Rethinking FP plan for MK in light of "new normal" crowds and DAH

[zillayen]

My two 7-year-olds and I will be in MK on 3/1. We have 4-day tickets, no hoppers. We are not first timers and the trip was last minute so my strategy was to FP our "must-dos" at each park, ignore Pandora completely, and arrive early and leave by 2 pm. This has always worked well to get lots of rides in before noon.

Our last trip, 7DMT had just opened, no FP luck, so we said we'd do it next time. This time, same problem. That night is a DAH party so I planned to get there by 9:30 am (I have tried RD with my kids, it is a disaster), schedule our FPs for 10/11/12 (Space, HM, BTMRR), do what we can with 4th FP and standby, and leave by early afternoon before party guests trickle in.

But then... last week I caught a 7DMT FP for 6:45 pm. I grabbed it figuring it was our only shot to ride, thinking we'd come back after a break and ride it and see the fireworks. And now I'm having second thoughts because of DAH, as I realized we'd be coming back to the park right around the time they let everyone in. And my plan to knock out a bunch of rides before noon might fail with it being super crowded all day every day, and with that 6:45 pm FP there's no chance of making 4th FP for other rides.

So WWYD, if you couldn't RD:

1) Move my Space/BTMRR FP later in the afternoon. Arrive around 2, do what we can with our FP, and leave after fireworks.
2) Dump the 7DMT FP, and try to knock out rides with 4th FP after noon, leave early.
3) Leave it as is, hope for a chance to move up 7DMT FP, try to arrive before party crowds.
4) Other?

I hate to give up the 7DMT FP as my kids have never ridden it, but right now it's throwing off any chance of using 4th+ FPs!! It's like the monkey's paw of FPs. How much will the DAH crowds affect the park between 6-9 pm?

 

[friedela]

Sorry I can't help, I have no experience of Disney yet. But what is a DAH party?

 

[zillayen]

Sorry I can't help, I have no experience of Disney yet. But what is a DAH party?

Sorry, "Disney After Hours" - the hard ticketed event from 9-midnight. Guests are let in as early as 6 pm.

 

[Klayfish]

You'll have little trouble moving the 7DMT to earlier. But you have to be patient...you probably won't be able to do it until same day. Since you can't rope drop (and I understand...we don't do it either, I don't see the value in it), you won't be able to do it standby. So I suggest leaving things as is for now. Check periodically to see if you can move 7DMT, but odds are you won't be able to until 3/1. On 3/1, check frequently and you should be able to move 7DMT to the morning. Disaster case, ditch 7DMT that morning and pick up something else, then try again to get it as a 4th.

 

[vinotinto]

I would do #1. I would do a late start, relax at the resort, have a great lunch, and then be ready to tackle MK at 2:30. Watch parade, do my 3 FP (incl 7DMT), get a snack, watch the show on the hub and see what's available as a 4th FP, stay for FW. My kids still like Barnstormer and JC and those are easy to get as a 4th. That sounds like a pretty good day to me!

Edit to add: DAH is nowhere close to party attendance. There aren't enough people coming in to impact your evening.

 

[Tinkerbell7479]

We were just there last week we did MK on Wednesday and DAH on Thursday night. It was a last minute trip too so we couldn't get 7DMT fast passes beforehand. On Wednesday we got to the park around 10a and 7DMT and BTMRR were both down so it impacted other lines around the park. we were able to get 4th and 5th FPs but they were for much smaller rides (teacups, speedway, etc). If we didn't go to DAH we would not have gotten to ride 7DMT because once it opened the line was up to 145 min and stayed long all day Wednesday. I would say keep the mine train FP and see if you can get a 4th FP for a smaller ride to ride before the park closes. The DAH crowd shouldn't effect the crowds. we got to the park at 7 for our DAH and there were much fewer lanyards in crowd than people without them.

 

[Gentry2004]

I’d do #2. My kids are 6 and 9 and we like to leave mid afternoon as well (although we do rope drop.) IMO 7DMT is just not worth messing up your whole schedule, which you already know works for your family. MK is the best park for 4th FP’s so I’d never keep a 6:45pm there.

 

[amylevan]

You'll have little trouble moving the 7DMT to earlier. But you have to be patient...you probably won't be able to do it until same day. Since you can't rope drop (and I understand...we don't do it either, I don't see the value in it), you won't be able to do it standby. So I suggest leaving things as is for now. Check periodically to see if you can move 7DMT, but odds are you won't be able to until 3/1. On 3/1, check frequently and you should be able to move 7DMT to the morning. Disaster case, ditch 7DMT that morning and pick up something else, then try again to get it as a 4th.

I'm hesitant to say that you'll have little trouble moving 7DMT. We tried on both 2/13 and 2/15 all day and had no luck. It could be because space and BTMRR were having difficulties but if we wouldn't have hit during EMM, we never would have gotten on.

That said, the incoming crowd on 2/15 for DAH was not noticeable. I saw some people with the lanyard on, but not a lot. So for you, I'd say choice 1. (We're rope droppers, so we'd be choosing no. 2, but that's because my kids are up at 6:30 AM no matter what....might as well be at a park!)

 

[zillayen]

DAH is nowhere close to party attendance. There aren't enough people coming in to impact your evening.

This is really good to know. We had APs at Disneyland the past 2 years and we avoided DL on party nights because of the huge influx of people around 4 pm.

Thank you everyone for your responses - it's so helpful to hear different perspectives. I'm leaning towards #2 right now, partly because of all the ride closures this week. If we get there at 2 and Space/BTMRR/7DMT have been down during the day, I think we'll be very unhappy with the crowds and lines. If we get there at 930 hopefully we can at least ride Fantasyland/Small World/HM before everything goes to heck and count on our FPs for the 2 Mountains we want.

My kids don't even care about 7DMT, I think I'm just having a hard time letting go of the idea of riding it since I snagged that FP! Since I know how rare it is, I don't want to let it go, but ultimately I think my kids won't miss it at all.