Help/Suggestions for last minute Disney Trip

[JRice92]

Hello all TPR members I need your help. My mom decided last minute today we're heading down to Orlando for 1 day of Universal/IOA on December 12th & 1 day of Disney on December 13th leaving us only 12 days to prepare. I have a few questions.

 

How are crowds this time of year? Should we expect to get a decent amount of rides in or wait in line most of the day?

Our strategy for Universal/ IOA is just to hit the best or "highlights" of the parks since you can't do it all in just one day. What are the best attractions?

Our tentative plan for Saturday the 13th is to start the morning at Animal Kingdom, then hop to Hollywood Studios, then Magic Kingdom. Is this realistic given the time of year? Or should we try a different order?

 

I'm sure i'm overlooking a few things, we're open to any suggestions and/or strategies you all would have for tackling these parks in just two days.

[robbalvey]

^ Buy your Disney tickets in advance so you can register for getting FP+ on that day. It's a Saturday, it's going to be busy. I'd book your FP+ for whatever you're planning in the afternoon.

[JRice92]

Thanks Robb, we have a weird situation with our tickets, we have left over tickets that we originally purchased in 2002 (back when they never expired, we called Disney today to check, they're still valid) and we're going to be using those for admission. Hopefully there's some way we can get FP+ reserved beforehand since we're not buying online. I'm going to look into this a little further.

[BarryH]

If you have a paper ticket from 12 years ago, then that ticket was printed way before the RFID chip in today's tickets were even thought of. What you will need to do is exchange the paper ticket for one that has the chip. To make FP+ reservations online, you will need the bar code off the ticket. I don't think the older tickets have a bar code on them, so you will have to make F+ reservations the day of your visit. However, if you are staying onsite at Disney, you are able to make advanced FP+ reservations.

[robbalvey]

Thanks Robb, we have a weird situation with our tickets, we have left over tickets that we originally purchased in 2002 (back when they never expired, we called Disney today to check, they're still valid) and we're going to be using those for admission. Hopefully there's some way we can get FP+ reserved beforehand since we're not buying online. I'm going to look into this a little further.

I would call and find out if there is anything you can do to make advance FP+ otherwise, on a Saturday in December trying to do multiple parks, you're pretty screwed.

[JRice92]

^ & ^^ Thanks guys. Your advise is helping me dial in what to expect next weekend. Also should I assume Universal and IOA are going to have heavy crowds also?

[robbalvey]

^ On a Friday, Universal shouldn't be THAT bad. I'd start with Diagon and once you get done with that work your way to the "highlights" around the parks. Remember that a lot of the rides at Universal have single rider lines. Use them!

[robbalvey]

When was the last time you were in Orlando?

[JRice92]

Our last trip to Orlando was a full week in 2002 with my parents, sister & I. This trip is going to be just my Mom, sister & I. Instead of going to all the Disney Parks in '02 we decided to skip Animal Kingdom and go to Universal/IOA instead. That's how we have these old leftover tickets.

 

My personal agenda is to ride Dragon Challenge, Hulk, & Spider Man at IOA. Tower of Terror & Rock "n" Roller Coaster at Disney. If I get these in I'll deem it a successful trip.

[robbalvey]

^ You should actually have no problem doing that. For your Disney day, make sure you get to Animal Kingdom EARLY and go right to Everest. It also has a decent single rider line and you should be able to get on it a couple of times with almost no wait. The other notable attractions here are Dinosaur and the safari. If you are on limited time, I'd honestly skip the safari unless you are REALLY REALLY into animals. The safari will take up about 45 minutes of your day total and it's not going anywhere.

 

DHS should be pretty busy to be honest, and thankfully Tower's line moves pretty fast. If it's one of the things you care most about, you might want to look into getting a FP+ for that and Rock N Roller Coaster just to guarantee you can get on with little to no wait. Saturday at Studios you can pretty much forget doing Toy Story Mania as it will have at least a 90 minute wait. Star Tours shouldn't be too long though.

 

When you get over to MK, see what Fast Passes are left. You might get lucky and find one for Space Mountain or something. On a positive note, MK is open until 1am that day and if you have the ability to stay the entire time, I absolutely would. If you get in line for Mine Train about 10 minutes before the park closes, your wait shouldn't be that bad. Trying to hit Space Mountain during Wishes is also recommended. In the evenings, the lines for Big Thunder and Splash aren't horrible, 30ish minutes usually.

