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We're actually going to Disney World for once. Help! lol


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Hey guys!

 

I wasn't sure where to post this so hopefully it's in the right place. Posting it in a specific park thread didn't make a ton of sense and a lot of the trip planning posts in the Ask Alvey section get moved here anyway so it seemed like the best place. If not, sorry in advance.

 

As you may know, we're f*cking idiots when it comes to anything Disney. We go to Orlando all the time and rarely step foot on Disney property since Brit's only concern in Orlando is seeing Shamu. In addition to that we always spend one of our days in Florida at Busch Gardens Tampa and we're generally Universal people so we generally don't have time for anything else but we're headed down to Florida at the end of January for 4 days and we're going to do something a little different and actually spend 2 of our 4 days at Disney!

 

We'll be spending our other 2 days exactly where you expect us to be spending them and obviously we don't need any help with SeaWorld and Busch Gardens (yes I know Kumba will be closed BTW) but when it comes to Disney we're hopeless. I've spent the last few hours on annoying, ad filled touring plan sites that all contradict each other and I'm still torn on what I want to do. This is kind of weird since normally I'm the one writing long winded responses to trip planning threads (I'm convinced I was a travel agent in a past life) but we know less about Disney than basically anyone here, so hopefully you guys can help me out a little.

 

Basically, we're going to have 2 days at Disney. Saturday, January 27th and Sunday the 28th. I know a weekend isn't ideal, but we have a tour booked at SeaWorld on the 29th that wasn't available those days (that will end up being a surprise Christmas gift for Brit) and we're flying out of Tampa on Tuesday night so that needs to be our Busch Gardens day.

 

We're not under any circumstances staying on property. I didn't stockpile such an absurd amount of Choice Privileges rewards points to pay actual money for a hotel room any time in the foreseeable future (lol), so Extra Magic Hours aren't an option and neither is a 60 day booking window for Fast Pass.

 

As a quick footnote, we went to Magic Kingdom last year for a full day. Brit and I have both been to Epcot and Hollywood Studios but we were little, don't remember any of it (it was MGM Studios back then) and have never ridden any of the marquee attractions like Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Soarin', Test Track (which was under construction last time I was there) or Frozen Ever After. Neither of us have ever been to Animal Kingdom, period.

 

Anyway, here's what I've come up with at this point.

 

Saturday: Park Hop Day

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I've pretty much decided to hold off on Hollywood Studios. Right now it seems like sort of a joke of a park as there are so many things under construction and so few rides actually operating. I really want to finally get on Tower of Terror (and to a lesser extent, coaster) but I think I might work that into a park hopper day later this year or early next year once Slinky Dog Dash opens since it's come to my attention that it's an actual, legitimately cool looking ride and not a kiddy coaster. Ideally I'd like to get to the park after that opens and before Star Wars opens since I imagine it'll be an insane sea of humanity for at least a year once that happens. We'll check Star Wars out eventually, but we're planning to give it time to cool down.

 

Because of this, we're thinking about park hopping between Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Neither park has Extra Magic Hours that morning which I assume is a good thing if you can't take advantage of them since it means the rides won't have lines built up at opening (right?).

 

Both parks open at 9:00. Magic Kingdom is open until 8:00. Epcot is open until 9:00.

 

This is the bare minimum of what I'd like to do at each park. Is it possible, and what type of strategy would you suggest?

 

Epcot

 

Must Ride Attractions

Frozen Ever After (yeah... me and everybody else)

Soarin (see above)

Test Track (see above, also I'd like to complicate things and ride with Brit. I've seen quite a lot about the single rider line but I'd like to avoid it).

Spaceship Earth (I feel like this will be easy to work in since it's not on tier 1. Am I correct in this assumption?)

The Seas with Nemo and Friends and the aquarium (because Brit)

Living with the Land (oh, shut the f*ck up and stop laughing at me. I've never ridden this dumb ride and I want to. Plus it seems like a Brit type of ride, lol).

 

Rides I would like to ride, but could skip if necessary

Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros (see above, it looks stupid and I want to ride it, lol. Does this ever have a line? I'm getting that the answer is "no")

Mission Space (I've never ridden it, but I've heard mixed reviews)

 

Magic Kingdom

 

Must Ride Attractions

Pirates of the Caribbean

Haunted Mansion

Space Mountain

* Splash Mountain would be on this list but it's closed for refurb

 

Rides I would like to ride, but could skip if necessary

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Carousel of Progress (I love this ride. I have no idea why)

Peoplemover (because it's a guaranteed walk-on)

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (how hard are you laughing? Yeah, I know this one is a long shot. lol)

 

Rides that Brit wants to ride, but personally I'd rather sit on my own balls

It's a Small World

 

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If anyone has any thoughts on how to accomplish that or helpful tips, please let me know. I'm planning to book Fast Pass 30 days out, I don't know if I might still have problems getting Frozen. Any insight?

 

My gut tells me that we'll stick to Pirates, Splash, Space and Peoplemover (because of it's nonexistent line) at Magic Kingdom and then head right back to Epcot since I'd like to avoid rushing Epcot and actually have some time to slow down a little in the World Showcase and have a few drinks.

