Florida

[PTR]

I've got day + 190 coming up so better get planning reservations. Looking at Cinderella place a couple of times and Be our Guest once for dinner as immediate bookings, everything else seems to be there at +180. Weird as hell booking so early like.

My folks utterly detest this new way. They preferred rocking up first thing, collecting a ticket from the machine, going on a different ride, then using the FP. Then getting another ticket, and doing the same again. 4 rides done by 10.30am - doesn't sound any different, but it means they could go anywhere they wanted depending on how they feel on any given day. And if they don't fancy going to say, MK, on the day they had planned, they could just go another time.

The new system really ruins that approach.

I don't like how "calculated" it all is, but you get SO much more for your money now - there must be 20 times more things on FP now

 

[Nero the dog]

14 years since I was there but Kraken was cracking.

It was closed while I was there, but I'm counting it as one of the 3. They were welding the track back together..
They actually have virtual reality headset to wear on Kraken now, so will be even better.

My folks utterly detest this new way. They preferred rocking up first thing, collecting a ticket from the machine, going on a different ride, then using the FP. Then getting another ticket, and doing the same again. 4 rides done by 10.30am - doesn't sound any different, but it means they could go anywhere they wanted depending on how they feel on any given day. And if they don't fancy going to say, MK, on the day they had planned, they could just go another time.

The new system really ruins that approach.

I don't like how "calculated" it all is, but you get SO much more for your money now - there must be 20 times more things on FP now

I agree, much preferred the old way. I knew how to work the system a treat. I think Disney release more fast passes per hour now as well so if you haven't got a FP for a particular ride you will be queuing even longer than before.

Some of the stand by queues were insane, for crap rides. Jungle cruise and Pirates were never below 1 hour. I even saw living itch the land and figment at over an hour each.

 

[the dark one]

Loved the water parks in Disney and would've loved volcano bay but their tapu tapu system is a complete joke, I was there two weeks ago for about four hours and only managed to get on two things. The system is just stupid, you get a time to join the queue instead of being able to just queue. I was sitting outside the main slide for about 10 minutes before I was allowed to then go join the queue and wait for a further 45 minutes. This was all in the off season too.

That said the slides are class, scary as fuck waiting for that trap door to open!

Soarin was class, hadnt done that before, actually thought it was better than avatar.

Had two really nice days in epcot doing the food and wine expo, really nice just eating and drinking your way around the park

Epcot is my favourite by a mile.From a selfish view if course.great good and drink.Really rate animal kingdom also.we stopped for a few nights in the hotel with Savannah view, woke up on a morning with giraffes zebras and wilderness 20 yards from the balcony.Stunning room, well worth the stay.

 

[PTR]

I agree, much preferred the old way. I knew how to work the system a treat. I think Disney release more fast passes per hour now as well so if you haven't got a FP for a particular ride you will be queuing even longer than before.
Some of the stand by queues were insane, for crap rides. Jungle cruise and Pirates were never below 1 hour. I even saw living itch the land and figment at over an hour each.

This is why you need to know which days to go to each park, and which days to avoid. And to know which rides to walk right past first thing - Spaceship Earth, I'm looking at you: 2hr queue at 10am, but walk-on if you go after lunch.

 

[the dark one]

45 mins in a queue, the kids would not stand for that one like.

How long are the queues on a fast pass these days in Florida?

5-10 mins max I reckon.we never queued over 20 minutes for nothing tbf.as others have said, you need to be in the ball and plan plan plan.Which I leave to the missus.I just pay for the fucker.

 

[anth]

I've got day + 190 coming up so better get planning reservations. Looking at Cinderella place a couple of times and Be our Guest once for dinner as immediate bookings, everything else seems to be there at +180. Weird as hell booking so early like.

sign up for mouse dining, cinderella table slots seem to come up all the time and you get a notification. We've just booked a 7.30 table for 4 on a saturday in january from it.

Sea world has 3 of the best coasters in Orlando, Mako is the newest and the best, although you don't go upside down it is all very high speed hills and drops which create a lot of "air time". So make sure that lap bar is pulled all the way down.

i've been on two of them and while good the hulk and sheikra are both better than anything at seaworld.