 

Also remember that MK has extra magic hours until 3am that morning, if you're staying at a Disney resort, that's even better for you, but if not, just keep in mind that there will still be a good amount of people (more than normal) in the park later because of the additional time for resort guests.

 

I would strongly suggest doing whatever you can to get your tickets sorted out ahead of time and try to make some FP+ now.

[OrlandoGuy]

Definitely try to figure out the FP+ situation. However, I have done multiple parks in one day WITHOUT FP+, and it works pretty well, even in mid-summer at the resort's busiest. Granted, Ive only done this with my girlfriend and we're both quick and only focus on the big rides. That being said, here's my gameplan...

 

-start out at Animal Kingdom at opening. Go straight to the Safari. Afterward, hit Everest (if the line is longer than 30 minutes use single riders). After Everest, go to Dinosaur. Those are the big 3 rides there, and you can hit them all within an hour if you get there at opening. If you want to see animals, do that after the rides. Its Tough to be a Bug is a great 3-D show too if that floats your boat.

 

-head over to Hollywood Studios. If you have FP+ I would strongly consider using it for this park to get on Toy Story or Rock n Roller Coaster. If you don't, you'll probably have to skip Toy Story, as the line will be huge by then. No matter, go to Rock n Roller Coaster and use their single rider line. Tower of Terror should be next, and the wait should be manageable. Then hit Star Tours which should be a very low wait. I also HIGHLY recommend the Great Movie Ride, the best traditional dark ride Disney has ever made IMO. Hollywood Studios also has some of the best dining options ('50's Prime Time Cafe and Sci-Fi Dine-In) so if you want a sit-down lunch, do it here...make reservations now though!!!

 

-next is Epcot...this one is tricky. Soarin' is one we usually have to skip due to insane lines. Test Track in the single rider line is usually pretty do-able however. Also, don't miss Spaceship Earth. The rest of the park, for me, is up in the air. I LOVE Epcot, but when Im trying to fit in as many rides as possible in one day, Epcot should be where you spend the least amount of time. It's a great park to explore, sometimes you can spend 2 days at Epcot alone. I would do a little research and see if theres anything you really want to see here and budget time for it...my personal recommendation is American Adventure, a FANTASTIC show. Also, if you skip a big meal at DHS, you could have a fancy dinner at one of the pavilions in Epcot and you shouldnt be disappointed. Again, RESERVE NOW!

 

-Magic Kingdom is open the latest and therefore usually our last stop. It will be crowded when you get there but wait it out, as crowds tend to die down after the fireworks. Do the people-eaters first, as they have short lines no matter what the crowds are--these would be Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Small World, the Peoplemover, and to a lesser extent, Buzz Lightyear. Big Thunder Mountain should have a manageable wait by the time the fireworks roll around. Jungle Cruise at night is also worth checking out. I have not been since 7 Dwarves opened so I cant comment on that, unfortunately--however, the other Fantasyland rides (besides Peter Pan) should have reasonable waits after the fireworks (and they will be closed right before/during the show). Do Space Mountain last--in my experience it always has a long line, so might as well wait for it when the park is about to close so you don't waste time you could have spent riding other rides. Remember that if the posted wait is 45 mins and the park closes in 5 minutes, they will NOT kick you out of line, so take advantage of this.

 

 

A few things...

1. Im assuming that you wont care to ride water rides in December so I left out Kali River Rapids at AK and Splash Mountain at MK...hopefully this fits in with your expectations.

2. Im assuming that Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party does not fall on the day you are going...if it does, this particular plan doesnt work and your day got a whole lot harder.

3. With FP+, I believe you are still limited to getting FP's to only one park per day. So if you have access to it, try to get times that are close together (so you aren't wasting time in one park or backtracking) and get them strategically based on where you plan to be at a certain point in the day.

4. In my plan, I drive to each park in my own car...if you will not have a car, take the bus to AK, then from AK to HS. From HS, take the boat to Epcot. From Epcot, take the monorail to MK. However, a car is preferrable and you only have to pay for parking once.

5. Again, this plan is ideal for hitting the "big" rides only, and your experiences may be VERY different from mine. I cant emphasize enough to make your own plan using everyone else's info and recommendations as guidelines. Book dining reservations as early as possible and look up showtimes ahead of time, and try to come up with at least a basic outline of your day. It will help a lot.

