Christmas Week at the Swan - additional FP Success!

[Mom*3]

We went to WDW for a short stay Christmas Week, 4 nights at the Swan hotel, 12/26-12/30. We were celebrating my husband's 50th Birthday, but it was also a chance to see WDW at Christmas and vacation together with our college age kids.
Our group included me (49), DH (50), DS (22), DD (19), DD (17), SIL (47) and DS girlfriend (22). I mention all the ages, because I think it made a difference in our ability to navigate the parks. We were never really worried about getting separated (happened a few times in the crowds), we could text each other and catch up easily. Also, I knew that my college age kids would be able to work the MDE app quicker than me.
Staying at the Swan allows you to make FP+ 60 days in advance. We were very successful on our FP+ day. My husband was on one computer on his MDE account and I was on another with my own account. We were able to get FOP, 7DMT, Peter Pan, Slinky, etc. Also, MagicBands are not included or utilized at the Swan, but we bought ours on-line through the Disney store to use for park admission and FP+. We definitely thought they were worth the additional cost.

Our flight to Orlando was delayed a few hours (mechanical issue, not weather), so we did not arrive until 4:30 ish on 12/26. It was not really an issue for us, we didn't have any specific plans, except for dinner, plus we were later compensated from Soutwest Airlines. We had booked 2 rooms on Priceline Express for the Swan. Check-in was smooth, we were given adjoining rooms on the 9th floor. We cleaned up and got ready for our dinner reservation (7pm) at Shula's Steakhouse, located in the Dolphin hotel. I made the reservation through Open Table about 60 days before we arrived. Dinner was great, a little $$$, but we were celebrating my husband's 50th! We walked around the Boardwalk, took pics, shopped, looked at the Boardwalk Gingerbread display then went to bed early in anticipation of our LONG day at Magic Kingdom.

 

[Mom*3]

12/27 - Magic Kingdom
I am shocked when I look back at what we were able to accomplish in one day, during Christmas week. But again, we were 7 adults, with decent starting FP+'s and we were able to get 3 additional FP's through out the day.

Left the Swan at 7am, bus to Magic Kingdom
Security and bag check took 10 min, maybe
First stop, the Emporium, for Mickey Ears!
We took Photopass pics (no lines at this hour) and our own pics. My photo timestamps indicate that we were in front of the Castle at 8:10 am
-8:15am - Rode Little Mermaid - Standby, posted 10 min, but really walk-on
-8:35am 7DMT FP+
-9am - Crystal Palace ADR
Ate and saw all of the characters by 10:07 am (photo timestamp)
-10:15 - People Mover - 10 min Standby, but really walk-on
-Carousel of Progress - walk-on
-10:45am Space Mountain FP+
-Tea Cups - 30 min Standby
-Mickey's Philharmagic - Standby (time ?)
- We took a little break in the Liberty Square area to get away from the Fantasyland crowds as we waited for our Peter Pan FP+ window to open
-12:45 Peter Pan FP+
The FP line was really long, way out into the Fantasyland crowds. But, while we were in line, we immediately started searching for a Splash Mountain FP. My son was quickly able to grab one for 11pm for the 7 of us. We were slowly able to modify that time earlier and earlier. It took approximately 30 min of Refresh to get the 11pm modified to 4:45pm. This was our first time using MDE and FP+ and Refresh. If we had broken our party up, we probably could have gotten it even earlier. But, we were newbies.
-1:30-3:30pm We basically took a break inside the park, instead of returning to the hotel. We snacked at Friar's Nook, bought a refillable popcorn bucket, went to Aloha Isle and got Dole Whips. My daughter is lactose intolerant and was really looking forward to Dole Whips! Also, we tried Mobile Ordering at Aloha Isle. Worked just fine for us. We thought about going to watch the Parade, but the kids wanted rides over parades. So, off to Pirates.
-3:30 - Pirate's of the Caribbean - Standby 60 min
-4:45pm Splash Mountain FP+ (4th)
-Hall of President's
Started working on Small World FP+ while we waited,
-6pm Headed to Hub
-6:15 Frozen Holiday Wish - took lots of pics here, but very crowded
-walked through shops
-7:00 Tony's Town Square - 7pm ADR
-8:30 - It's a Small Word FP+ (5th)
Fastpass line was really long for this, we probably waited 30 min, I think the ride may have been down. But, we used the time to work on Buzz FP's
-9:30 - Buzz Lightyear FP+ (6th)
This was the first time we broke our party up into smaller groups, but we could still not get all of us on. We only had FP's for 4 of us. The adults rested. We were fine with that.
-10pm - Holiday Wishes Fireworks
While we were waiting for the kids on Buzz, there was a park announcement that the Hub was full, please watch the fireworks from wherever you are.
We had planned on watching from behind the Castle anyway. We were fine with this view point. We were tired and joined quite a few people sitting on the pavement near the carousel.
This is not the best view for pics, etc. But, is was kinda cool to do once, you are basically in the middle of the fireworks.
-10:20 Haunted Mansion - 10 min Standby, but basically walk-on
We walked very quickly to Haunted Mansion after the fireworks, along with everyone else.

