Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Attractions Planning

I'm traveling to FL for work next week. 9/24 is my travel day, and I plan to visit the parks (I have 1 day left on a multi-day park hopper ticket). My plane lands at 9:45, so I'll get to DHS around 10:30. I have a rough plan, but looking for any feedback/recommendations. My main goals are to see SWGE and to spend a few hours at Food and Wine. Here is the rough plan:
Arrive DHS around 10:30.
I have FP+ for RnR coaster at 10:50 and Star Tours at 12:35.
I'll also ride Tower of Terror and Slinky Dog if the waits are not long.
Then go to SWGE, explore, and ride Smuggler's Run. I'm guessing 2-3 hours is probably enough.
Hop over to EPCOT for Food and Wine for 2-3 hours.
Depending on time, hop back over to DHS for Fantasmic (I have a FP+), more SWGE exploration, and Galactic Fireworks. I'll also do some other attractions depending on wait times.

BB
it looks good, I have found wait times at DHS shorter in the evening, I'm sure that having 3 hours of EMH in the morning is getting on site guests early and then they move to other parks. So another alternative would be to do F&W first and then spend the evening at DHS (obviously you would need to change your fp)
 
I'm traveling to FL for work next week. 9/24 is my travel day, and I plan to visit the parks (I have 1 day left on a multi-day park hopper ticket). My plane lands at 9:45, so I'll get to DHS around 10:30. I have a rough plan, but looking for any feedback/recommendations. My main goals are to see SWGE and to spend a few hours at Food and Wine. Here is the rough plan:
Arrive DHS around 10:30.
I have FP+ for RnR coaster at 10:50 and Star Tours at 12:35.
I'll also ride Tower of Terror and Slinky Dog if the waits are not long.
Then go to SWGE, explore, and ride Smuggler's Run. I'm guessing 2-3 hours is probably enough.
Hop over to EPCOT for Food and Wine for 2-3 hours.
Depending on time, hop back over to DHS for Fantasmic (I have a FP+), more SWGE exploration, and Galactic Fireworks. I'll also do some other attractions depending on wait times.

BB
Highly unlikely you will get to DHS 45 minutes after landing (we’ve spent longer than that just taxi-ing to the gate at MCO). I would go do F&W for lunch and DHS in the afternoon and evening to avoid the double hop.
 
Thanks for the feedback. Good advice on avoiding the double hop, but since I'll be parked at DHS I think I'll need to do the double hop regardless. If I parked at EPCOT I guess I'd have to take a bus back to EPCOT parking after DHS closes. I figured this way I could experience SWGE during the day and then again in the evening. And if I want to spend a lot more time there I'll just skip the hop to EPCOT altogether.

I used to get an early flight that landed at 8:30, and I could get my rental car and get to EPCOT by 9:30. Sometimes the plane would land early and I'd arrive even earlier. Hopefully I won't have any significant delays.
 
I'm traveling to FL for work next week. 9/24 is my travel day, and I plan to visit the parks (I have 1 day left on a multi-day park hopper ticket). My plane lands at 9:45, so I'll get to DHS around 10:30. I have a rough plan, but looking for any feedback/recommendations. My main goals are to see SWGE and to spend a few hours at Food and Wine. Here is the rough plan:
Arrive DHS around 10:30.
I have FP+ for RnR coaster at 10:50 and Star Tours at 12:35.
I'll also ride Tower of Terror and Slinky Dog if the waits are not long.
Then go to SWGE, explore, and ride Smuggler's Run. I'm guessing 2-3 hours is probably enough.
Hop over to EPCOT for Food and Wine for 2-3 hours.
Depending on time, hop back over to DHS for Fantasmic (I have a FP+), more SWGE exploration, and Galactic Fireworks. I'll also do some other attractions depending on wait times.

BB

I wouldn’t prebook Fantasmic. It’s very easy to get the day of with a bit of refreshing, especially if you’re solo. Book another tier two so that you can get a same day fp for Tower.
 