 

[PTR]

Since I keep mentioning it, here is the Busy Day Guide that I used. I really think it helps

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/busy-day-guide.php

From memory, MK only gets mentioned once per week. Its the day that isn't a weekend (its the busiest park generally, and mostly from weekend trippers), and its a day that doesn't have Extra Magic Hours which means you get in first.

 

[anth]

Since I keep mentioning it, here is the Busy Day Guide that I used. I really think it helps

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/busy-day-guide.php

From memory, MK only gets mentioned once per week. Its the day that isn't a weekend (its the busiest park generally, and mostly from weekend trippers), and its a day that doesn't have Extra Magic Hours which means you get in first.

thanks, didn't know about martin luther king day which is while im there and and the parks will probably be busier.

 

[Nero the dog]

This is why you need to know which days to go to each park, and which days to avoid. And to know which rides to walk right past first thing - Spaceship Earth, I'm looking at you: 2hr queue at 10am, but walk-on if you go after lunch.

I was talking to an American bloke who had stood in the standby queue for tower of terror for 2 hrs. He hadn't been to Disney for over 10 years and had 2 kids maybe 9/10 year old, he hadn't realised the fast pass system had changed, so hadn't booked anything. He couldn't believe that anyone planned that far in advance. He just kept apologising to his kids for all the queues they they were standing in. I felt quite sorry for him, he obviously had wanted it all to be magical for the kids, but was turning into a hard slog.
In general us Brits have and advantage because we do book our hols so far ahead, the yanks seem to leave everything to the last minute.

sign up for mouse dining, cinderella table slots seem to come up all the time and you get a notification. We've just booked a 7.30 table for 4 on a saturday in january from it.



i've been on two of them and while good the hulk and sheikra are both better than anything at seaworld.

I believe that Kraken is longer and has more loops than Hulk, and Sheikra is good but isn't in Orlando. If you like coasters then I would definitely make the effort to go to Busch as it has the best collection of any park.

Rip ride rocket at universal is an awful coaster, it is rough as fuck and is like getting kicked in the knackers with that badly designed lump between your legs.

 

[PTR]

thanks, didn't know about martin luther king day which is while im there and and the parks will probably be busier.

We didn't realise it was Labour Day when we first arrived. It was insanely busy - BUT there was an immense extra firework display on in MK. Properly loud bigguns.

I was talking to an American bloke who had stood in the standby queue for tower of terror for 2 hrs. He hadn't been to Disney for over 10 years and had 2 kids maybe 9/10 year old, he hadn't realised the fast pass system had changed, so hadn't booked anything. He couldn't believe that anyone planned that far in advance. He just kept apologising to his kids for all the queues they they were standing in. I felt quite sorry for him, he obviously had wanted it all to be magical for the kids, but was turning into a hard slog.
In general us Brits have and advantage because we do book our hols so far ahead, the yanks seem to leave everything to the last minute.

You should have helped him install the app on his phone while he was in the queue and showed him how to use it! I was booking my next (4+) FP whilst in minute queues all the time I was there. I think we queued for 2 rides in 2 weeks. Fight of Passage, and Pirates (25mins)

 

[Lester1979]

The fast passes have been fairly easy to get on a daily basis except for Flight of Passage which we luckily had two advance FPs for. When we were at AK a few days ago it was 5 hours for Flight of Passage which is just insane.

I’m off to MK for the Christmas party tonight so it’ll be a busy one I’d expect.

 

[Nero the dog]

We didn't realise it was Labour Day when we first arrived. It was insanely busy - BUT there was an immense extra firework display on in MK. Properly loud bigguns.


You should have helped him install the app on his phone while he was in the queue and showed him how to use it! I was booking my next (4+) FP whilst in minute queues all the time I was there. I think we queued for 2 rides in 2 weeks. Fight of Passage, and Pirates (25mins)

He had it by then, but all the good stuff had gone. I think he had managed to get one of the mountains at MK the next day.

 

[AndrewP]

sign up for mouse dining, cinderella table slots seem to come up all the time and you get a notification. We've just booked a 7.30 table for 4 on a saturday in january from it.

