MK FP and overall strategy help! What can i reasonably get done by lunch?

[Afabena]

Im starting to strategize my fast pass days and looking for help on a 60+1 morning at the MK. I have a PPO at BOG so the plan is to go straight to SDMT after breakfast. After that I’m stuck with what I will need a FP for and what will be a quick wait. I’m hoping someone can give me an idea of rides/character meets with fairly low wait times and those that I definitely need to FP. My 2 kids are only 6 and will be their first time. I would like to stay within the back half of Fantasyland and also go into Tomorrowland. The plan is to be out of the MK hopefully by 12:30 and back to BLT for pool time. We are hopping later in the day to Epcot.

Right now I’m thinking:

1. SDMT right after the PPO breakfast.
2. Winnie the pooh
3. Enchanted tales with belle
4. Under the sea
5. Meet Arial
6. FP for the barnstormer
7. Dumbo
8. FP speedway
9. Teacups
10. FP space mountain
11. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin

We will be there the first week of Nov. and have 2 other half days planned at MK: One late afternoon and an EMH evening and one almost full day with an EMH morning and MVMCP that night (not going to that).

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I can't really speak for whether you can get these specific rides done in that amount of time, but rope dropping MK you can get quite a lot of things done before noon. How long does enchanted tales with belle take, and meeting ariel? I think doing Buzz last without a fastpass will have you in at least a 30+ minute line. I would suggest doing that earlier, and doing teacups or the little mermaid ride later. Those will usually have shorter lines than Buzz midday. What times are your fastpasses? One strategy is as soon as you use your first fastpass (barnstormer), try to move the next one earlier. For example, if you have Barnstormer for 9:30am and Speedway for 10:30am and you get in line for barnstormer at 9:30am, start refreshing the app to move Speedway closer to 9:45am or something. You'd be surprised how often this is successful. Then you might be able to even add your fourth FP before you head out of MK, saving you time in another line (like Buzz).

 

[Afabena]

I don’t have any FPs yet, my 60 days is Sept 4 so looking for help to decide which to FP and what rides I can do relatively quickly from morning to noon. Also our first MK day is 60+1 so not sure what my chances will be for even Space Mountain? I would like to not zig zag, so hoping to do the right half of the park if I can, or most of it.

Our 2nd MK day will probably be harder to FP as we are going to Epcot in the AM that day and hopping to MK around 4, but MK has evening EMH that night so hoping that will help. Focus that night will be Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square.

Our last day is going to be MK again on an EMH morning and I will try to FP SDMT (60+5) later in the morning. Not sure what else for the last day.

I have not been since the days of paper fast passes!

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I think you'll be fine getting Space Mountain, I'm a passholder who frequently books 1-2 weeks out and I can get Space Mountain. I would just stack your fastpasses back to back in the morning when you go to epcot first, move them to earlier times if you can as you use them, and as soon as you use the 3rd book your 4th for MK. Don't forget to book the fastpasses for your *last* day first, and work in reverse, because those are the days you'll have the most options for & you'll be most likely to get exactly what you want for them. Usually that's only necessary for FOP, and even then if you're willing to check & refresh the app you can find it at any time.

 

[nco91590]

I would NOT use FP for Barnstormer. Especially if you're there in the morning. When we were in WDW in March (it was an absolute MADHOUSE) we were able to hit almost every ride in Fantasyland by lunch time. You could FP Winnie the Pooh, but all the other rides were 20min or less. It's the rides in the afternoon that I would suggest FPing---Space Mountain and Buzz. After you tap in to Buzz you can start refreshing for your 4th FP (speedway if you wanted for example).

 

[chris benton]

If you are doing SM, and SD, just skip Barnstormer altogether unless it's some nostalgia thing for you. Suggestion: if the wait is over 5 minutes, seriously, just skip it. It's a street carnival sized coaster. There's nothing wrong with that if it's what you'd like to do, but if you're not fully aware of what it is, it might be a pretty big letdown. If time is at a premium, that might save you some time and a letdown.

 

[JETSDAD]

As soon as you use your first FP start looking to move up your 2nd or get a different 2nd FP. For the rides listed it should be pretty easy to just go ride to ride only using FP's.

 

[MeggyScumEsquire]

If you are interested, Peter Pan's Flight wait time can get long fast and a fastpass can come in handy.