 

Anyway in addition to all of those questions, I have some additional questions. lol

 

- As of now I'm thinking of trying to get a Frozen Fast Pass 30 days out, getting to Epcot at opening, rope dropping Test Track and then heading to Soarin and dealing with the inevitable long line. Is that a decent enough plan? What tier 2 rides would you recommend getting Fast Pass for? Is there any noteworthy strategy needed for any other rides?

 

- If I understand correctly, I can only get Fast Pass for one park a time, right? Do I need to use all of my Epcot Fast Passes before I can log in and try to book some for Magic Kingdom (at which point I don't expect to get anything good)? Am I totally misunderstanding the Fast Pass system?

 

- At some point I figure we'll take the Monorail to Magic Kingdom and aim to be out of there about an hour before close so we don't get stuck in the hordes of people trying to leave at the same time, at which point we'll take the monorail back to Epcot and our car. Is that a good enough plan or should I try to leave earlier?

 

- Is Turtle Talk with Crush worth doing?

 

- I remember loving Journey Into Imagination With Figment when I was a kid. I loved figment, I love the dreamfinder, I still remember the stupid song. Everyone says the ride is awful now though so I planned on skipping it. Is that the right call?

 

- I assume you can take beer absolutely anywhere in the park. Am I right in this assumption?

 

- Any restaurants you can recommend? We don't want to go crazy but we're on vacation and don't mind splurging a little.

 

- We'd love to see Illuminations. Any suggestions on where to see it from and how early we should arrive?

 

Sunday: Animal Kingdom All Day

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The park is open from 9am to 8pm with no extra magic hours (which I assume is a good thing?)

 

I won't break this down into "must ride" and "skippable" like the last one. I've never been there and would like to do everything worth doing (and yes... that includes whoring Primeval Whirl but I'm not enough of a dork to care about riding both sides). Obviously the rides that really seem to stand out are Everest, the Pandora rides and Kilimanjaro Safaris but I'd like to experience everything noteworthy.

 

A few questions:

 

- The prevailing wisdom seems to be that you should reserve Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Flight of Passage and then rope drop Navi River Journey. Does that seem like the best plan? Is it reasonable with only a 30 day booking window?

 

- Brit loves animals (as everyone knows), so every animal exhibit is a priority. Any tips for these? I know a lot of them close early. The park's website (which is the worst park website on earth by the way) makes it look like there are a lot more than there are since they list every animal on Kilimanjaro Safaris as a separate attraction, but I'm getting that to see all of the animals we need to do

 

Conservation Station

Discovery Island Trails

Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail

Habitat Habit!

Maharajah Jungle Trek

The Oasis Exhibits

Discovery Island Trails

and Kilimanjaro Safaris

 

... and that pretty much covers it. Is that about right?

 

- Aside from the animal exhibits and Kilimanjaro Safaris, Flight of Passage, Everest, Na'vi River Journey, Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur are there any can't-miss rides or important attractions that I'm overlooking? Kali River Rapids will be closed for refurb, but I'm almost glad since I hate rapids rides but would have been tempted to ride due to the cool looking theming. lol

 

- Any show recommendations? Festival of the Lion King, Rivers of Light, Flights of Wonder, and Tree of Life Awakenings all look cool. With so many showtimes, Lion King and Flights of Wonder look easy to hit. Do you need to get there early? Any other good shows?

 

- Any tips for the best viewing areas of Rivers of Light or Tree of Life Awakenings? How early should we arrive? Would our time be better spent walking around Pandoa at night?

 

- Is it worth riding Kilimanjaro Safaris at night (like, heading there right after the 7:15 Rivers of Light show)? Of course we'll ride during the day also, but is it dramatically different / better / worse at night? If not, we'll probably head to Everest or something in Pandora.

 

- Any food recommendations?

 

- What's their alcohol policy?

 

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Thanks guys! I know that's a TON of questions but when it comes to Disney, we're clueless. Any help is greatly appreciated. Don't feel like you need to respond to every one of my 8,000 questions, anything helps because I don't know sh*t.

Edited by coasterbill
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I can't answer most of your questions, since Robb and Elissa, as well as many others will give you better responses.

 

but do you have Park Hopper both days?

 

if yes, I'd say try to do dinner both nights at Epcot, the restaurants in World showcase are overall excellent (if you don't do Disney Springs for dinner. . . the stuff that TPR has shared for meal options in Disney Springs have me salivating every time I'm looking).

 

but if you're going to be in the parks for food?

 

Animal Kingdom: Yak and Yeti (the only sit down restaurant we do at Disney outside of Epcot (if you don't count Cinderella castle, but I'm a big ol queen, so we always have lunch there even tho the food at the castle is only so-so).

 

EPCOT: By far my favorite restaurant is Marrakesh (in Morocco) which not only is amazing, but also has bellydancing while you eat

Close 2nd is the quick serve (downstairs) restaurant in France, or the Steakhouse in Canada.

 

we also really enjoyed the TexMex in the Pyramid of Mexico (added bonus, right near the boat ride, so if you do that, you can grab a decent margarita after. We're from Texas, and it was just as good as the Tex Mex here.

 

hope that helps a little bit.

