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Itinerary Revisions for Summer Visits to Disney World



By Dave Shute

After Toy Story Land opens on June 30, 2018, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be profoundly shifting its FastPass+ tiering, and, at least through August 25, its operating calendar as well.

Because of this, for the two days in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I’ve revised both the pre-booked FastPass+ and the daily touring plans for this period. These changes affect both the To-Do List and the Daily Itineraries.

The changes are exactly same for both the Higher Crowd Itinerary, which covers most of this period, and the Lower Crowd Itinerary, which covers the last week, so I present them just once.

I’ll cover To-Do List changes first, and then lay out the two daily plans. Images of both interaries are also in this post, where the only changes are to the two Hollywood Studios days.

I’ll develop revised itineraries for arrivals 8/25 and later after the operating schedules for those dates firm up a bit, but regardless before June 26, which is when the 60 day FastPass+ date hits for 8/25.

TO-DO LIST CHANGES

To-Do List Section D; changes are in red

1. Go to your MyDisneyExperience account at 7am and set up the following hard-to-get FastPass+, booking them in the order noted

  • Second Sunday at the Animal Kingdom: Avatar: Flight of Passage for 9.30 to 10.30a
  • Wednesday at Hollywood Studios: Slinky Dog Dash for 8-9a
  • Thursday at the Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for 1-2p
  • Monday at Hollywood Studios: Toy Story Mania for 8-9a
  • First Saturday afternoon and evening at Epcot: Tier One: Frozen Ever After. Set the time for when your travel plans permit you to be in the park.

2. Second, continue with the rest (I’ve kept the ones above in this list so you can see the various times, and am only showing the changes):

  • Monday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Tier One: Toy Story Mania. Tier Two: Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Set Toy Story Mania for 8-9a, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster for 9-10a, and Tower of Terror for 10a-11a
  • Wednesday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Tier One: Slinky Dog Dash; Tier Two: Star Tours and the Frozen Sing-Along. Set Slinky Dog Dash for 8-9a, Star Tours for 9-10a, and Frozen for the 10.30a show

TOURING HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS THE SUMMER AFTER TOY STORY LAND OPENS, DAY ONE MONDAY

Pre-book FastPass+ for Toy Story Mania (8-9a), Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (9-10a) and Tower of Terror (10-11a)

  • Arrive at the park by opening time
  • Ride Toy Story Mania (FP+)
  • See Muppet Vision 3D
  • Ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (FP+)
  • See Voyage of the Little Mermaid (9.30a show)
  • Ride Tower of Terror (FP+). As soon as you tap in for this FastPass+, look for additional FastPass+ later this morning or early this afternoon, especially for the noon Indiana Jones. After those, or if none are available, look for an additional set of FastPass+ for tonight’s first Fantasmic.
  • See Beauty and the Beast (11a show)
  • See the noon Indiana Jones if you got a FastPass+ for it. If you did get FastPass+, check as soon as you tap in for FastPass+ for Fantasmic tonight
  • See Disney Junior Live on Stage
  • Head back to your hotel
  • Return it the park, arriving at the Fantasmic queue no later than 60 minutes before showtime (if you don’t have FastPass+ for it) or 30 minutes if you have FastPass+
  • See Fantasmic
  • Head to Toy Story Land and see Alien Swirling Saucers; after, see another Toy Story ride if the lines are acceptable

TOURING HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS THE SUMMER AFTER TOY STORY LAND OPENS,  DAY TWO WEDENSDAY

Pre-book FastPass+ for Slinky Dog Dash (8-9a), Star Tours (9-10a) and the 10.30a show of For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along

  • Arrive at the park by half an hour after regular opening time (i.e. by 8.30a for an 8a open)
  • Ride Slinky Dog Dash (FastPass+)
  • Ride Star Tours (FastPass+)
  • See the 10.30a For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along (FastPass+). As soon as you tap in for this FastPass+, look for additional FastPass+ for later this morning or early this afternoon, to return to favorites or to see the noon Indiana Jones if you did not see it yesterday
  • See Walt Disney Presents
  • If you did not see it yesterday, see the noon Indiana Jones
  • See Star Wars Launch Bay
  • See March of the First Order
  • See Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away
  • Head back to your hotel, but before leaving look for additional FastPass+ to use before the evening Star Wars show
  • Return it the park, arriving in time for your FastPass+ if you got an additional set, and be in the center area no later than 45 minutes before Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular
  • See Disney Movie Magic
  • See Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular
  • If you can move quickly (you’ll have about ten minutes), as soon as the Star Wars show ends head to Toy Story Land and get in line for a favorite

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4 comments

1 Arlene { 06.11.18 at 10:13 pm }

Hi Dave,
I am just trying to figure out our fast passes for our upcoming visit Aug 12-22nd. I am confused and need your assistance. I am comparing your itineraries versus the extra magic hours and they are not matching 🙁 We are from Canada and not used to the heat…..We would also like to take some time doing the waterparks, as well as, at least one day to rent a car and do some other things. We also only have a 7 day park pass. I know this is asking a lot but what days would you suggest at the parks….
We used your itinerary once before and it was awesome, you definitely know your stuff.
Thanks for any assistance you can give….

2 Dave { 06.12.18 at 9:22 am }

Hi Arlene, yes, my itineraires specifically avoid extra magic hours parks, for two reasons: 1. while Morning Extra Hours is a great option for those who can arrived well before they start, the park offering them will be more crowded than it is on other days by noon; and 2. leaving them out makes my itineraires usable by all.

Tell me the ages of any kids you are hauling along, and take a look at this to give me a rough sense of how many days you wish to devote to each park. Also confirm you are EMH eligible, and let me know if you’d be willing to add a park hopper to your tix. (The park hopper makes EMH better, as you can hop away from the EMH park when it gets busy; the Park Hopper + option adds waterpark access, so won’t be all that more expensive than a straight waterpark entry.)

3 Arlene { 06.12.18 at 11:51 am }

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the reply. Our children are now 12 and 10. My husband and I are not big thrill ride people (I will do the odd one, ie: Splash Mountain and want to try Seven Dwarfs Mine). This kids though like the thrill rides and will be doing those on their own. That means for a lot of them we can fast pass using their bands and ours for different ones allowing us to double up on the fastpasses for many of them. We do have the park hopper and water park option. In prior visits (before kids and in low season) did 3 days MK, 1 Epcot, 1 Animal Kingdom and 1 Hollywood Studios. I think we can still pull off the 1 day at Epcot (we don’t usually do too much at the world showcase). I would like to see as many of the evening fireworks, etc as we can and wouldn’t mind splitting days.
Thanks so much for all your help….

4 Dave { 06.14.18 at 11:15 am }

Ok Arlene, first on morning EMH (evening EMH has less value)
–It’s on every day at HS
–Right now, it’s on at AK Monday the 13th, Saturday the 18th, and Monday the 20th your dates
–At MK, it’s on Friday the 17th, which is also an early close day at MK, making it a good up-til-6p park, but making the other parks and their evening shows more busy that night
–Your dates, Epcot has morning EMH only on Thursday the 16th

With 7 days and a hopper, and the two evening shows at HS, the two rides about to open at HS, and all that’s new at AK (depending on how long its been since you visited) I’d devote 1.5 days to HS, 1.5 at AK, 1 at Epcot, and 3 at MK.

So lets assume you do Epcot the morning of the 16th, and MK the 17th. Your HS days could be pretty much anytime, and you can pick as one of your AK days one of the three moning EMH days noted. You probably want to avoid evening shows on EMH days, and as noted to not see any evening show on the 17th. Within that, there’s a ton of options!

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