WDW Fast Pass recs, best places to eat inexpensively

[ang79]

We will be going to Disney for 4 days at the end of March. Which crowd calendars online do you find to be the most reliable when deciding which parks to visit on which days? Its been a few years since our last trip and I feel like I'm starting from scratch again!

We are thinking of doing 1 day at Epcot, 1 day at Animal Kingdom, and 2 days at Magic Kingdom. There are a few rides/attractions we like at Hollywood Studios, but not enough to spend an entire day there and we are doing the single park day tickets this time. What should my fast pass priorities be at each of those 3 parks? DH wants to do the new Avatar stuff at AK, we all like Soarin' at Epcot and Mine Train at AK. What else should I fast pass?

Complicating things, we are staying at a Hilton restort for the first few days of our trip and then a Disney resort the last 3 days, but we bought 4 days of park tickets. Will I be able to do fast passes for the day before we check into the Disney resort? I'm guessing I'll have to wait til 30 days out to book fast passes that day, but can do the other 3 days that we are on resort 60 days out?

Also, any places that you would recommend for good but not too expensive meals? Last time we went we had the free dining plan so we did a lot of character meals. This time the girls' only request is lunch at Be Our Guest (they are hoping to eat in the West Wing), which I've already reserved.

[nfceagles]

My GUESS is that you will be able to make FPs for that earliest date once the 60 day window from your Disney stay opens up.

Flights of Passage is the hardest to get and an awesome ride. I would consider doing AK on your last day as that will improve your chances of getting FPs for it, but given the short stay it may not be enough to help. Other good options are the River ride in Pandora, Everest, and the Safari ride.

At Epcot, other than choosing your Tier 1 FP (Soarin), the rest aren’t very important.

At MK, I like Mine Train, Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise.

For cheaper food (if there is any such thing), I recommend sharing a pizza at Via Napoli, fish and chips at the kiosk in U.K., Beaches & Cream, pizza window on the Boardwalk. Flame Tree, Cosmic Rays, Sunshine Seasons, and Salu Canteen for better than average QS that can replace sit downs if you’re really trying to save.


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[KrisM]

I believe you'll be able to do the pre-Disney stay dates once you hit 60 days from your Disney days, so 59/58, etc days.

I'd include Test Track at Epcot too. Do one at rope drop and the other a FP.

Once you are there and use your 3 FP, you can book more. If you can't get what you want, try fewer people. I was able to get all 5 of us on things 1 person at a time and end up with overlapping times, so we could enter in a 15 minute window all together. A big pain, but doable.

If you do quick service dining, use the app to order. We would go in, find a seat and order from the table. Then go get the food. It was much faster than waiting in the ordering line and we were sure to have the table.

[klwa]

I love the cheat sheets Josh has up at EasyWDW. https://www.easywdw.com/easy/cheat-sheets/disney-world-cheat-sheets-maps-touring-plans-and-wait-times-4/ They help with prioritizing fastpasses and other rides.

As for food, if you're looking for counter service type, we've always enjoyed Columbia Harbour House at MK and Sunshine Seasons at Epcot. You can also eat fairly reasonably at Via Napoli in Epcot if I remember right.

[wendibird22]

My GUESS is that you will be able to make FPs for that earliest date once the 60 day window from your Disney stay opens up.

Flights of Passage is the hardest to get and an awesome ride. I would consider doing AK on your last day as that will improve your chances of getting FPs for it, but given the short stay it may not be enough to help. Other good options are the River ride in Pandora, Everest, and the Safari ride.

At Epcot, other than choosing your Tier 1 FP (Soarin), the rest aren’t very important.

At MK, I like Mine Train, Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise.

For cheaper food (if there is any such thing), I recommend sharing a pizza at Via Napoli, fish and chips at the kiosk in U.K., Beaches & Cream, pizza window on the Boardwalk. Flame Tree, Cosmic Rays, Sunshine Seasons, and Salu Canteen for better than average QS that can replace sit downs if you’re really trying to save.


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Yes to these FP recommendations.

We were there in Dec. Your 60 day window begins at rope drop day of check in. So if you are planning to go on March 1 and stay somewhere else that night and then check in to WDW hotel on March 2, your at 30-day window for March 1 and 60 day window for March 2-check out day. And it's the same if you do WDW hotel at the beginning and nonWDW property later in the week. Your 60 day only counts for the days of your WDW resort stay. We had originally planned just 1 night (our first night) at WDW resort thinking we'd get 60-day window for all 5 days, but nope, we'd have only gotten 60-day window for the 2 days, so we ended up adding room nights in order to have the 60 -day window for all 5 park days.

For Epcot the Frozen ride is also a long line but is in the same category with Soarin and Test Track. We FP Soarin and did Test Track first and immediately did Frozen next right at rope drop.

