Booked and nervous of crowds

Like like its split in the middle, some saying go a week before and other saying it will be ok.
The plan is to get there on Saturday and then in the evening go to epcot or HS since we will be staying in the swan and 5 day ticket and 4 day ticket difference is not that much.
On Sunday maybe go to AK? and avoid MK, then on Monday, tuesday go to MK and wednesday go to AK or if we like MK go there. Thursday we fly back.

Some people ha e a much higher tolerance for crowds. Honestly, if you can change it you should.
 
I looked at the rates and for some reason the swan and dolphin are more expensive the week before than the week we booked. Flights are coming out to be the same.

If we spend 2 days in MK and get FP, I think we should be ok.

Can someone confirm if I am getting the concept of FP correct - If I get 3 FP for the popular rides, lets say 7D in MK 9-10am, I don't need to rope drop correct? I can just show up between that 1 hour slot and get to ride without having to wait?
 
I looked at the rates and for some reason the swan and dolphin are more expensive the week before than the week we booked. Flights are coming out to be the same.

If we spend 2 days in MK and get FP, I think we should be ok.

Can someone confirm if I am getting the concept of FP correct - If I get 3 FP for the popular rides, lets say 7D in MK 9-10am, I don't need to rope drop correct? I can just show up between that 1 hour slot and get to ride without having to wait?

Correct except (1) getting a morning FP for 7DMT isn't all that easy, and (2) it is not "no wait" it is "short wait" (5-20 minutes in the fastpass lane)
 
After looking at couple different dates, there is a possibility we can change dates to Nov 15th - 21st. The flight comes out cheaper the Hotel price goes up a bit but it all comes out to be the same. As our current trip cost.

Would that be worthwhile checking and changing dates. One thing I noticed in the swan and dolphin is that the thanksgiving week the prices are quite low, is that any indicator of the crowd levels.
 


After looking at couple different dates, there is a possibility we can change dates to Nov 15th - 21st. The flight comes out cheaper the Hotel price goes up a bit but it all comes out to be the same. As our current trip cost.

Would that be worthwhile checking and changing dates. One thing I noticed in the swan and dolphin is that the thanksgiving week the prices are quite low, is that any indicator of the crowd levels.

I would make that switch. There is no way in hell the crowds will be lower during Thanksgiving week.
 
After looking at couple different dates, there is a possibility we can change dates to Nov 15th - 21st. The flight comes out cheaper the Hotel price goes up a bit but it all comes out to be the same. As our current trip cost.

Would that be worthwhile checking and changing dates. One thing I noticed in the swan and dolphin is that the thanksgiving week the prices are quite low, is that any indicator of the crowd levels.
No it just means they don't have a large convention booked at that time. That's not to say it isn't worth checking and or changing dates. You will find it crowded no matter what week you go. No matter when you go I would suggest you read the FP threads and learn how to modify and book 4th 5th 6th and so on FPs. It is actually easier to get same day FPs day of on busy days simply because there are more people changing them. People change and cancel FPs all the time and you would be surprised what will show up.
 
I looked at the rates and for some reason the swan and dolphin are more expensive the week before than the week we booked. Flights are coming out to be the same.

If we spend 2 days in MK and get FP, I think we should be ok.

Can someone confirm if I am getting the concept of FP correct - If I get 3 FP for the popular rides, lets say 7D in MK 9-10am, I don't need to rope drop correct? I can just show up between that 1 hour slot and get to ride without having to wait?
That is correct...but...rope drop is your friend. You can get a lot done during the first hour of park opening. I would suggest you rope drop Peter Pan, the stand by queue is adorable, and if you get there first thing in the morning you will be able to do it with little wait. You can still make a FP for it in case you don't make it in time in the morning then change it if you do or ride again.
 


We go Thanksgiving week. My daughter and I both have a low tolerance for heavy crowds, but we manage and enjoy it enough that we return year after year (spring break/Easter week was another story; we skip that week now). I find it helps a lot to plan in advance and not do much spontaneously. We arrive at the parks before they open and go right away to do the rides with medium popularity first followed by the less popular rides (and some of it gets mixed together in the interest of not backtracking all over the park). I use fast passes for the most popular rides and plan ahead of time when we’ll use them (usually one mixed in earlier with the less popular rides and the remaining two we’ll use back to back as the park is getting busy). We are usually on our way out by noon. Then we have lunch, rest, swim, and head back to a park and take whatever FPs we can get. Yes, Thanksgiving is a busy time, but if you plan ahead, it’s very do-able. We haven’t waited in a line more than 15-20 minutes at Thanksgiving (but we find that that’s our limit, we won’t wait in lines longer than that; everyone is different...two years ago, the standby-by line for FoP was 5 hours at Thanksgiving!! Why anyone would want to do that is beyond me! Side note— I’ve never done FoP because the pre-ride part scares my DD. Maybe it is worth a 5 hour wait, though I really doubt it). It requires some thought and strategy, but it’s very manageable...and fun!!
 
