Don't be afraid of summertime or holidays! Our experience...(long post)

[marshallandcartersmo]

was great! We were at WDW last week, stayed onsite at Coronado Springs (in a refurbished room!) Friday night, moved on to a rented house for the week on Saturday. We were a group of 9, ages ranging from 4-68. We had heard horror stories of heat, humidity, busyness. Yes, it was all those things, but with planning, it was totally fine. I was "in charge" of fastpasses, ADRs, scheduling for all. I can't stress the importants of that. Here's what we did (yes I took notes while we were there, lol)

Sunday--MK (arrived about 8:00, pictures in front of the castle with NO ONE in our backgrounds, literally at the rope following the cast member to our first ride--makes a HUGE difference)
Peter Pan
Pooh
Little Mermaid
Met Ariel
Dumbo
Barnstormer
Rode train to Frontierland
BTMRR pre-scheduled FP+
Be our guest lunch ADR
Seven Dwarfs pre-scheduled FP+
Space Mtn pre-scheduled FP+ (1/2 of our party used their 3rd pre-scheduled FP+ for Speedway at the same time)
Buzz FP+
Haunted Mansion FP+
Saw the parade
Pirates FP+
Jungle Cruise FP+
Aladdin FP+
Small World FP+
Mickey's Philharmonic FP+
Monsters Inc FP+
Dinner at Cosmic Rays
**party split up here, 1/2 went to carousel & met Cinderella & Elana w/FP+
other 1/2 did Peoplemover and Space Mountain w/FP+

Let the park around 7:00, exhausted but saw SO MUCH

Hollywood Studios (arrived about 8:10, at front following castmember to first ride)
Rock n Roller Coaster (could have ridden 2 times in a row with little wait but opted for a snack instead)
1/2 our party used prescheduled FP+ for TOT, other 1/2 for Disney Jr.
Visited Star Wars launch bay & met Chewy, BB8, Kylo Ren
Toured One Mans Dream
Toy Story pre-scheduled FP+
Lunch at 50's Prime Time
Beauty & the Beast 2:00 show
Star Tours w/pre-scheduled FP+
Frozen Ever After
Toy Story FP+
Little Mermaid Show
1/2 our party did Toy Story again w/FP+, other 1/2 got RnR FP+

Animal Kingdom (arrived about 8:30)
Everest 3 times in a row, no wait. Could have done more but got a little dizzy, lol
1/2 of party in walking around Dinoland and waiting in Boneyard
Dinosaur
Safari pre-scheduled FP+
Tough to be a Bug
Lunch-Rainforest Cafe
Kali River Rapids pre-scheduled FP+
Lion King
River Ride in Pandora pre-scheduled FP+
Primeval Whirl FP+
Gorilla Trail
Safari
*we didn't see FOP, chose to get our FP+ for the river ride due to some people in our party not liking motion rides. Regret that decision 100%! River ride was a snooze-fest.

EPCOT (arrived about 8:25)
Soarin
Journey to imagination
Nemo
Turtle talk
Spaceship Earth pre-scheduled FP+
Character meet and greet pre-scheduled FP+
Counter service lunch
Frozen FP+
1/2 group Test Track w/guest services FP+
1/2 group Soarin w/guest services FP+ *my MDE went down after our 3rd fastpass & I couldn't get anymore, I went to guest services & they put an any use fastpass for each member of the party in my account

The last 2 park days we revisted parks we liked, at a more slow pace, but used the same concepts. Arrived a little later & stayed for nighttime fireworks.

The point of my post---plan ahead. AS SOON as you enter the ride with your 3rd fastpass, get on that app and start finding your next ride. I always got the soonest one available, and tried to get it closest to where we currently were. Sometimes I'd get one that was an hour or two out, then click on modify and try to find an earlier opening. That usually worked. When it didn't I'd modify 1/2 of our group--try to get an earlier one for them, then go back and get an earlier time for the other 1/2. Yes, I spent most of the ride queue with my nose in my phone, lol. But it was worth it. We've been to Disney several times, and know our way around, but this was the busiest and hottest by far. Big props to Josh at his website for his tips and advice.

