**~~***The Official June 2017 Thread***~~**

[Amy M]

Exactly. Those are numbers for an unannounced soft opening with no FPs; tomorrow is going to be a whole new ball game. Although, I'd say the numbers on Wednesday and Thursday next week will be even more indicative of what we June travelers can expect, since the holiday will be over.

True...I was thinking that too.

 

[Roxyfire]

Exactly. Those are numbers for an unannounced soft opening with no FPs; tomorrow is going to be a whole new ball game. Although, I'd say the numbers on Wednesday and Thursday next week will be even more indicative of what we June travelers can expect, since the holiday will be over.

We're gonna express bus over from MK to use our flight of passage fastpasses on Tuesday, but I have a feeling it'll be wall to wall people. Good thing we can jet back out if it's too crazy. The number 1 priority for me will be to get our FP done and check out the shoulder banshees.

 

[Chavaleh]

Somehow I managed to miss the June thread! My family of five will be staying at the Polynesian from June 15th-25th. My eldest graduates high school tomorrow morning so we're having a final big family vacation before she starts college. We're planning a lot of rope drops, ride hard till mid-morning, eat lunch and retreat to the hotel for the middle of the day before going back out type days. We got our magic bands this week and I'm trying hard to restrain myself from packing until at least two weeks out. Definitely doing a lot of mental packing/planning though! We're incredibly excited.

 

[Senk]

I reviewed my AK plans and am worried about what I've got set up. 7 am EMH on June 5 was our plan but with a 515a flight the day before I'm guessing we will be tired so I'm not sure we will make it to EMH. Unless we go to bed early like I planned but that plan might not work.

I thought I could just push everyone put of bed with the promise of a mid day break BUT our traveling partners (whom I never mentioned because they didnt plan and I wasn't sure they were actually coming) are joining us this day. They however are stating off-site so a) will not have the option of EMH and b) won't be able to mid day break with us or anywhere probably. Idk where they are staying. They might not even know at this point.

So I feel like we are going to be late to the busiest park of the day and exhausted and stuck there because I didn't spring for hoppers.

 

[JennLTX]

I reviewed my AK plans and am worried about what I've got set up. 7 am EMH on June 5 was our plan but with a 515a flight the day before I'm guessing we will be tired so I'm not sure we will make it to EMH. Unless we go to bed early like I planned but that plan might not work.

I thought I could just push everyone put of bed with the promise of a mid day break BUT our traveling partners (whom I never mentioned because they didnt plan and I wasn't sure they were actually coming) are joining us this day. They however are stating off-site so a) will not have the option of EMH and b) won't be able to mid day break with us or anywhere probably. Idk where they are staying. They might not even know at this point.

So I feel like we are going to be late to the busiest park of the day and exhausted and stuck there because I didn't spring for hoppers.

First of all, congratulate yourself for having a plan, thinking things through, and being prepared. Your partners are frankly being naive, and I hope you aren't planning your FPs around what they'll be able to obtain.

I'm going to throw this out: will you be coming back to WDW some day, or is this a one-and-done trip? If this is your only visit, then I'd say carefully pace yourself, accept it's going to be insanely crowded, take plenty of breaks, be there super early for EMH RD, and tell your partners they can text you when they arrive. Do NOT wait for them.

If, however, you know you'll be back, then you might even consider skipping AK this time. Your first impression will be of an Animal Kingdom that will NOT look like that in another 12 months. Although it's safe to say FoP will always be a popular ride and will most likely always have FEA / 7DMT / Soarin' type waits, the craziness for the rest of Pandora WILL die down to more manageable levels. AK is such a wonderful, beautiful park, I'd hate for you to never want to see it again because of the timing on the crowds.

 

[cmarsh31]

First of all, congratulate yourself for having a plan, thinking things through, and being prepared. Your partners are frankly being naive, and I hope you aren't planning your FPs around what they'll be able to obtain.

I'm going to throw this out: will you be coming back to WDW some day, or is this a one-and-done trip? If this is your only visit, then I'd say carefully pace yourself, accept it's going to be insanely crowded, take plenty of breaks, be there super early for EMH RD, and tell your partners they can text you when they arrive. Do NOT wait for them.