Thanks for the feedback. Good advice on avoiding the double hop, but since I'll be parked at DHS I think I'll need to do the double hop regardless. If I parked at EPCOT I guess I'd have to take a bus back to EPCOT parking after DHS closes. I figured this way I could experience SWGE during the day and then again in the evening. And if I want to spend a lot more time there I'll just skip the hop to EPCOT altogether.

I used to get an early flight that landed at 8:30, and I could get my rental car and get to EPCOT by 9:30. Sometimes the plane would land early and I'd arrive even earlier. Hopefully I won't have any significant delays.
If you do Epcot first you can just drive to DHS. It will be a bit more walking to get to the parking lot from World Showcase but still save time compared to going back and forth with transit time and gate security
 
Hey guys! I’m torn on what to do for December, so I’d like to get your suggestions. So we have dinner reservations the night RotR opens. (Had them prior to opening date being announced.) I also have the same restaurant booked a few days before. How crazy do you think HS will be that night? I’d love to get on the new ride, but between DS, DD and myself, we have 0 patience 😆 Do I brave the crowds and hope it won’t be too bad since we’ll be there at night... or play it safe and get in prior? Thanks for your opinions!
 
Hey guys! I’m torn on what to do for December, so I’d like to get your suggestions. So we have dinner reservations the night RotR opens. (Had them prior to opening date being announced.) I also have the same restaurant booked a few days before. How crazy do you think HS will be that night? I’d love to get on the new ride, but between DS, DD and myself, we have 0 patience 😆 Do I brave the crowds and hope it won’t be too bad since we’ll be there at night... or play it safe and get in prior? Thanks for your opinions!
I don’t think a dinner resolution alone is worth braving opening day crowds for a major attraction you do not plan to ride that day. Enjoy dinner in another park or at a resort that night.
 


Hey guys! I’m torn on what to do for December, so I’d like to get your suggestions. So we have dinner reservations the night RotR opens. (Had them prior to opening date being announced.) I also have the same restaurant booked a few days before. How crazy do you think HS will be that night? I’d love to get on the new ride, but between DS, DD and myself, we have 0 patience 😆 Do I brave the crowds and hope it won’t be too bad since we’ll be there at night... or play it safe and get in prior? Thanks for your opinions!

Meh......food is food and this a new ride, supposedly "THE" ride in WDW, the most advanced technologically ever built, according to Disney. With 300 Animatronics in the queue line alone, this sounds like a true winner. While GE is already open and that will take a bit off the crowds, IMPO and do expect the lines to be crazy, I would say....

GO FOR IT!

If I was near WDW I would myself, seeing in how you already have an ADR for the same place, go enjoy it take in the excitement, there is pretty decent food in GE and drink! And they do have a VQ just in case, so go for it have some fun as one goes to Disney for the fun and rides, take plenty of pics for those of us who will live through you all!! HAVE FUN!
 
My son is almost 3 and just over 38” so makes the cut off for SDD, SDMT and Smugglers Run. He loves kiddie coasters so SDD and SDMT are both on our list but I’m wondering how intense is Smugglers Run? Too much for a 2.5+ year old? And if so, can anyone confirm how rider swap works since there is no FP for Smugglers Run?
 
My son is almost 3 and just over 38” so makes the cut off for SDD, SDMT and Smugglers Run. He loves kiddie coasters so SDD and SDMT are both on our list but I’m wondering how intense is Smugglers Run? Too much for a 2.5+ year old? And if so, can anyone confirm how rider swap works since there is no FP for Smugglers Run?
I merged your question to the appropriate thread
I believe if he can do SDMT he'll be fine. It's more bumpy and louder so if that affects him maybe skip it.
Rider swap you go to the CM to the left of the entrance with an ipad and let them know you need a rider swap, they will tap your MB/tickets, then the first group gets in line and rides, the group comes out, you swap and the second person plus 2 get to ride through the fp queue
 
My son is almost 3 and just over 38” so makes the cut off for SDD, SDMT and Smugglers Run. He loves kiddie coasters so SDD and SDMT are both on our list but I’m wondering how intense is Smugglers Run? Too much for a 2.5+ year old? And if so, can anyone confirm how rider swap works since there is no FP for Smugglers Run?

