Here now and loving every second

[sfbank]

We too are having an awesome time! Third full day and have ran into nothing but nice cms, clean parks, and very good food. There are some people that think rules don't apply to them but cms seem to be addressing them well. We were on the safari this morning. I am not kidding you the driver had to tell people three times to sit their kids down on the seat or on their laps. The people behind us had kids leaning over our seat the first part of the ride. The driver finally called a person out even saying the color of the kids shirt. Other than that best trip yet!!!

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

Love seeing posts like this!! So glad that you are enjoying your trip, especially since you don't go too often. That must be really special for your whole family. Wishing you a fun and safe rest of your vacation

 

[Pkltm]

So great to hear that you are enjoying yourselves, makes me wish I was there right now!!

 

[merrick]

we are planning our second trip for this december and sometimes i need to step away from the message boards. we knew next to *nothing* on our first trip and our ta was great, gave us a loose schedule with a couple of adr's but lots of flexibility. this time i have done way more research and canget frazzled by all the reviews. i have seen people give h&v horrible reviews on trip advisor because "the characters are too young for my kids, total waste of time". so i have come to realize that for as many people as there are out there, we all have our own likes and dislikes, hot buttons and expectations.

glad to hear your family has had an awesome time... my kids aren't as old as yours but i was worried it would be too young for them. i have to say, i looked around and saw people with younger kids and am glad we waited til youngest ds was 7 to go. no strollers, no naps, no tantrums, no separate food to bring, no diapers AND they will all remember what we spent so much money on!!

 

[itchin2go]

We're here too, actually our last day , but this may go down as the best trip on record for us.

FP+ has worked flawlessly and despite some busy parks, standby on the secondaries has been next to nothing. In fact, nearly everything outside of m&g's have been walk ons.

CM's are friendly and other than once at the FL bathroom, they've been very clean. We had one issue with a CM at a qs restaurant - took it up with concierge at our resort and they handled it to our satisfaction.

No complaints, sad to leave and can't wait to return! Glad to hear you're having a great time as well!

Could you share what time(s) of day you found nearly everything outside of meet and greets to be a walk-on? It would probably be helpful to those planning upcoming trips (like me) to know.

I would also love to know what the issue with QS was, but that's more the curious side of me than the trip-planning side of me.

 

[cakebaker]

Could you share what time(s) of day you found nearly everything outside of meet and greets to be a walk-on? It would probably be helpful to those planning upcoming trips (like me) to know.

I would also love to know what the issue with QS was, but that's more the curious side of me than the trip-planning side of me.

I believe a great deal of our success with short lines has to do with how we tour the parks, mornings are done without FP and riding the secondary rides, then evenings are FP+, watching parades, fireworks, shows. Park hopping is a must for us and we take breaks.

With this style we simply have not had to stand in lines at all- not once in 8 days have we stood in any lines longer than it took to walk thru the queue. That's not to say lines did not exist, but not on the attractions we chose when we chose to do them.

Just in the MK - Jungle Cruise, IASW, Haunted Mansion, PPF...And almost any secondary ride you can think of- all ridden with no wait. Even rode Splash and Btmrr with no FP and no wait. We aren't the types to re-ride something multiple times in a row but could've easily re-ridden Btmrr many times in a row the morning we rode it.

 

[Number Six]

Sounds like a great time, I would love to know how to do all the rides we want without waiting for any of them! We have been thinking of going back but I was wurried that the crowds and new fastpass would make that harder, I guess that isn't true. Would love to hear any tips, thanks!

 

[itchin2go]

Sounds like a great time, I would love to know how to do all the rides we want without waiting for any of them! We have been thinking of going back but I was wurried that the crowds and new fastpass would make that harder, I guess that isn't true. Would love to hear any tips, thanks!

Depends on when you go, what you're looking to experience, how many days you'll be there, etc. Also, there are different strategies for different parks.

For example, if you can do multiple days at Epcot, that will mean you (probably) won't have to wait in a long line for either Soarin or Test Track, because you can FP them for different days. But if you want to ride them multiple times, you are probably looking at lines (likely long lines).

Just my opinion, but I don't think not waiting at all is realistic. The aim would be to do as much as you want with as minimal lines as possible.

 

[Disneylover99]

I'm not sure why this thread was moved to the Completed Trip report thread section. i was under the impression that the OP was still there enjoying herself.

 

[cakebaker]

Sounds like a great time, I would love to know how to do all the rides we want without waiting for any of them! We have been thinking of going back but I was wurried that the crowds and new fastpass would make that harder, I guess that isn't true. Would love to hear any tips, thanks!

I don't know if that's possible for you- depends on what you want to ride and when. Reducing and/or eliminating standing in line is a priority for us. There are ways to accomplish that and I think if you read what I already posted, I explained it.

It's quite realistic, as we just finished doing it at a very busy time. Even I was surprised at how little time we spent in line.