 

[Shanti]

was great! We were at WDW last week, stayed onsite at Coronado Springs (in a refurbished room!) Friday night, moved on to a rented house for the week on Saturday. We were a group of 9, ages ranging from 4-68. We had heard horror stories of heat, humidity, busyness. Yes, it was all those things, but with planning, it was totally fine. I was "in charge" of fastpasses, ADRs, scheduling for all. I can't stress the importants of that. Here's what we did (yes I took notes while we were there, lol)

Sunday--MK (arrived about 8:00, pictures in front of the castle with NO ONE in our backgrounds, literally at the rope following the cast member to our first ride--makes a HUGE difference)
Peter Pan
Pooh
Little Mermaid
Met Ariel
Dumbo
Barnstormer
Rode train to Frontierland
BTMRR pre-scheduled FP+
Be our guest lunch ADR
Seven Dwarfs pre-scheduled FP+
Space Mtn pre-scheduled FP+ (1/2 of our party used their 3rd pre-scheduled FP+ for Speedway at the same time)
Buzz FP+
Haunted Mansion FP+
Saw the parade
Pirates FP+
Jungle Cruise FP+
Aladdin FP+
Small World FP+
Mickey's Philharmonic FP+
Monsters Inc FP+
Dinner at Cosmic Rays
**party split up here, 1/2 went to carousel & met Cinderella & Elana w/FP+
other 1/2 did Peoplemover and Space Mountain w/FP+

Let the park around 7:00, exhausted but saw SO MUCH

Hollywood Studios (arrived about 8:10, at front following castmember to first ride)
Rock n Roller Coaster (could have ridden 2 times in a row with little wait but opted for a snack instead)
1/2 our party used prescheduled FP+ for TOT, other 1/2 for Disney Jr.
Visited Star Wars launch bay & met Chewy, BB8, Kylo Ren
Toured One Mans Dream
Toy Story pre-scheduled FP+
Lunch at 50's Prime Time
Beauty & the Beast 2:00 show
Star Tours w/pre-scheduled FP+
Frozen Ever After
Toy Story FP+
Little Mermaid Show
1/2 our party did Toy Story again w/FP+, other 1/2 got RnR FP+

Animal Kingdom (arrived about 8:30)
Everest 3 times in a row, no wait. Could have done more but got a little dizzy, lol
1/2 of party in walking around Dinoland and waiting in Boneyard
Dinosaur
Safari pre-scheduled FP+
Tough to be a Bug
Lunch-Rainforest Cafe
Kali River Rapids pre-scheduled FP+
Lion King
River Ride in Pandora pre-scheduled FP+
Primeval Whirl FP+
Gorilla Trail
Safari
*we didn't see FOP, chose to get our FP+ for the river ride due to some people in our party not liking motion rides. Regret that decision 100%! River ride was a snooze-fest.

EPCOT (arrived about 8:25)
Soarin
Journey to imagination
Nemo
Turtle talk
Spaceship Earth pre-scheduled FP+
Character meet and greet pre-scheduled FP+
Counter service lunch
Frozen FP+
1/2 group Test Track w/guest services FP+
1/2 group Soarin w/guest services FP+ *my MDE went down after our 3rd fastpass & I couldn't get anymore, I went to guest services & they put an any use fastpass for each member of the party in my account

The last 2 park days we revisted parks we liked, at a more slow pace, but used the same concepts. Arrived a little later & stayed for nighttime fireworks.

The point of my post---plan ahead. AS SOON as you enter the ride with your 3rd fastpass, get on that app and start finding your next ride. I always got the soonest one available, and tried to get it closest to where we currently were. Sometimes I'd get one that was an hour or two out, then click on modify and try to find an earlier opening. That usually worked. When it didn't I'd modify 1/2 of our group--try to get an earlier one for them, then go back and get an earlier time for the other 1/2. Yes, I spent most of the ride queue with my nose in my phone, lol. But it was worth it. We've been to Disney several times, and know our way around, but this was the busiest and hottest by far. Big props to Josh at his website for his tips and advice.

I agree that summer is now a good time to go. Summer crowds are lower than they were years ago. Reports of higher crowd levels in fall seem to indicate that is high season now.

We also went over Easter weekend this year, and crowds were only moderate.