I'm having the same issue trying to figure out if our just-tall-enough little guy can ride. But I have read that rider swap is available: even though they do not yet have FP, there is a FP entrance (for future rollout of FPs) so they have been using that for rider swap and disability access passes.
 
My son is almost 3 and just over 38” so makes the cut off for SDD, SDMT and Smugglers Run. He loves kiddie coasters so SDD and SDMT are both on our list but I’m wondering how intense is Smugglers Run? Too much for a 2.5+ year old? And if so, can anyone confirm how rider swap works since there is no FP for Smugglers Run?
Let me say this. Sometimes intensity is NOT with the roughness of the ride, but the kids PERCEPTION of the ride.

My son loves Soarin, but when he went on FOP, the pre-show and realness of it was too intense and he chickened out in the theater room (thankfully he could exit with my wife before the ride started).

My son liked SDMT when he went at 3 .. because it was dark and he couldnt see what was happening. He went again a YEAR later when it was daytime and he found it too intense and didnt want to ride it again with my wife (Rider Swap who was waiting with the infant).

My son (now 6) loves Star Tours but it took us all morning to convince him to get into the queue for the Falcon despite us telling him it was like Star Tours. Luckily the queue wasn't as intense as FOP and he enjoyed seeing Hondo and he LOVED being the gunner and pushing buttons.

My daughter is turning 3 soon and inst tall enough for SDMT or MFSR. But if she was, I think it would be tough with her .. she might freak out at the realness of it all and NOT want to sit in a chair fair away from Mommy or daddy by herself and would cry or yell and ruin the ride for the rest of the cockpit. I would wait.

But who knows ... every kid is different .. my son had to be practically dragged onto Pirates as a 6yo and my daughter (2yo) ASKED to go on it.

Rider Swap works for MFSR .. my wife did it in August and they just put that person through the FP line (that isnt being used). The FP queue dumped her int the pre-show room right before Hondo, so you dont miss the pre-shows .. just some of the queue elements.
 
Let me say this. Sometimes intensity is NOT with the roughness of the ride, but the kids PERCEPTION of the
This.

My 3 year old was the pilot on MFSR (nope, she couldn’t reach the controls). She found it totally fine but when you go in, you’re just going to sit on a chair in a room. It doesn’t look like anything out of the ordinary.

Whereas she chickened our of SDMT because the first thing you see from there is a drop. (she fell asleep when we rode SDD so no idea how she would have reacted to that)

She loved MFSR. She’s seen a lot of Star Wars material so she knew exactly what was happening and she enjoyed herself so much.
 
Thanks tlmadden73! Really useful perspective and so true! I'm trying to show him some videos of the rides in advance to help him become familiar with what to expect. Not sure if it will help but it's gotten him excited for SDD so far!

And thanks all for the info on Rider swap! Good to know that you can still utilize the FP line for the Rider Swap (and maybe even faster(?) since there won't actually be FP folks in line!

Regardless of whether he rides or not, it will be a great trip and looking forward to seeing SWL!
 
I'm traveling to FL for work next week. 9/24 is my travel day, and I plan to visit the parks (I have 1 day left on a multi-day park hopper ticket). My plane lands at 9:45, so I'll get to DHS around 10:30. I have a rough plan, but looking for any feedback/recommendations. My main goals are to see SWGE and to spend a few hours at Food and Wine. Here is the rough plan:
Arrive DHS around 10:30.
I have FP+ for RnR coaster at 10:50 and Star Tours at 12:35.
I'll also ride Tower of Terror and Slinky Dog if the waits are not long.
Then go to SWGE, explore, and ride Smuggler's Run. I'm guessing 2-3 hours is probably enough.
Hop over to EPCOT for Food and Wine for 2-3 hours.
Depending on time, hop back over to DHS for Fantasmic (I have a FP+), more SWGE exploration, and Galactic Fireworks. I'll also do some other attractions depending on wait times.

