Help with MK/ETWB strategy

[westminster]

We're making our first trip to Disney in a couple of weeks with two days planned at MK. I've been using the TP software and have been able to fit in all of our target rides with pretty short waits - except for Belle, which hovers around 35 - 40 minutes (unless we go first thing but then that eats up too much of our first hour in the park). I am wondering if we should rethink any of our FPs below and switch them to Belle, which is still available for both days?:

Day 1 (CL 8): Frontier/Adventure/Liberty including Tom Sawyer, parade, fireworks
-Current FP and ADR: 9:45 BTMRR; 10:45 POTC; 11:45 JC; 12:55 Crystal Palace
-ETWB is still available at 6 PM which would work well for our schedule but it's on the other side of the park, and moreover we wouldn't be able to take advantage of fourth FP. But maybe "tap and refresh" isn't all that valuable since we already plan to fit in all of our target rides with reasonable wait times, and also have big chunks of the day allotted for the parade, fireworks, and TSI?

Day 2 (CL 7): Fantasy/Tomorrowland and leave park late afternoon
Current FP and ADR: 8:10: BOG PPO (plan to ride SDMT at 9); 10:10: PPF; 11:10: Space; 11:55: Cinderella; 1:50: SDMT
ETWB is still available for mid-afternoon which also works well for our schedule, but I would hate to drop any of these FPs for rides with even longer waits than Belle - unless we cancel PPF and count on riding it right after BOG?

What would you do? Any advice much appreciated!

 

[CountyMounty]

What time do you plan to arrive on Day 1 if you plan to be there at/near park opening and plan to head in and to the left POTC should be almost a walk on for a while. If I were to replace any of the fastpasses with ETWB thats the one I would replace as it would work into the plan of riding it first on that side of the park and is probably the easiest to get same day out of the ones listed. We just returned and on both days we were at MK, one CL6 and one CL9, POTC was available both days as a 4th + fastpass until mid/late afternoon and actually ETWB popped up as a 4th+ one as well a few times. In fact we grabbed it as about our tth or 8th FP in the afternoon. As many times as we've been to MK we had never done it, primarily because we have two boys who aren't really into meeting the princesses. It ended up being one of the highlights of the trip as our DS got to play Beast and dance with Belle, it was so sweet. One thing I will say is do not underestimate the value in the 4th+ fastpass strategy, while we have always known it and tried to get a few extra here and there, this time I was serious about utilizing it to its fullest, and though it does take a bit of screen time and distraction from other things, it was well worth it. At some point if I have time I want to go back over a couple of our days to see just how many FP we got in one day. I'm willing to bet on one of our MK days we got about 20. At DHS we rode TOT 4 times in a row with FP with a posted wait time of 45+ minutes. Lots of tab and refreshing or grabbing and swapping to do this but I'd do it while waiting in lines or watching shows that I've now seen many time and generally within just a few minutes could grab our next one. Up to you though just how much time you want to put into grabbing more fastpasses.

 

[sharonabe]

I've been using the TP software and have been able to fit in all of our target rides with pretty short waits - except for Belle, which hovers around 35 - 40 minutes (unless we go first thing but then that eats up too much of our first hour in the park)

I think the reason it hovers around that time frame is because the show itself lasts about 20 min. If you happen to get there just as they have started, you'll have to wait for that show to end before you can go in and then you have your 20 min. Even if you have a FP, if you catch it just after they close the door, you still have to wait.

I wouldn't change any of your FP for this. Just make sure you're in the line with 20 or less people in front of you and you should get into the next show.

 

[mickey765]

Just an idea, you could go your second day after rope dropping SDMT.

 

[westminster]

What time do you plan to arrive on Day 1 if you plan to be there at/near park opening and plan to head in and to the left POTC should be almost a walk on for a while. If I were to replace any of the fastpasses with ETWB thats the one I would replace

Was planning to be at the park by 8:30 and then RD Haunted Mansion, Small World, and Magic Carpets before heading to BMR. I was also thinking that POTC would be the one to swap out, and that I could probably fit it in with minimal wait some time during the first hour before riding BMR.

actually ETWB popped up as a 4th+ one as well a few times. In fact we grabbed it as about our tth or 8th FP in the afternoon. As many times as we've been to MK we had never done it, primarily because we have two boys who aren't really into meeting the princesses. It ended up being one of the highlights of the trip as our DS got to play Beast and dance with Belle, it was so sweet.

That's so good to hear - I meant to ask whether Belle ever pops up as a same day FP as most of the info out there suggests it's impossible to get day of. Glad you were able to check it out and like it. My (7 year old) daughter really wants to do it but my (9 year old) son is like NO WAY! I think it sounds cool - I'm hoping to convince him when we're in the park, otherwise we'll have to split up.

