’m not sure everyone is noticing your “empty” final day… that makes a big difference, in my opinion! It gives you the freedom to let some things go on the other days if you find that you are not able to get everything in. You can then decide later if those skipped attractions are important enough to go back and hit on your final day!
I agree with a lot of the tips already shared (set walking speed to relaxed, build in a few snack/bathroom/rest breaks, and decide in advance which attractions are skipp-able if you start to run behind schedule). A couple specific “tweaks” I would consider making if I were you:
Fri @ MK: Maybe think about scratching 7DMT and HEA from this day, since you will have other, better opportunities on other days to hit these. You will probably have better luck with 7DMT at RD on Monday (since it is a non-EMH day). As for HEA, if you plan to end your trip with MK on your final night anyway, then then I would put HEA there. This would free up some time in your TP, giving you a better chance of hitting most everything else on your list. (And if you find that you have plenty of time left in the evening, you can always add something back in!)
Sat @ EP: In my opinion, Epcot is tough to do in a single day…or at least, tough to do enjoyably in a single day. Everyone is different, but one of my favorite parts of Epcot is taking the time to really enjoy World Showcase and “smell the roses” in that half of the park. Also, even though I have never had a hip replacement, I am all about minimizing walking whenever possible! When I planned my family’s trip last year, I split Epcot into two days, doing roughly one side of FW and the corresponding side of WS on the first day (RD to late afternoon) and then the other side of FW / WS on the other day (late morning to Illuminations). Everyone agreed that we could have spent another day there because we love WS and a couple of our all-time favorite rides are in FW. I am eyeing that “empty” final day and wondering if it might work to take some of the FW attractions and a few WS countries and move them over to the morning of your final day to make your Saturday more relaxing. (I am also very much in favor of avoiding WS in the evening on Saturdays… too many people drinking around the world! Maybe leave in the mid or late afternoon and head to Disney Springs for dinner and shopping? Or make an early night of it since you will have had two very busy days in a row?)
Mon PM @ AK: Looks pretty good for minimizing walking! Just a quick note that Wilderness Explorers is not a single activity done at the kiosk… it’s collecting badges from CMs all over the park and can take many hours (and tons of walking) to accomplish. Maybe you are planning to just earn a few badges near the middle of the park? Just didn’t want your 6 y.o. to be disappointed if the expectation was different from reality!
Tue AM @ AK: Extra walking alert!! If you plan to do Pandora first and then proceed with your TP, you will be criss-crossing a very large park more than necessary, which might be rough on your son (and everyone else too!). I would consider doing Pandora pre-opening time, then Africa attractions next, and then Asia attractions, rather than backtracking.
I didn’t look too closely at your HS plans because those are not as easy to tweak (meshing show schedules and FP times at HS is always the hardest TP for me to create!). But it’s also a much smaller park so backtracking is less of an issue.
No apologies necessary! I appreciate it and totally agree. He will be using a crutch, suggested by his PT, to extend his ability to walk. We will absolutely get him a chair or ECV if he needs or wants (I already tried to, but he strenuously objected)! He does walk around his college campus a lot (he’s carless there), so fingers crossed that has prepared him a bit.
Thanks for your thoughts–maybe I’ll try to make a plan that moves the little kid stuff he’s not as interested in to the afternoon, and we can find a place to let him rest.
Yes! I was hoping this would take pressure off the other days a bit. I know I put a lot in the plan, but I’d rather have an overly ambitious plan that I have to cut back than time twiddling our thumbs. We don’t get to do this often (only our second time in the 21 years we’ve been married), so none of us is interested in being leisurely about it. But, reasonable is still the goal.
Very good idea! I was kind of keeping 7DMT there as a place holder (in case we have time, in case we want, etc.), but hadn’t thought of saving HEA for another time.
I will definitely think about this, and had no idea about the crowds on Sat evening! I have to say that we didn’t enjoy EP as much last time. It makes me feel like less of a person to admit that! But, if I’m wrong about that, I will absolutely make changes on the fly. I have a feeling Agent P is going to be a hit with all of the kids.
Do you have any idea what my chance might be of getting a FPP for Frozen after we use the one for Test Track at 6:50? We have some free time at that end of the plan.
Thank you–I’m not sure, honestly, about any of these quest-type things (maybe excepting Agent P for help with interest in the WS for the youngest). I’ve wondered if they’re more for folks who spend more time in the parks than we do. That’s super-helpful to know for managing expectations–99% of the battle usually around here.
Oh, good call! I’ll rearrange and see what I can do!
Thanks again for all of your thoughts–it does help and I really appreciate it!
Regarding 7DMT…truth is, the ride isn’t really worth much of a wait. So, personally, I wouldn’t put a huge effort (meaning, shift around plans) just to get a ride on it. I mean, if you can, fine. But if you miss it, no big deal. It is short and, well, only mildly fun. The queue line was probably more fun than the ride.