So yes, a lot of traditional crowd advice has been turned on its head in the last couple of years.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Great report! Fun to read.

Later day/evening touring has always been our thing. We like to swim.

Welcome home and thanks for sharing.

 

[mum2four]

Thanks for sharing, sounds like a successful trip!

You're so right....planning ahead and smart touring can make for a great trip any time of year. We have "survived" summertime and Christmas-New Years trips and had a blast. I'm not afraid of crowds during any time of the year now!

 

[Jross34]

I agree that summer is now a good time to go. Summer crowds are lower than they were years ago. Reports of higher crowd levels in fall seem to indicate that is high season now.

We also went over Easter weekend this year, and crowds were only moderate.

So yes, a lot of traditional crowd advice has been turned on its head in the last couple of years.

Or more people are going to universal to see Harry Potter rather than Disney

 

[annemce118]

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like you had a great time! You really got a lot done! I go in the summer most of the time since I am a teacher, and I really find it doable with preplanning. Plus I go solo which really helps too!

 

[mtemm]

Thanks for sharing! On your MK day I see you rope dropped Peter Pan. Did you walk through the castle to get there or take a different route?

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Thanks for sharing! On your MK day I see you rope dropped Peter Pan. Did you walk through the castle to get there or take a different route?

Through the castle

 

[adisneyaunt]

was great! We were at WDW last week, stayed onsite at Coronado Springs (in a refurbished room!) Friday night, moved on to a rented house for the week on Saturday. We were a group of 9, ages ranging from 4-68. We had heard horror stories of heat, humidity, busyness. Yes, it was all those things, but with planning, it was totally fine. I was "in charge" of fastpasses, ADRs, scheduling for all. I can't stress the importants of that. Here's what we did (yes I took notes while we were there, lol)

Sunday--MK (arrived about 8:00, pictures in front of the castle with NO ONE in our backgrounds, literally at the rope following the cast member to our first ride--makes a HUGE difference)
Peter Pan
Pooh
Little Mermaid
Met Ariel
Dumbo
Barnstormer
Rode train to Frontierland
BTMRR pre-scheduled FP+
Be our guest lunch ADR
Seven Dwarfs pre-scheduled FP+
Space Mtn pre-scheduled FP+ (1/2 of our party used their 3rd pre-scheduled FP+ for Speedway at the same time)
Buzz FP+
Haunted Mansion FP+
Saw the parade
Pirates FP+
Jungle Cruise FP+
Aladdin FP+
Small World FP+
Mickey's Philharmonic FP+
Monsters Inc FP+
Dinner at Cosmic Rays
**party split up here, 1/2 went to carousel & met Cinderella & Elana w/FP+
other 1/2 did Peoplemover and Space Mountain w/FP+

Let the park around 7:00, exhausted but saw SO MUCH

Hollywood Studios (arrived about 8:10, at front following castmember to first ride)
Rock n Roller Coaster (could have ridden 2 times in a row with little wait but opted for a snack instead)
1/2 our party used prescheduled FP+ for TOT, other 1/2 for Disney Jr.
Visited Star Wars launch bay & met Chewy, BB8, Kylo Ren
Toured One Mans Dream
Toy Story pre-scheduled FP+
Lunch at 50's Prime Time
Beauty & the Beast 2:00 show
Star Tours w/pre-scheduled FP+
Frozen Ever After
Toy Story FP+
Little Mermaid Show
1/2 our party did Toy Story again w/FP+, other 1/2 got RnR FP+

Animal Kingdom (arrived about 8:30)
Everest 3 times in a row, no wait. Could have done more but got a little dizzy, lol
1/2 of party in walking around Dinoland and waiting in Boneyard
Dinosaur
Safari pre-scheduled FP+
Tough to be a Bug
Lunch-Rainforest Cafe
Kali River Rapids pre-scheduled FP+
Lion King
River Ride in Pandora pre-scheduled FP+
Primeval Whirl FP+
Gorilla Trail
Safari
*we didn't see FOP, chose to get our FP+ for the river ride due to some people in our party not liking motion rides. Regret that decision 100%! River ride was a snooze-fest.