 

bert

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EDIT: as Elissa (and Robb) on page 2 point out this is totally depending on time of year, and even then sometimes doesn't hold true.

 

so the below has been true of our trips, but those always tend to be in June or July timeframe.

 

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oh, as to the Kilimanjaro safaris --

 

based on our experiences (and we haven't been since Pandora opened. . so factor that in, in terms of order to do things). . .but I'd go to that FIRST, and get in line.

 

not only are the animals much more active in the morning, but most of them are actually out and about, we've found.

 

the one time we did the safaris in the afternoon, NOTHING was out, other than a hippo in the water

 

 

and the jungle trek is awesome, so don't miss it (walking trail) with Tigers, and giant fruit bats.

Edited by bert425
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Thanks for the tips!

 

Disney prices it so you might as well have a park hopper for both days. A park hopper on the 27th is $170 and a one day ticket to Animal Kingdom on the 28th is $99 so in total it's $269 and a 2 day park hopper is $259. Those tickets also don't tie you to specific days, so if (let's just say) it snows at home and our flight is cancelled, we have until the end of 2018 to use it.

 

Still, I don't see leaving Animal Kingdom that first day. I think Epcot is open an hour later than Animal Kingdom that day but it seems like a lot to cram into one day as it is so Yak and Yeti may be the frontrunner. On paper it seems like we could leave at park close and get to Epcot, but knowing us we'll probably hop in line for Safari, Everest, Flight of Passage or something like that right at close and then eat some sh*tty fast food on the way back to the hotel.

 

We'll probably go to Yak and Yeti, but are there any quick service places you like if it turns out we're sort of rushing around more than expected that day (which I hope isn't the case but could totally happen)?

 

oh, as to the Kilimanjaro safaris -- based on our experiences (and we haven't been since Pandora opened. . so factor that in, in terms of order to do things). . .but I'd go to that FIRST, and get in line.

 

That's a shame to hear. If we had multiple days I would probably do that one of the days, but it seems like if we get those three fastpasses we basically have no choice but to rope drop Navi River Journey. As we speak, it's posting a 120 Minute wait on a Thursday in November. Holy crap...

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One thing about Pandora: Two weeks ago I was there Saturday Morning and stayed on perperty for the 8-9am EMH. When I arrive at the park at 7:40, the park was already opened and Flight of Passage already had a 90 mins line by the time I walked into Pandora. So I would actually arrive 1.5 hours before AK opens just to be safe, since I assume AK would open early anyway. Get the two rides at Pandora done first (Flight of Passage and then Na’vi River Journey) as early as possible and enjoy a completely empty rest of the park (Kilimanjaro Safaris was 10 mins for the half hour of park opening). I don’t think FP for 30 days is possible since I couldn’t even get FoP FP 60 days in advance because of multi-day resort guests. You can always return to Pandora later in the day for the scenery.

 

Yak and Yeti is great and so does Satu’li Canteen. You can order food online in the WDW app and just pick up there.

 

Journey into Imagination never gets a line anyway and it’s basically “Figment and Nothing Else People Give a F**k About - The Ride”, I would ride it when I go to Epcot just because I think it’s still a very cute ride.

 

I would actually just do as many snacks as possible around World Showcase instead of sit down at a restaurant. Le Cellier is great though.

 

I haven’t done Kilimanjaro Safaris at night but people always talk about how much better it is because the lions are moving around.

Edited by gerstlaueringvar
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I was last there in 2015, so I haven't been since Frozen and Pandora opened, but I can try giving feedback as best I can.

 

If you are looking for park wait times, I've found The Dibb is a very useful website. It gives the average wait over the past 7 days and you can look up historical wait times on specific days. Link

 

Like you suspected, I would avoid any park with extra magic hours. If a park has Extra Magic Hours, on-site guests interpret that as "The Mouse is telling us to go here today. So we will."

 

Day 1

Magic Kingdom and Epcot can be combined into one day. If you get to Magic Kingdom at opening like you said, you can knock out almost any ride that you like in the first 2 hours except Peter Pan and Seven Dwarfs.

 

On the topic of Fastpasses, if you get to Magic Kingdom early, the only Fastpasses that are truly needed are Seven Dwarfs and Peter Pan. After that, Space Mountain is the next best one to Fastpass. Epcot's tier system screws over a single day visit there. You can avoid a bad wait on Frozen, Test Track, or Soarin', but you still have to wait on the other two.

 

So my recommendation is this. I know you said that you don't want to do Hollywood Studios. However, Rock "n" Roller Coaster and especially Tower of Terror are two of my favorite rides in the resort. I would recommend getting FastPasses for Rock "n" Roller Coaster and Tower Of Terror. You'll have to guess when you'll leave Magic Kingdom, but schedule those two attractions back to back. If you do that, you could make a quick 1-1.5 hour pit stop and knock out two of the resort's best attractions in no time. If you care about a 3rd ride, I'd say Star Tours but I'm guessing you want to get to Epcot.

 

Magic Kingdom

If you get the FastPasses for Hollywood Studios, I think there's two options for Magic Kingdom. The first is to hit Seven Dwarfs first and pray you get off before lines form at Space Mountain and Big Thunder. The other is to hit all the other high priority rides before they develop lines and then suck up a 60-90 minute wait for Seven Dwarfs. I think it's a fun coaster, but I don't think it's worth a wait that long.

