Strategy Advice needed for 4 parks in 2 days over Memorial Day Weekend

[Matrixleos]

My DD20 is graduating from college and wanted to go to WDW with her parents for her graduation gift. With my wife being a teacher and my work schedule, only time we had available was a 4 day, 3 night visit over Memorial Day weekend, (her brothers are going camping that weekend). We're staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge and we're not interested in going to the parks for half days, so we are looking forward to spending time at the resort, pool and maybe Disney Springs on both our arrival and departure days.

With our two full days at the parks, we wanted to visit all 4 parks and mostly focus on the newer attractions that we've never done. Our last visit to WDW was over 10 years ago when our two sons were in strollers. Thinking back on it now, this will be our first WDW visit without strollers since 2002, my wife and I can't wait!

Although with all that said, I'm an over planner and like to have a rough agenda/itinerary in place. Of course even the best of plans can and does go sideways any day you're at Disney but the key is to be flexible and have reliable alternate plans to pivot too. Below is what I currently have planned so far, would love to hear feedback...

Saturday May 25 - Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom

Before the park opens:

• Buy Disney Genie+
• 7am Lightning Lane for Jungle Cruise (will try to modify the return time to be closer 1pm)
• 7am The two ILL for 7DMT at 5pm and Tron at 8pm
• 1pm Virtual Que for Tron (would love to ride it twice and not going for 7am VQ since they are strict with return times and we won't be at MK till about 1pm-ish)

Park Hours on May 25...

• Animal Kingdom: 9am - 6pm
• Magic Kingdom: 9am - 10pm

Rope Drop Strategy:
With Animal Kingdom having Early Park Entry at 8:30am, we'll plan to be at the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus pickup around 7am. We'll want to get on one of the first buses. Goal is to be near the front to get on Flight of Passage first thing. That way if lucky, we can then get on Na'vi River Journey with a short wait time. With any luck, we'll be done with both Avatar rides around 9am-ish time frame and then head over to Kilimanjaro Safaris. Since we'll be stacking Lightning Lanes for Magic Kingdom, we're ready for a long wait for KS but hopefully the line will be short as most people still coming to the park around that time will be heading over to the Avatar rides. This is also the time where I'd place a Mobile Order for Flame Tree BBQ for lunch around 11:30am.

Once we're done with the Safari, we're going to relax and enjoy the park at a slower pace. I'm the only one interested in Expedition Everest, so I can hop in the Single Rider line. We'd also like to do It's Tough to be a Bug and Dinosaur one last time before they are re-themed to Zootopia and Indiana Jones. If the wait times are over 20 minutes, we will most likely skip them. Animal Kingdom is by far my favorite park and I can definitely do a full day there, so it will be hard to leave early. Although the goal is to leave the park at around 12pm and hopefully arrive at Magic Kingdom before 1pm to try to get a VQ for Tron.

Lightning Lane Strategy:

• 7am - Jungle Cruise (Will try to modify to 1pm time frame)
• 11am - Peter Pan (Will try to modify to 5pm time frame)
• 1pm - Big Thunder (Will try to modify to 3pm time frame but also fine if it's later in the day)

This will give us LL or ILL for 5 rides by the time we get to Magic Kingdom around 1pm (JC, PP, BTMRR, 7DMT and Tron). Once we use the LL for Jungle Cruise, we'll probably do the stand-by lines for Pirates and/or Haunted Mansion. Then while we wait for the 2 hour window for our next LL, get some snacks. By the 3pm LL, we'll try to choose rides closest to us, so that we won't have to back track across the park very often. I'm the only one interested in Space Mountain, so I can hop in the Single Rider line if there aren't any LL available. After we eat dinner, we're not big into the fireworks, so we'll hang around Adventureland. One of my favorite things is riding Jungle Cruise during the night, so if there are low wait times for stand-by, would love to re-ride Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder during the fireworks.