If, however, you know you'll be back, then you might even consider skipping AK this time. Your first impression will be of an Animal Kingdom that will NOT look like that in another 12 months. Although it's safe to say FoP will always be a popular ride and will most likely always have FEA / 7DMT / Soarin' type waits, the craziness for the rest of Pandora WILL die down to more manageable levels. AK is such a wonderful, beautiful park, I'd hate for you to never want to see it again because of the timing on the crowds.

All of this, yes. I know we'll be back - partially because we're not bringing the kids, and partially because we'll ALWAYS be back but either way, if we get to our Na'vi FP, ride it, and then it's just too insane, we'll get ourselves a nice beverage and continue on to watch ROL with our last FP, then check out the EMH at night or just let it go.

 

[hiroMYhero]

If you have been planning to use SDFP during your upcoming trip, this ALERT has been added to the SDFP thread:

May 2017
THE PARTY MAY BE ENDING VERY SOON!

- Don't buy any more MagicBands or cards for SDFP.
- Don't use any BORROWED bands after June 1.
- Don't attempt to enter a FP attraction with a prebooked FP unless you used the linked ticket at the park entrance. (This thread has refrained from discussion of this for many months - but now we're saying specifically DO NOT DO IT.)
- Don't add phantoms to your primary MDE profile, if you haven't already done so.

Check back for more updates soon.

 

[Senk]

First of all, congratulate yourself for having a plan, thinking things through, and being prepared. Your partners are frankly being naive, and I hope you aren't planning your FPs around what they'll be able to obtain.

I'm going to throw this out: will you be coming back to WDW some day, or is this a one-and-done trip? If this is your only visit, then I'd say carefully pace yourself, accept it's going to be insanely crowded, take plenty of breaks, be there super early for EMH RD, and tell your partners they can text you when they arrive. Do NOT wait for them.

If, however, you know you'll be back, then you might even consider skipping AK this time. Your first impression will be of an Animal Kingdom that will NOT look like that in another 12 months. Although it's safe to say FoP will always be a popular ride and will most likely always have FEA / 7DMT / Soarin' type waits, the craziness for the rest of Pandora WILL die down to more manageable levels. AK is such a wonderful, beautiful park, I'd hate for you to never want to see it again because of the timing on the crowds.

This will likely be a one and done for us. I am not planning around them but will try to accommodate as much as possible. Don arrival day I was planning to hit MK and go back to the room for an 8:30p bed time. But with these friends (DH's friend and his kid) it will be their only MK day so we may feel obligated to stay. And more than obligated the kids will probably want to stay with their buddy.

If you have been planning to use SDFP during your upcoming trip, this ALERT has been added to the SDFP thread:

May 2017
THE PARTY MAY BE ENDING VERY SOON!

- Don't buy any more MagicBands or cards for SDFP.
- Don't use any BORROWED bands after June 1.
- Don't attempt to enter a FP attraction with a prebooked FP unless you used the linked ticket at the park entrance. (This thread has refrained from discussion of this for many months - but now we're saying specifically DO NOT DO IT.)
- Don't add phantoms to your primary MDE profile, if you haven't already done so.

Check back for more updates soon.

Oh no, was totally planning to try this out and just borrowed bands this week

 

[Roxyfire]

If you have been planning to use SDFP during your upcoming trip, this ALERT has been added to the SDFP thread:

May 2017
THE PARTY MAY BE ENDING VERY SOON!

- Don't buy any more MagicBands or cards for SDFP.
- Don't use any BORROWED bands after June 1.
- Don't attempt to enter a FP attraction with a prebooked FP unless you used the linked ticket at the park entrance. (This thread has refrained from discussion of this for many months - but now we're saying specifically DO NOT DO IT.)
- Don't add phantoms to your primary MDE profile, if you haven't already done so.

Check back for more updates soon.

