What order?

[Sbk1234]

I'm planning my trip to WDW in a couple of months. So I'm trying to figure out some kind of an itinerary (VERY flexible) for each park. So just wondering, for each park, assuming getting there at rope drop, and staying at a Disney resort so able to take advantage of any early openings that are available, what order would you hit the attractions?
I realize that everyone has different likes and priorities with what they like to do, but even reading the opinions of people I don't necessarily agree with helps me work things out for myself.

Have fun with it.

 

[DISR]

Rope dropping can be nice, but one suggestion I would make is to either ensure you are near the front of the rope drop line or be a contrarian to the crowd. In other words, if you are at the end of the rope drop line a AK on a busy day, you may find the immediate wait for FoP to be longer than at other parts of the day. In that case you could probably go ride several other rides everyone else is at FoP. The same applies for the other parks 7DMT etc. Also, you are taking a risk of wasting a rope drop doing TT at EPCOT. It seems to have more maintenance issues than most rides. I have seen people (including myself) rush over to that ride and it never opens or the opening is significantly delayed.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Its all about beating the crowds before they build and try to avoid wasting time waiting in line. Head to the major attraction you want to do most first before lines build. Then move onto the next couple of attractions on your list in order of popularity. There are some that you can do without and others you can wait to hit at more opportune times when crowds start to diminish.
I have used the Unofficial Guide to Disney touring plans that are in the back of their guide books and have found them to be time savers and very efficient in getting me through the parks. We do multiple days in parks so it isnt as critical if we dont get everything done on one day. My order usually goes but can vary:
MK... 7DMT, PoTC, Splash, BtMRR, HM
DHS... RotR, SR, SD, MMRR, ToT, RnRC
EP.... Rat, Soarin, TT, MS, SE
AK... FoP, EE, Dino, Safari
Of course it depends on boarding groups being attained. We havent done Genie+ and LL yet.

 

[graphite1326]

Rope drops
MK: go to the back of the park and ride Splash and Mt Railroad first. Then HM. Then Work your way forward in any direction
EPCOT: Soarin & living with the land. TT and then around the world. I don' t do Frozen. Hit the aquarium and SE on the way out.
HS: The way this park is set up there is no particular order that makes sense. Just do your favorites first.
AK: FoP and the boat ride if the line is not too long. EE and then to Africa for the safari with the walk thru. Try to do Lion King while you are there. From there I fill in with the rest of the rides you want to do.

 

[rct247]

Everyone goes to the top headliners first. Unless you arrive early for rope drop, I would say the collective time spent waiting at one can be offset by getting in multiple popular yet non headliners first.

MK - Space, then Buzz, the over to Jungle for instance. Skip the 7 Dwarfs Rush.
EC - Frozen then Soarin. Skip the risk for Remy and just wait later.
DHS - MMRR, Tower & Coaster. Don't start at Slinky or Rise.
DAK - Safari, Everest & Dinosaur before Pandora.

You may still have long waits at those popular attractions, but you can save the same amount of time getting in the others in the mean time. Plus if you can purchase ILL for a top headliner at each park, and not pay for Genie+, I think it is more worth it.

My 2 cents though.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

MK: Thunder Mountain, anything else in Tomorrowland that you like, then Fantasyland, and the rest of the park
Epcot: Spaceship Earth, The Seas With Nemo and Friends, Living With The Land, World Showcase (clockwise from Mexico to Canada)
DHS: Sunset Boulevard, Toy Story Land, anything else you find interesting
AK: Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Safari, Discovery Island

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I'm planning my trip to WDW in a couple of months. So I'm trying to figure out some kind of an itinerary (VERY flexible) for each park. So just wondering, for each park, assuming getting there at rope drop, and staying at a Disney resort so able to take advantage of any early openings that are available, what order would you hit the attractions?
I realize that everyone has different likes and priorities with what they like to do, but even reading the opinions of people I don't necessarily agree with helps me work things out for myself.

Have fun with it.

