Joy, Sadness, and Baymax lines at Epcot recently and rope drop plan?

[jenhelgren]

Our Epcot morning has been my most challenging day to plan and it is also my least familiar park! Joy, Sadness, and Baymax are a must for us so I had them included into my rope drop plan but I have read a few threads that make it seem like their lines are getting more manageable--or those that posted just got lucky

We want to ride TT as a family and not single rider and have FEA FP's at 11.

My plan was TT first and then Joy, Sadness, and Baymax on our way to Soarin'. Should we do Soarin' first and then Joy, Sadness, and Baymax on our way to FEA? I had planned on riding FEA standby once before our FP window starts at 11 if possible so my DD can see it twice.

Is TT, Soarin', and Joy, Sadness, and Baymax possible by 10:30 with a 9:00 rope drop? What time should we arrive at rope drop and where is the best place to line up if we want to head to TT first?

As always--thanks for any help and advice that makes me stop second guessing myself!!

 

[smooreo]

I'm very little help but am trying to plan a similar day for our December trip.

Joy and Sadness are a priority for DD10. I think we're going to hit them first (and be at the gates before rope drop so we can be one of the first), then head to Soarin' (might split up for those (DH) that wants TT. I got a FP for FEA in the afternoon (much later than I wanted but glad I got one!). I have read that Soarin' is much more manageable with the extra theatre so others might recommend starting at TT and then Soarin'. I just don't want so much backtracking.

Hope others can help!

 

[blemon]

I would recommend going to Joy and Sadness at rope drop. That will take 5 minutes.
Then go to Soarin'. Even by then the line won't be very long.

I would get a FP for TT for later in the morning. It's on the other side so it's best to hit all the stuff you want to do on the same side as Soarin' like Living with the Land and then anything that's in the Seas Pavilion before trekking over to the other side.

 

[jenhelgren]

I would recommend going to Joy and Sadness at rope drop. That will take 5 minutes.
Then go to Soarin'. Even by then the line won't be very long.

I would get a FP for TT for later in the morning. It's on the other side so it's best to hit all the stuff you want to do on the same side as Soarin' like Living with the Land and then anything that's in the Seas Pavilion before trekking over to the other side.

We cant FP TT because we already have one for FEA at 11. I have been watching the morning lines and TT gets much worse that Soarin so I know we want to hit TT first but I cant check the Joy, Sadness, and Baymax lines in the app so I have to hope someone can post their recent experience so we can decide whether to do TT or Joy and Sadness first thing.

 

[MainMom]

2 summers ago we were let into Epcot early and were 3rd in line for Joy and Sadness. We met them, then headed over to Baymax (unplanned) and were out of there by 9:10. We then went to Soarin' and the wait was not long at all. I would recommend this plan. Good luck!

 

[Cinderella94]

We cant FP TT because we already have one for FEA at 11. I have been watching the morning lines and TT gets much worse that Soarin so I know we want to hit TT first but I cant check the Joy, Sadness, and Baymax lines in the app so I have to hope someone can post their recent experience so we can decide whether to do TT or Joy and Sadness first thing.

I would do TT, definitely.

 

[Felicis]

We rope dropped Joy and Sadness last week, as they were consistently 30 plus, even near park close. We were lucky enough to have an anytime FP which we then used for TT straight after the character meet, but TT was only around 20 mins by then (and. I found Disney waits to be listed at least 5 mins longer than they actually were).

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I'd go to TT first, then go to Joy/Sadness and Baymax. If the lines are too long for the characters, try later in the day. We were trying to do those before a 10:30 ADR at Akershus. We managed TT and Joy/Sadness, but the line was really long for Baymax by the time we got through with the others. So we skipped him and went to Soarin instead. We peaked in around 6:00 that evening to see what the line was like and it was pretty short. We waited about 10 minutes.

 

[blemon]

We got same-day FP for TT when we were there. It was later in the day. Crowd level was a 7/10, if I remember correctly.

We also popped in to see Baymax on our way out of the park and he had a very short line.
Baymax is not to be missed, in my opinion.

Test Track, meh. It was fun and I'd do it again but it's not a must-do like Soarin for us.

 

[Jfsag123]

Not a really recent experience, but last summer we had a PPO breakfast at Garden Grill, then were the first people on Soarin' for the day. We were done with Soarin' by 9:06 and went straight to Joy and Sadness after. The line took an hour - longest wait of the whole trip. We saw Baymax next and that line took about 20 minutes.