 

Hopefully I helped you at least a little bit. If you have any other questions, definitely ask, as a lot of people here have the parks down to a science. Whatever you end up doing, you will have a great time

[JRice92]

Thank you guys so much, the FP+ situation I'll hopefully have worked out tomorrow. I'm going to ask my Mom & Sister what attractions they want to do the most and make a game plan based off what you both have suggested. I'm all in for the big rides where my mom is not as much. I really appreciate all the help!

[RideWoodenCoasters]

Robb's advice, unsurprisingly, is spot on. I'll add my additional thoughts on things I did recently in a similar situation.

 

I did this (exchanged old tickets) in November. No FP+ until you exchange the old tickets; I assume you have a Park Hopper day left. Once you do, you can scan your tickets with a smart phone and reserve on the MyDisneyExperience (you can create a MDE account now but won't be able to add your old tickets to it). You almost certainly won't get RnRC, TSMM, or TOT. I'd go to HS an hour before opening, ride RnRC and TOT, forget about TSMM. Give them a break by watching the Stunt and/or Car show, and do anything else of great interest, drive to AK in the afternoon (your $17 parking receipt gets you in the other lots free). Ride Everest single rider, consider Kilimanjaro Safaris (but Robb is right, it'll take an hour, it closes at 4:45). See ITTBAB, possibly do the walk-throughs or see a show. Plan to ride Dinosaur (possibly Everest again) late in their day (probably 6PM close). Drive to Epcot, ride Mission Space: Orange (my favorite ride of all), ride Test Track single rider (plan on 45 minute wait in single rider), forget about Soarin'. Then, either walk around the lagoon, consider 9:30 Illuminations). Crazy: drive to MK, see the illuminated castle/fireworks/electrical parade or alternately ride the rides according to wait times, but remember as pointed out that resort guests (who can ride until 3AM) will make this park even more busy.

 

FP+ did little for us, because most of what we wanted was unavailable, you can't pick a fourth ride until your third reservation expires or you use it, even then you can't pick a fourth ride in another park (must enter that park and use a kiosk...which had a long line when we tried). FP+ will be useful for a return visit with new tickets (or if you have days left on the ones you have), it's most useful well in advance of your visit, and day guests are last priority to access the reservations. We got on SDMT by being at the park before opening and going straight there; in your case you'll do the same with RnRC (first) and TOT which helpfully are next to one another. I really wanted FP+ to work for us, but in the event I wasted a lot of energy and gained a lot of frustration with the MDE app which would have been better spent enjoying the parks.

 

Most of all, be sane about this. 8AM-2AM on Disney Parks property is more than most can take. Remember all Disney parks ALLOW food (sandwiches, snacks, etc.) to be brought in and you can bring a backpack on the rides, if you're so inclined use this to your advantage (it saved the two of us around $100 over the two days we did the four parks). They'll inspect your backpack at the entrance of each park, open all zippers and go to the shortest/fastest security line. A cooler in the car with drinks as you drive between parks is also a grand idea.

 

Since you're reasonable about what constitutes success, you're better off tailoring the rest of it to the needs and endurance of your family.

 

Have a great time!

 

(Long time lurker who greatly appreciated Elissa's long-ago detailed posts about Japan...thanks SharkTums!)

[robbalvey]

Definitely try to figure out the FP+ situation. However, I have done multiple parks in one day WITHOUT FP+, and it works pretty well, even in mid-summer at the resort's busiest.

But you're also a LOCAL! You need to stop giving advice based on what YOU do on a regular basis and think about what it will be like to someone who hasn't visited the resort for 12 years and only has one day...on a Saturday...during a holiday month!

 

Seriously, this is NOT good advice to follow. Don't take this and think "Oh, one of the locals says they can get by without FP+ and then take a more lax approach to it." Trust me, it won't work. For a local that isn't going to quite care if they don't get on everything because they can always come back in a few days, this is good advice. But trust me, try to get your FP+ sorted out as soon as possible and get something booked for that day!

 

start out at Animal Kingdom at opening. Go straight to the Safari. Afterward, hit Everest (if the line is longer than 30 minutes use single riders).

To me it looks like he's more into the thrill rides than seeing animals (maybe I'm wrong.) Safari is one of those rides that takes a long time to get through between walking through the queue, the boarding process, the ride, the unload, etc. The whole process if there is NO LINE takes 40-45 minutes. I would NEVER suggest this to someone who is trying to do three parks in one day unless they were REALLY REALLY into the animals.

 

Get there for opening, and go straight to Everest, get in two or three rides. You can easily do this with NO LINE before the public makes it over there.