 

Seven Dwarfs was the newest hotness in 2015 and I'm guessing it's still pretty popular. That is the ride that most people queue up for at rope drop. If the rush isn't too bad, you can try Seven Dwarfs early. Otherwise it's best to hit that ride at night. Disney is notorious about lying about their wait times near closing. The wait was posted at 60-90 minutes at the end of every night in my 2015 visits, but the wait was never more than 5-10 minutes. Peter Pan has an uncharacteristically slow moving line. I don't see that as one of the rides you are interested in, so that saves you a lot of headache.

 

Of the two mountains, prioritize Space first. Space Mountain will eventually have a line around 60-90 minutes, but you should be able to get on it a few times after opening. Big Thunder is more like a 30-45 minute wait midday because of its capacity. Make sure to ride the coasters first since they have shorter cycles than the dark rides. Pirates and Haunted Mansion's lines shouldn't reach more than 10-15 minutes this early in the day. Midday they could reach up to 30 minutes. And like you said, the Peoplemover will never have a wait.

 

Epcot

Not getting to Epcot at rope drop will make the lines for the big 3 long. Test Track will shut down in rain, so make sure you don't queue for that one unless it's clear and sunny skies. You don't want to get to the end of that queue and then have the ride go down. The single rider line will probably get you on in 15-20 minutes as opposed to a 60-90 minute wait. However, you and Brit may still be on the same car. Since Test Track has an odd 3-3 seating configuration, if you have two groups of 2, you two would be seated behind them.

 

Like I said, I haven't been since Frozen opened, but I anticipate that will be your worst wait. Maybe grab a beer and enjoy that while you wait in line? Soarin's wait has also dropped significantly since they added the new theater. I bet it'll still be 45ish minutes, but it beats the 100 minute waits it used to have.

 

Nemo and Gran Fiesta Tour will never have lines. Spaceship Earth is near the main entrance, so its line gets flooded early in the day. Later in the day, it's usually a walk-on. Living with the Land gets its worst waits midday. In the evening, I've walked onto it a few times and it's a great way to put yourself to sleep.

 

Journey Into Your Imagination could be on the chopping block so I recommend hitting it. While it isn't the original, they did re-add Figment and it rarely has a bad wait.

 

Turtle Talk is great for the kids, but not something I'd recommend at the expense of more time in World Showcase.

 

My favorite restaurant at Epcot is the Garden Grill. Admittedly I'm a huge Chip 'n' Dale fan, but I also did like the family style all-you-can eat meal. It was the big splurge character meal we had on our trip. The other restaurant I love is the pizza place in Italy. It's great pizza not just for a park.

 

Animal Kingdom

 

Pandora changes everything. I cannot comment on lines for that attraction, but I've heard they can be nightmarish. I'd ask others if it's best to hit them first or in the evening. If you can get Fastpasses for them, do it and don't look back.

 

Otherwise, the best rides to Fastpass are Kilimanjaro Safaris, Everest, Dinosaur, and Primeval Whirl in that order. If you were a credit whore, I'd say Primeval Whirl should be priority one. One side of the track is reserved for FastPass only unless they've changed it from my most recent visit.

 

I recommend Kilimanjaro Safaris first thing in the morning. The animals are more active before the midday heat. I have never ridden it in the evening since Animal Kingdom has always closed early in past visits. I suspect it would be a similar situation where they are more active.

 

Of the shows, I strongly recommend the Lion King one. It's spectacular.

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I would go to Safari first, we did that at rope drop, short line. We were able to get fast passes for Flight of Passage, but 60 days out. The lines were super long to that. But it was sooooooo worth it. We even stood in line during the extra magic hours without a fast pass for it. Best part of our trip!

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Thanks guys!

 

If you get to Magic Kingdom at opening like you said, you can knock out almost any ride that you like in the first 2 hours except Peter Pan and Seven Dwarfs.

 

Our plan would actually be to go to Epcot First, hopefully armed with a Fast Pass for one of the big three which would allow us to rope drop another one. On the third, we would just suck it up. That's cool to know that you can bring beer in line. It makes the wait much better.

 

Then we would leave the car, take the monorail to Magic Kingdom and come back later for illuminations and to hang out in the world showcase. I don't really anticipate unbearable waits for Mansion or Pirates and I can suck it up for Space Mountain. I've ridden mine train, I can skip it if we're short on time. I prefer Space and Thunder. As for Peter Pan, I have no intention of wasting another second of my life on that horrendous attraction. It's wait times are absurd and it sucks. Justice League: Battle for Metropolis at Six Flags is an infinitely better dark ride, even if half of the effects are broken.

 

Plus, if I did ride the stupid thing I would never skip the queue since the queue is better than the f*cking ride.

 

Once I use up my Fast Passes for Epcot can I try to get Magic Kingdom Fast Passes? I don't anticipate getting anything amazing, but even if I get something kind of dumb I'd be happy. lol

 

I don’t think FP for 30 days is possible since I couldn’t even get FoP FP 60 days in advance because of multi-day resort guests. You can always return to Pandora later in the day for the scenery.