Need more information to advise you.
1. Are you buying Genie+ or any ILL?
1b. How much does your family dislike using your smartphone in the parks? (or not have access to one?) And/or dislike waking up at 7am?

If you are buying Genie+/ILL then the timing of those is mostly a complete unknown until you actually book them, and which ones you end up booking. Unlike FP, the system gives you Genie+ times, and they are beyond your control. About the only thing you can do is see which times are offered, then back out/refresh to get offered a new set of times. The new times might be earlier, or they might be later. DO read the rules for Genie+, and do play around with it before you go to see how it all works, even if you do not plan to buy it. If you don't want to be awake at 7am to book your passes, then Genie+ is less useful.


2. Do you plan to park hop?

Park hopping is an individual choice, as is paying for Genie+/ILL. I can't suggest you choose either option, but each has consequences.

IMO, either you pay for Genie+, or you are paying to stand in lines much of the day. That's WDW in 2022. That said, it still probably doesn't make sense to buy Genie+ for Epcot, based on the number of attractions in Epcot, unless you plan to park hop. It makes more sense for MK and HS. AK is also maybe not worthwhile if you don't hop. Compared to park touring in 2019, In 2022 park hoping makes more sense.

3. Are you going during a busy time, or a slow-ish time?

This is going to have a big impact on the best approach to park touring, especially in 2022. On slow days, Genie+ return times trend closer to time of booking. On busy days, they trend towards later return times, and you will get fewer. ILL's will cost more, but each one will also save more queue wait time. That said, Genie+ doesn't necessarily = more rides in a lot less time. It just = less standing in a queue. By the way, these days slower weeks = reduced staffing, so not necessarily short waits. They do still = shorter park hours.

4. You mention Rope Drop, but not PM peripheral hours. How much do you plan to use PM park hours and the PM extra hours?

This will also have a big impact on what you are able to do. Though it also depends on what you hope to ride. Skipping just one ILL attraction, now has a significant impact on your wallet: often $15 per person in your family per ILL attraction over paying for ILL. It also has an impact on park touring. On the other hand, if you do not want to pay, you might be able to cover it at Rope drop or late at night.

But, DO NOT count on rope drop/early half hour being anywhere near as useful as the full hour EMH and prior rope drop were. Half an hour isn't long enough to do much of anything, AND thanks to the structure of Genie+/ILL, a higher % of park goers are now awake at 7am, and able to be at the park by 9am. That is, unless the park will open earlier than 9am on your week. the weeks surrounding Easter will be their own beast.

Last, weather always has an impact. During thunderstorms, many attractions stop running, so that is always going to sway park touring. Do you want to ride Kali when it is cool? If seeing the animal trails is important, you might want to make sure to hit those BEOFRE the storm hits.

5. How much do you mind walking across the park?

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Of course it depends on boarding groups being attained. We haven't done Genie+ and LL yet.

This is, more or less, critical to park touring is 2022. Genie+/ILL kind of change everything, or potentially change everything.

If you (rhetorical you, not you personally) buy ILL for 7DMT, then you won't be rope dropping it. If you buy ILL for 7DMT, then it matters what kind of return time you book.

An important difference, IMO between ILL/Genie+ and the prior FP+, is that FP+ passes had to be booked no more than one hour apart. With Genie+/ILL, your return time windows can overlap.

When it comes to booking passes, I have read of 2 main strategies: some people try to book early passes, other folks prefer to stack their passes towards the afternoon/evening. Personally, I think there is some danger in choosing later times. A ride could be down, or you might not feel up to using a pass come evening. the advantage of trying to book later times is if you don't like using your phone, then you only have to book passes every 2 hours. But, 2 hours from now, there might not be much of anything available.

Wait times are inflated. And that makes the whole thing...scammy. The POSTED wait is an hour, but the REAL wait is probably less, but how much less? An hour of waiting is VERY different from 30min of waiting, IMO. There is no way of knowing how much the times are inflated though.

You also - more or less- choose to buy Genie+ without knowing how many passes you will use. It might be only 1 or 2 passes that you ACTUALLY USE, or you might be paying $15 for 7+ passes- that ACTUALLY reduce your wait times. It is a total crap shoot. I think many people are inclined to be optimistic about how many passes they will actually be able to book and use.

