Converting the Seven Night Variants of the Autumn-Winter-Spring Itinerary to FastPass+

By Dave Shute

I have two shorter seven night variants of my eight-night Autumn-Winter-Spring Itinerary, one with a  Saturday arrival, and one with a Sunday arrival.

Below are two sets of instructions for adapting these to FastPass+ and the coming entire absence of traditional fastpasses. The Saturday arrival is first, and then after it the Sunday arrival.  Don’t mix them up!

If you are a Disney World resort hotel guest, you can begin booking FastPass+ 60 days before arrival (sometimes the parades and fireworks shows only become available much closer to your arrival date), so you also need to add booking the FastPass+ below to your To-Do List!

See this for more on the upcoming loss of all traditional fastpasses.

SEVEN NIGHT AUTUMN-WINTER-SPRING ITINERARY, SATURDAY ARRIVAL

First Saturday

• As written, you skip Illuminations tonight and see it Friday—so that with Epcot’s evening extra magic hours you don’t have to leave the park—with 20,000 other people—after the show.
• Instead, see Illuminations tonight with a Tier One FastPass+. The viewing area is as close as you’ll find to the bus stops and monorail station, so head for them the moment Illuminations ends, walk fast, don’t stop, and you should miss most of the crowds departing Epcot!
• This lets you take Friday night off…and by then, you’ll need it…
• For Tier 2, aim for Spaceship Earth and Mission Space Green, planning to see one before dinner and the other after. With your travel arrival schedule, 6.30p dinner time, and Illuminations FastPass+, you might not be able to do both—that’s OK.

Sunday

• As I write this, there are no tiers at the Animal Kingdom.
• If this is still true when you book, get FastPass+ for Kilimanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King (if it has re-opened for your dates; book Kali River instead if it hasn’t), and Finding Nemo—The Musical, for 10.30a or later.
• If you can, set Nemo for the morning, and the other two in the afternoon. This will lead to less backtracking later!
• If FastPass+ is tiered when you book it, choose Kilimanjaro Safaris as your Tier One selection.
• When the park opens, see Everest first thing, then the rides in Dinoland next. See this for more suggestions on your Animal Kingdom day.

Monday

• Set Toy Story Mania as your Tier One selection, then book Thursday (see below).
• Then come back to Monday and book  Star Tours and whichever of Tower of Terror or Great Movie ride you couldn’t book for Thursday afternoon—if either–as your Tier Twos.
• The next Tier Two priority, if you got both Tower or Terror and Great Movie Ride for Thursday, is Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Target late morning or afternoon for the FastPass+.
• Start your day at Rock ‘N Roller Coaster.

Tuesday

• As written, you have the morning off and your afternoon is focused in Adventureland and Frontierland.
• If there’s no tiering, book FastPass+ for Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and the Jungle Cruise, with return windows beginning no earlier than 12:15 and ending no later than 5.15p.  Book Splash Mountain as late as you can within these windows.
• If tiering is on, then you’ll need to lose the morning off, and arrive before open.  Book Splash Mountain mid-afternoon as your Tier One, and see Big Thunder Mountain, and then the Jungle Cruise, at open.

Wednesday

• This day is scheduled mostly in Fantasyland.
• If there’s no tiering, book as your FastPass+ Enchanted Tales with Belle, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (if open) and Winnie the Pooh.  Target the times for the afternoon, ending by 4.30p. See Peter Pan at park open.
• If there is tiering, then set Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as your Tier One if open (Enchanted Tales with Belle if not open) and see Peter Pan at Park open. With tiering, hold on Enchanted Tales with Belle until Saturday morning.

Thursday

• Thursday is largely off, but at Hollywood Studios in the evening for Fantasmic.
• Book Fantasmic as your Studios Tier One. This won’t get you better seats—you’ll still need to show up early for good seats—but means you won’t be shut out from the show!
• For your Tier Twos on Thursday, pick Great Movie ride (first) and Tower of Terror (later), if you can fit them tightly together around Fantasmic.
• If you get only one or two of these, that’s OK.  Getting these for these times will limit your walking—and also make your other Studios Day, Monday, go better!

Friday

• As written, this itinerary has you at Epcot late to see Illuminations.  See First Saturday for an approach that frees you up after dinner.
• Pick Soarin as your Tier One FastPass+, targeting it for early afternoon.
• For your Tier Twos, pick Turtle Talk with Crush, and if you missed Spaceship Earth on First Saturday, pick it. Otherwise do Living with the Land, adjacent to your Soarin time.
• Go to Test Track at park open.

