Disney World Advice for April 8th

[robertleax]

My daughter is going to Disney World for her High School Senior trip on April 8th for 5 days.

 

Trying to get some advise on a few things...and on a side note; they are not allowed to return to their room till the end of the day...

 

Lockers... How much do they cost per day? She plans on wearing a (Great Adventure) fanny pack for her phone and wallet but she plans on possibly going from a theme park to a water park 1 or 2 days so she needs to bring her bathing suit and towel.

 

Cubbies at rides? Is there a place where you can put your sports drink and or bags?

 

She loves coasters and thrill rides... Pick 5 or more must do's at each park for her to go to 1st. Now she has been there in 11 years but she did ride Space Mountain and Rock-n-Roll (Everest was being built).

 

Fast pass/track/lane... Cannot remember how it works now... Any advice?

 

Any good apps besides "my Disney Experience" that would be useful?

 

They don't have a meal plan but they have an allotted amount to spend each day and it does carry over into the next day if not all used. I already told her to split a meal with someone (we do this at GAdv also) but any must try places to eat?

 

Any other unusual things to try that is off the beaten path? Wanted to do Tom Sawyer Island last time we were there but never did.

 

Shows to watch... If she only did 1 or 2, what would be the best?

 

Web sites to visit??? And is Touringplans.com worth it (app and web site)?

 

I have given her my advise on certain things but since I have only been there 3 times and the last time was 2005, any other advice would be helpful.

 

Thanks

Edited April 1, 2016 by robertleax

[Coaster Kang]

Last time I went the Fast Pass was: you insert your ticket into a machine and then it spits out a fast pass and your ticket. There's a 1 hour time slot on the fast pass that you will return to the ride during and then you get on to a shorter fast pass line.

[SatansHockey]

If you already bought the tickets you can download the Disney app and select which fast passes you want for each day. It's 3 per day. Once you use those 3 on the app you can select another 1 at the kiosks throughout the park. I highly recommend selecting the rides asap especially if you want the harder to get on rides, such as toy Story mania and the new snow white and seven dwarfs coaster. If you don't get the rides you want you can keep checking the app cause sometimes they do open up.

 

If she likes beauty and the beast I thought that belles castle was a really cool place to eat. If she's doing epcot there are plenty of really nice places to eat. The Chinese food place in animal kingdom is good as well.

 

If she's doing animal kingdom I suggest doing the safari ride early in the morning because most of the animals are awake and out and about then.

 

Don't really need a locker in the theme parks, they have those bag cubbies on most of the rides right near your feet and you can just throw your stuff in there. I can't speak for the water parks because I've never been.

[Yoshi]

The best planning site is EasyWDW.com . it is free and better than TouringPlans.

 

Unfortunately with the trip only a week away, Fastpass+ availability will likely be limited for some of the more popular rides at this point such Test Track and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I would book the Fastpass+ now and watch it a few times a day and see if someone cancels their selections and another ride that might not be available opens up.

 

If any item won't fit in the mesh bin in the ride vehicle you are told to just bring the item with you. Last year I had an umbrella with me at Hollywood Studios and was told to just leave it on the floor of the ride vehicle on Rock N Rollercoaster. On my senior class trip when I had a backpack with me I was also allowed to bring it on all the rides including coasters.

 

Last time I rented a locker it was $7 plus a $2 deposit but that was a while ago and I'm sure it's went up in price. I went to Blizzard Beach and although the theming was nice, I found the slide selection really lacking compared to a local park like Dorney. My favorite slides there were Teamboat Spring (family raft ride) and Snow Stormers (mat racers but they we're more like traditional slide designs than just a bunch of drops).

 

For the 5 must dos in each park, here is what I would suggest

 

Magic Kingdom

Space Mountain

Splash Mountain

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Buzz Lighthear's Space Ranger Spin

Haunted Mansion

I left out the mine train because if Fastpass+ isn't available it isn't worth an hour or more wait for a thrill seeker. It's a short ride and somewhat tame.

 

Epcot

Test Track

Spaceship Earth

Missions Space

Sum of All Thrills (design your own coaster simulator in Innoventioms East that uses a robotic arm, low capacity though)

Living Seas

 

I didn't include Soarin' since it will be closed.

 

Hollywood Studios

Toy Story Midway Mania

Rock N Rollercoaster

Tower of Terror

Star Tours

Great Movie Ride

 

Those are actually all the rides in Hollywood Studios

 

Animal Kingdom

Expedition Everest

Kilimanjaro Safari

Primeval Whirl

Dinosaur

Kali River Rapids (if warm out since you can get soaked)

 

Everest and Test Track both have single rider lines that can save a lot of time. Rock N Rollercoaster does as well but isn't as helpful since it moves slow and you can't see how many people are in the line until you get to the loading area past the preshow. I used Everest's line last year when no one with me wanted to ride more than once and I waited 2 tom3 minutes each time when the standby line was 20 minutes.

[robertleax]

Thanks Yoshi, Last time we went, we went to Typhoon Lagoon. The main reason was the wave pool... Instead of several small waves, it send one 6 foot wave every 60-90 seconds. Good enough to body surf.

 

I don't think she has her tickets on hand since its a senior trip though.

[Yoshi]

If the schools lets the students hold onto the tickets once they are in the park she can book the Fastpass selections in the park but unfortunately same day selections are really going to be limited. If they collect the tickets as soon as the students enter, I don't think they will be able to use Fastpass+ at all.