Oh, and if you have dining booked, that also has an impact. At WDW, table service meals take a good deal of time, especially when you include transit time. the more ADR's you have booked (over quick serve meals), the fewer passes you can use.

 

[Sbk1234]

Need more information to advise you.
1. Are you buying Genie+ or any ILL?
1b. How much does your family dislike using your smartphone in the parks? (or not have access to one?) And/or dislike waking up at 7am?

If you are buying Genie+/ILL then the timing of those is mostly a complete unknown until you actually book them, and which ones you end up booking. Unlike FP, the system gives you Genie+ times, and they are beyond your control. About the only thing you can do is see which times are offered, then back out/refresh to get offered a new set of times. The new times might be earlier, or they might be later. DO read the rules for Genie+, and do play around with it before you go to see how it all works, even if you do not plan to buy it. If you don't want to be awake at 7am to book your passes, then Genie+ is less useful.


2. Do you plan to park hop?

Park hopping is an individual choice, as is paying for Genie+/ILL. I can't suggest you choose either option, but each has consequences.

IMO, either you pay for Genie+, or you are paying to stand in lines much of the day. That's WDW in 2022. That said, it still probably doesn't make sense to buy Genie+ for Epcot, based on the number of attractions in Epcot, unless you plan to park hop. It makes more sense for MK and HS. AK is also maybe not worthwhile if you don't hop. Compared to park touring in 2019, In 2022 park hoping makes more sense.

3. Are you going during a busy time, or a slow-ish time?

This is going to have a big impact on the best approach to park touring, especially in 2022. On slow days, Genie+ return times trend closer to time of booking. On busy days, they trend towards later return times, and you will get fewer. ILL's will cost more, but each one will also save more queue wait time. That said, Genie+ doesn't necessarily = more rides in a lot less time. It just = less standing in a queue. By the way, these days slower weeks = reduced staffing, so not necessarily short waits. They do still = shorter park hours.

4. You mention Rope Drop, but not PM peripheral hours. How much do you plan to use PM park hours and the PM extra hours?

This will also have a big impact on what you are able to do. Though it also depends on what you hope to ride. Skipping just one ILL attraction, now has a significant impact on your wallet: often $15 per person in your family per ILL attraction over paying for ILL. It also has an impact on park touring. On the other hand, if you do not want to pay, you might be able to cover it at Rope drop or late at night.

But, DO NOT count on rope drop/early half hour being anywhere near as useful as the full hour EMH and prior rope drop were. Half an hour isn't long enough to do much of anything, AND thanks to the structure of Genie+/ILL, a higher % of park goers are now awake at 7am, and able to be at the park by 9am. That is, unless the park will open earlier than 9am on your week. the weeks surrounding Easter will be their own beast.

Last, weather always has an impact. During thunderstorms, many attractions stop running, so that is always going to sway park touring. Do you want to ride Kali when it is cool? If seeing the animal trails is important, you might want to make sure to hit those BEOFRE the storm hits.

5. How much do you mind walking across the park?

We haven't discussed, but I'm pretty sure due to finances we won't be buying Genie + or any ILL. We'd rather not use the smart phones too much, but we're pretty resigned to that being a reality of today. My daughter and I absolutely plan on getting to the parks WAY early. (7 am wake up is late for us).

We won't be doing any park hopping.

I expect it will be busy, since it's Spring Break for us. April 9-15.

We're staying at All-Star Sports, so early entry is a thing we want to take advantage of. Trying to find out if ALL of the parks are open every day for early entry, or just certain parks on certain days.

We don't mind walking a lot. It will help work off some of the food!

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

We haven't discussed, but I'm pretty sure due to finances we won't be buying Genie + or any ILL. We'd rather not use the smart phones too much, but we're pretty resigned to that being a reality of today. My daughter and I absolutely plan on getting to the parks WAY early. (7 am wake up is late for us).

We won't be doing any park hopping.

