Disney Parks - Initial Plan

[Spooks Dad]

Sorry for the length of this post but maybe my plan and the discussion it might cause could be useful for others too!

We arrive on 9 August at 4.20pm and are staying onsite at Coronado Springs for the first 11 nights of our 21 night stay (we have 5 nights in the Hard Rock Hotel and then another 5 on Universal Boulevard). We will do all our Disney visits in the first half of the holiday.

It is our intention to visit the Disney theme parks twice (MK, AK, Ep & DHS) and go to the waterparks once (TL & BB). It is myself (4th trip), my wife (5th trip) and my 14yo boy (3rd trip). We have Disney Dining Plan and last time (2014) it worked well to use our meals on a breakfast and a late lunch (2-3) and then our snack for a supper snack.

My initial plan looks like this, can you please comment on any experiences you have had that might be worth me considering to improve it.

Friday, 10 August – Magic Kingdom
This is because the park has EMH and I am expecting we will all be up early.
Fast Passes – Seven Dwarfs (11-12), Big Thunder (2-3), Splash Mountain (3-4)
Plan – Go straight to Space Mountain first and then Buzz Lightyear, continue in Tomorrow Land until Seven Dwarfs fast pass. Then do Fantasy Land and Liberty Square until the afternoon fast passes. Leave soon after 4pm.

Saturday 11 August – Hollywood Studios
There are no quiet days for the Disney 4.
Fast Passes – TSM (1-2), TofT (2-3), Star Tours (3-4)
Plan – Straight to R&R and then Tower of Terror. Complete as much of the park before the start of the fast passes. Stay to watch Star Wars Galactic Spectacular and then leave.

Sunday 12 August – Epcot
Only Animal Kingdom is showing as quiet and we intend to go there other days.
Fast Passes – Soarin (11-12), Spaceship Earth (1-2), Journey into the Imagination (2-3)
Plan – Straight to Mission Space and Test Track, work anti-clockwise towards Soarin for the FP. Do other Fast Passes then to the World Showcase. Leave around 5 ish.

Monday 13 August – Blizzard Beach
Waterparks are showing as quiet and we will have done 4 days in theme parks. Aim to get their early and leave mid-afternoon.

Tuesday 14 August – Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom is showing as quiet day, and also this is a special park for us (this is our Anniversary)
Fast Passes – Avatar Flights of Passage (10-11), Dinosaur (3-4), Primevil Whirl (4-5)
Plan – Straight to Navi, the use the fast pass for Flights of Passage. Move to Africa to do the Kilamanjaro Safari and then into Asia.
Leave the park in time to look around AKL and eat in Boma (will reserve), leaving plenty of time to get back to AK for Rivers of Light at 8.45.

Wednesday 15 August – Typhoon Lagoon
Waterparks are showing as quiet and we will aim to get their early and leave mid-afternoon.

Thursday 16 August – Epcot (2nd visit)
This park is showing as busy but this is my wife’s birthday and we are planning on doing the Scuba Diving experience at 4.30pm.
Fast Passes – Frozen Ever After (12-1), Epcot Character Spot (1-2), The Seas with Nemo (3-4)
Plan – I imagine we will be getting tired by now and both my wife and boy like a lie in (I am going to get them to parks by park opening this time!). However for this day we will have a lazy get up, hopefully we will have done most of the park on 12 August. When we get there we will go to Test Track to ride again then to Frozen ever after for our Fast Pass. Use the other Fastpasses and then Scuba at 4.30. I might look to see if there are any Illuminations Fastpasses available after we complete our fastpasses.

Friday 17 August – Hollywood Studios (2nd visit)
This park is showing as mid-busy but we will have already done Epcot (which is showing as a quiet day) twice.
Fast Passes – TSM (1-2), TofT (2-3), Star Tours (3-4)
Plan – Straight to TSM at park opening then Rock & Rollercoaster. Then complete parts of the park we didn’t do on our first trip before our Fast Passes start at 1pm. Staying to watch Fantasmic.

Saturday 18 August – Magic Kingdom (2nd visit)
This park is showing as mid-busy but there are no Disney ‘quiet parks’.
Fast Passes – P of the C (11-12), Seven Dwarfs (1-2), Winnie the Pooh (2-3)
Plan – Go to Frontierland to do Big Thunder and Splash Mountain before the P of the C fastpass. Finish Frontierland then go to Fantasy Land for afternoon Fast Passes. Stay for fireworks.

Sunday 19 August – Animal Kingdom (2nd visit)
Showing as a quiet day. Hopefully we will have done most the things we wanted to on our first visit.
Fast Passes – Navi River (10-11), Everest (1-2), Kali River Rapids (2-3)
Plan – Straight to Flights of Passage then Fast Pass for Navi. Then to Kilamanjaro Safaris before going to Dinoland, then Asia for FPs. Aim to leave early so we can pack before leaving for Hard Rock the following morning.