Thanks for the great tips, gerstlaueringvar!

 

That's a bummer. If we don't get a fast pass for either ride, does anyone know if it's better to rope drop Flight of Passage or River Journey?

 

Fun fact we will be at Disney and in orlando at the same time as you lol

 

Awesome! Maybe we'll run into you. I'll be the one downing a beer while standing in a 2 hour Frozen Ever After line.

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You are getting great advice. I just wanted to chime in and second the recommendation for Lion King. I was "wow-ed" at how good it was. I have been there twice, about 13 years apart. The first time, I went to it kicking and screaming. The second time was "no way in hell are we going to miss Lion King".

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Our plan would actually be to go to Epcot First, hopefully armed with a Fast Pass for one of the big three which would allow us to rope drop another one. On the third, we would just suck it up. That's cool to know that you can bring beer in line. It makes the wait much better.

 

One of my friends has played Drinking Around the World. It's an expensive endeavor where you need to finish an alcoholic drink at every single country. And like real life, you can't cross borders with your open liquor.

 

I know he's waited for Frozen while chugging some Norwegian drink, so I'd just double check the park is ok with that. That sure as heck would make the wait go faster.

 

Of the Big 3, I'd recommend Frozen if you can get it. If you don't intend to use Test Track's single rider line, I'd grab that one since it could close due to weather or technical difficulties.

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^^ Flight of Passage and then Na’vi.

 

It’s also a good idea to randomly browse the WDW app to figure out the wait time tendencies. Also Disney would inflate posted wait times to drive people to other parts of the park or get people out of the park at the end of the day so what you see often aren’t what they actually are. But generally that helps.

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I'll do a more detailed post later but I wanted to address the Flight of Passage Avatar stuff as that's important and we've been helping people get on it since it opened.

 

You have two choices...both of which you'll wait about 60-90min for the ride, but it totally depends how you like to wait. I like the morning method. Plan to be at the front gates of Animal Kingdom 90 minutes prior to opening. You will most likely be off of Flight of Passage before the park is technically open. Then you can do River Journey, and then you'll still be ahead of everyone else for all other rides at the park. Robb prefers the night method. This means getting in line 10 minutes before park close and you will wait 60-90min in a full queue with humans.

 

Now you do have a chance for a fast pass but it will take time, patience, and you'll want to check one person at a time. Starting at 30 days (when you can make the reservation) check every day, as much as you can, refreshing for every hour during the day. You will have a decent chance at finding ONE randomly pop up.

 

And yes...Yak and Yeti!

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- As of now I'm thinking of trying to get a Frozen Fast Pass 30 days out, getting to Epcot at opening, rope dropping Test Track and then heading to Soarin and dealing with the inevitable long line. Is that a decent enough plan?

If you can get the FP+ that's awesome! That will give you one less thing to worry about. If you are going for rope drop, consider going right to Soarin' instead of Test Track and using the single rider line for Test Track unless single rider lines aren't your thing and you really really like the new Test Track pre-show where you can make your own car. (side note: they have the same machines at the exit of Test Track where you can customize your car and it saves it to your Magic Band.)

 

If you cannot get Frozen Ever After Fastpasses, right at park closing, I have never waited more than 45 minutes for it, usually the line is more like 25 minutes even if the sign posted wait time still says 70-100.

 

NOTE - I would avoid this park on an evening EMH day. Epcot can get VERY busy on days when they have EMH.

 

Another side note - Now that they have built the 3rd theater for Soarin, the line isn't as long as it used to be, but it can still get fairly long, but I haven't seen those 120 min common waits in a while.

 

If I understand correctly, I can only get Fast Pass for one park a time, right? Do I need to use all of my Epcot Fast Passes before I can log in and try to book some for Magic Kingdom (at which point I don't expect to get anything good)? Am I totally misunderstanding the Fast Pass system?

They have been making quite a few changes to the FP+ system and they have mostly been for the good. Yes, you can only get a FP for one park at a time UNTIL you have exhausted those three pre-booked FastPasses for that park. Once those are used up, you can then go on the app and get a FastPass ONE AT A TIME for a ride at the same park or another park if you wish. Allears has a pretty good breakdown of the FastPass+ system: http://allears.net/tp/fastpass-plus.htm

 

Of course it depends on the time of year you go to the parks, but on non-peak days I've been with people at Studios, had 3 FP for the morning/early afternoon, used all of those, and then ended up getting 3 more FP for Kingdom later that night. But if you're going on some super busy day, yeah, you'll probably be left with crap.

 

At some point I figure we'll take the Monorail to Magic Kingdom and aim to be out of there about an hour before close so we don't get stuck in the hordes of people trying to leave at the same time, at which point we'll take the monorail back to Epcot and our car. Is that a good enough plan or should I try to leave earlier?

If you have a car, just drive to MK. Don't even mess with the monorail. And don't leave the park EARLY, hang out for a while. They will leave Main Street and the hub area open for sometimes 90 minutes after the park closes. Go hang out, get some cool castle pictures, grab a coffee at Starbucks right before they close and go hang out in the "grass" area and just relax and enjoy the park as it's emptying out and you're not in that crazy hordes of people. We do this all the time and it's actually a lot of fun!