 

[Afabena]

What are my chances of a Peter Pan FP 60+1? Also, how are the lines for the princess meets in the AM? Still low also? Princess meets are going to be a must for my daughter.

My other thought was to FP the Mickey meet on the way out of MK around noon or so but that would tie up my FPs in the rest of MK that morning.

Any other thoughts for doing the other half of MK on a day I hop there in the afternoon? What are my chances for afternoon/evening FPs in the other lands with 6 people? Right now that day my daughter has a BBB appt at 4:15 and we have a CRT ADR at 7 with evening EMH.

 

[Afabena]

Barnstormer is not a must do for me, but I thought my kids might like it. Thanks for the tip not to wait more than 5 min!

 

[BarlowFamily]

I think you have a great plan and can do all that before your pool break, especially if you move up your FP times. Like others suggested, I would skip the FP for Barnstormer - it likely won't have a long line, and if there is a line you could probably get at 4th FP for it.

We did a very similar Fantasyland morning with DS4 a few months ago. My biggest surprise was the Standby wait for Enchanted Tales with Belle. It was a very short line in her father's cottage, but we still waited longer than the 20 minutes posted. I wish I had got a FP for that. When we were finally "sure" we'd be in the next group, we got cut off right at the door and had to wait fort the next round.

Buzz will likely have a wait by the time you get there. Fingers crossed for a day of FP there for you!

 

[MinnieMom85]

You should definitely be able to get PeterPan at 60+1. That would be my top FP pick because the line is always Soooooooo long and the ride is very short.

1. SDMT right after the PPO breakfast.
2. Winnie the pooh
3. Enchanted tales with belle
4. Under the sea
5. Meet Arial
6. FP for the barnstormer -skip FP as said above
7. Dumbo
8. FP speedway
9. Teacups
10. FP space mountain
11. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin

From this list I would shoot for FP being
PeterPan
Speedway
Space

After the first hour most of these will see about 30 min wait times.

 

[MinnieMom85]

I think you have a great plan and can do all that before your pool break, especially if you move up your FP times. Like others suggested, I would skip the FP for Barnstormer - it likely won't have a long line, and if there is a line you could probably get at 4th FP for it.

We did a very similar Fantasyland morning with DS4 a few months ago. My biggest surprise was the Standby wait for Enchanted Tales with Belle. It was a very short line in her father's cottage, but we still waited longer than the 20 minutes posted. I wish I had got a FP for that. When we were finally "sure" we'd be in the next group, we got cut off right at the door and had to wait fort the next round.

Buzz will likely have a wait by the time you get there. Fingers crossed for a day of FP there for you!

Agree with all this. We either try to do Belle right away or get a FP. The line moves very slow and often seems to go over the posted time.

Also Buzz is a really fun ride for my 7 and 4 yr old. Mid morning the line is very long but even the FP line can be 20+ min for some reason (like out past the FP tap posts).

 

[MinnieMom85]

Also, how are the lines for the princess meets in the AM? Still low also? Princess meets are going to be a must for my daughter.

I don’t think you will get through all those ride and see the princesses in the same morning if that is what you were asking. What time is park open on your MK morning day. If it’s 9, that only leaves you with four hours. With a party of six you should plan at least half an hour per ride/meet. Maybe if you get SDMT done right away you could still do 8 things (3 FP and five waits?) that is really stretching it I think.

 

[Afabena]

I appreciate all of the suggestions...I feel like MK has so many rides and I'm in charge of all the planning. Planning is stressful! My FP day is in a week and a half and I've only thought about rides for our first park day

 

[Wild4Walt]

So from what you have listed:

1. BOG ( breakfast should be about 30 minutes - maybe a bit less if you preorder )
2. 7DMT ( this is close to BOG - if you can get over there to get in line before RD, you're looking at close to 25-30 minutes start to finish at most )
3. Winnie the Pooh ( FP this - the times climb quickly as it's a slow loading ride )
4. Teacups
5. Barnstormer
6. Dumbo ( I'd probably FP this as well - depending on time of year the wait can be quite long )
7. Under the Sea
8. Meet Ariel
9. Tomorrowland Speedway ( FP - this is another slow loading ride )
10. Space Mountain or Buzz or Enchanted Tales ( you can try to get a 4th FP for one of these )

This is the order I'd try to do everything in to avoid criss crossing across the park too much which just eats up time.