Last two posts were a 2-part post in which I went into deep detail about the FastPass and Dining systems. By now, you should have a good idea of what you really want to do/see and what you want to eat - of course, you can always change your mind once you get into the park, but for planning purposes, it's good to have a clear idea so that you don't feel overwhelmed or confused once you get there.
There are about a million ways that I could show you this, but I figured I'd just give you a glimpse into my planning so you can decide what you do and don't like.
First, let's review one more time what the 8-7 months out...
We will start with the first bullet. I'm going to show you my daily itinerary including park days and our top 5 FP rides.8-7 Months Out
- Begin finalizing daily itineraries for each park/rest day; narrow down the top 5 must-have FastPass options - you can only book 3 per park to start, but having a few extra faves is important as a few may already be taken once you're ready to book.
- Daily itinerary planning includes every thing from wake-up time to lunch time and even dinner/bed time. Where will you be within the park at certain times, what rides will you plan to ride (non-FastPass), and what are some must-do things? If you have children, will they nap in the park in the strollers or will you go back to the hotel for rest time? These are some things you'll want to keep in mind as you start getting down to the final details.
As you can see, we are considering half a day on Monday - please note that you will need a Park Hopper ticket in order to do this; our plan requires that we have the Park Hopper. This of course will likely change as we consider other rides and attractions, however if we were to just get the absolute bare-minimum of what we want, this would be it.
A few notes:
1) If you are planning a half day at one park and half day at another, you cannot book FP reservations for both parks this means you will have to book all 3 FP options at the first park of the day and then after using those, you will book your reservations for the second park once you are there. That being said, be sure to chose the park that you believe will have the most popular, hard-to-get ride first. For example, we put Hollywood Studios first because of Rise of the Resistance. I already know that those FP's will go FAST, so I want to make sure I put that first and grab those. As for the Animal Kingdom rides, those don't fill up as quickly, so I have some faith that we'd be able to get to those no problem.
2) You may notice that Rise of the Resistance and Ratatouille are italicized. That's because these two rides do not currently offer FP reservations. Rise just opened and therefore, Disney has not allowed FP reservations to be made yet. Ratatouille has not opened yet and is not scheduled to open until summer, so it's a safe bet that Disney will not have FP reservations for this ride either. If that's the case, then I want those rides to be priority but I need to note that they do not have FP reservations so I either need to prepare to ride those at park open/rope drop, or just be prepared to wait in a long line. More than likely, I will plan these first so that we are ready to sprint there at Rope Drop.
Next, let's discuss daily itineraries, down to a T and dotting the I's!!!
Below you will see, I detail out everything from wake up to lunch, activities, and rides.
Let's dive in to this. So first, I always try to organize the days, meaning I like to decide which park I'll visit on which day. Keep in mind that if for some reason I am not able to get a FP for Monday at HS, but it is available for Tuesday, then I will likely just swap my HS and Epcot days. I try to keep my schedule as close to the real week as I can. Until FP reservations can be booked, I won't have everything fully finalized, however doing this pre-planning actually allowed me to stay super organized when it was time to book FP reservations.
As of right now, Disney has not released EMH for my travel dates, so below is purely an example and is not accurate. Note: EMH (Extra Magic Hours) are for resort guests only and is extra time in the park before or after closing. Rope Drop is simply when the park opens, let literally just drop a rope as certain rides become available and you slowly move through the park as the Cast Members hold the ropes.
Since EMH changes, it's good to know park hours ahead of time. Here they are:
Magic Kingdom 9am to 8pm
Epcot 9am to 9pm
Hollywood Studios 8am to 8pm
Animal Kingdom 9am to 8pm
*These times can change but they rarely do. Unless there is some event in which the park needs to close early so that they can prep. An example would be the Halloween and Christmas Parties. Usually the park for non-party guests closes at 6pm so that guests attending can start arriving.
In this screenshot for Epcot below, you can see an example of how Disney provides you with details for each day.
This screenshot was taken on Wednesday, February 4, 2020.
Park hours are as listed above but there are EMH for 9-11pm.
You can see that there are no parades and one firework event.
If this was one of my vacation days, then this is how my planning would look...
EPCOT
Wednesday, February 4
6:30a Wake up, get dressed
7a Head to the bus line
7:30a Breakfast on the bus (brought from home)
8a Arrive to Park and wait in line
9a Rope Drop ride Ratatouille
9:45a Walk around France
10a Ride Frozen
10:30a Meet Anna & Elsa
11a Ride Gran Fiesta
11:30a Eat lunch
12:30p Meet Aurora in France
1:30p Ride Test Track
2p Ride Mission Space
3p Ride Spaceship Earth
3:45p Ride The Seas with Nemo
4:30p See Turtle Talk with Crush
5p Ride Journey with Figment
6p Ride Soarin'
7p Eat dinner
8p Head to buses and get back to hotel for bed
Alternate Evening for EMH:
6p Ride Soarin'
7p Grab Dinner
8p Get seating for Epcot Forever
9p Epcot Forever show
10p Bus, Hotel and Bed
Last bus of the evening is 11p so be sure that if you are staying out late, you prepare for an Uber or other means of transportation to get back to your hotel.
We do not typically do EMH in the evening because our little ones are exhausted and we like to get them back to the hotel for bath and bed. This way, we can get enough rest for the next day.
My type-A personality is to blame for my over planning the days, but the wonderful thing about this is that I can easily change the schedule at any time but this allows me to ensure that I am getting in what we want to see/do.
I want to note a few more things about this:
1) Use this daily itinerary to grab FP options. This is probably the best way to ensure that you can get the FP rides you want for the times you want. I stated this before in the other two-part post, but always, always book the MOST popular ride FP's first because they do go quick.
2) I always print a copy of the map and highlight the rides. Then I write down the numbers and ensure that I am going in order (counter-clock or clock-wise). This just makes the whole experience a breeze because you aren't running back and forth around the park,
3) I also mentioned in the two-part post that you have 1 hour for your FP window. Additionally, you can arrive up to 5 minutes early and as late as 15 minutes. For example, if my FP window is from 10-11am, I can arrive as early as 9:55am and as late as 11:15am. My advice, don't be late! To avoid that issue, decide on a route (counter-clock or clock-wise) and book/plan all activities to take place in that order. I promise this makes a HUGE difference and is honestly how we succeeded in planning our trip and were able to ride rides multiple times.
Next, I'll be reviewing the 180 days out. That one will be a little less wordy because really, it's time for you to start putting to use the tools I've provided. Stay tuned!