After looking at couple different dates, there is a possibility we can change dates to Nov 15th - 21st. The flight comes out cheaper the Hotel price goes up a bit but it all comes out to be the same. As our current trip cost.

Would that be worthwhile checking and changing dates. One thing I noticed in the swan and dolphin is that the thanksgiving week the prices are quite low, is that any indicator of the crowd levels.

This is such a no brainer. YES if you can switch just switch.
 
That is correct...but...rope drop is your friend. You can get a lot done during the first hour of park opening. I would suggest you rope drop Peter Pan, the stand by queue is adorable, and if you get there first thing in the morning you will be able to do it with little wait. You can still make a FP for it in case you don't make it in time in the morning then change it if you do or ride again.
Yes since the kids get up early, planning to be there by 8am, with bag check, security, getting a cup of coffee, I think we should be there for the ride by 9am.

What are the must have FP rides in MK for 5 year olds and younger
 
We go Thanksgiving week. My daughter and I both have a low tolerance for heavy crowds, but we manage and enjoy it enough that we return year after year (spring break/Easter week was another story; we skip that week now). I find it helps a lot to plan in advance and not do much spontaneously. We arrive at the parks before they open and go right away to do the rides with medium popularity first followed by the less popular rides (and some of it gets mixed together in the interest of not backtracking all over the park). I use fast passes for the most popular rides and plan ahead of time when we’ll use them (usually one mixed in earlier with the less popular rides and the remaining two we’ll use back to back as the park is getting busy). We are usually on our way out by noon. Then we have lunch, rest, swim, and head back to a park and take whatever FPs we can get. Yes, Thanksgiving is a busy time, but if you plan ahead, it’s very do-able. We haven’t waited in a line more than 15-20 minutes at Thanksgiving (but we find that that’s our limit, we won’t wait in lines longer than that; everyone is different...two years ago, the standby-by line for FoP was 5 hours at Thanksgiving!! Why anyone would want to do that is beyond me! Side note— I’ve never done FoP because the pre-ride part scares my DD. Maybe it is worth a 5 hour wait, though I really doubt it). It requires some thought and strategy, but it’s very manageable...and fun!!
Thanks for sharing..... can you say how long it took you to get out of the park and take the bus and go to your resort? and when you came back, was it packed? I just saw a youtube video of someone in MK in morning and it doesnt look very crowded and she said the same thing, she went to peter pan instead of the 7D ride.

I can totally see us doing the morning rope drop thing and getting FP for popular rides, but this is our first time and we don't know which rides to pick, maybe my 5 year old won't like the peter pan or the 7D and also just because its popular I dont want to book a ride in one end of the park and then to walk over to the other end.

I have very little patience for waiting especially as the day goes by. I am looking to see if I can get a wed nov 20th - Nov 25th dates for hotel.
 
Thanks for sharing..... can you say how long it took you to get out of the park and take the bus and go to your resort? and when you came back, was it packed? I just saw a youtube video of someone in MK in morning and it doesnt look very crowded and she said the same thing, she went to peter pan instead of the 7D ride.

I can totally see us doing the morning rope drop thing and getting FP for popular rides, but this is our first time and we don't know which rides to pick, maybe my 5 year old won't like the peter pan or the 7D and also just because its popular I dont want to book a ride in one end of the park and then to walk over to the other end.

I have very little patience for waiting especially as the day goes by. I am looking to see if I can get a wed nov 20th - Nov 25th dates for hotel.

This varies a lot, but it usually takes between 45-90 minutes to get from parks to resort, depending on how long you have to wait for the bus, how many stops there are before you get off, etc.

The reason you book fastpasses for the more popular rides is because there is typically not same-day fastpass availability for them in the app. 7DMT, Little Mermaid, and Teacups are all close together, but the latter two are a "waste" of a fastpass in advance because you can easily get a FP for them once you've used your first three. If you don't get a fastpass for 7DMT however, realistically your only options are either to rope drop it, skip the ride or wait 100+ minutes any time after rope drop.

As for the concern about criss crossing the park, I wouldn't worry too much as MK is not actually that huge. And the way we deal with that is sequence our fastpasses based on a walking path and then ride standby on low wait rides in between. So for example, we might rope drop space mountain, then ride Buzz and astro orbiter via standby, then head up to fantasyland for a 9:30-10:30am fastpass at 7DMT, do low-wait fantasyland stuff (teacups, mermaid, small world etc.), then Peter Pan from 11:30-12:30 and then schedule something in frontierland or adventureland for after lunch.
 
This varies a lot, but it usually takes between 45-90 minutes to get from parks to resort, depending on how long you have to wait for the bus, how many stops there are before you get off, etc.

The reason you book fastpasses for the more popular rides is because there is typically not same-day fastpass availability for them in the app. 7DMT, Little Mermaid, and Teacups are all close together, but the latter two are a "waste" of a fastpass in advance because you can easily get a FP for them once you've used your first three. If you don't get a fastpass for 7DMT however, realistically your only options are either to rope drop it, skip the ride or wait 100+ minutes any time after rope drop.