I expect it will be busy, since it's Spring Break for us. April 9-15.

We're staying at All-Star Sports, so early entry is a thing we want to take advantage of. Trying to find out if ALL of the parks are open every day for early entry, or just certain parks on certain days.

We don't mind walking a lot. It will help work off some of the food!

I'm not sure how to say....but when it comes to WDW, there is always a trade-off. Time=$.

In some cases, spending a little more = a time savings. Maybe paying to take a taxi/rideshare over waiting an hour for a bus. In other cases, we might say that saving a few $ takes time. Something like a grocery store run might save money, but it takes time to go to the grocery store.

In the parks, bottled water costs like $4 each. you can get free ice water in the quick serve restaurants, but that takes time. WDW did way with almost all of their water fountains. But carrying water around all day can also be a hassle.

But now many folks have Amazon Prime, so getting a case of water and a few snacks delivered to your hotel is an option. If you fly, you can still also maybe pack some snacks in your luggage. So you get 24 bottles for about $5 instead of $96. Coffee pods also cost effective.

A crazy aspect of WDW- esp in 2022- when our time has been SO heavily MONETIZED, and prices are so out of whack, table service meals on a park day are BOTH a huge time cost and quite expensive. I left those off my earlier list, but for me, park touring will no longer include any table service meals, or very few. (+ I'll aim to eat outside of park hours.)

In January, standby waits for rides that never used to have standby waits were substantial, even at 9am. Standby waits for rides that normally get waits were insane. Feb 7 - right now- is normally a fairly slow time of year at WDW, though it is now 11am-so peak time of day. Here's MK:

Barnstormer 40 min, Buzz 75, Dumbo 40, HM75, IaSW 60, Jungle Cruise 75, Teacups 35, Pooh 65, PPan 95, PotC 70, THE CAROUSEL 40min! 7DMT 70, Space Mtn100min, TTA Peoplemover 40, LM 40.

At these waits, and 5min of walking/attraction/no bathroom breaks/no shopping 1.) Barnsrm9-9:45 2.) Buzz9:45-11, 3.) Dumbo11-11:45 lunch 11:45 to 12:15, 4.) HM12:15-1:30, 5.) IaSW1:30-2:35 6.)JC 2:35-3:40 7.) Teacups 3:40-4:15 8.) Pooh 4:15-6:25 9.) PPan 6:25-7-8:05 pm - using the above numbers, you would cover 9 attractions in 11 hours.

Current waits at HS: AS Saucers 50, MMRR 90, MF 80, RnRC 80, SDD 100, Star Tours 45, Rise 135, TSM 65, ToT 95min.

Again, those waits are probably inflated, but I can't say how much. Saying something is worthwhile, or not is a judgement call, But Table Service meals at Crystal Palace now costs $39 per adult +tax and tip. So more like $50 per person, and takes about 90 minutes of you time. Meanwhile a day pay base park tickets for today costs $98.40/day (6 day base ticket). If you manage to go to MK 9am to 8pm(11hrs), then - just in park tickets - you're paying about $9 per hour just to be in the park. Spring break you will be paying 106/day, or $9.60/hour, plus almost $250/night (if sleeping 8hrs/night would be 16 awake hrs/day, or $7.81 per waking hour- assuming 2 people/ hotel room.) so more like 9.61+7.81 or approximately $17.41 per hour.

We might also calculate that you would be paying $230/day in just park tickets/hotel to be at WDW. (not counting food or transportation)

Now, if you spend 11 hours in the park, and manage to ride 1 attraction every 45 minutes (walking+waiting+attaction time), and only spend a TOTAL of 30min eating/using restroom, you would ride 14 attractions.

If that goes up to 65 per attraction, you would ride 9 attractions.

If you eat a TS meal, and it takes 2 hours (say at the Contemporary, and transportation ONLY takes 15min each way, a BIG if), and wait 65/per ride, then you'd only get to ride 8 attractions. And you would be paying an extra $80 (over QS meals).

