gregorynbaker
Member
Dear all,
I am debating a trip to WDW in mid-August of 2016 for 4 people (2 adults, 11 year old boy, 9 year old girl). I love the parks, but time and money make it difficult to go regularly. My last trip was late December of 2012, with 8 people. Our family is almost all academics, so we can only go at times when class is out. Given the peak prices and large number of people, we got a vacation home in Kissimmee. It was great. We had plenty of space, a private pool to relax, etc, all for a great price. We had to rent two cars and pay for parking, but the on-site hotels were so astronomically, ridiculously expensive, we thought we had the better deal. By playing the "Disney nutzi" and forcing people to get to the parks early, we were able to see almost everything we wanted and by using Fastpass wisely, had to endure only two long standby lines (Test Track and Enchanted Tales with Belle) in 7 touring days.
Through careful planning, while being flexible to the rest of the party's endurance, there were very few complaints and we negotiated peak crowds. However, from reports, it seems that every day in the Magic Kingdom is now like New Years or July 4. AND there is now Fastpass+. So, I need new touring strategies.
A big advantage is that this is for a smaller group - 4 instead of 8. My question is whether it is worth paying the extra price for a relatively cramped Moderate resort room (Deluxe resorts are still 4 times more than a vacation home, that is ridiculous), or a comparable price for the crowded, distant (with no rental car), and very cramped All-Star resorts to get access to the extra 30 days of fastpass+ to get the best times OR whether there are still plenty of good times left for offsite guests. What I don't want to do is to waste my third fastpass on a late afternoon or evening attraction that prevents using kiosks for extra fastpasses. I'd also like to minimize wasting fastpasses on rides that don't need them as much as possible. Also, I find meet and greets cute but not essential, so moving heaven and earth to avoid a 4 hour wait to Anna and Elsa is not a high priority. Of course, if the net difference of wait time is less than an hour a day, that is is a factor, too.
I realize there are probably dozens of other threads on this issue, but I could not find them amid all the tips on syncing tickets, magic bands, apps, rooms, etc. Thanks a lot for your wisdom and experience.
I am debating a trip to WDW in mid-August of 2016 for 4 people (2 adults, 11 year old boy, 9 year old girl). I love the parks, but time and money make it difficult to go regularly. My last trip was late December of 2012, with 8 people. Our family is almost all academics, so we can only go at times when class is out. Given the peak prices and large number of people, we got a vacation home in Kissimmee. It was great. We had plenty of space, a private pool to relax, etc, all for a great price. We had to rent two cars and pay for parking, but the on-site hotels were so astronomically, ridiculously expensive, we thought we had the better deal. By playing the "Disney nutzi" and forcing people to get to the parks early, we were able to see almost everything we wanted and by using Fastpass wisely, had to endure only two long standby lines (Test Track and Enchanted Tales with Belle) in 7 touring days.
Through careful planning, while being flexible to the rest of the party's endurance, there were very few complaints and we negotiated peak crowds. However, from reports, it seems that every day in the Magic Kingdom is now like New Years or July 4. AND there is now Fastpass+. So, I need new touring strategies.
A big advantage is that this is for a smaller group - 4 instead of 8. My question is whether it is worth paying the extra price for a relatively cramped Moderate resort room (Deluxe resorts are still 4 times more than a vacation home, that is ridiculous), or a comparable price for the crowded, distant (with no rental car), and very cramped All-Star resorts to get access to the extra 30 days of fastpass+ to get the best times OR whether there are still plenty of good times left for offsite guests. What I don't want to do is to waste my third fastpass on a late afternoon or evening attraction that prevents using kiosks for extra fastpasses. I'd also like to minimize wasting fastpasses on rides that don't need them as much as possible. Also, I find meet and greets cute but not essential, so moving heaven and earth to avoid a 4 hour wait to Anna and Elsa is not a high priority. Of course, if the net difference of wait time is less than an hour a day, that is is a factor, too.
I realize there are probably dozens of other threads on this issue, but I could not find them amid all the tips on syncing tickets, magic bands, apps, rooms, etc. Thanks a lot for your wisdom and experience.