Sunday May 26 - Hollywood Studios/Epcot

Before the park opens:

• Buy Disney Genie+
• 7am Lightning Lane for SDD (will try to modify for the earliest time I could get)
• 7am The two ILL for RotR at 11am and Guardians of the Galaxy at 5pm
• 1pm Virtual Que for Guardians (would love to ride it twice and not going for 7am VQ since I want the earliest time for SDD and every second counts)

Park Hours on May 26...

• Hollywood Studios: 9am - 9pm
• Epcot: 9am - 9pm

Rope Drop Strategy:
With Hollywood Studios having Early Park Entry at 8:30am, we'll plan to be at the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus pickup around 7am. We'll want to get on one of the first buses. Goal is to head down Sunset Boulevard and hopefully do Tower of Terror as a walk-on. Then off to Mickey and Minnie's RR still during early park entry with hopefully a low stand-by line. Hopefully be done with both those rides by the time the park officially opens at 9am. This is also the time where I'd place a Mobile Order for Docking Bay for lunch around 11:30am.

If we are lucky, fingers crossed, and get to ride Slinky with an early LL. Then I will try to get a Remy's LL (if still available, although doubt it). If our Slinky LL is late morning, then we will do low stand-by attractions around 9am-ish like Star Tours and/or Muppets 3D. I'm the only one interested in Millennium Falcon, so I can hop in the Single Rider line. That should then take us to our ILL for Rise of the Resistance and lunch at Docking Bay. The goal is to leave the park at around 12pm and hopefully arrive at Epcot before 1pm to try to get a VQ for Guardians.

Lightning Lane Strategy:

• 7am - Slinky Dog Dash (Will try to modify to earliest time available)
• 11am - Test Track (Will try to modify to 5pm time frame)
• 1pm - Soarin (Will try to modify to 3pm time frame)

* If we are lucky and get an early SDD return time, I will try to get Remy's if still available. If not, I'll try to get Frozen and if still not available, I'll go with Test Track. Which then will effect the times listed above and reflect 2 hours after I check into SDD.

This will give us LL or ILL for 3 rides by the time we get to Epcot around 1pm (Remy*, Test Track and Guardians). Just as we arrive to Epcot at around 1pm-ish, we should be close to getting another LL that I want to use for Soarin. So to fill in the time, we will do stand-by for Spaceship Earth and go through Moana Journey of Water. Depending on the return time for Soarin, we can do stand-by for Nemo and Living with the Land if the wait is not too long. Once we scan into Soarin, that should free up using LL for Figment and Three Caballeros. I'm the only one interested in Mission Space, so if there is a short line, I'll try to hop on if not I can skip it.

This should take us up to 5pm and finally able to use our ILL for Guardians of the Galaxy. If we get lucky with our 1pm VQ, we might be able to ride it twice. After that, all that's left is the World Showcase and visiting the Flower and Garden exhibits and food booths, which we are really excited for. At this point, we won't need any other LL, so I'd try to get a LL for any ride at Epcot we did on stand-by and keep on modifying it to see if I could turn it into a lottery ticket for the random slim chance a LL for Remy or Frozen shows up. If I'm not successful, then plan is to do either Remy or Frozen during the fireworks, which hopefully have a lower wait for stand-by. This will be the gamble, as we might miss one or both those rides if stand-by lines are crazy wait times or if the rides go down toward the end of the night and never come back up. Either way, we're just fine exploring the different countries in the World Showcase till the park closes.

This should give us a shot to do most everything we wanted to do across all 4 parks. Any thoughts or suggestions to modify anything, especially across a busy holiday weekend like Memorial Day?

 

[g-dad66]

I think it's a good plan.

But I think it's over-optimistic to think that you might complete both Avatar rides by 9:00. Ditto for Tower of Terror and Mickey's Railway by 9:00. Especially on a holiday weekend.

If it were me, I would figure that something like 9:20 is probably a more realistic goal.

 

[Matrixleos]

I think it's a good plan.

But I think it's over-optimistic to think that you might complete both Avatar rides by 9:00. Ditto for Tower of Terror and Mickey's Railway by 9:00. Especially on a holiday weekend.