For AK: definitely FP Avatar. If you can't get that then run there at rope drop, wait times are often 2+hr even on non-peak times and 4-6hr on peak days. Everest is great but also has a single rider line if you don't mind riding alone.

For MK: definitely Mine Train (that's been the ride with the longest lines for a while), I'd also add in Splash Mountain if you don't mind getting wet. And yes to Jungle Cruise. We love this ride but it's so cheesy that it doesn't seem worth waiting in a long line for so we were glad to FP that one.

We've eaten at the Speedway Cafe or Starlight Cafe (can't remember the name!) that's right across from the speedway and the people mover. They have mobile ordering too which was great. We placed our order online and then you "check in" when you are headed over to the restaurant and they make your food. It saves the wait in line inside. So we placed our order, went on a ride, "checked in" as we departed the ride and then walked into the restaurant and our food was ready just a few minutes later. It was great!

[ang79]

Thanks for all the recs! I forgot about the 2 tiered system with FP. How many extra FP can you pick up the day of while in the park? I think I remember using our 3 pre-selected FP and then just one more FP if we could book it that day to work with everything else? At least we only have 4 people to coordinate this time. Our last trip we had two families with 8 total people and it took a lot of work to get us all with similar FP and dining reservations!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Book your first 3 for the first half of the day. There’s no limit to how many more you can get but you can only do them one at a time. As soon as you tap into a ride you can start selecting your next FP.


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[TwinFoxes]

For prices of meals, I'd get an app. I *think* the Disney Dining App includes prices. If not, try Undercover Tourist. It's been two years since we went, so I can't remember much off the top of my head. There's the hotdog place at the end of Main St. USA, it's pretty good but hard to grab a table (quick service, so first come, first served). The buffet in Germany at Epcot isn't super cheap, but it's a good bang for your buck. You're skipping DHS, which has the worst food of any of the parks.

[bnme]

My favorite website for menus is allears.net. Check Plaza and Via Napoli for table service and Columbia Harbor House, Yak and Yeti for quick serve. I think they have good (and different) choices at lower prices, but it really depends on what you order. We often share lunches because we find often too much food (plus we have room for snacks later :))

[ang79]

Thought of another Q. I can use Disney gift cards to pay for meals, correct? I know I can buy them at Target with my 5% off with my Redcard, and Sam's Club also has packs with a slight discount. Thought I might get some discounted ones now to use when we go.

[nfceagles]

Thought of another Q. I can use Disney gift cards to pay for meals, correct? I know I can buy them at Target with my 5% off with my Redcard, and Sam's Club also has packs with a slight discount. Thought I might get some discounted ones now to use when we go.

Easiest way to do this is have your Disney hotel put them on your room account. Then just charge your meals to your room.


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[klwa]

Thought of another Q. I can use Disney gift cards to pay for meals, correct? I know I can buy them at Target with my 5% off with my Redcard, and Sam's Club also has packs with a slight discount. Thought I might get some discounted ones now to use when we go.

Yes you can. And you can combine the cards onto a single card or a set number of cards for use in the parks at https://www.disneygiftcard.com/manage

As PP mentioned, you can add those to your room for charging or carry one or two around with you depending on your style.

[ang79]

Is it hard to get FP for the Frozen ride at Epcot if I am doing that park at my 30 day FP choice? DD2 really wants to ride that and they both want to do Soarin' there, so I was hoping to FP one and rope drop one, but not sure if trying to get that at 30 days out is going to be tough. If so, I'll rearrange which days we go to which parks and do one of our MK days at that 30 day FP choice, as I've already gotten Space Mountain and Mine Train FP reserved for another day.

Also, is the Rivers of Light show at AK good? Got FP for Flight of Passage (is this similar to Soarin'?) and Safari but the girls aren't really interested in Everest and saw that light show as a FP option.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I've heard to FP Frozen not Soarin' because they added an extra theater at Soarin and while the line can be long, Frozen is always slower and longer.

[ang79]

I've heard to FP Frozen not Soarin' because they added an extra theater at Soarin and while the line can be long, Frozen is always slower and longer.

Thanks, I read that somewhere online too. Wondering now if it will be hard to get a FP for Frozen at 30 days out? Maybe I should swap things around and grab that FP now instead of waiting.....

[SnuggleBuggles]

Yes. Get it now. :) Good job on FOP. You'll be glad to have that!!

[ang79]

Yes. Get it now. :) Good job on FOP. You'll be glad to have that!!

That was DH's one Must Do, so he is excited!

[nfceagles]

That was DH's one Must Do, so he is excited!

It’s AWESOME. Soarin on steroids.


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[wendibird22]

We enjoyed the rivers of light show. If you can FP it and don't want to FP anything else in that category then I'd go for it.

Flights of Passage is AMAZING! and Yes Soarin but 1mil times better as you are riding your own banshee so you are on your own individual seat unlike Soarin and it moves.