One thing I will say is do not underestimate the value in the 4th+ fastpass strategy, while we have always known it and tried to get a few extra here and there, this time I was serious about utilizing it to its fullest, and though it does take a bit of screen time and distraction from other things, it was well worth it.

Yeah, I was pretty excited to try out the 4th FP strategy, and thought I was set up pretty well for it with three consecutive morning FPs, but that will be thwarted if I take the evening Belle FP. It does seem like it would be a little more relaxed not having to worry about the screen times and distractions - this will be our first time in Disney, and we didn't want to necessarily spend our first day in MK rushing from ride to ride, but rather just taking it all in.

I think the reason it hovers around that time frame is because the show itself lasts about 20 min. If you happen to get there just as they have started, you'll have to wait for that show to end before you can go in and then you have your 20 min. Even if you have a FP, if you catch it just after they close the door, you still have to wait.

Good point, though I thought I remembered reading that they let people in on a rolling basis unlike some of the other shows with set times? I also heard the queue is pretty cool so maybe it's not that bad to just do it standby.

Just an idea, you could go your second day after rope dropping SDMT.

I did consider that, but we were planning to use that first hour of our Tomorrow/Fantasyland day to hit Pooh, Buzz, Astro, and Little Mermaid before the lines build. Belle will eat up 30 minutes plus which would take up most of that first hour where we could otherwise fit in 3 or 4 rides.

Good arguments both ways - I don't know, I'm still on the fence - any other thoughts? Was anyone else able to get Belle as a same day FP? If that's a decent possibility then I would probably leave things the way they are and take my chances.

 

[mickey765]

You also have a better chance of getting Pooh, Buzz and Mermaid as same day fastpasses. Just something to think about. I don't know your plans, but you could always save those rides for the afternoon as same day fastpasses and then ride Astro at night.

 

[westminster]

[Q

You also have a better chance of getting Pooh, Buzz and Mermaid as same day fastpasses. Just something to think about. I don't know your plans, but you could always save those rides for the afternoon as same day fastpasses and then ride Astro at night.

That's a good idea, hadn't thought of that. The only thing is we're trying to get out of the park by 3 or 4 on our second MK day - so I'm not sure how much we would be able to fit in after our third FP (SDMT) which is at 1:50. And we were also planning to hit the Tomorrowland "anytime" rides that afternoon like Peoplemover, Monsters Inc, COP. Too many rides, so little time!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Was planning to be at the park by 8:30 and then RD Haunted Mansion, Small World, and Magic Carpets before heading to BMR. I was also thinking that POTC would be the one to swap out, and that I could probably fit it in with minimal wait some time during the first hour before riding BMR.


That's so good to hear - I meant to ask whether Belle ever pops up as a same day FP as most of the info out there suggests it's impossible to get day of. Glad you were able to check it out and like it. My (7 year old) daughter really wants to do it but my (9 year old) son is like NO WAY! I think it sounds cool - I'm hoping to convince him when we're in the park, otherwise we'll have to split up.


Yeah, I was pretty excited to try out the 4th FP strategy, and thought I was set up pretty well for it with three consecutive morning FPs, but that will be thwarted if I take the evening Belle FP. It does seem like it would be a little more relaxed not having to worry about the screen times and distractions - this will be our first time in Disney, and we didn't want to necessarily spend our first day in MK rushing from ride to ride, but rather just taking it all in.


Good point, though I thought I remembered reading that they let people in on a rolling basis unlike some of the other shows with set times? I also heard the queue is pretty cool so maybe it's not that bad to just do it standby.


I did consider that, but we were planning to use that first hour of our Tomorrow/Fantasyland day to hit Pooh, Buzz, Astro, and Little Mermaid before the lines build. Belle will eat up 30 minutes plus which would take up most of that first hour where we could otherwise fit in 3 or 4 rides.

Good arguments both ways - I don't know, I'm still on the fence - any other thoughts? Was anyone else able to get Belle as a same day FP? If that's a decent possibility then I would probably leave things the way they are and take my chances.

Catch ETWB after HM. It’s only a little out of the way but not too far from IASW. The rest of the rides you’re planning don’t build lines quickly so you should be fine.

 

[westminster]

Catch ETWB after HM. It’s only a little out of the way but not too far from IASW. The rest of the rides you’re planning don’t build lines quickly so you should be fine.

Thanks, great idea - for some reason I hadn’t thought of that! I could also drop IASW from the morning and leave that as a same day FP later in the day. How much time would you allow to rope drop HM on a very busy day?