 

you can hit them all within an hour if you get there at opening.

I'm sorry, but you simply CANNOT do Safari, Everest, and Dinosaur in an hour!!! Absolutely NOT!!! First off, these rides are on totally opposite ends of the park, Safari takes forever, Dinosaur has a long pre-show, etc. This isn't even possible.

 

next is Epcot...this one is tricky

This isn't even in the guy's plan. You read his original post, right?

 

my personal recommendation is American Adventure, a FANTASTIC show.

Again, another attraction at the parks that takes 40-45 minutes of his time. Even if he was going to Epcot, I would NOT suggest this at all! He's trying to do three parks in one day on a Saturday during a holiday period. First time he's visited in 12 years and you're suggesting he do some of the LONGEST attractions at the resort? This makes ZERO sense to me!

 

Magic Kingdom is open the latest and therefore usually our last stop. It will be crowded when you get there but wait it out, as crowds tend to die down after the fireworks.

Except that I already noted to him that there is EMH this night, so while they will die down, they won't die down as much as they normally do.

 

Do Space Mountain last--in my experience it always has a long line, so might as well wait for it when the park is about to close so you don't waste time you could have spent riding other rides.

No, no, no, no, no!!!! As you said, you haven't been to MK since May so why are you giving him advice? I have been going 2-3 times a week this year, and I can tell you that Space Mountain has been getting a very managable line the last 3-4 hours of the park's day. (30-40 minutes, sometimes less) whereas Mine Train is easily 60-75 minutes on a Saturday. If you jump into the Mine Train queue right before park closing, even with EMH, you'll probably only wait 30-40 minutes.

 

I left out Kali River Rapids at AK and Splash Mountain at MK

Why? Splash Mountain is a great ride, you really don't get that wet, and at night it's recently had a 5 minute line. Why would you suggest someone skip this???

 

Im assuming that Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party does not fall on the day you are going

He already said he's going on a Saturday. You're a local, don't you know that the hard ticket events don't fall on a Saturday?

 

Again, this plan is ideal for hitting the "big" rides only,

If you follow his plan, you will most certainly miss some of the "big rides" as you'll be wasting time going to things like Safari and American Adventure, unless those rides are part of your goals.

 

Follow what I said and you'll most certainly get to do things like: Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster, Star Tours, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and then pick up anything else along the way.

 

While not every line will be an hour, assume 1 hour per attraction when you consider you will have walking time, transportation time between each park, stop to get food, etc. So just to get in those rides I listed, that's already an 11 hour day. You'll most likely have room to do more, but plan accordingly, don't try to pack in too much, and you should have a pretty good day!

 

--Robb "Listen to the professionals." Alvey

Edited December 2, 2014 by robbalvey

[robbalvey]

Most of all, be sane about this. 8AM-2AM on Disney Parks property is more than most can take. Remember all Disney parks ALLOW food (sandwiches, snacks, etc.) to be brought in and you can bring a backpack on the rides, if you're so inclined use this to your advantage (it saved the two of us around $100 over the two days we did the four parks).

Sanity is a very good thing to remember. That's why I say plan one hour per attraction (even though lines may not be that long) as it allows you to have a little bit of downtime and not take things at insane speeds.

 

I would suggest, though, unless you are looking to save some money, try to carry as little as possible with you to the parks. IMO, shelping around a backpack all day can be cumbersome, especially on rides, even though they do allow it. And there are some very reasonable, good quality quick-service restaurants you can get food at each park.

 

We usually go into the parks with our wallet and phone, maybe a lipstick USB battery charger in keep my phone juiced up the whole day. The less you carry, the less you have to worry about, and all the parks have "guests without bags" lines, which could save you a few minutes getting into each park.

[RideWoodenCoasters]

Exactly. We had a tight budget, and we put what we had toward some of the awesome kiosks on the last day of Food and Wine. Otherwise, we gave up sitting down for meals time to do other things, including sit-down shows, by grazing from the backpack. I enjoyed Flame Tree and, particularly, Boma on another, calmer, trip in the past.

 

There's no doubt that more time and money would a better, more balanced vacation have made.

 

Or best of all...do what the Gurus did, move to Florida and get an AP!

 

One day...

[OrlandoGuy]

I apologize, OP, as I posted my post AFTER another one by you and Robb that I didn't see. Obviously I would take his advice over mine. Like I said, use people's advice only as guidelines. I just wanted to show you what I have done to give you a better idea of what a typical day may look like at different times. The most imporant thing you can do is to look at what you and your family's top priorities are and plan ahead from there. This will be the most effective way to maximize your short time there.