 

On my class trip we had the same issue. It was the first year of regular Fastpass and the teachers didn't know about it. Once we went through the entrance there was a teacher there to collect the tickets. We were unable to use Fastpass at all that day because of that. They collected the tickets because they didn't want us park hopping to another park. We explained the Fastpass issue and for the 2nd and 3rd days we were allowed to hold onto our tickets so we could use Fastpass.

[Matt Kaiser]

^ I've even heard of schools in recent years collecting the magic bands... aka preventing them even access to their hotel rooms.

[Yoshi]

I guess I can understand that (although a big disadvantage for the ride lines with the priority to Fastpass). On my trip the tickets were separate tickets not connected to the hotel room and I can't remember for sure but I think the teachers held onto the hotel keys while we were in the parks but we had them afterwards when we were at the hotel in between events like after Blizzard Beach in the afternoon and before Medieval Times that same night for dinner.

 

The other bad thing now is practically everything is on Fastpass. Up until a couple of years ago there was at least the option of getting in a line like Pirates of the Caribbean with no one using Fastpass so the line was constantly moving. Now with 1 side standby and 1 side Fastpass+, the standby line was out into the main entrance area on a weekday at the end of February when in past years that would only happen on a peak crowd day. Same thing with a ride like Journey Into Imagination. Usually a walk on, now with Fastpass users the standby line can be 20 minutes even on a slow day.

[owtoty]

I was just at Disney last week and I can say this about fastpass+. I reserved all the rides a few days in advance and still didn't get test track, seven dwarfs mine train, or toy story mania, so trying to fastpass those rides the day you go will be most likely impossible. At Hollywood Studios, we ended up going to a kiosk to see if we could reserve toy story mania after we already used two of our fastpasses. The cast member told us that people book toy story mania months in advance (resort guests can reserve them 60 in advance I think) and the stand by line got up to two and a half hours at one point while we were there. Space mountain will most likely have an opening for fastpass+ the same day because I noticed that there are actually two space mountains that are identical to each other. They use one for stand by and one for fastpass so the fastpass line moves very quickly and they don't mix at all. Also we waited for test track, and when we got in line the stand by was two hours but we only ended up waiting less than an hour. Part of waiting is designing your car which makes it seem even faster.

 

As for shows, the Indiana Jones show at Hollywood Studios was my favorite. Also, to the left of the entrance to that show, there's a sign that says don't pull the rope. Pull it. I also saw the lion king show in animal kingdom which was pretty good. There were acrobats and they get the audience involved a little bit so it's fun.

 

I also went to Blizzard Beach, and it wasn't that impressive. It was only 70 that day so it was literally empty. The top most thrilling rides (summit plummet and some other one) were closed which was disappointing. We ended up going on every single slide in the park that was open and the lazy river in only two hours. A small locker there is $10 and a large is $15. There was no deposit because it was all electronic and key less. Also they had towel rentals for $2 each.

[robertleax]

Thanks for all the advise. Too bad they don't get there tickets till the day they go to each park. My daughter will be frustrated that she will have to wait on long lines. We are spoiled a lot since we go to Gadv mainly on Sunday mornings and very few times we have to wait.

 

Found her schedule... basically...(booked from World Class Vacations)

 

Friday April 8th...Hollywood Studios.. Fantasmic show at 8:30

Saturday April 9th... Magic Kingdom 1st 1/2, Epcot 2nd 1/2, Illuminations at 9

Sunday April 10th... Choice of water parks, Mini Golf or Theme Park of choice till 3pm, Group dinner at House of Blues, then back to theme park of choice or Disney Springs

Monday April 11th... She picked the option for Universal Studios/Island of Adventure for the day

Tuesday April 12th...Animal Kingdom till 3pm

 

Note: they do have park hopping privileges to all four Disney Theme Park on all days

 

Also any advise for Universal? She is NOT a Harry potter fan but I don't know if her friends are...

 

She is trying to catching up on me for Coaster count also... The only ones in the Disney parks she has not been on is Everest and Seven Dwarfs... But at Universal there is 7 I believe I have not been on (last time I was there was 1995). I'm at 147 and she is at 129.

Edited April 2, 2016 by robertleax

[Yoshi]

They have 7 coasters currently with Hulk closed. Pteranodon Flyers doesn't allow any riders over 56" unless riding with someone under 56" and they are strict about it. Also Dragon Challenge and Rip Ride Rock It have a strict no loose article policy. They make everyone walk through a metal detector and items like keys and phones have to be put in a locker or with a non rider. Lockers are free for the rides that require them but that can involve extra time to get the locker and wait in line to go through the metal detector.

[jdc12192]

To chime in on the Harry Potter stuff, last time I was there(years ago) I wasn't a Harry Potter fan myself. Not that I hated it, just never watched, read of was a fan of it but I will say Harry potter world was pretty cool and very well done and the ride itself was pretty cool, even for someone who isn't a fan.

[robertleax]

They have 7 coasters currently with Hulk closed. Pteranodon Flyers doesn't allow any riders over 56" unless riding with someone under 56" and they are strict about it. Also Dragon Challenge and Rip Ride Rock It have a strict no loose article policy. They make everyone walk through a metal detector and items like keys and phones have to be put in a locker or with a non rider. Lockers are free for the rides that require them but that can involve extra time to get the locker and wait in line to go through the metal detector.

 

So fanny packs also has to be put in a locker I guess... Thanks for the input.