Well looks like I might get in under the wire. I have bands linked to a secondary account so I will experiment after the first to see what happens. I'll keep y'all posted with what I find.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Well looks like I might get in under the wire. I have bands linked to a secondary account so I will experiment after the first to see what happens. I'll keep y'all posted with what I find.

Thanks! And the target date for the change is June 5th or June 6th at the latest. Hope everything works out for you SDFP-wise!

 

[Roxyfire]

Thanks! And the target date for the change is June 5th or June 6th at the latest. Hope everything works out for you SDFP-wise!

Thanks! June 5th we move over to Universal but I think I just found a reason to pop into MK that day. You know for science

 

[poison ivy]

I reviewed my AK plans and am worried about what I've got set up. 7 am EMH on June 5 was our plan but with a 515a flight the day before I'm guessing we will be tired so I'm not sure we will make it to EMH. Unless we go to bed early like I planned but that plan might not work.

I thought I could just push everyone put of bed with the promise of a mid day break BUT our traveling partners (whom I never mentioned because they didnt plan and I wasn't sure they were actually coming) are joining us this day. They however are stating off-site so a) will not have the option of EMH and b) won't be able to mid day break with us or anywhere probably. Idk where they are staying. They might not even know at this point.

So I feel like we are going to be late to the busiest park of the day and exhausted and stuck there because I didn't spring for hoppers.

I would make every effort to stick to your original game plan of getting up early to hit the 7am EMH. You will not regret it. You can always meet up with the other family at your leisure. We did what you are planning. It was tough but we pushed ourselves to get up and drive to the park really early. We left the park around 11:30 for a long mid day break to rest and swim. Then went back around 6pm for dinner and ROL. Didn't need the park hopper and had a great day at AK.

 

[JennLTX]

SDFP?????????

ETA Never mind. It helps when you unclick the "search this forum" button.

 

[Zhoen]

Oh my! I'm just starting to catch up on this and I just watched the video on the Secret Nachos. Oh my.

We have BOG dinner reservations at 6 after a 3ish pirates league appointment on our MK day... looking like I'm gonna HAVE to find time to park hop one of the other days. (I'm looking at YOU Hollywood Studios!!!)

Question... should I tell my group? Or should I totally blindside them? (We're going in honor of my 10 y.o's birthday, which is actually tomorrow, but we have to wait until school is out... I'm not sure she'd be psyched about nachos... but she'd eat the attention up with a spoon... so definitely not telling HER... but trying to decide if I should tell my husband or the others...)

 

[ArielSRL]

We will be at AK on the 3rd and the 7th so we got a FP for each of the new rides for those two days! We'll also be back at AK on the 8th for the Wild Africa Trek!! Can't wait!!

Our first AK day is on the 7th!

 

[SgtTibbs]

Oh my! I'm just starting to catch up on this and I just watched the video on the Secret Nachos. Oh my.

We have BOG dinner reservations at 6 after a 3ish pirates league appointment on our MK day... looking like I'm gonna HAVE to find time to park hop one of the other days. (I'm looking at YOU Hollywood Studios!!!)

Question... should I tell my group? Or should I totally blindside them? (We're going in honor of my 10 y.o's birthday, which is actually tomorrow, but we have to wait until school is out... I'm not sure she'd be psyched about nachos... but she'd eat the attention up with a spoon... so definitely not telling HER... but trying to decide if I should tell my husband or the others...)

Keep in mind it's not "official" so it can change or be discontinued at any time. Also I don't know what happens if more than one party wants to order them at the same time, do they do two or just say sorry?

So far no takers on my offer, so I guess that won't be a thing for me this trip.

 

[ArielSRL]

If you have been planning to use SDFP during your upcoming trip, this ALERT has been added to the SDFP thread:

May 2017
THE PARTY MAY BE ENDING VERY SOON!

- Don't buy any more MagicBands or cards for SDFP.
- Don't use any BORROWED bands after June 1.
- Don't attempt to enter a FP attraction with a prebooked FP unless you used the linked ticket at the park entrance. (This thread has refrained from discussion of this for many months - but now we're saying specifically DO NOT DO IT.)
- Don't add phantoms to your primary MDE profile, if you haven't already done so.