EPCOT (arrived about 8:25)
Soarin
Journey to imagination
Nemo
Turtle talk
Spaceship Earth pre-scheduled FP+
Character meet and greet pre-scheduled FP+
Counter service lunch
Frozen FP+
1/2 group Test Track w/guest services FP+
1/2 group Soarin w/guest services FP+ *my MDE went down after our 3rd fastpass & I couldn't get anymore, I went to guest services & they put an any use fastpass for each member of the party in my account

The last 2 park days we revisted parks we liked, at a more slow pace, but used the same concepts. Arrived a little later & stayed for nighttime fireworks.

The point of my post---plan ahead. AS SOON as you enter the ride with your 3rd fastpass, get on that app and start finding your next ride. I always got the soonest one available, and tried to get it closest to where we currently were. Sometimes I'd get one that was an hour or two out, then click on modify and try to find an earlier opening. That usually worked. When it didn't I'd modify 1/2 of our group--try to get an earlier one for them, then go back and get an earlier time for the other 1/2. Yes, I spent most of the ride queue with my nose in my phone, lol. But it was worth it. We've been to Disney several times, and know our way around, but this was the busiest and hottest by far. Big props to Josh at his website for his tips and advice.

Awesome... sounds like u had a great visit!

 

[Parker Clan]

I like to read posts like this! Some people's posts get a bit dramatic about the heat lol its totally manageable if you do it right. It's FL so I am not sure what they expect! But yours was very positive and informative & helpful for people who decide to / can only go in the summer (like us)

 

[triciambe]

was great! We were at WDW last week, stayed onsite at Coronado Springs (in a refurbished room!) Friday night, moved on to a rented house for the week on Saturday. We were a group of 9, ages ranging from 4-68. We had heard horror stories of heat, humidity, busyness. Yes, it was all those things, but with planning, it was totally fine. I was "in charge" of fastpasses, ADRs, scheduling for all. I can't stress the importants of that. Here's what we did (yes I took notes while we were there, lol)

Sunday--MK (arrived about 8:00, pictures in front of the castle with NO ONE in our backgrounds, literally at the rope following the cast member to our first ride--makes a HUGE difference)
Peter Pan
Pooh
Little Mermaid
Met Ariel
Dumbo
Barnstormer
Rode train to Frontierland
BTMRR pre-scheduled FP+
Be our guest lunch ADR
Seven Dwarfs pre-scheduled FP+
Space Mtn pre-scheduled FP+ (1/2 of our party used their 3rd pre-scheduled FP+ for Speedway at the same time)
Buzz FP+
Haunted Mansion FP+
Saw the parade
Pirates FP+
Jungle Cruise FP+
Aladdin FP+
Small World FP+
Mickey's Philharmonic FP+
Monsters Inc FP+
Dinner at Cosmic Rays
**party split up here, 1/2 went to carousel & met Cinderella & Elana w/FP+
other 1/2 did Peoplemover and Space Mountain w/FP+

Let the park around 7:00, exhausted but saw SO MUCH

Hollywood Studios (arrived about 8:10, at front following castmember to first ride)
Rock n Roller Coaster (could have ridden 2 times in a row with little wait but opted for a snack instead)
1/2 our party used prescheduled FP+ for TOT, other 1/2 for Disney Jr.
Visited Star Wars launch bay & met Chewy, BB8, Kylo Ren
Toured One Mans Dream
Toy Story pre-scheduled FP+
Lunch at 50's Prime Time
Beauty & the Beast 2:00 show
Star Tours w/pre-scheduled FP+
Frozen Ever After
Toy Story FP+
Little Mermaid Show
1/2 our party did Toy Story again w/FP+, other 1/2 got RnR FP+

Animal Kingdom (arrived about 8:30)
Everest 3 times in a row, no wait. Could have done more but got a little dizzy, lol
1/2 of party in walking around Dinoland and waiting in Boneyard
Dinosaur
Safari pre-scheduled FP+
Tough to be a Bug
Lunch-Rainforest Cafe
Kali River Rapids pre-scheduled FP+
Lion King
River Ride in Pandora pre-scheduled FP+
Primeval Whirl FP+
Gorilla Trail
Safari
*we didn't see FOP, chose to get our FP+ for the river ride due to some people in our party not liking motion rides. Regret that decision 100%! River ride was a snooze-fest.

