Marathon Weekend 2020

[michigandergirl]

It’s the worst. Half the park is in the top tier. If it reduced standby for the rides by dialing back the number of FP+ issued I could live with it, but we all know that’s not the case.

Yeah, it's going to make touring at HS extremely difficult for the limited time we have. My friend & I only have 3 park days and only one of those days we can rope drop. And with the opening of ROR, I have no idea how that's going to affect things.

 

[rdiver]

edit day I made FP and days. To quick to post.

SAFD: got everything we wanted on Saturday morning! I was shocked.

Thursday Jan 9 Space, Peter Pan, and 7DMT. Some of the party is doing big thunder instead of PP
Friday Jan 10 able to snag Slinky Dog! Have reservations at Sci-fi for 4:10, then Slinky Dog FP for 6:30pm. Plan on spending the morning in Galaxys Edge
Saturday Jan 11 - Safari @ 9:15am, tusker house at 10:30, FOP at 12:30pm and Everest at 2pm. EMH so plan on getting there early and hit the non pandora side of the park.
Sunday- open. Still trying to decide what to do at Epcot. Probably Frozen or test track.
Monday- majority of the party leaves, so FP at MK for 7DMT, Space, Big thunder in the morning.
Tuesday - Slinky dog so far
Wednesday - 7DMT so far

Overall, for a group of 8 the FP we did great. Got everything we wanted with times we liked.

 

[rteetz]

what FP+ did you make, which are you excited about, anything you missed that you really wanted to get?

I don’t stress too much over FP these days. I booked something for each day but it may change and I may do other things.

 

[Baloo in MI]

SAFD: The family and I are going to WDW around Thanksgiving. So this trip had been my focus, getting Fast Passes and ADR’s set, and then of course changing everything multiple times as we get new ideas/plans. Then the other day I realized how close we were getting to Marathon Weekend and I still had not purchased tickets. So Friday night I purchased my ticket and Saturday was able to get Fast Passes, close one!

Marathon Weekend will be a solo trip this year, so I just got things that interest me. I am in agreement about Hollywood Studio tiering, it sucks!. But I got Rock’n’roll Coaster and Star Tours, two of my favourites! I am hoping to get into Galaxy’s Edge to go on Rise of the Resistance as I will have been on Smugler’s Run by then. But I am most excited that I get to go to Fantasmic. This was my favorite show at Disneyland and my family does not like the WDW version. So since I am solo I got the Fast Pass for it. I am doing one day at MK, HS and Epcot and am happy with what I got.

I have no idea about ADR’s. I enjoy going solo but have to admit that I get a little uncomfortable at the table service restaurants when I am alone. I need to get over it though so I can have some yummy food! Happy Sunday all!

 

[FFigawi]

SAFD: nothing booked yet. I might look into it in a month or so but otherwise plan to wing it.

 

[camaker]

SAFD: No Fastpasses here. I’m not really a thrill rides person, so I tend to go and play it by ear. If something has too long a wait, I’ll skip it. This craziness of planning months in advance is just ridiculous to me. I don’t know what I want to do when for the next week, much less that far in the future. My life is scheduled enough on a day to day basis. I don’t need or want my vacation planned to that level.

 

[BigEeyore]

I can't make FP until tomorrow - really the only one I am worried about is FoP. SDD is fun but not worth stressing about (I think TSM is more fun anyways).

I enjoy going solo but have to admit that I get a little uncomfortable at the table service restaurants when I am alone

I get it! I have been solo before at restaurants and brought a book to read - felt a bit self conscious about it at first but there are certain restaurants and meals at WDW that I really look forward to so I got over it.

 

[steph0808]

I go back and forth on making FPs vs trying to take it easy and go with the flow.

In the end, I usually end with "I only get to disney once a year, at most, and I spend a bunch if money on tickets, so I'm going full speed until I drop." Hahaha

 

[Barca33Runner]

I think I’m halfway in the middle on planning. I really like choosing my FP+ in advance and the planning aspect of a trip; but when I get to WDW I’m not really fussed by the plans I’ve made. If we miss a FP+ or two it’s not a huge deal; with the caveat that we will tend to use our FoP, 7DMT, and SDD since I’d feel a little guilty that we prevented others from getting those FP+ if we were unable to cancel in a reasonable time.

I like knowing that we’ve got FP+ planned if we need them. They were lifesavers a couple years ago when the Holiday crowds overran the parks during Marathon Weekend. We pretty much used our FP+ and got out of there.

ETA: I’m the type of person that will never get in a line that appears to be more than an hour wait (and so is the rest of my family), so we’re rarely in a position where having a FP planned makes us reconsider whether to do something else.