If it were me, I would figure that something like 9:20 is probably a more realistic goal.

I think you'll be right, closer time would be 9:15 to 9:20am but I think the key will be how well we do rope drop. If we did good on rope drop, I can see us finish a little sooner. If not and tons of people ahead of us at rope drop, then both rides could take us up to 9:30am-ish time frame.

 

[baozi]

Park hours will likely change. My park days were 4/13-4/14, the last update was around 2 weeks before the date. Animal Kingdom will likely open at 8am.
Also there are 2 golden periods: first hour or 2 after park open, and last hour (actually + after) before park close. I typically hop in the queue for 7 dwarf mine train or rise of the resistance right before park close. On 9:30pm 4/13 the stand by time for rise of the resistance was ~ 5 minutes and on 10:00pm 4/14 the stand by time for 7 dwarf mine train was ~ 10 minutes (my experience, not the posted wait time).

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I don't think Space Mountain has a single rider line. That could impact your MK plans.

 

[BrianL]

I don't think Space Mountain has a single rider line. That could impact your MK plans.

This is correct. Space Mountain at Disneyland has a Single Rider line, but the MK version does not.

 

[Matrixleos]

Park hours will likely change. My park days were 4/13-4/14, the last update was around 2 weeks before the date. Animal Kingdom will likely open at 8am.
Also there are 2 golden periods: first hour or 2 after park open, and last hour (actually + after) before park close. I typically hop in the queue for 7 dwarf mine train or rise of the resistance right before park close. On 9:30pm 4/13 the stand by time for rise of the resistance was ~ 5 minutes and on 10:00pm 4/14 the stand by time for 7 dwarf mine train was ~ 10 minutes (my experience, not the posted wait time).

Thanks for the heads up. We will definitely keep checking those Park Hours the closer we get to our trip in May. It would be great to start off Animal Kingdom with Early Park Entry at 7:30am instead of 8:30am.

 

[Matrixleos]

I don't think Space Mountain has a single rider line. That could impact your MK plans.

This is correct. Space Mountain at Disneyland has a Single Rider line, but the MK version does not.

Technically, it's not listed as a single ride line and you do have to start off in the stand-by lane. Although at some point when you see a Cast Member that splits the line left to right, you can tell them you are a single rider and they will then move you to the right path, which I believe is also the Lightning Lane path.

So I'll still count it as single rider, as you will save a significant time from being in the stand-by lane for a duration of time.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I think your plans sound really good! I’m sure they’ll be an obstacle or two (a ride being down, etc.), but you should have the ability to move fast with a group of adults.

As @Stacybaeasm notes above, Space Mountain doesn’t have a single rider line. Neither does Mission Space. The only attractions currently open with a single rider line are Test Track*, Smuggler’s Run, and Everest. (Rock N Roller Coaster also has single rider, but who knows if it will be open by your trip.) You can always jump into the line if they’re on the shorter side or grab different lightening lanes for your party (Space Mountain for you and Buzz Lightyear for your wife and daughter, for example).

*If you do get lucky and get Remy or Frozen, the three of you could ride Test Test as single riders. That’s usually the way I experience that attraction anyway as it saves so much time!

I’ve been to Disney World during Memorial Day weekend twice before and had no problem touring as long as I had a plan. Yours is great - you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of so many people with your careful planning. Also, I have to note that we will also be at Disney World during Memorial Day weekend and we’ll actually be at MK at the same time - we’re hopping over to see the fireworks after starting the day at Epcot.

I hope your plans turn out well! Happy graduation to your daughter!

 

[BrianL]

Thanks for the heads up. We will definitely keep checking those Park Hours the closer we get to our trip in May. It would be great to start off Animal Kingdom with Early Park Entry at 7:30am instead of 8:30am.

Oh, right. They will often ask for a party of one and pull you up to board pretty much immediately, but that's not until after the split. It doesn't save as much time as a traditional single rider line.