EPCOT (arrived about 8:25)
Soarin
Journey to imagination
Nemo
Turtle talk
Spaceship Earth pre-scheduled FP+
Character meet and greet pre-scheduled FP+
Counter service lunch
Frozen FP+
1/2 group Test Track w/guest services FP+
1/2 group Soarin w/guest services FP+ *my MDE went down after our 3rd fastpass & I couldn't get anymore, I went to guest services & they put an any use fastpass for each member of the party in my account

The last 2 park days we revisted parks we liked, at a more slow pace, but used the same concepts. Arrived a little later & stayed for nighttime fireworks.

The point of my post---plan ahead. AS SOON as you enter the ride with your 3rd fastpass, get on that app and start finding your next ride. I always got the soonest one available, and tried to get it closest to where we currently were. Sometimes I'd get one that was an hour or two out, then click on modify and try to find an earlier opening. That usually worked. When it didn't I'd modify 1/2 of our group--try to get an earlier one for them, then go back and get an earlier time for the other 1/2. Yes, I spent most of the ride queue with my nose in my phone, lol. But it was worth it. We've been to Disney several times, and know our way around, but this was the busiest and hottest by far. Big props to Josh at his website for his tips and advice.

This was awesome to read! We are going in two weeks. My touring plan looks similar in terms of number of rides, but I figured we wouldn't be able to do everything. I'm so glad to hear that you were able to do so much - and pick up so many extra FP+s. Thanks for sharing!

 

[hvanes]

I really appreciate seeing what you secured for 4th, 5th, etc. FPs as we finish preparing for our early August visit. Thanks for the dose of optimism!

 

[mamamelody2]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[ksl5f123]

Wow! I am really impressed that you got 12 FP at MK! I usually travel with a group of 9 also. After the 3 pre-booked FPs, were you able to search on a group of 9 or did you have to break it up? Any tips on securing the extra FP for a big group?

 

[alan68]

I agree that summer is now a good time to go. Summer crowds are lower than they were years ago. Reports of higher crowd levels in fall seem to indicate that is high season now.

We also went over Easter weekend this year, and crowds were only moderate.

So yes, a lot of traditional crowd advice has been turned on its head in the last couple of years.

To paraphrase Yogi Berra, nobody goes to Disney World in the summer anymore! It's too crowded!

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Wow! I am really impressed that you got 12 FP at MK! I usually travel with a group of 9 also. After the 3 pre-booked FPs, were you able to search on a group of 9 or did you have to break it up? Any tips on securing the extra FP for a big group?

I was able to get 9 a lot, not for bigger attractions like Space Mtn, but easily got the others (Pirates, JC, etc). Split up the group into 2 smaller groups of fastpasses (4 & 5)at the same time if all 9 aren't available together.

 

[caliope]

Sounds like a great trip! We have our first summer visit coming up in August and I'm actually looking forward to it, despite the predicted heat and humidity. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

 

[jcvalenti]

Ever since my sisters and I had kids, we've been taking big summer trips every few years - usually 20 or so of us going at once. Summer is the only time we could all get our schedules together, and because we usually did trips in back to back years, we would usually go in late July/August one year, and late June/early July the next. Summer has a lot of challenges. It is HOT and it rains all the time. But it's totally manageable as long as you plan ahead. We often return to our house or resort mid-day to swim, take a nap and cool off a bit, usually while avoiding the afternoon thunderstorms that roll through almost every day. We find it reenergizes us, and lets us enjoy evenings at the parks much more.

Ever since FP+ came into existence, the summer experience has been great - the old days of having to sprint to FP stations are over, which means more time being able to sit in air conditioned areas and cool off. It also helps that in the last few years, apparently, the summers have not been nearly as crowded .... a decline in South American tour groups (the bane of our existence in the old fastpass days) as well as an increased shift to people going in fall seems to have contributed to that.

Disney has done a lot in the recent years as well to spread the crowds out ... the shift in MK security checkpoints seems great, and all the different "Desert Party" options seem to help spread people out for parade and firework viewing.

All in all, I would never tell someone not to go in Summer ... just that it takes some time planning to make sure you enjoy yourself.