 

[CDKG]

I believe most (if not all) of us have either booked FP+ or should be making them in the next day or two (if you choose to do so at all), so for this week's SAFD, what FP+ did you make, which are you excited about, anything you missed that you really wanted to get?

Wednesday: Frozen, Spaceship Earth
Thursday: Haunted Mansion, Pooh, 7DMT
Friday: Kilimanjaro Safaris, Lion King, Dinosaur, HHHH, Via Napoli
Saturday: BoG, Haunted Mansion, BTMRR, Pirates
Sunday: Boma
Monday: Slinky Dog, DATW
Tuesday: Tusker House, Kilimanjaro Safaris, FoP

The only FastPass that I really wanted that I did not get was for my favorite ride, Tower of Terror (stupid HS tiering system!!!) I opted for Slinky Dog instead and am hoping to ride ToT at rope drop, if I can’t fit it in elsewhere. My standby limit is in the 20-30 min range depending on my mood and the attraction.

When I was down for Wine & Dine, I think I only used about half of my FastPasses. I spent most of my time with friends, which takes precedence over solo FastPasses. The parks were pretty busy, so standby wasn’t usually a good option. But, I’ve been to WDW before and plan to visit again, so I don’t HAVE to do anything.

Less than two month to go!!!

 

[Neon Cactus]

I got up Friday morning to book them and then discovered that my friend’s annual pass expires in December and he hasn’t renewed it so I wasn’t able to make them. He has the AP for both WDW and DL so he has to renew it personally. He is going to Disneyland today so I should be able to get them today. I did make them for myself for now just in case he doesn’t go.

The only one I wanted that I didn’t get was FoP. It was only available during the HH meet up. I’m not really worried because I’m going in December and February too, and he’s a DVC member and goes with his family for two weeks every year. So we’ll be happy with whatever we get. As long as I get on Tower of Terror, I’m happy.

 

[kirstie101]

First trip to WDW so not totally sure if I made good choices. I got Seven Dwarfs both MK days, Slinky Dog on my super short HS visit. No FOP so did Navi River and the safari. I figure I can single rider Everest. Epcot day I got spaceship earth and Epcot Forever. I really wanted Seven Dwarfs so excited about that one!

 

[RunDopey]

SAFD: We are doing a two week visit for our 25th anniversary, so we were able to book everything we wanted over the two weeks. I will not bore everyone with a two week list . I am looking forward to RotR and our first visit to Galaxy's Edge. We are doing Oga's and Light Sabers. Hoping that the crowds thin out the week after MW. I do typically book FP and ADRs for all the days we are there but we end up cancelling about a third of them each trip to do other stuff.

I am a fan of the after hours events for a more relaxed experience without the omnipresent crowds. We have also done the AK Ultimate Nights of Adventure tour a couple of times for the same reason. Hoping they introduce something similar for HS one day.

Right now the biggest thrill in my life is getting released to normal activity by my doctor seven weeks post spinal fracture

 

[lhermiston]

I have no idea about ADR’s. I enjoy going solo but have to admit that I get a little uncomfortable at the table service restaurants when I am alone. I need to get over it though so I can have some yummy food! Happy Sunday all!

I’m doing my first solo trip and made ADRs for 50s Prime and Boma. Maybe it’ll end up feeling weird to eat alone, but there’s no way I’m skipping two of my favorite Disney restaurants.

 

[rteetz]

I have no idea about ADR’s. I enjoy going solo but have to admit that I get a little uncomfortable at the table service restaurants when I am alone. I need to get over it though so I can have some yummy food! Happy Sunday all!

I’m that way about character meals. I’ll do normal dining solo no problem. But I just feel weird going to a character meal by myself.

 

[kirstie101]

I’m that way about character meals. I’ll do normal dining solo no problem. But I just feel weird going to a character meal by myself.

I didn’t even think about this when I made my Tusker House reservation. If my friends don’t join me I’ll be solo. It’ll be a little weird. I still wanna go though. Hmmmm I’m gonna have to think about this one.

 

[rteetz]

I didn’t even think about this when I made my Tusker House reservation. If my friends don’t join me I’ll be solo. It’ll be a little weird. I still wanna go though. Hmmmm I’m gonna have to think about this one.

I know several people do it. I may this trip myself but it is a little weird to me.

 

[drummerwife]

We’ll be there for two weeks and I’ve made a few FP+. I’ll be semi solo the first week since my DH and DS are attending a gaming conference. The FP+ I’m most happy about getting is splash mountain Sunday night before it closes.

 

[lhermiston]

I’m that way about character meals. I’ll do normal dining solo no problem. But I just feel weird going to a character meal by myself.

I did a meet-and-greet with Talking Mickey late one night by myself. Instant regret.

 

[rteetz]

I did a meet-and-greet with Talking Mickey late one night by myself. Instant regret.

Probably why I never went to meet him by myself.