 

[Matrixleos]

Oh, right. They will often ask for a party of one and pull you up to board pretty much immediately, but that's not until after the split. It doesn't save as much time as a traditional single rider line.

The split I'm talking about is when you get to the point where you see Loading Bay Alpha and Omega. If you are in stand-by lane, you will be directed to go to Alpha path. Although if you tell the Cast Member at that point that you are a single rider, they will often put you on Omega path which I believe is also the path used for Lightning Lane.

Although it is 100% at the decision of the Cast Member to allow that. I've seen several videos of that happening. If the Cast member doesn't allow that, then you continue on stand-by on the Alpha path. Which you will then wait for the part you described above.

 

[Matrixleos]

I think your plans sound really good! I’m sure they’ll be an obstacle or two (a ride being down, etc.), but you should have the ability to move fast with a group of adults.

As @Stacybaeasm notes above, Space Mountain doesn’t have a single rider line. Neither does Mission Space. The only attractions currently open with a single rider line are Test Track*, Smuggler’s Run, and Everest. (Rock N Roller Coaster also has single rider, but who knows if it will be open by your trip.) You can always jump into the line if they’re on the shorter side or grab different lightening lanes for your party (Space Mountain for you and Buzz Lightyear for your wife and daughter, for example).

*If you do get lucky and get Remy or Frozen, the three of you could ride Test Test as single riders. That’s usually the way I experience that attraction anyway as it saves so much time!

I’ve been to Disney World during Memorial Day weekend twice before and had no problem touring as long as I had a plan. Yours is great - you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of so many people with your careful planning. Also, I have to note that we will also be at Disney World during Memorial Day weekend and we’ll actually be at MK at the same time - we’re hopping over to see the fireworks after starting the day at Epcot.

I hope your plans turn out well! Happy graduation to your daughter!

Thanks appreciate it, all the best of luck to you too during your Memorial Day trip. You are right about Mission Space, I confused it with Rider Swap, which we did 10 years ago.

Also if we get difficulty with getting a good return time for Test Track, we will definitely do single rider line. Although pretty sure my wife wants a picture of all of us on the ride and we won't have that chance if we do single rider. It really will depend on if I can get LL for both Remy and Frozen (LOL...as remote of a chance that might be). I doubt Test Track will have LL availability later on in the day.

 

[kylenne]

I think it's a good plan.

But I think it's over-optimistic to think that you might complete both Avatar rides by 9:00. Ditto for Tower of Terror and Mickey's Railway by 9:00. Especially on a holiday weekend.

If it were me, I would figure that something like 9:20 is probably a more realistic goal.

Going to have to disagree here, I've done this plan multiple times at both parks and even on holiday weekends when I wasn't solo. As long as you are at the front of the pack for ride 1 you can easily knock them both out. Tower can be a bit dicier, because if it's one of those mornings they're only running one side you may run into a delay, but again as long as you're in the front you're fine. Especially since everyone and their mother is heading to TSL and Galaxy's Edge rather than going down Sunset. It's actually more forgiving than Pandora first thing.

2 rides during EE only becomes a problem if you're further back. But if you're on one of the first loads you'll have zero problems getting 2 done. That's why I'm always preaching to be at the front for rope dropping.

 

[MickeyMice]

looks like a generally sound strategy!

i will note that i have never had a lot of luck with 1pm VQs (despite a good track record of 7am VQs). if another person can try to get a 7am VQ for GotG while you are working the LLs, you might be better off with that in hand.

also keep in mind that VQ waits can be a while later in the day - you may not find it a good use of time to re-ride something you purchased an ILL for, given how much you are packing in.

at DHS, i would arrive as early as possible and try to rope drop SDD as i have seen in run much earlier than official early morning start (think around 8:10 for a 8:30 EMH / 9am park open). and unlike other attractions you will be off that quickly.

i would also flip MMRR and ToT. ToT will probably have reasonable wait times for longer. but honestly at DHS rope drop, man makes plans and mouse laughs - anything and everything can be down and open.