 

- Is Turtle Talk with Crush worth doing?

If you've never seen it, and you have some free time, and you're a super huge Nemo nerd, then yes.

 

I remember loving Journey Into Imagination With Figment when I was a kid. I loved figment, I love the dreamfinder, I still remember the stupid song. Everyone says the ride is awful now though so I planned on skipping it. Is that the right call?

Keep the memories you had of the original...

 

I assume you can take beer absolutely anywhere in the park. Am I right in this assumption?

Pretty much. The only limitations is at Magic Kingdom. You cannot take alcohol outside of the restaurants.

 

Any restaurants you can recommend? We don't want to go crazy but we're on vacation and don't mind splurging a little.

This is one of those hard questions because there are so many options. I'd ask you back "what kind of food are you interested in?"

 

We'd love to see Illuminations. Any suggestions on where to see it from and how early we should arrive?

Mexico. Just to the left of the "ring carver" kiosk (which is to the left of the outdoor restaurant) and it's exactly where I filmed this live stream last night:

 

318052358_standhereforilluminationsifyoustandanywhereelseyouaredumb.thumb.jpg.250c0d4a488285efafc52090aa600302.jpg

 

- The prevailing wisdom seems to be that you should reserve Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Flight of Passage and then rope drop Navi River Journey. Does that seem like the best plan? Is it reasonable with only a 30 day booking window?

Everest has an amazing single rider line and I have managed to ride 3-4 times in about 30 minutes even on busy days. Kilimanjaro is worth doing but IMO if it is a huge line (I'm also not a big animal person so there is that) but the line does move very fast because those vehicles hold a ton of people and then run like 600 of them at a time.

 

- Brit loves animals (as everyone knows), so every animal exhibit is a priority. Any tips for these? I know a lot of them close early. The park's website (which is the worst park website on earth by the way) makes it look like there are a lot more than there are since they list every animal on Kilimanjaro Safaris as a separate attraction, but I'm getting that to see all of the animals we need to do

 

Conservation Station

Discovery Island Trails

Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail

Habitat Habit!

Maharajah Jungle Trek

The Oasis Exhibits

Discovery Island Trails

and Kilimanjaro Safaris

 

... and that pretty much covers it. Is that about right?

Conservation Station can be time consuming but it's interesting if she is into veterinary science. The rest of them are easy to do walking trails. Be sure to see the naked mole rats!!!

 

Ok, here's my take on the Avatar stuff. As Elissa said you have two options if you can't get a FP:

 

Option 1. You have to go EARLY in the morning. And I mean REALLY REALLY EARLY - You *NEED* to be at the front entrance of the park 90 minutes before park opening. That doesn't mean be pulling into the parking lot 90 minutes, it means AT THE FRONT ENTRANCE ready to go into the park. Let me show you why. Here is a picture of a friend of ours who recently was at the park 90 minutes prior to park opening on a non-peak day....

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This is one of those situations where every minute you delay getting there, you'll have like 500 more people in front of you. He got there 90 minutes early (to which they opened the park at 8:50am instead of 9:00am which they commonly will open early) and he was done with BOTH Flight of Passage and River Journey by 9:30.

 

Now granted, he still basically waited two hours. BUT...at least he had the rest of the day ahead of him.

 

Option 2. Get in line about 3 minutes before park closing (NOT on an EMH night) and even if the line says 180 minutes, your actual wait should only be about 45-75 minutes. At this point there is no more Fast Pass people coming through and you just have to clear out the standby line. When the standby line is at the ride entrance (all the way outside) the line is about 45-50 minutes. I have done this several times and the only time it took longer than 50 minutes was because one of the theaters broke down while we were waiting.

 

If you love the ride, you could always combine option 1 & 2 and get a bonus ride in!

 

Aside from the animal exhibits and Kilimanjaro Safaris, Flight of Passage, Everest, Na'vi River Journey, Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur are there any can't-miss rides or important attractions that I'm overlooking?

Nope. Unless you are into shows. Nemo & Lion King are both pretty good. But if you're not into shows, you can skip them.

 

Any tips for the best viewing areas of Rivers of Light or Tree of Life Awakenings? How early should we arrive? Would our time be better spent walking around Pandoa at night?

Tree of life shows are constantly going on throughout the night. You can just stand in front of the tree in the entrance area and usually catch one. I'm not a fan of Rivers of Light. Your time is better spent in Pandora, IMO. But maybe watch a video of the show on YouTube and decide for yourself.

 

Is it worth riding Kilimanjaro Safaris at night (like, heading there right after the 7:15 Rivers of Light show)? Of course we'll ride during the day also, but is it dramatically different / better / worse at night? If not, we'll probably head to Everest or something in Pandora.

Not really. Hit Everest or Pandora at night instead.

 

Any food recommendations?

Yak & Yeti! It's wonderful! Also the QSR in Pandora is great as well!

 

- What's their alcohol policy?

You can drink alcohol if you're 21 and over.

 

I hope some of this is helpful or useful.