If, instead you changed one ADR to a QS one meal, you would likely be able to get at least 3 Genie+ passes. So for the price of one TS to QS swap, you would be able to buy 2 days of Genie+, AND 1 ILL pass. If the walk+ILL wait = about 20min, then today - suppose you got 4Genie+ for: JC, PPan, Buzz, and Pirates. You might cover those 4 rides in a little over hour of your day (about 20min per ride). You won't cover them in one hour like 9am-10am, but rather about an hour spread throughout total day.

So now...
Barnstormer 40 min, Buzz 15, Dumbo 40, HM75, IaSW 60, Jungle Cruise 15, Teacups 35, Pooh 65, PPan 15, PotC 15, THE CAROUSEL 40min! 7DMT 70, Space Mtn100min, TTA Peoplemover 40, LM 40.
now you'd maybe do: 1.)Barnstrm 9-9:45 2.) Buzz 9:45-10:05 3.) Dumbo10:05-10:50 4.) HM 10:50-12:10 Lunch 12;10-12:40 5.) IaSW 12:40-1:45 6.)JC 1:45-2:05 7.)Teacups 2:05-2:45 8.) Pooh 2:45-3:55 9) PPan 3:55-4:15 10.) PotC 4:15-4:35, 11.) Carousel 4:35-5:20 12.)7DMT 5:20-6:35 13.)peoplemover 6:35- 7:20 14.) LM 7:20-8:05pm

Buying Genie+ might = getting to ride 5 more attractions that day.

Now, I realize all my math is just flaky conjecture, but it still gives a rough idea of time = $. when one is already paying over $230 each per day, bumping that up to $245 per person might be worth making a trade somewhere else in your trip expenses if possible.

If at all possible, at a minimum it pays to try to eat at least one daily meal outside of park hours, IMO. I never used to like bringing granola bars to WDW, but now I am happy to make the time$ swap. A box of granola bars only costs about $4 and we can eat them while walking. While a QS meal for 2 = about $40.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

For that matter, a considerable strategy esp during spring break is to aim to eat lunch at an off time. I suggest trying to schedule a mobile order 11-11:30am. With mobile order, the noon hour gets full, and that bumps people to the 1pm hour.

Another alternative is to just have an ice cream bar (or similar) for lunch. Anything that has a short line at the moment you want to eat it. I would not wait 20min in the popcorn line though. Again, though, that's me.

Now with airline fees, it may make more sense to minimize luggage. I don't know. I tend to fly SWA and stick to carry-on, but that is usually plenty of room to bring some snacks, maybe some oranges/apples.

As to ride order, know which rides get long lines, and be as opportunistic as possible. If you see a short line- ride. Actually, if we see a short line, and have 6 park days, we re-ride it twice - or more than twice.

Also, try to cover as much PM ground as possible. If WDW extends park hours, and you have to cut out anything- cut a few hours from the middle of the day, esp if you have a car or are willing to buy time by buying an uber at least one-way. Again, time is $.

 

[nickys]

Of course it depends on boarding groups being attained

There aren’t ant boarding groups being used currently.

Rope drops
MK: go to the back of the park and ride Splash and Mt Railroad first. Then HM. Then Work your way forward in any direction

MK: Thunder Mountain,

If using the early entry for resort guests, neither of these suggestions work. Only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open.

Generally if you really are at the front of the crowd for early entry then you could head for the real headliner rides and make it worthwhile. But that means being at the park entrance 30-60 minutes before early entry starts. Otherwise you’ll be better off skipping the headliners.

Rides like Rise and FoP can be done at the end of the day with much lower waits. 7dmt waits tend to level out for much of the day after the initial rush.

 

[Sbk1234]

I'm not sure how to say....but when it comes to WDW, there is always a trade-off. Time=$.

In some cases, spending a little more = a time savings. Maybe paying to take a taxi/rideshare over waiting an hour for a bus. In other cases, we might say that saving a few $ takes time. Something like a grocery store run might save money, but it takes time to go to the grocery store.

In the parks, bottled water costs like $4 each. you can get free ice water in the quick serve restaurants, but that takes time. WDW did way with almost all of their water fountains. But carrying water around all day can also be a hassle.