BB

Well, the day went pretty much as planned. Plane landed at 9:40, I arrived at DHS around 10:25 and was in the park around 10:35.
The park seemed very busy, but most wait times were not too bad.
Tower of Terror said 35 min. wait so I did that.
I then did the RnR Coaster with a FastPass.
Then headed to SWGE and did some exploring. Rode Smuggler's Run from the single rider line. Ate the ribs at Docking Bay 7.
Then I did Star Tours with a FastPass.

Then took the boat to Epcot for Food and Wine. Ropa vieja empanada from the Caribbean kiosk was very good. Also the maqueco from Brasil, and the maple bourbon cheesecake at the cheese kiosk. Also got a margarita at La Cava in Mexico.

Then hopped back over to DHS.
I wanted to ride Slinky Dog, but the wait was never shorter than 50 minutes so I didn't .
I did Toy Story Mania because the wait was about 20 mins.
Went back to SWGE, rode Smuggler's Run again waiting in the standby queue because I wanted to see the whole queue. The pilots were a mom and her young daughter, and they were so bad that it actually made the ride more fun because they were running into everything. Did some shopping -- the Resistance items are only sold at some carts over at the Resistance side of SWGE.
I watched Fantasmic, then got another FastPass for RnR coaster, then walked around SWGE after dark (which is really cool) before watching the animation show and fireworks.
 
Yes sometimes not being the pilot can be more fun. I've been the engineer twice and ended up being a marauder on the second one.

My first time was a little girl and her mother who were also running into things. I got to hear Hondo say "Well that was rough." which was funny. The second time was two boys who were quite good pilots. Their parents were trying to films them and watch them. They kept yelling at their folks "push the Button. Fire Mom Fire. Dad fire on the ships. " Needless to say this was pretty fun too.
 
My DD(20) and I are going to be at WDW for a wedding the first week of December. We are arriving around midnight on Wednesday 12/4. I have a 10:30 reservation for Oga's on 12/5, but I expect that my daughter is going to want to go in with the opening crowd to try to ride RotR.

Does anyone have any idea what that experience might be like from onsite? Any guesses as to when the busses will start running to the parks? We are at ASMu so no gondola or walking for us.

I realize that this is all just speculation at this point, but I know there are some experts in here that will have some guesses, at least.
 
My DD(20) and I are going to be at WDW for a wedding the first week of December. We are arriving around midnight on Wednesday 12/4. I have a 10:30 reservation for Oga's on 12/5, but I expect that my daughter is going to want to go in with the opening crowd to try to ride RotR.

Does anyone have any idea what that experience might be like from onsite? Any guesses as to when the busses will start running to the parks? We are at ASMu so no gondola or walking for us.

I realize that this is all just speculation at this point, but I know there are some experts in here that will have some guesses, at least.
If it's anything like the opening of SWGE it'll be much, much earlier than opening time. I would recommend booking an Uber or Lyft. For SWGE the parking lot opened at 3:30am and they let us into the park short after and I was inside SWGE by 4:30am
For people in the Epcot resorts they were not allowed to walk over until 3:30am
 
If it's anything like the opening of SWGE it'll be much, much earlier than opening time. I would recommend booking an Uber or Lyft. For SWGE the parking lot opened at 3:30am and they let us into the park short after and I was inside SWGE by 4:30am
For people in the Epcot resorts they were not allowed to walk over until 3:30am

Thanks for the reply. I was afraid you were going to say that. I guess we won't be sleeping much. Ha!
 

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