Regarding Agent P, etc. We loved it. Well, my kids did. I did the first mission with them to just get a sense of it. (You will need your cell phone with a data plan [or us park wifi in a pinch], BTW. You can technically borrow one, but they didn’t seem to like that when we asked to!) After, after that, while my kids ran off to do the Agent P mission in any given country, my wife and I could do what we wanted. In China, for example, we got in a mini date, eating at Lotus Blossom while they were running around. We’d see them pass by every so often looking for the next clue. So, it is a great opportunity to take advantage of so that you can enjoy the WS more and the kids not otherwise end up bored.
Having said that, I’ll admit…I kind of found the clue hunting fun myself, so you might want to participate as well!
Thanks–that was my impression, good to have confirmation. Is it worth rope dropping it the other morning we’ll be in MK, or should we plan on something else?
I’d hate to say skip it. As I said, it is mildly fun. It is just REALLY SHORT. I mean, you get through the first half, excited for the second half, only…there is no second half. It feels like half a ride. For what’s there, it is smooth and offers mild thrills for the young kids. But having done it once, I’d never wait for it again more than 15 minutes.
So, if you rope drop it and can get on it in fairly short time, then by all means do! Keep in mind that it is THE ride to rope drop, so most likely even if you RD, the line will be somewhat long. (There was another thread where TP actually recommended NOT RDing it, and instead RD something else first, which ultimately made more sense from an overall wait time perspective…you might see what TP suggests.)
Thanks. Can I ask a maybe silly question? Is there a way to get my TP to account for RDing something? As it stands, I’m just staring my plan time later and making a note of what we’re planning to RD. Or, do I just need to do another iteration of my plan that has 7DMT first at the later time and then evaluate wait times in the park?
I’d make a copy of your plan, and then optimize one over and over and see what it comes up with, making sure 7DMT is included in the rides. It should make the best recommendation.
Alternatively, make a copy of the plan and put 7DMT first and just evaluate it to get the wait time estimates.
Ultimately, your goal isn’t necessarily to get the best wait time for 7DMT, but to get the best wait time across all your rides. So, it might be better to go on 7DMT when it has a wait of 45 minutes versus 30 minutes if, by doing so, you end up saving more than 15 minutes waiting for other rides.
In addition to having a few steps that we can skip to catch up, I also put some of our low priority attractions at the end of the day in MK and Epcot. If we get behind I plan to delete those steps and reoptimize.
@ryan1 & @Cgerres: I see, thank you. Part of the problem is that I’m only using the optimize function to check possibilities, but in order to keep walking as minimal as reasonable, we can’t really follow the optimized plan.
Yeah, it still has us walking too far. My 20 yo is only 5 months out from a total hip replacement, so I need to minimize more than the TP was, even with that setting on. This is part of why I don’t feel that it’s quite as ambitious as it looks–there’s a LOT less walking than we did last time, partly because the FP system is so different, and partly because I’m trying to keep us from criss-crossing the park more than 1-2x/day.
Good advice has already been shared here. Epcot is hard to tour because it is big, back tracking can be brutal and the tier structure is a witch. I gave it a shot at your plans and front loaded Future World in the morning and then World Showcase in the afternoon which is a more classical way of touring Epcot.
This new plan requires you to make some slight changes to your FPP selections but I already checked and they are available. Your original plan had some peculiar backtracking choices, like going all the way back to Living with the Land which is a B-type attraction and may be tiring after a full day of touring. It also didn’t help the original plan wasted the fourth FPP which could have very well been used for the Characters Spot or Illuminations but that can’t be solved right now.
I always advise against RD to fireworks type of touring but every family is different. This plan will drain you and I wouldn’t do it myself. Note that in this new plan the in line time increases just because I added Soarin and FEA at rope drop which were not accounted in your plan. This plan does need you to go back to SSE but I think your family will enjoy the Future World lights and maybe stop at Club Cool.
Everyone is different, but one of my favorite parts of Epcot is taking the time to really enjoy World Showcase and “smell the roses” in that half of the park. Also, even though I have never had a hip replacement, I am all about minimizing walking whenever possible! When I planned my family’s trip last year, I split Epcot into two days, doing roughly one side of FW and the corresponding side of WS on the first day (RD to late afternoon) and then the other side of FW / WS on the other day (late morning to Illuminations). Everyone agreed that we could have spent another day there because we love WS and a couple of our all-time favorite rides are in FW. I am eyeing that “empty” final day and wondering if it might work to take some of the FW attractions and a few WS countries and move them over to the morning of your final day to make your Saturday more relaxing. (I am also very much in favor of avoiding WS in the evening on Saturdays… too many people drinking around the world! Maybe leave in the mid or late afternoon and head to Disney Springs for dinner and shopping? Or make an early night of it since you will have had two very busy days in a row?)
But, reasonable is still the goal.