But now many folks have Amazon Prime, so getting a case of water and a few snacks delivered to your hotel is an option. If you fly, you can still also maybe pack some snacks in your luggage. So you get 24 bottles for about $5 instead of $96. Coffee pods also cost effective.

A crazy aspect of WDW- esp in 2022- when our time has been SO heavily MONETIZED, and prices are so out of whack, table service meals on a park day are BOTH a huge time cost and quite expensive. I left those off my earlier list, but for me, park touring will no longer include any table service meals, or very few. (+ I'll aim to eat outside of park hours.)

In January, standby waits for rides that never used to have standby waits were substantial, even at 9am. Standby waits for rides that normally get waits were insane. Feb 7 - right now- is normally a fairly slow time of year at WDW, though it is now 11am-so peak time of day. Here's MK:

Barnstormer 40 min, Buzz 75, Dumbo 40, HM75, IaSW 60, Jungle Cruise 75, Teacups 35, Pooh 65, PPan 95, PotC 70, THE CAROUSEL 40min! 7DMT 70, Space Mtn100min, TTA Peoplemover 40, LM 40.

At these waits, and 5min of walking/attraction/no bathroom breaks/no shopping 1.) Barnsrm9-9:45 2.) Buzz9:45-11, 3.) Dumbo11-11:45 lunch 11:45 to 12:15, 4.) HM12:15-1:30, 5.) IaSW1:30-2:35 6.)JC 2:35-3:40 7.) Teacups 3:40-4:15 8.) Pooh 4:15-6:25 9.) PPan 6:25-7-8:05 pm - using the above numbers, you would cover 9 attractions in 11 hours.

Current waits at HS: AS Saucers 50, MMRR 90, MF 80, RnRC 80, SDD 100, Star Tours 45, Rise 135, TSM 65, ToT 95min.

Again, those waits are probably inflated, but I can't say how much. Saying something is worthwhile, or not is a judgement call, But Table Service meals at Crystal Palace now costs $39 per adult +tax and tip. So more like $50 per person, and takes about 90 minutes of you time. Meanwhile a day pay base park tickets for today costs $98.40/day (6 day base ticket). If you manage to go to MK 9am to 8pm(11hrs), then - just in park tickets - you're paying about $9 per hour just to be in the park. Spring break you will be paying 106/day, or $9.60/hour, plus almost $250/night (if sleeping 8hrs/night would be 16 awake hrs/day, or $7.81 per waking hour- assuming 2 people/ hotel room.) so more like 9.61+7.81 or approximately $17.41 per hour.

We might also calculate that you would be paying $230/day in just park tickets/hotel to be at WDW. (not counting food or transportation)

Now, if you spend 11 hours in the park, and manage to ride 1 attraction every 45 minutes (walking+waiting+attaction time), and only spend a TOTAL of 30min eating/using restroom, you would ride 14 attractions.

If that goes up to 65 per attraction, you would ride 9 attractions.

If you eat a TS meal, and it takes 2 hours (say at the Contemporary, and transportation ONLY takes 15min each way, a BIG if), and wait 65/per ride, then you'd only get to ride 8 attractions. And you would be paying an extra $80 (over QS meals).

If, instead you changed one ADR to a QS one meal, you would likely be able to get at least 3 Genie+ passes. So for the price of one TS to QS swap, you would be able to buy 2 days of Genie+, AND 1 ILL pass. If the walk+ILL wait = about 20min, then today - suppose you got 4Genie+ for: JC, PPan, Buzz, and Pirates. You might cover those 4 rides in a little over hour of your day (about 20min per ride). You won't cover them in one hour like 9am-10am, but rather about an hour spread throughout total day.

