FP+ Strategy with Toddlers

DrummerAlly

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My husband, mother, and I are heading down with our just turned 4 year old and our 22 month old. We are doing 3 days at MK, 1 day at Epcot, one day at DHS. We are going Sept 8-13, so hopefully it will be very quiet.

What's the best FP+ strategy for the traveling with the littles since we won't be going on any of the mountains? Aside from Peter Pan, and A&E Meet and Greets, are there any 'must gets' for FP+?
 
Toy story mania in hs. Will your 4yo ride big things? My 2.5 year old enough was tall enough for barnstormer and seven dwarfs mine train and I would get those if so. Otherwise, I liked to FP any meet and greets we could.
 

DrummerAlly

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Toy story mania in hs. Will your 4yo ride big things? My 2.5 year old enough was tall enough for barnstormer and seven dwarfs mine train and I would get those if so. Otherwise, I liked to FP any meet and greets we could.

Yes - we'll definitely get TSMM. My 4 year old will probably ride barnstormer, but that will likely top her out. I know she'll like the spinners and any open air ride, but she has autism so I'm not yet sure how she'll do with dark rides and meet and greets. We'll be playing it by ear for sure.

My mother will likely take some park bench / ice cream breaks with the kids which could allow my husband and I to ride some big rides if we had a FP. I'm toying with the idea of using FP+ for that since I can't imagine its a small world or the little mermaid to have very long waits necessitating fast pass. At the same time, we haven't visited WDW since FP+ was implemented so I'm not sure what early September wait times will be like on the non-E ticket rides.
 

docdebbi

Well-Known Member
you might be very surprised by what now has a line that did not use to. Pirates of Caribbean, haunted mansion, journey into imagination, shockingly all now have decent lines. we waited for PoC for over an hour, twice, on our most recent trip. so things that you think you won't need them for, you may want to make them for.
I would fastpass speedway, peter pan, pirates, jungle cruise, enchanted tales with belle, buzz lightyear, and haunted mansion in MK
for sure character spot, SSE and believe it or not Living with the land in epcot (living with the land is often a 40 min wait now). in Animal kingdom, consider picking up lion king, kali river rapids (for the older child) and the safari not a lot there that needs FP.
at hollywood studios, i would think about toy story, little mermaid and maybe star tours if the 4 year old is interested.
at least these are the ones we get for our little guys, who have been going since birth, and now are 3, 5 and 7
 

DrummerAlly

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I was baffled as well.
Three days at MK and zero at DAK?

DAK is probably my favorite park in many ways but I don't think it will go too well with my little ones and I want the extra time at MK since we'll be touring very slowly. My 4 year old (with autism) likely won't be able to tolerate shows too well, so Nemo, Bugs Life, and Lion King are probably out. They're both little so EE, PW, Dinosaur, and Kali are out. After that It's a spinner, the safari, and animals and I think we'll have a better day over at MK.
 

docdebbi

Well-Known Member
if your child has autism, as does my grandson, I highly recommend making use of the disability access service. we will use it for the first time this coming april, not so much for his benefit, although obviously we love and want him happy, but for those around us. he can have problems in lines, noise, etc. so not waiting in line near other folks is better for everyone
the advantage of the DAS over FP is that the return time is looser, you can return any time after the assigned time, not only during a one hour window. so if he needs a break, we can take it any time and return when is good for him
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
If you mother doesn't mind, maybe work in a FP+ selection for you and your husband to enjoy? So each day two FP+ for the family/kids, then one for you guys? That was the approach we took on our trip with our DS recently. My DW and I would switch off with the grandparents on a ride he couldn't do, got us all some "alone" time, but also made sure everyone had fun. It's the only way we could fit in the mountains, a 15 min FP line/ride cycle is managable, but a 60+ min line/ride cycle wasn't going to fly. No harm in FP'ing other rides they may enjoy, even though FP may not be needed, no sense in wasting the FP opportunities. Get them on the books for anything, be it other M&Gs, Pooh, Jungle Cruise, whatever. Anything you can do as a family with a short wait we found to be helpful.
 

DrummerAlly

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
if your child has autism, as does my grandson, I highly recommend making use of the disability access service. we will use it for the first time this coming april, not so much for his benefit, although obviously we love and want him happy, but for those around us. he can have problems in lines, noise, etc. so not waiting in line near other folks is better for everyone
the advantage of the DAS over FP is that the return time is looser, you can return any time after the assigned time, not only during a one hour window. so if he needs a break, we can take it any time and return when is good for him

We'll definitely be getting a DAS incase, but will also certainly start with
FP+. Not sure how she'll do yet, she may do awesome, she might be a disaster. We're going to play it by ear a bit.
 

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