Edited by robbalvey
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Robb really hit pretty much everything. One more thing that I'll add since I know you guys DO want to do the safari, is that in January the animals are out more than just morning and night. It's from April - October that you'll only see them morning and night because Florida is a disgusting hot, humid hell hole that even the animals want no part of. Don't stress too much about hitting it at like 2pm...in January, that's fine.

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not only are the animals much more active in the morning, but most of them are actually out and about, we've found.

 

the one time we did the safaris in the afternoon, NOTHING was out, other than a hippo in the water

Yeah I have to agree with Elissa's statement above. This is not accurate information and most certainly not correct based on the time of year. Make sure you listen to the people who are Orlando locals! We won't steer you wrong!

 

EDIT: In fact, this live stream was done on a very hot day in May at 12:30pm and you can see there are many animals out. I've been on the safari both in morning and night and also seen next to nothing. Remember they are animals and not animatronics and can be unpredictable.

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Another note - I just noticed on the dates you are here that Magic Kingdom closes at 8pm. That's really unfortunate. I hope some of those hours get extended. The nights that MK is open until 11pm or later are some of the best nights at the park. Those last couple of hours you have the place to yourself! Keep an eye on park hours as they CAN adjust them. For example, up until about 5 days ago, MK was closing at 10pm during the two weeks of Christmas & New Years and they just changed that to 12am.

 

That being said, I'm not exactly sure how I would suggest doing MK as it sounds like you guys may be more interested in doing some night time stuff at DAK or Epcot. Unless you could dedicate more time to it, or if they extend park hours, it might be worth just skipping it unless there is something you REALLY needed to do. Going to MK in the middle of the day can be quite hectic.

 

If there was one MK thing I would recommend would be Happily Ever After as it really is a completely amazing fireworks show, but that would pretty much mean you need to be at the park from about 6pm - closing and it would also mean you wouldn't be able to do any other park that night.

Edited by robbalvey
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not only are the animals much more active in the morning, but most of them are actually out and about, we've found.

 

the one time we did the safaris in the afternoon, NOTHING was out, other than a hippo in the water

Yeah I have to agree with Elissa's statement above. This is not accurate information and most certainly not correct based on the time of year. Make sure you listen to the people who are Orlando locals! We won't steer you wrong!

 

 

LOL. . yep, that's why I started off my comment pointing to you & Elissa as the ones with the better answers.

Very good point on time of year. . didn't even consider that!

 

but hey, we all agreed on Yak & Yeti in AK

 

 

(what do you think of Marrakesh?. .it's my favorite dining spot at EPCOT)

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(what do you think of Marrakesh?. .it's my favorite dining spot at EPCOT)

I like it but it would be far from my first choice. But again, that's why I ask Bill what they are into because there is so much that Epcot offers. I personally like Spice Road Table much MUCH more than Marrakesh. But that's just me...

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^ haven't actually tried Spice Road Table.. the one time we've been to EPCOT since they opened it (2014?) it was so packed we couldn't get in - something that's an oddity, as since we're just 2, we never have problems getting into Disney restaurants via standby

 

(tho always need reservations for upstairs in France, or the Steakhouse, and as noted, since I'm a huge fan of Marrakesh, we manage to pre-book that one).

 

we'll definitely try it next time we go, it's right there in front of Morocco, and the views over the lagoon look to be amazing.

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^ haven't actually tried Spice Road Table.. the one time we've been to EPCOT since they opened it (2014?) it was so packed we couldn't get in - something that's an oddity, as since we're just 2, we never have problems getting into Disney restaurants via standby

Parties of two had a MUCH better chance of getting in somewhere. Hell, I've even walked up to Be Our Guest as a party of two and gotten right in!

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Since we are staying in Art of Animation I was able to do my FP stuff this week. I feel bad after reading this that maybe I should go with Flight instead of the river journey but we have a 4 year old that may just be too short for flight and i know with river journey all of us can ride including the 2 year old. I checked a few hours after I could when FP first became available to me and the earliest i could get flight was 6:40 on Tuesday the 30th. We were able to get Journey at 10 or 11 am

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Wow! Thanks so much, especially to Robb and Elissa for spending so much time writing out that encyclopedia of information. It's all super helpful and I'm sure you had to take a lot of time out of mailing bags of crap to entitled Twitter users to write it so thank you.

 

I see the appeal of both approaches to riding the Pandora rides. I was hesitant to go the night route at first since I was worried that if Flight of Passage went down for mechanical reasons I would be out of luck, but I guess if they have two theaters there's an extremely low chance of that happening, right?

 

I absolutely see the appeal of getting there early but I have to weigh that against my desire to sleep past 7am on vacation so it's a tough call. Hopefully I can snag a Fast Pass for one of those two rides which will make for a much easier decision.

 

That being said, I'm not exactly sure how I would suggest doing MK as it sounds like you guys may be more interested in doing some night time stuff at DAK or Epcot. Unless you could dedicate more time to it, or if they extend park hours, it might be worth just skipping it unless there is something you REALLY needed to do. Going to MK in the middle of the day can be quite hectic.

 

Skipping Magic Kingdom entirely actually makes a lot of sense. I didn't really think about it initially since the thought of going on a Disney vacation and not even stepping foot in Magic Kingdom feels like sacrilege but you bring up a good point. Not park hopping would not only make for a less stressful day, but it would also save us a combined $120 on park tickets so that's something I'll definately consider. I don't mind splurging a little, but I'm not against saving $120 on mostly unecesarry spending either.