As for the concern about criss crossing the park, I wouldn't worry too much as MK is not actually that huge. And the way we deal with that is sequence our fastpasses based on a walking path and then ride standby on low wait rides in between. So for example, we might rope drop space mountain, then ride Buzz and astro orbiter via standby, then head up to fantasyland for a 9:30-10:30am fastpass at 7DMT, do low-wait fantasyland stuff (teacups, mermaid, small world etc.), then Peter Pan from 11:30-12:30 and then schedule something in frontierland or adventureland for after lunch.

45min is still ok, but 90 min sounds a lot, the kids would nap in the bus and be awake when we get to the resort, maybe we will take an uber/lyft to get to the hotel in 10-12 min.Coming back we can ride the bus.

Is there is map somewhere I can familiarize my self with with the popular fastpass rides vs. the low wait rides. how likely is it to get the 7D or the FOP FP 60 days outs?
 
This varies a lot, but it usually takes between 45-90 minutes to get from parks to resort, depending on how long you have to wait for the bus, how many stops there are before you get off, etc.

It doesn't take anywhere near that long.

Staying at the Swan, you can be from the bus stop at HS or EP to your lobby in 10 minutes and it shouldn't take more than 30.
 
It doesn't take anywhere near that long.

Staying at the Swan, you can be from the bus stop at HS or EP to your lobby in 10 minutes and it shouldn't take more than 30.
I thought HS does not have buses to the Swan because it offers boat transportation or a walking path?

In any case. I have absolutely never had a 10 minute transit time door to door on any disney buses. The question was "how long does it take to get out of the park and take the bus and go to your resort." For that, I factor 10-20 minutes to get from where you are in the park to the bus stops. Once at the bus stop, you will need to wait for the next bus. I have waited as little as 5 minutes for a bus and I have waited as much as 45-60 minutes for a bus (numerous times). And that is assuming that you get on the first bus that comes--we have often gotten to the bus stop to find a long line of people waiting for our resort, filling one or two buses before we get to the front of the line. Then the actual bus ride can be anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on the distance between the resort and the park you are in. I don't know if the Swan bus has multiple stops, but most Disney resorts I have stayed at either have shared bus service across a few resorts or internal stops at the resort, so that has added time too.

I got 45 minutes by assuming a 15 minute walk to the buses, 15 minute wait for a bus, and 15 minute bus ride. In our experience, that has been the absolute lowest door to door time we have spent when taking bus transportation, but maybe we have just been unlucky.
 
Ok so I can move the dates around but not much. I can change to wed nov 20 - nov 25 its only moving the dates by 3 days, is it worth it.

The other option is to move it to nov 15th to nov 20th.

Or are we overthinking and just go with the original dates, get FP etc.
 
@thor369 I really think you're overthinking it. My gut tells me that the original dates you had planned (with a departure ON thanksgiving) is that crowds will steadily increase over the week. Not everyone can take off the three days BEFORE the holiday.

If you want to hedge your bets against the crowds and move the trip a couple days forward it might help to some degree (but note, weekends will generally be more crowded than weekdays)
 
@thor369 I really think you're overthinking it. My gut tells me that the original dates you had planned (with a departure ON thanksgiving) is that crowds will steadily increase over the week. Not everyone can take off the three days BEFORE the holiday.

If you want to hedge your bets against the crowds and move the trip a couple days forward it might help to some degree (but note, weekends will generally be more crowded than weekdays)

Except that people who want to take a week long vacation can do so using only 3 vacation days on Thanksgiving week instead of 5 days another week. And except that a lot of schools are off as well.

Moving to November 15-20 would results in a SIGNIFICANT difference in crowd levels and wait times, in my view.
 
@thor369 I really think you're overthinking it. My gut tells me that the original dates you had planned (with a departure ON thanksgiving) is that crowds will steadily increase over the week. Not everyone can take off the three days BEFORE the holiday.

If you want to hedge your bets against the crowds and move the trip a couple days forward it might help to some degree (but note, weekends will generally be more crowded than weekdays)

Does the special event on Sunday Nov 24th, when the park will close at 6pm. affect the crowds in any way?

Except that people who want to take a week long vacation can do so using only 3 vacation days on Thanksgiving week instead of 5 days another week. And except that a lot of schools are off as well.

Moving to November 15-20 would results in a SIGNIFICANT difference in crowd levels and wait times, in my view.

Now you are saying wait times will be significantly more for the thanksgiving week and even if we have FP it would matter? even if we do mobile food order?

I forgot to ask about merchandise bought in the park, will that be sent to the hotel(swan and dolphin), any advantage of using the Disney debit card?
 
Thor, the days that they have Christmas parties and the park closes at 6 pm make for a less crowded park during the day. But because it's a holiday week, I still think a less crowded day means it's going to busy.
 

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