Rides, Fastpasses and what to do first?

[pamlvt]

How do you manage to ride the most popular rides?
I know that getting to the park at opening is the best bet. Do you get a fastpass for one and ride another while waiting?
For instance, get a fastpass for Tower of Terror and ride Rock n Rollercoaster while waiting?
Does anyone know how soon the fastpasses run out for Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids and Soarin' ?
Thanks for any expert advice, we've been to WDW many times, but it's been a long time since we had young children with us and there's so much more to do. We're going May 20-27 with our 20-something kids and two foster children (9 and 11) and we want them to see as much as possible without running them ragged.

[elmjimmlm]

You have the right idea...As far as fastpasses go the return time is according to how many have already been used...If the parks are busy and it is a popular ride say Soarin then your return time may be 4 hours or so...The best bet is go early, pick the ride you want to do first and your second choice fastpass it...:mickey:

[WDWdriver]

Does anyone know how soon the fastpasses run out for Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids and Soarin' ?


FastPasses for EE will generally run out early in the afternoon. On a very busy day it could be as early as 1:00, with a return time just before park closing.

Kali is better, usually running out of FastPasses during the mid-afternoon time frame.

I don't know for sure about Soarin', but I know the FastPasses go quickly. Try to get one before noon.

[DisneyDudet]

You have the right idea! For MGM (I refuse to call it DHS!), we will usually get a FP for one ride, then ride the other, just in case it gets busy. But, usually, if you are there right at opening, you won't need a fast pass. You can do that around an hour or so after park opening to really be able to utilize it. Sometimes, we'll get a FP right at opening at MGM, then by the time we use it, there still isn't a wait at all.

Your best bet for Soarin and EE is go head straight there, get an FP, then get in standby line, then ride it (two rides with little wait). That is, if you get there at opening. In the summer, Soarin could run out way before noon. For EE, if you happen to miss the FPs or the window is WAY later in the day, and you have other plans, head for the Single Rider line.

We don't do Kali much anymore, so I don't know when their FP's run out, but probably sooner in the summer than in the off months (heat).

You have the right mindset for FPs. Pretty soon, you will have the logistics down!

[RockinRollerMom]

Don't forget to use EMH. On our last trip these worked out great. We were able to ride EE 4x in a row and do many of the other rides as well. It is well worth waking up early or waiting in a long line for your bus back to the hotel. Also if you show up at a ride and wait is less than 30 minutes always ride it. It is not worth doing fastpass.

[#1donaldfan]

Looks to me like you've got the general idea of it anyway !!!!

I've seen EE run out of FP's around 11 am for the rest of the day ( June / July )... not sure about the others, I've used 'em till late in the day.....the only exception is Soarin, which we do early and then just leave it alone, it's just too much of a wait....

use EMH.....it give you a little more time to do the "little" things you've missed during the day..:thumbsup:

[BriarRose0708]

Luckily Disney has placed many of the very popular rides next to each other in the parks. Like ToT and RRC, Spash Mountain and Big Thunder, etc. This has helped me cut down on rushing and fighting through crowds to get a FastPass and enjoy another ride while waiting for a return time. My one piece of advice would be to always get a Fastpass for RRC and get in line for TOT. I found that the way the RRC queue is set up the standby line is always much slower than the ToT line. The wait was posted as 30 minutes, but we waited well over an hour. We walked right on ToT directly after that.

[jaredkari]

I guess my suggestion is much like everyone elses. USE MORNING EMH!!! as much as possible. The last time my wife and I were at MK for morning EMH we went straight to space mountain (our favorite) and got a fastpass.. the standby line was already pretty long, so we went over to fantasy land. There was virtually nobody there we rode Winnie the Pooh, Philarmagic, Peter Pan, and Small World all within like 40 minutes. By the time we were done our SM fastpass time had come up so we went over there rode SM and still made it to the rope drop for Adventureland and got right on BTMR and got dream fastpasses as we got off!!! It was a good first 1 1/2 hours in the MK!!!:mickey:

[Gator]

I'd get a fastpass for RnRC and then stant in line for ToT. It has a much better line queue. Fast pass Thunder Mountain and then stand in line for Splash or Space Mountain.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We always fastpass RNRC and get in line at ToT. At MK we fastpass BTMRR and get in line at Splash. At Epcot we do Soarin standby line first thing at park opening then grab a fastpass for later in the day when we exit the ride. This past Thanksgiving week we got fastpasses at Soarin at 9:30am and our return time was 6:30!!! We try to do the same thing at EE, ride first thing at park opening and grab fastpasses for later in the day. Good luck with your stratagy and have fun

[dumbo ears]

I think that fastpasses are the best way to see popular rides. Also its better to ride them in th morning and at night becuase they will be less crowded. Do the lesser attractions during the the day from 1-6. We usually get fastpasses for soarin as soon as we enter the park. Id say get a fastpass for aerosmith then ride tot because the waits arent ever long for it.