Thanks for getting this far! What do you think?

[loldis]

Looks good to me! I wouldn't be too concerned about it showing as busy/not busy since you're on site. EMH days are always flagged as busy but it's not always the case as it fully depends on crowd levels. A Thursday in mid-August shouldn't be too bad in Epcot, as most of the US crowds should be leaving by then due to school season starting and there's no festivals on in summer.

One thought was you might flag a bit on that first Saturday while waiting for SW, but you could always head back to the resort or chill out on the Boardwalk for a bit if you need a park break.

[Eccle]

Sounds good! In my experience of booking FPs for next month, you might struggle getting 7DMT for that time at 60 days, maybe be prepared to have to do a later time.

You haven't mentioned the new Toy story land rides which I think are likely to be open then, but maybe that is something for your second day in HS

[Elsa42]

I think this looks great! For me I wouldn’t say you need two full days at Hollywood studios we normally get everything done in half a day although that does depend on if the new toy story land is open and you are interested in it!
Other than that looks great!

[Spooks Dad]

Originally Posted by loldis

Looks good to me! I wouldn't be too concerned about it showing as busy/not busy since you're on site. EMH days are always flagged as busy but it's not always the case as it fully depends on crowd levels. A Thursday in mid-August shouldn't be too bad in Epcot, as most of the US crowds should be leaving by then due to school season starting and there's no festivals on in summer.

One thought was you might flag a bit on that first Saturday while waiting for SW, but you could always head back to the resort or chill out on the Boardwalk for a bit if you need a park break.

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Thank you for your feedback. On the DHS (11 Aug) comment. I agree. Ideally we would have been done by 4-ish and away for a relaxing evening until I realised that it was difficult to do both Fantasmic and Star Wars shows on the same day.

[Spooks Dad]

Originally Posted by Eccle

Sounds good! In my experience of booking FPs for next month, you might struggle getting 7DMT for that time at 60 days, maybe be prepared to have to do a later time.

You haven't mentioned the new Toy story land rides which I think are likely to be open then, but maybe that is something for your second day in HS

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Thank you. Is 7DMT still really popular? It was still pretty new when we went in 2014. It is worth saying that all of my plan relies on a successful day of fastpass booking!

[Spooks Dad]

Originally Posted by Elsa42

I think this looks great! For me I wouldn’t say you need two full days at Hollywood studios we normally get everything done in half a day although that does depend on if the new toy story land is open and you are interested in it!
Other than that looks great!

See more...

Thank you.

I must admit I had hoped we could be away late afternoon-ish on our first day there but it seems that to see both Fantasmic and Star Wars night shows on the same day isn't doable.

[Cliftonite]

Thank you for posting this. We are there 31st July for 7 nights and will be pretty much doing a park each day before heading to Universal for another 7 nights - at a more relaxed pace.

My ADRs are booked but haven't quite thought about the fast passes or plans for tackling the parks (directions, aim for... 1st etc).

This is fab, hope you don't mind if I borrow parts of it :-)

Alison

[Spooks Dad]

I have now planned the second half of the holiday.

Monday 20 August - Hotel Change to Hard Rock Hotel for 5 nights / IOA (1st visit)
Tuesday 21 August - IOA (2nd visit)
Wednesday 22 August - Universal Studios (1st visit)
Thursday 23 August - Volcano Bay (only visit)
Friday 24 August - Universal Studios (2nd visit)
Saturday 25 August - Hotel Change - Seaworld (1st visit)
Potentially upgrade to FOLP.
Sunday 26 August - Busch Gardens (1st visit)
Potentially upgrade to FOLP. Go on the free Hertz bus.
Monday 27 August - Aquatica (only visit)
Tuesday 28 August - Busch Gardens (2nd visit)
Go on the free Hertz bus.
Wednesday 29 August - Seaworld (2nd visit)
Thursday 30 August - Home :-(

[bigshaz]

wha a fantastic trip you have planned. We did our three weeker last year - my thoughts would be:

Definitely FOLP passes for Busch Gardens - try to get a deal on line in advance
Have you got three week Disney tickets? If so it suited us to go back to Disney for three fast passes and fireworks in an evening when we stayed at HRH. MNSSHP is expected for 21st and 28th if you wanted to squeeze it in!
Hollywood studios yes to two days for us.
Blizzard Beach - if you can push to boat out and you want a good full day I would recommend a cabana, makes for a very relaxing day
Are you all good with the heat? I notice you have a few fast passes aimed at 4-5pm - we were crumbling by 2 if we had made rope drop - kudos to you for being more acustomed
you are going to have an amazing time, and to celebrate several times whilst being there will make it all the more special. thank you for sharing with us.