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Thanks, great idea - for some reason I hadn’t thought of that! I could also drop IASW from the morning and leave that as a same day FP later in the day. How much time would you allow to rope drop HM on a very busy day?

i haven’t done it personally but it should be very short (BTMR is usually 10 mins or less if you go straight there. You check the wait times on the MDE app the morning if a similar crowd level day (wait for a few minutes after park opens because they show default times right at park open.

IASW is very easy to get as a later FP so skipping it for later is an option too.

 

[westminster]

I ran the numbers and it looks like by the time I get through HM and over to Belle the waits are already up to 25 min, so I’m not sure I save much time once you add in the extra walking. So maybe it is best if I just tackle it during the afternoon on our fantasyland day.

You mentioned BTM being a short wait at RD - that makes me wonder whether it’s worth trying to ride BTM standby before our FP window, either before or after HM, leaving open the option of riding it twice. It sounds cool enough that we might want to ride it again? (We will be coming from Universal so the kids will be spoiled by the express pass experience...)

 

[CountyMounty]

IASW, Buzz and Mermaid are pretty easy to get 4th+ fastpasses, Pooh is a littel harder but still pops up quite a bit, I would not waste rope drop time on them. This being your first time there though, like you said, you may not want to spend too much time distracting yourself with trying to get more fastpasses, but you certainly will have some line waits to work on getting some, once you get the hang of the app its as simply as just getting on one screen and tapping once or twice (depending on what your trying to do) to refresh your options. Yes some of the lines are cool to check out but some are not and you might as well be trying to get more fastpasses. Haunted Mansion is a definite RD if you dont have a FP as that wait time can get long and stay long for most of the day and I very rarely saw that pop up as an additional fastpass . Almost any ride, except maybe mine train and Peter Pan will be 10 minutes or less at rope drop, and short waits for the first hour or so, I would not waste rope drop time on some of the others. This does require a bit of crossing back and forth the park but MK though is fairly small compared to say AK and doesn't take all that long to walk from one side to the other. On our two recent days there we initially set up our fast pass picks much like you going left side one day and right side the next, but we ended up there at RD both days and our plans changed quickly because we got on several rides in the first hour. I ended up moving up and changing fastpasses around. There's nothing wrong though with making a plan and sticking with it if your not comfortable or wanting to stress over changes.

 

[CountyMounty]

Just reread things again and here is a plan to consider, adding POTC to the RD plan for that day and skip Small World as that is an almost guaranteed easy 4th fastpass. If you are in fact in before rope drop stand to the left side of the castle on that spoke that goes toward HM, watch the opening show, albeit from an awkward angle then do HM first then cut through the shortcut to Adventure land and then do POTC and Magic Carpets (If it was me I'd also grab a dole whip on Pineapple upside down cake for breakfast lol). One MK day we did similar to this we started there but did PPF, HM, JC, Carpets, and POTC all in a row in around an hour all as pretty much walk ons, JC was maybe a 5 minute wait. Then did BTMRR once without fastpass and once with, then killed a little bit of time before catching the first boat out to Tom Sawyer Island this was a CL6 day with MK being the favored park of the day. You may find that you still have more time to ride other things before crowds increase to much and could catch the later part of your FP for BTMRR or you could ride it once standby and then FP it if you care to do it twice (we did it four times in two days as to us its a repeatable ride). One thing to keep in mind is that Tom Sawyer island I think is still only open 11 to 4 so if you go to the early part of your BTMRR FP time you'll have time to kill before you can even go to the island. Also Tom Sawyer island is a great place for kids to explore but it does eat up quite a bit of time going to and from and walking around so I'd plan at least an hour chunk of time out of the day.

 

[westminster]

Thanks so much, that's super helpful! I think we'll have a rough plan that keeps us on the left side of the park first day, right side second day, but we can always adjust on the fly depending on what additional FPs come up.

So how does this sound for a morning plan (Splash will be closed unfortunately):
HM > BTM (standby) > BTM (FP) > MCoA > Citrus Swirl! > POTC (FP) > Tiki > Jamboree > JC (FP) > Pirates Adventure > win FP to ride POTC again? > Swiss Family

That takes us through to our Crystal Palace reservation at 12:55 for which I'm allotting 90 minutes. After lunch we'll pick up Sorcerers of MK cards
before watching the parade. Then after the parade:

One hour at TSI (closes at 5)
Use fourth FP for IASW, PhilHarmagic, and/or Belle if it pops up
Riverboat (closes at 6) and Presidents
Dinner at Columbia Harbour House
HEA and Fireworks