Second Saturday

• Book your FastPass+ for late morning.
• If you were not able to book a FastPass+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle on Wednesday, and if there’s tiering, have it be your Tier One ride today, and see Space Mountain at park open
• If there’s no tiering, set as your FastPass+ Space Mountain, Enchanted Tales with Belle if you haven’t booked that yet, or Space Mountain if you’ve seen Belle. At park open, repeat your favorite ride from what you’ve seen so far!

SEVEN NIGHT AUTUMN-WINTER-SPRING ITINERARY, SUNDAY ARRIVAL

First Sunday

• As written, you skip Illuminations tonight and see it Friday—so that with Epcot’s evening extra magic hours you don’t have to leave the park—with 20,000 other people—after the show.
• Instead, see Illuminations tonight with a Tier One FastPass+. The viewing area is as close as you’ll find to the bus stops and monorail station, so head for them the moment Illuminations ends, walk fast, don’t stop, and you should miss most of the crowds departing Epcot!
• This lets you take Friday night off…and by then, you’ll need it…
• For Tier 2, aim for Spaceship Earth and Mission Space Green, planning to see one before dinner and the other after. With your travel arrival schedule, 6.30p dinner time, and Illuminations FastPass+, you might not be able to do both—that’s OK.

Monday

• Set Toy Story Mania as your Tier One selection, then book Thursday (see below).
• Then come back to Monday and book Star Tours and whichever of Tower of Terror or Great Movie ride you couldn’t book for Thursday afternoon—if either–as your Tier Twos.
• The next Tier Two priority, if you got both Tower or Terror and Great Movie Ride for Thursday, is Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Target late morning or afternoon for the FastPass+.
• Start your day at Rock ‘N Roller Coaster.

Tuesday

• As written, you have the morning off and your afternoon is focused in Adventureland and Frontierland.
• If there’s no tiering, book FastPass+ for Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and the Jungle Cruise, with return windows beginning no earlier than 12:15 and ending no later than 5.15p.  Book Splash Mountain as late as you can within these windows.
• If tiering is on, then you’ll need to lose the morning off, and arrive before open.  Book Splash Mountain mid-afternoon as your Tier One, and see Big Thunder Mountain, and then the Jungle Cruise, at open.

Wednesday

• This day is scheduled mostly in Fantasyland.
• If there’s no tiering, book as your FastPass+ Enchanted Tales with Belle, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (if open) and Winnie the Pooh.  Target the times for the afternoon, ending by 4.30p. See Peter Pan at park open.
• If there is tiering, then set Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as your Tier One if open (Enchanted Tales with Belle if not open) and see Peter Pan at Park open. With tiering, hold on Enchanted Tales with Belle until Saturday morning.

Thursday

• Thursday is largely off, but at Hollywood Studios in the evening for Fantasmic.
• Book Fantasmic as your Studios Tier One. This won’t get you better seats—you’ll still need to show up early for good seats—but means you won’t be shut out from the show!
• For your Tier Twos on Thursday, pick Great Movie ride (first) and Tower of Terror (later), if you can fit them tightly together around Fantasmic. If you get only one or two of these, that’s OK.  Getting these for these times will limit your walking—and also make your other Studios Day, Monday, go better!

Friday

• As written, this itinerary has you at Epcot late to see Illuminations.  See First Saturday for an approach that frees you up after dinner.
• Pick Soarin as your Tier One FastPass+, targeting it for early afternoon.
• For your Tier Twos, pick Turtle Talk with Crush, and if you missed Spaceship Earth on First Saturday, pick it. Otherwise do Living with the Land, adjacent to your Soarin time.
• Go to Test Track at park open.

Saturday

• As I write this, there are no tiers at the Animal Kingdom.
• If this is still true when you book, get FastPass+ for Kilimanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King (if it has re-opened for your dates; book Kali River instead if it hasn’t), and Finding Nemo—The Musical, for 10.30a or later.
• If you can, set Nemo for the morning, and the other two in the afternoon. This will lead to less backtracking later!
• If FastPass+ is tiered when you book it, choose Kilimanjaro Safaris as your Tier One selection.
• When the park opens, see Everest first thing, then the rides in Dinoland next. See this for more suggestions on your Animal Kingdom day.

Second Sunday

• Book your FastPass+ for late morning.
• If you were not able to book a FastPass+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle on Wednesday, and if there’s tiering, have it be your Tier One ride today, and see Space Mountain at park open
• If there’s no tiering, set as your FastPass+ Space Mountain, Enchanted Tales with Belle if you haven’t booked that yet, or Space Mountain if you’ve seen Belle. At park open, repeat your favorite ride from what you’ve seen so far!

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