 

I might still cave so we can ride Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain because they're awesome but it's something to think about. You're right, the hours are a bit disappointing. The only reason we considered going back to Epcot was because it closes after Magic Kingdom anyway. If Magic Kingdom were open later we would absolutely spend the rest of the night there and maybe check out their fireworks show (if we can pry ourselves away from the great rides).

 

This is one of those hard questions because there are so many options. I'd ask you back "what kind of food are you interested in?"

Some of their Asian options look amazing. Based on the website, Nine Dragons looks great. What are your thoughts on that place versus Teppan Edo (which also looks great)? The reviews are all over the place.

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^ haven't actually tried Spice Road Table.. the one time we've been to EPCOT since they opened it (2014?) it was so packed we couldn't get in - something that's an oddity, as since we're just 2, we never have problems getting into Disney restaurants via standby

Parties of two had a MUCH better chance of getting in somewhere. Hell, I've even walked up to Be Our Guest as a party of two and gotten right in!

I can definitely believe that! After trying for days to get a reservation there, we just walked up and got in for lunch.

 

We ate at Epcot almost every day of our 5-day park hopper. My favorites of the ones we tried were the restaurant inside the pyramid in Mexico, and the sushi restaurant in Japan. We watched IllumiNations from a window seat at the restaurant because we wanted to relax, but it was harder to see than I'm sure Robb's suggested spot. I'm sure you can't go wrong with pretty much any restaurant there.

 

I'm pretty sure we never got a fast pass for Frozen and were still able to get on it within like 30 minutes. This was also in July during the hottest part of the day when I'm sure people weren't really looking to walk around Epcot.

 

I also want to put in a good word for Tower of Terror and Rock n' Roller Coaster. They are also two of my favorites in the resort. I personally prefer them to anything at Epcot. The few times I've ridden Rock n' Roller Coaster, I had no trouble getting on it pretty quick using single rider line.

 

Hope you guys have fun! One thing we experienced during our trip (but we also had several days longer) was a ton of plans shifting and flexibility. We'd plan for AK one day and then end up in Epcot by the end of the night, or think we were going to spend a lot of time in Hollywood Studios and then go to Epcot for dinner and then end out in MK. We had a ton of fun approaching it that way. We'd get FPs and then end up riding the ride before our FP time because the wait was short, and then something would randomly open up and we'd end up getting a FP for something else that we thought we'd have to wait for. It's easy to get overwhelmed in all this planning and then throw it all out the window in the end. I've not visited the park nearly enough to suggest that this is a good idea, but this is what we experienced. You just never know how things might change.

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Wow! Thanks so much, especially to Robb and Elissa for spending so much time writing out that encyclopedia of information. It's all super helpful and I'm sure you had to take a lot of time out of mailing bags of crap to entitled Twitter users to write it so thank you.

Yeah, I mean, I was really busy and I cannot believe you MADE ME take time out of engaging with self-entitled assholes on Twitter. You owe me for my time. I'll send you an invoice.

 

I see the appeal of both approaches to riding the Pandora rides. I was hesitant to go the night route at first since I was worried that if Flight of Passage went down for mechanical reasons I would be out of luck, but I guess if they have two theaters there's an extremely low chance of that happening, right?

It is a legit concern. They actually have FOUR theaters, but that doesn't mean the entire ride couldn't go down for some reason. It rarely happens, but you never know. If you at least plan to do the night ride on your first night, you always have the next morning?

 

I concur about your not wanting to get up at 7am on a vacation day. That is why I do the night time rides for both FoP and Frozen.

 

Skipping Magic Kingdom entirely actually makes a lot of sense. I didn't really think about it initially since the thought of going on a Disney vacation and not even stepping foot in Magic Kingdom feels like sacrilege but you bring up a good point. Not park hopping would not only make for a less stressful day, but it would also save us a combined $120 on park tickets so that's something I'll definately consider. I don't mind splurging a little, but I'm not against saving $120 on mostly unecesarry spending either.

Yeah, the shorter park hours really are unfortunate. And ever since they took away the night time parade, this has been a result. Hoping that will change back when we get a new night time parade at the park. Unless you can do MK first thing in the morning one of your mornings, MK will be tough, not gonna lie, on a weekend. You'll run into huge crowds even though the weekend you're out here isn't considered a peak weekend. It's just hard to do multiple parks in one day when one of them is a shorter-operating hour Magic Kingdom.

 

Some of their Asian options look amazing. Based on the website, Nine Dragons looks great. What are your thoughts on that place versus Teppan Edo (which also looks great)? The reviews are all over the place.

I personally like Nine Dragons, but it sometimes doesn't get the best reviews. Although I'd probably choose the Teppanyaki restaurant over it because... Japan... and it's also very good!

 

Off the top of my head my other top choices at Epcot would be: Via Napoli, Le Cellier, Spice Road Table, Tutto Italia. Although the best Asian food on Disney property, IMO, is either going to be Morimoto Asia or Yak & Yeti.

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