Check back for more updates soon.

Yes, this stinks. But, oh well. I'll live.

 

[mekay1012]

ok...I'm in need of advice. I'm second guessing what we should do on the first day and I know that you guys will help out. My whole family is just saying "we are ok with whatever you want to do" but the problem is that I don't know what I want to do! So here is my dilemma:

We are driving down on Saturday, 6/17. We will arrive around 3 after an 8-9 hour drive, get settled in the hotel and then head out to a park. As of right now the plan is to go to MK. We have FPs for Splash @ 6, BTMRR @ 7 and Jungle Cruise @ 8. We plan to stick around and stay in the Adventureland/Frontierland area. We have two other full days planned for MK as well so we'll have plenty of time to get all the things done that we want to do. I also plan to watch the new fireworks that night as an intro to our vacation instead of a farewell like Wishes always was. This will make it a late night for our first night.

I am now debating the idea of changing that first day to an evening in EP instead of MK. We only have one full day at EP and it isn't until Thursday so our trip will almost be over by the time we get there and that's hoping that it is a nice weather day. Last trip we never even made it to World Showcase with the boys so we would focus on staying in that area of the park. I would get FPs for Soarin', assuming there are some available for a party of 7 (already have FEA later in the week) and then I'd get the other two for random items that aren't really needed anyway.

So here's the pros and cons to changing to EP from MK

Pros:

• Earlier night after a long day of driving and plans for an early morning rope drop at AK the next day
• Alcohol - I could get a drink or two at EP after a long day of driving to unwind which I could not get at MK
• Slower and more relaxed pace around EP instead of being tired and jumping into thrill rides
• Extra time in EP that we hadn't previously planned for and no threat of really losing time at MK because we still have plenty there
• My youngest son's first "big boy" ride at WDW can be Soarin' just like it was for my oldest son
• Less stress to try to rope drop Test Track and Soarin' later in the week which would definitely end up with a long wait for one of them (we have an FEA FP for our full EP day so standing in line for both of the others on that day would be a must)
  
• More ability for my kids to run around and be "free" in EP than in MK after a long day in the car
• Did I mention I could get a drink...lol!

Cons:

• There is something magical about beginning your trip by walking into the MK and seeing the castle, we won't be there until Monday if we don't go the first night because our first full day is at AK. We have park hoppers but we've got a Tusker House breakfast ROL package so there's no point in hopping that day.
• We would start off the trip with Happily Ever After and see these fireworks that are being raved about (I'm still upset about Wishes going away but willing to watch Happily Ever After with an open mind)
• My youngest son could have his first "big boy" ride on a Disney classic, Splash Mt. if we kept MK
  
• We would be able to eat dinner at Columbia Harbor House which is a favorite for my mom and is difficult to fit in on another day
• I would have to cancel existing FPs and go to book them for EP in the hopes that there is actually a Soarin' available for the evening. Might be a gamble but I could switch back to MK and get all the FPs I have pretty easily I think.
• Did I mention missing out on MK magic to start off the trip...lol!

So I know that was a lot but that is everything that is going on in my head right now! If you were me, what would you do? Just an FYI, this trip includes 7 people. I don't know our group size would have any influence on your decision. I've not been with a group this large and am working on figuring out how to keep everyone happy (as much as possible). The group includes my stepdad (63), mom (53), brother (15), husband (37), me (33), oldest son (8) and youngest son (5).

Thanks guys! Any advice you have is welcome!

I went back and forth about doing mk or Epcot on our arrival day and ended up going with Epcot. We are going to mainly do the world showcase and just enjoy walking around.

 

[Senk]

I have been watching the AK news all day, I hope it cools down a bit in the next week or so. If not I'm sure I'll be glad I planned 2 days for AK!

 

[ashleymrush]

I went back and forth about doing mk or Epcot on our arrival day and ended up going with Epcot. We are going to mainly do the world showcase and just enjoy walking around.

We made the fin decision to switch to EP today. I think it's for the best. Now I just have to go and rearrange FPs and rework our MK days a little but I'm honestly happy just to have something to do!