Will do mate. I think I'll be ok at +190 but it might be worth it for an extra visit.

 

[anth]

We didn't realise it was Labour Day when we first arrived. It was insanely busy - BUT there was an immense extra firework display on in MK. Properly loud bigguns.

we got caught out with labour day the first time we were there. Universal was rammed, we waited about 2 hours for rock-it which is pretty poor

I believe that Kraken is longer and has more loops than Hulk, and Sheikra is good but isn't in Orlando. If you like coasters then I would definitely make the effort to go to Busch as it has the best collection of any park.

I'm sure hulk is quite a bit faster though than kraken though. Busch gardens is compulsory for me, I love seeing all the animals, and it has some awesome coasters. Last time we went it was raining quite heavily, shiekra was closed but there must have only been about 20people in the park. We were the only ones on the coasters, sitting on the front of montu and cheetah hunt was particularly painful from the rain, you couldnt open your eyes. Everything was like a water ride with zero queues!

we are looking at the new hollywood studios light show. We'd be seeing fantasmic at 7pm, followed by disney movie magic at 7.40pm, followed by the star wars fireworks at 8pm. Is that do-able? I remember fantasmic taking some time to get out of.

 

[the dark one]

The fast passes have been fairly easy to get on a daily basis except for Flight of Passage which we luckily had two advance FPs for. When we were at AK a few days ago it was 5 hours for Flight of Passage which is just insane.

I’m off to MK for the Christmas party tonight so it’ll be a busy one I’d expect.

Enjoy.

 

[Nero the dog]

we got caught out with labour day the first time we were there. Universal was rammed, we waited about 2 hours for rock-it which is pretty poor



I'm sure hulk is quite a bit faster though than kraken though. Busch gardens is compulsory for me, I love seeing all the animals, and it has some awesome coasters. Last time we went it was raining quite heavily, shiekra was closed but there must have only been about 20people in the park. We were the only ones on the coasters, sitting on the front of montu and cheetah hunt was particularly painful from the rain, you couldnt open your eyes. Everything was like a water ride with zero queues!

we are looking at the new hollywood studios light show. We'd be seeing fantasmic at 7pm, followed by disney movie magic at 7.40pm, followed by the star wars fireworks at 8pm. Is that do-able? I remember fantasmic taking some time to get out of.

The movie magic is the same place as the fireworks. You need to stand in front of the Chinese theatre.
The StarWars fireworks are amazing. It’s a mix of movie projection, music, explosions, lasers and fireworks. I kept expecting stormtroopers to come pouring out of the buildings.

Hulk is only 3mph faster than Kraken.

Mako is 10mph faster.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/orlando-roller-coasters/

 

[Raich Carter]

I’m in Orlando atm, off to Mickey Christmas party on tuesday.

Worth the trip, Orlando is class, my daughters 2 and is really enjoying it this time, she liked it last year but this time she’s all about Minnie Mouse.

 

[the dark one]

I’m in Orlando atm, off to Mickey Christmas party on tuesday.

Worth the trip, Orlando is class, my daughters 2 and is really enjoying it this time, she liked it last year but this time she’s all about Minnie Mouse.

An Orlando holiday with family is something you'll never forget mate.saviour and enjoy.

 

[Brexit]

Get your fast passes for first thing and then just keep getting a new one once you have used them. We don't bother queuing more than 15 minutes apart from for the character photos and yet we still get on and do everything. The planning isn't for everybody's taste but if you're coming then you have to do it as you get so much more out of it if you do.

We use the busy day guide @PTR mentioned as well. Definitely a good place to start.

 

[Lester1979]

I’m in Orlando atm, off to Mickey Christmas party on tuesday.

Worth the trip, Orlando is class, my daughters 2 and is really enjoying it this time, she liked it last year but this time she’s all about Minnie Mouse.

Make sure you catch the parade and fireworks at the party mate. We watched them tonight and they were amazing!

As a side note it wasn’t too crowded tonight but I don’t know if it was sold out. No hassle to view the parade or fireworks.