[djcoastermark]

Listen to ALL of Robbs advice. He is the one to really know what 's the real deal. I have followed his advise and have never ever been disappointed !

[JRice92]

Thanks everybody, tomorrow morning I'll try and get our FP+ situation worked out with the old tickets. Hopefully that's a success then on Thursday I'm heading over to my parents house for my mom, sister & I to formulate a game plan, and pick where we'll use FP+. I know what attractions I want to do, I just have to find out what they want to do (they're unsure at the moment) and try to set some realistic goals on what can be accomplished in one day.

 

Depending what my mom & sister want to do I may break off for them to get some more thrill rides in and utilize those single rider lines!

[JRice92]

Alright everybody my family & I have compiled a plan for Disney this weekend. Slight change of plans for Friday we're going to be heading to Sea World instead of Universal (My mom originally thought 3 day Universal tickets from 12 years ago were still)

 

Unfortunately because our tickets our just so old we're unable to get FP+ linked to our My Disney Experience, so we're just going to wing it come Saturday!

 

Anyways here's our Disney Plan for Saturday.

 

8:30AM Arrive at Animal Kingdom

1. Expedition Everest

2. Dinasour

3. Primeval Whirl (If there's a single rider line I'll be doing this solo)

4. 11:00AM Finding Nemo - The Musical

5. Lunch at any quick serve stand in the park.

 

Jump To Hollywood Studios in no particular order:

1. Rock "N" Roller Coaster (We've all decided we'll wait however long we have to for this)

2. Tower of Terror

3. Star Tours

 

Jump To Magic Kingdom

1. Space Mountain (Probably near the end of the night)

2. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (How long should we expect to wait for this?)

3. Whatever else we have time for.

 

I think this sounds like a realistic goal given we're going on a busy Saturday, what do you think?

[robbalvey]

Comments below....

 

8:30AM Arrive at Animal Kingdom

1. Expedition Everest

2. Dinosaur

3. Primeval Whirl (If there's a single rider line I'll be doing this solo)

4. 11:00AM Finding Nemo - The Musical

5. Lunch at any quick serve stand in the park.

This should be all doable. I don't believe there is a single rider line for Whirl, though. Check out the quick serve near Yak & Yeti - It's pretty decent and it's a nice change from burgers and stuff.

 

 

Jump To Hollywood Studios in no particular order:

1. Rock "N" Roller Coaster (We've all decided we'll wait however long we have to for this)

2. Tower of Terror

3. Star Tours

There is a single rider line for Coaster. Tower & Star Tours shouldn't be too bad of a line.

 

Jump To Magic Kingdom

1. Space Mountain (Probably near the end of the night)

2. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (How long should we expect to wait for this?)

3. Whatever else we have time for.

You should probably go hit up Space Mountain during Wishes, and then jump in the line for Mine Train about 10 minutes before park closing. Should be totally doable!

 

Something to consider - go to Disney after SeaWorld, even if it's Downtown Disney and go to their Guest Relations and get all your tickets sorted out the night BEFORE you go to the parks. Download the app on your phone and see if you can make some FP+ the night before for Saturday. Chances are still good you might be able to get Coaster, Tower and Star Tours at Studios, or Space, Splash, and Thunder Mountain at MK. That will at least save you some time during the day.

 

Downtown Disney can totally sort out your tickets and they are open late. I think it would be well worth it to try and go and get all the tickets sorted our the day before.

[GwaziBSRider1]

^ I definitely remember Primeval Whirl not having a single rider line.

[JRice92]

Thank you Robb and everybody else for all the advice. We'll definitely go to downtown Disney the night before to get the tickets sorted out. I just downloaded the app for Disney so we'll be all set to go come Friday. I'm sure my family & I are going to have a blast this weekend!

[robbalvey]

Thank you Robb and everybody else for all the advice. We'll definitely go to downtown Disney the night before to get the tickets sorted out. I just downloaded the app for Disney so we'll be all set to go come Friday. I'm sure my family & I are going to have a blast this weekend!

You'll need to set up everyone that has a ticket with a MDE account so they have an account to link the ticket to once you get the tickets sorted out. And make sure all the accounts are linked up that way one person can make FP+ reservations for all three of you.

[JRice92]

Will do, thank you again for the help.