 

[Number Six]

You sound like us with the rides you like, I would like to know what time you can ride some of those with no wait like Peter pan and splash mountain I though Peter was always a long wait when can you walk on it?

 

[Number Six]

anyone????

 

[mom2rtk]

I think if you visit in mid-June and expect to find no wait on many attractions there is a high likelihood you will be disappointed.

If you want to ride Peter Pan (without FP) you'll need to make that a rope drop priority or stay for the EMH after all the little kids have gone to bed. We did it around midnight on an EMH and the wait was still around 20 minutes. Definitely not a walk-on late at night OR earlier in the day.

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

I think if you visit in mid-June and expect to find no wait on many attractions there is a high likelihood you will be disappointed.

If you want to ride Peter Pan (without FP) you'll need to make that a rope drop priority or stay for the EMH after all the little kids have gone to bed. We did it around midnight on an EMH and the wait was still around 20 minutes. Definitely not a walk-on late at night OR earlier in the day.

Gotta agree with you here! If you want to encounter little to no waits (I'd consider that anything under 20 min) then a lot (and I mean A LOT) of planning must occur.

I was there June 12-16, and never waited more than 10 min for anything. It's a combination of FP's, strategy (which rides are busy when), and willingness to be there well before opening and staying for a lengthy amount of time. Spent a night in the MK (5:30-12:30) and rode nearly every ride without a wait. All planning, not luck all!

 

[cakebaker]

This is the strategy that worked for us 6/13 -6/20

We park hop so on some days we were there at opening. We do not do the traditional rope drop but we do get there in time to see the opening show. Basically we're there by the time the park opens. The earlier we were there, the more we could take advantage of the short lines. They lasted 2-3 hrs after park opening. When we went to the MK in the mornings, we rode secondary rides. We would ride PPF first as it's the first secondary ride to get busy.

The first hour or so, the park is near empty and we could've easily ridden Btmrr and Splash multiple times if we had wanted to.

On the days we entered the MK in the early evening, we ate dinner, watched shows/fireworks and used FP+ for headliners.

Since we park hop, we visit each park multiple times. If there's anything we miss one time, we catch it the next time.

Doing this, we experienced very little waits save for character m&g's where no fp+ is offered.
I understand not everyone can or wants to visit this way, but it worked for us very well.

And yes, it requires planning and some experience knowing which rides back up the quickest. But it makes for a very relaxing and enjoyable time once you're there.

 

[mom2rtk]

Rope drop has always been the antidote to long lines.

 

[cakebaker]

Rope drop has always been the antidote to long lines.

It's one anecdote, yes. It's not the only one.

We did not use the rope drop method many people talk about. We didn't go in with the masses, nor did we rush to any ride. As I said, park opening time was our goal- not making rope drop. Other than one time, when we did it just to see what it was like, we never were anywhere near the front and even then didn't really experience it as we veered off from the masses.

We like to be at opening to see the opening show mostly - not because it's required in order to ride with no waits. The short lines last for 2-3 hrs after opening so being there at rope drop was not required.

There are other times one can avoid the lines on secondary rides- emh's are very effective. We spent several evenings walking on attraction after attraction during evening EMH.


There are multiple solutions to avoid lines- being at the park early in the morning is one of them. It simply takes an effective touring plan.

What is fixed that there was never an anecdote to is the ability to arrive at a park whenever it's convenient for us to be there and be able to ride whatever 3 rides we'd like to ride. That being fixed completely changes the game and let's us tour in a way that prevented us from standing in line almost completely.

 

[cakebaker]

If you want to ride Peter Pan (without FP) you'll need to make that a rope drop priority or stay for the EMH after all the little kids have gone to bed.

Our 3 yr old had a blast staying up during EMH's. On the 2 am closings we went to, it was me that called it a night at 1:30- not him.

I would agree that PPF is the most difficult to ride with 0 wait time. Early in the morning was the best choice for us - we would've gotten FP+ for it, even a sdfp, but we wanted to experience the queue. PPF and SDMT are usually always FP+ rides for us.

 

[mom2rtk]

We must have been defining rope drop differently all this time. When I say we do rope drop, I simply mean that we get there right around park opening, not necessarily that we are at the front of the group or rushing with the masses. I guess I'm confused why there needs to be a distinction. Since a lot of people like to sleep in, it's always been a good plan to arrive early before the lines build.

My favorite part of "rope drop" is zigging when others zag so we can enjoy less crowded parts of the park.

 

[cakebaker]

I was just making the clarification as some people might think the term "role drop" means you have to be there Long before opening and enter with the mad rush up front.

It's just common sense that the earlier in the day you arrive, the more you get done. Some people ( and I'm one of them) have an aversion to walking down Main Street when it's filled with a crowd rushing to get to one place before anyone else. It's why we don't do it.