 

[revdon64]

If I recall Josh's (easyWDW) recommendations correctly, and taking into account your FP+ and priorities, do TT first... then Joy and Sadness... then Soarin'. This would make the best use of lower crowds at rope drop by doing attractions whose lines build up quickly and stay longer all day. If you're there at 9AM RD, you should be able to bang out these three by 10:30. Stay to the left heading to TT and throw some elbows! (J/K!)

 

[jenhelgren]

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice!! My original plan was characters, TT, FEA, and then Soarin hoping for a 4th FP of the day in the afternoon while we do Nemo and our other FP's, but the TT waits have scared me. We leave in a week so the struggle is real for my Epcot day right now..lol

 

[michelle06]

FEA is in World Showcase. If you do TT, then FEA, then Soarin', you are going to be doing a lot of walking! If you are familiar with the park, fine. If not, I would also check out a map to see where you are going and also consider the time to get everywhere. You can log a lot of miles at EPCOT!

 

[jenhelgren]

FEA is in World Showcase. If you do TT, then FEA, then Soarin', you are going to be doing a lot of walking! If you are familiar with the park, fine. If not, I would also check out a map to see where you are going and also consider the time to get everywhere. You can log a lot of miles at EPCOT!

Thanks Michelle! We have been to Epcot before but its been a few years and its the park we have visited the least out of the 4. We only plan on staying until midday so waiting until evening for the characters is not an option either. I am trying to take all the walking time into consideration along with wait times and I think that's part of why I cannot make up my mind!!

Has anyone accomplished these same attractions on a Sunday morning in the last few weeks that can share some advice?

 

[disneyeek]

I'm not sure about a Sunday morning, but we were just there last Thursday afternoon/evening. Baymax line was a bit shorter and quicker than Joy/Sadness. Baymax took about 20 minutes with a break for a character change. Joy/Sadness took about 35 minutes also with a character break/change(these added about 5 minutes to our wait times). We were also able to grab a 4th FP for Soarin', but it was in the evening. Couldn't get one for TT, so I would definitely do that first.

FEA isn't too far in WS. Just make sure you go left when heading back past Mexico then on to Norway.

 

[michelle06]

Thanks Michelle! We have been to Epcot before but its been a few years and its the park we have visited the least out of the 4. We only plan on staying until midday so waiting until evening for the characters is not an option either. I am trying to take all the walking time into consideration along with wait times and I think that's part of why I cannot make up my mind!!

Has anyone accomplished these same attractions on a Sunday morning in the last few weeks that can share some advice?

You might try making a personalized touring plan through touringplans.com. They do a good job and account for walking time. You put in the day and park and then pick what you want to do. You can even enter your fastpass times. Then it will optimize the best plan for you. Sometimes they suggest not using fastpasses if the plan works out better that way. It does not do certain characters meet and greets including Baymax and Joy&Sadness, but you could optimize it without and then see where they might best fit in. They are located at Innoventions West.

 

[Best Aunt]

Maybe you already know this, but meeting Baymax is like hugging a pool float. I thought it was weird. I didn't know how to pose or what to do.

 

[dreiwhit]

I would recommend going to Joy and Sadness at rope drop.

On our last trip, we RD'ed J&S, and when we got there at 9:05, it was already a 45 minute wait. That day, the CMs were already letting folks into Epcot when we arrived at the tapstiles at 8:40am.

If I was going to RD J&S again, I would clear security and get in line at the tapstiles no later than 8:30am, maybe earlier.

 

[skullsplitter]

We were at Epcot on 10/7. We did TT around 9:10 AM with FP then headed to Joy and Sadness. 15 minute wait for them. We were surprised at the short wait.

 

[jenhelgren]

We were at Epcot on 10/7. We did TT around 9:10 AM with FP then headed to Joy and Sadness. 15 minute wait for them. We were surprised at the short wait.

Thanks for sharing! This is what I have been seeing from other posters and being characters I cannot stalk MDE for wait times Test Track has had some really decent wait times early in the morning lately so I cannot decide between TT or Joy, Sadness, and Baymax first. Walking wise it would make more sense to hit TT first and then the characters followed by Soarin since Soarin will be our 3rd stop we would do more zig zagging to hit Joy and Sadness first but if their line will be up to an hour after TT I will gladly walk a little extra!!!