After Haunted Mansion, we thought about riding Big Thunder, but the wait time was back up to 60 min. I had a feeling that was an inflated time, but we were tired and wanted to shop.
Hit the stores for an hour.
Bus back to Swan
Midnight - Bed!

 

[NJlauren]

Following to see how many FP you get for 7! Going on a trip with 7 and an infant and I’m the FP searcher so interested to hear your results!

 

[Mom*3]

I feel like we had pretty good results for FP for 7, during Christmas Week. But, we had 4 of us looking off and on. My DS (22) had the best results in just grabbing a FP for the ride we wanted, irregardless of the time. Then, my DH had the best results modifying the time to something we wanted. Grabbing the FP at whatever time shows up, seems to have a big advantage, because when you go back in to modify it, that ride is now listed at the top of your selection and you do not have to scroll through the list to find it over and over. At first we were nervous to break our party up, but once we started doing that, we had more options. The only time it didn't work for us was on Buzz at MK. Other than that, we were able to get 2's and 3's that had overlapping times. We Refreshed a lot!
FWIW - we have newish phones. iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 8. We also have Sprint unlimited data and did not have to rely on the Park's WiFi. We also have portable charging banks for our phones, but I purchased a FuelRod charger on our first night, walking through the Boardwalk hotel. I know there is some debate on the quality of the FuelRod, but it worked well for us. We would re-charge one or two phones and then exchange it for a fresh one. I had looked up the FuelRod exchange locations in the Parks and screenshot it ahead of time. I think you can look up the locations on MDE, but it was easier for me to screenshot it.

 

[Mom*3]

12/28 Epcot

9am - Left the Swan, walked to Epcot
Zero line at the International Gateway Security and bag check
-9:25am Soarin' FP+
-Living with the Land - Standby 40 min listed, actually 20 min
-11am Spaceship Earth with our 10:25am FP+
really long line for FP
-11:25am Mission Space FP+
-Noon - Nine Dragons ADR
Started working on Frozen FP
-1:30pm - Test Track - Single Rider
Waited about 30 min in Single Rider line
-2pm shopped, took Photopass and our own pics, Club Cool
-3pm Walked back to Swan
Walked through BeachClub to look at Gingerbread Carousel
-Rested at hotel
Some of us napped, some of us swam, DH worked on Refreshing Frozen FP, and I worked on modifying our 50's Prime Time reservation for the next day
-6:30 Walked back to Epcot (location is my favorite part of the Swan/Dolphin)
-Snacked around the Holiday Kitchens
-8:25 Frozen FP+ (4th)
We broke our party of 7 up into 3 smaller groups (2,2,3). 8:25 was the time those FP's overlapped
Frozen FP+ line was really long, we waited at least 30 min in the FP+ line
-Holiday Kitchens closed at 8:30, so we snacked some more at various Country's QS (Germany, Morocco and France)
-10:30 Watched Illuminations from France
-Left Epcot through International Gateway and walked very quickly to Ample Hills Creamery on the Boardwalk. We snuck in after 11pm closing, they locked the doors behind us.
-11:30 Bed!