So now...
Barnstormer 40 min, Buzz 15, Dumbo 40, HM75, IaSW 60, Jungle Cruise 15, Teacups 35, Pooh 65, PPan 15, PotC 15, THE CAROUSEL 40min! 7DMT 70, Space Mtn100min, TTA Peoplemover 40, LM 40.
now you'd maybe do: 1.)Barnstrm 9-9:45 2.) Buzz 9:45-10:05 3.) Dumbo10:05-10:50 4.) HM 10:50-12:10 Lunch 12;10-12:40 5.) IaSW 12:40-1:45 6.)JC 1:45-2:05 7.)Teacups 2:05-2:45 8.) Pooh 2:45-3:55 9) PPan 3:55-4:15 10.) PotC 4:15-4:35, 11.) Carousel 4:35-5:20 12.)7DMT 5:20-6:35 13.)peoplemover 6:35- 7:20 14.) LM 7:20-8:05pm

Buying Genie+ might = getting to ride 5 more attractions that day.

Now, I realize all my math is just flaky conjecture, but it still gives a rough idea of time = $. when one is already paying over $230 each per day, bumping that up to $245 per person might be worth making a trade somewhere else in your trip expenses if possible.

If at all possible, at a minimum it pays to try to eat at least one daily meal outside of park hours, IMO. I never used to like bringing granola bars to WDW, but now I am happy to make the time$ swap. A box of granola bars only costs about $4 and we can eat them while walking. While a QS meal for 2 = about $40.

Thanks for all your research and conjecture! I've realized that this trip is not going to be one where we try to collect as many rides as possible, but look for much pleasure from simply being in Walt Disney World. Since this was a somewhat unexpected trip, I'm going to force myself to be alright with that.
We've already decided to eat a later lunch, and possibly a late dinner outside the parks. They'll close at 9 pm that week, except for Animal Kingdom which closes at 7.
We really enjoy the table service restaurants, so we will hit a few of them, but they're less important this time.
I will have to look into the cost of Genie +. I'm not sure what it will cost per day. Since we're only doing one day in Magic Kingdom, that may be a good idea.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

We've already decided to eat a later lunch, and possibly a late dinner outside the parks. They'll close at 9 pm that week, except for Animal Kingdom which closes at 7.
We really enjoy the table service restaurants, so we will hit a few of them, but they're less important this time.
I will have to look into the cost of Genie +. I'm not sure what it will cost per day. Since we're only doing one day in Magic Kingdom, that may be a good idea.

These are the currently posted hours, but it is nearly 100% chance WDW will add hours for Easter week, though I can't say for certain when they will modify them. Probably about 2 weeks ahead of Easter would be my guess, maybe sooner.

Genie+ costs $15/day. The price of the ILL's vary. For today 2/8 the prices are:
MK:- today has very unusual short park hours (closes 4:30pm), so the prices are exceptionally low: 7DMT=$11, and Space Mtn = $7. In the other 3 parks the ILL's are already sold out for the day (11am), except FEA is $9.

Often, the prices are 7DMT $15 and Space $11, but I expect Easter week prices will be higher. Today is actually a great day to hit MK. Everything has exceptionally short waits:

BarnSt 5, BTMRR 20, Buzz 15, Dumbo 5, HM 35, IaSW 15, JC 35, teacups 5, Aladdin 15, Pooh 25, PPan 60, PotC 15, Carrousel 5, 7DMT 50, Space 15, Peoplemover (down), LM 5. And I highly suspect these are inflated.

But using these numbers: 1.) BarnSt 9-9:10, 2.)BTMRR 9:10-9:35, 3.) Buzz 9:35-9:55, 4.) dumbo 9:55-10:05, 5.)HM 10:05-10:45, 6.)IaSW 10:45-11:05 7.) JC 11:05-11:45, lunch 11:45-12:15, 8.) Teacups 12:15-12:25 9.) Aladdin 12:25-12:45, 10.) Pooh 12:45-1:15, 11.)PPan 1:15-2:20, 12.) PotC2:20-2:40, 13.) Carrousel 2:40-2:50, 14.) 7DMT 2:50-3:45, 15.)Space 3:45-4:05, 15.) LM 4:05-4:15, 16.) Space again? 4:15-4:35

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

We really enjoy the table service restaurants, so we will hit a few of them, but they're less important this time.

