First and one time only trip - newbie with questions

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We've done DL a ton of times. I've never been to WDW and this will likely be our only trip so I'm hoping I can get some advice from the experts.

We are there tue-fri, one day for each park in July 2019. We do not have hoppers. We do plan to be at park opening each day. Questions:

What day should we go to what park?
What is not to be missed at each park?
What fast passes should we try for?
Is there a plan of attack you suggest for each park?
What's your favorite quick serve? We are not planning to do any table meals.

Thank you for feedback!

 

[CERS]

Question, are you staying on property?

1- What day should we go to what park?
2- What is not to be missed at each park?
3- What fast passes should we try for?
4- Is there a plan of attack you suggest for each park?
5- What's your favorite quick serve? We are not planning to do any table meals.

So my suggestions:
1- It'll all depend on the fastpasses you are able to catch and what you prefer. As you do not have hoppers, the day for each park will probably come to when you find the FP+ for the headliners of each park: MK - SDMT / HS - SDD / AK - FOP / EP - FEA. If you stay onsite, you'll have more flexibility to choose as you can pick up at 60 days before your trip. At the 30 days mark, the most difficult FPs will probably be all already taken and you'll need to keep on checking.

2- AK: Flight of Passage (a MUST for the trip), Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur, Finding Nemo and Lion King.
- MK: Coming from DL, I would not miss SDMT, Philharmagic, any meal at Be Our Guest (must get this 180 days in advance!), Space Mountain (it is a little bit different) and Happily Ever After Fireworks (a MUST for the trip).
- Epcot: The whole world showcase, Mission Space, Frozen Ever After, Illuminations Fireworks.
- HS: Tower of Terror (best version ever), Rock and Rollercoaster, Toy Story Land, Star Wars Fireworks.

3- Flight of Passage at AK / SDMT at MK / FEA at Epcot / SDD at HS

4- Get the most difficult FP+ for the time you want at 60 days, and then build the rest of day out of that choice. Always try to have all 3 FP+ times before noon so you can start making more. Try to find available slots during the day to change or move up your current FPs so you can save more time.

5- For me it is Satu'li Canteen in Pandora (AK). But, well, I'm just in love with the whole Pandora area.

EDITED TO ADD: In Epcot I left out Test Track and Soarin as you have identical or very similar rides in California Adventure. If you had to pick one of the 2, go to Test Track as it is slightly different than the Cars attraction. Soarin is the exact same ride as the one in CA.

 

[mesaboy2]

We've done DL a ton of times. I've never been to WDW and this will likely be our only trip so I'm hoping I can get some advice from the experts.

We are there tue-fri, one day for each park in July 2019. We do not have hoppers. We do plan to be at park opening each day. Questions:

What day should we go to what park?
What is not to be missed at each park?
What fast passes should we try for?
Is there a plan of attack you suggest for each park?
What's your favorite quick serve? We are not planning to do any table meals.

Thank you for feedback!

See Post #8 of the FP FAQ.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We are staying at AKL.

 

[SA mom]

We’ve had great success using www.touringplans.com. They have a reliable crowd calendar ( and publish results each day with how they did the previous day), recommended park for each day, and customizable touring plans.

 

[ksibrel]

We’ve had great success using www.touringplans.com. They have a reliable crowd calendar ( and publish results each day with how they did the previous day), recommended park for each day, and customizable touring plans.

I second Touring Plans. Like you, I’ve been to DL so many times, I know it like the back of my hand. But WDW is a whole different beast. We’ve been a few times now since the implementation of magic bands and FP+ and Touring Plans has really helped us make the best of our trips. I only used the crowd calendar the first time and even just using that made our trip more enjoyable. This time we’ve got a toddler so I’m using more customized touring plans as well as their room request service and reservation finder. I hear their FP finder is helpful too, but I haven’t used it since we haven’t hit our FP reservation date yet. It’s crazy to me how much planning goes into a trip to WDW vs DL. But I love planning and enjoy it almost as much as the actual vacation.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We've never done touring plans before. Would I just plug in the fast passes we get?

 

[SA mom]

We've never done touring plans before. Would I just plug in the fast passes we get?

Yes. And when you want to break, eat, and what attractions you want to see. Then you pick if you would rather wait or walk or balance the two. It was wonderful when I had knee surgery and had to cut the walking some.

You will need to pay for a subscription to use the customizeable plans and the extended crowd calendar.

They also have ADR finder that you can use for free.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

We've done DL a ton of times. I've never been to WDW and this will likely be our only trip so I'm hoping I can get some advice from the experts.

We are there tue-fri, one day for each park in July 2019. We do not have hoppers. We do plan to be at park opening each day. Questions:

What day should we go to what park?
What is not to be missed at each park?
What fast passes should we try for?
Is there a plan of attack you suggest for each park?
What's your favorite quick serve? We are not planning to do any table meals.

Thank you for feedback!

What day should we go to what park?---That will depend on how well your FPs work out.

What is not to be missed at each park?---In my opinion: MK--Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean (these are rides I've ridden and consider my favs) I have not done 7 Dwarfs, but plan on it my next trip as it looks really cool! EPCOT--- Spaceship Earth, Test Track (again my favs I've ridden) AK--- Kilimanjaro Safari and Kail River Rapids. I don't do HS so I can't speak on that park.

What fast passes should we try for?---- Get all the biggies in each park, Big Thunder, 7 Dwarfs, Fight of Pandora, Test Track, Frozen Even After, Soarin, and even though I don't do Hollywood Studios, I know that Slinky Dog Dash is the big one there

Is there a plan of attack you suggest for each park?--Rope Drop or Early Entry!

What's your favorite quick serve? We are not planning to do any table meals.--- I only have one really, Cosmic Rays in Tomorrowland MK!

Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[Callist]

What day should we go to what park? - Like others, I'd plan this around your Fast passes. It'll be easier to get headliner FP later in your trip, so figure out which ones you want most and schedule those later.

What is not to be missed at each park? -

Animal Kingdom: Flight of Passage really was fun.
Magic Kingdom: We LOVED Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Depending on the age of any kids, my 8 year old thought that getting to drive a car on the Tomorrowland Speedway was awesome. Big Thunder is a fun ride with great theming. Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion are favorites, but I understand you have those at DL.​

What fast passes should we try for?

Is there a plan of attack you suggest for each park? - My family won't be rushed, so Rope Drop and early mornings are out of the question for us. We got up, had breakfast at our resort, went back to the room and got ready for the day, then headed to the bus stop. We still got to the parks within an hour of opening each day. With Fastpasses and frequent breaks, it worked out beautifully for us. We just went with the flow.

What's your favorite quick serve? We are not planning to do any table meals. - to be honest, our "favorite" was usually whichever was close and had mobile ordering. I liked Cosmic Rays and so did our 8 year old, husband didn't like the show. Both the 8 year old and the husband are INCREDIBLY picky eaters, so I'd pull up the menus on the app of anything I thought they might possibly deign to eat at and let them look.

 

[Kauai4life]

We said the same thing back in 2011 this will be are only trip, well were just about to embark on our 6th trip to WDW we prefer it over Disneyland and its twice as far for us.
Have a fantastic time.