 

[Mom*3]

12/29 Hollywood Studios

-9am left the Swan - boat to HS (didn't get on 1st boat, had to wait for a 2nd one)
- 9:40am Rock 'n' Roller Coaster with 9:25am FP+
Wanted to ride it again with Single Rider, but they closed off the Single Rider line while we were there
-Took Photopass, and our own pics, basically sat on a curb until our ToT FP
-10:25 Tower of Terror FP+
-11am Beauty and the Beast show - Standby
We were near the front of the Standby line, but we barely got a seat, the theatre filled up with FP's
-12pm Indiana Jones Stunt Show - Standby
We walked very quickly from the Beaut and the Beast show. As we entered the Standby line, we were told it would be standing room only. We did get seats, but just barely.
I purchased the Alien Christmas Popcorn bucket here, lots of availability, even 4 days after Christmas.
-12:45 Brown Derby lunch ADR
-Muppet Vision 3D - Standby listed at 40 min, not sure what time we actually got in, waited through several show rotations
-3:30-5pm - we took an In-Park break instead of returning to the hotel
Some of us shopped, some of us sat on a bench outside of Mama Melrose's. It was very quiet back there.
-5:20 Slinky FP+
Slinky had a 5 hour Standby line, we talked to CM's who couldn't believe that people were willing to wait. My SIL talked to a grandma that had been waiting 5 hours for her family to ride the ride!
TSMM was down most of the day contributing to the Slinky Standby
-6pm 50's Prime Time - ADR
Started working on Star Tours FP (unfortunately we had to wait until after riding Slinky to look for our 4th FP, we tried constantly to Modify Slinky earlier, but no luck)
-7:30 Sunset Season Greetings
Shopped, Photopass, took our own pics, enjoyed the Soap Snow (great photo ops here)
-8:25 Star Tours FP+ (4th)
We waited to enter the ride until 8:25 when our FP+'s overlapped, the Standby time was listed as 60 min. But, as soon as we entered the line, the Standby line and FP+ line merged. The ride was actually a walk-on.
-8:45pm - Three of us went back to hotel (exhausted), 4 of us went to TSMM
-8:45 - Toy Story Mania - Standby 40 min
Park officially closed at 9pm, but we were already in line
-9:30pm - Jingle Bell Jingle Jam
-10pm Boat back to Swan (had to wait for 3 boats)

 

[Mom*3]

12/30 Animal Kingdom

9am - checked out/left bags with Bell Services
-9:30 Bus to Animal Kingdom (lots of traffic on roadway)
-10am through security and bag check
-10:15 Avatar - FOP FP+
-snacks and drinks in Africa
-11:20am Kilimanjaro Safaris FP+
-Lunch at Harambe Market
-12:20 Expedition Everest FP+
We wanted to ride it again Single Rider, but the Single Rider line was 60 min
-1pm - UP! Bird Show - Standby
Tried working on Dinosaur FP
-Dole Whip from Tamu Tamu Refreshments
Gave up on Dinosaur, tried for Bug's Life
-Shopped
-3:05pm - It's a Bug's Life FP+ (4th)
-3:30 Back to Swan to pick up luggage
-4pm - Uber to Airport - LOTS of traffic
Our Uber driver said he refused to work NYE, even though he knew he could make alot of money
-Security took 30 min for those of us without TSA Pre-Check
-8:15 Flight home


I had planned on getting to the park early enough to ride Dinosaur before our FOP FP+, but between packing up and traffic on the way there, we didn't make it in time. We probably would have been able to get additional FP+'s here, but had to leave by 4pm.