We used to like them too, and again- everything is always a judgement tradeoff. There's no right or wrong answer. Just, at present, WDW prices are really out of whack, IMO. I feel like we're paying so much just to be in the parks, that park time has to be concentrated on things-that-can-only-be-done-in-the-parks.

Earlier when I suggested to schedule a mobile order 11-11:30am, by that I meant eating at those times, not ordering at 11am. No matter what time you want to eat lunch - Easter week - I suggest BOOKING/preordering your Mobile Order lunch no later than 10:30am. The noon pick-up hour will likely sell out, followed by the 1-1:30pm time slot, especially at the more popular places. A good barometer will be to watch what happens 2/19 and 2/20- President's Day weekend.

Also know, the kitchens (can) get backed up. When you do mobile order, you sign up for a 30min time slot. When you arrive there you click, "I'm here." Then you wait for your food to be prepared. If the kitchen is backed up, it can take quite a while before they actually start prepping your order. Earlier time slots= less delay. Peak and later times are more of a crapshoot. You might have to wait a while to get your order. Or maybe not, but early tends to = little delay.

 

[Sbk1234]

We used to like them too, and again- everything is always a judgement tradeoff. There's no right or wrong answer. Just, at present, WDW prices are really out of whack, IMO. I feel like we're paying so much just to be in the parks, that park time has to be concentrated on things-that-can-only-be-done-in-the-parks.

Earlier when I suggested to schedule a mobile order 11-11:30am, by that I meant eating at those times, not ordering at 11am. No matter what time you want to eat lunch - Easter week - I suggest BOOKING/preordering your Mobile Order lunch no later than 10:30am. The noon pick-up hour will likely sell out, followed by the 1-1:30pm time slot, especially at the more popular places. A good barometer will be to watch what happens 2/19 and 2/20- President's Day weekend.

Also know, the kitchens (can) get backed up. When you do mobile order, you sign up for a 30min time slot. When you arrive there you click, "I'm here." Then you wait for your food to be prepared. If the kitchen is backed up, it can take quite a while before they actually start prepping your order. Earlier time slots= less delay. Peak and later times are more of a crapshoot. You might have to wait a while to get your order. Or maybe not, but early tends to = little delay.

Yeah, the reality of finances is kicking in. We might have to make some big cuts. However, since today is the first day I can make reservations for dining, I’ve done so. The only disappointment- although I knew it was a long shot- was we couldn’t get into Space 220. Hopefully in 7 1/2 years when I come back for my retirement trip.

 

[Figgy1]

When in doubt about what to do I suggest a subscription to touringplans and make customized plans

 

[MickeyCB]

Yeah, the reality of finances is kicking in. We might have to make some big cuts. However, since today is the first day I can make reservations for dining, I’ve done so. The only disappointment- although I knew it was a long shot- was we couldn’t get into Space 220. Hopefully in 7 1/2 years when I come back for my retirement trip.

Don't give up on Space. Sign up for Touring Plans reservation finder. And for fun try checking multiple times a day to see if a spot magically opens!

 

[graphite1326]

There aren’t ant boarding groups being used currently.



If using the early entry for resort guests, neither of these suggestions work. Only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open.

Generally if you really are at the front of the crowd for early entry then you could head for the real headliner rides and make it worthwhile. But that means being at the park entrance 30-60 minutes before early entry starts. Otherwise you’ll be better off skipping the headliners.

Rides like Rise and FoP can be done at the end of the day with much lower waits. 7dmt waits tend to level out for much of the day after the initial rush.

On early entry days I go on Buzz (and or Space mountain). By the rest of the park is open (or very little wait time), then we walk to the rear of the park and ride the big two. I have done it several times and it works out well.

 

[nickys]

On early entry days I go on Buzz (and or Space mountain). By the rest of the park is open (or very little wait time), then we walk to the rear of the park and ride the big two. I have done it several times and it works out well.

I agree, although I might head for Jungle Cruise first since that is so slow loading. Splash and Big Thunder aren’t at the back of the park though, they’re on the left side (west I think). Fantasyland is at the back.