I like planning. It's my second nature. A carefully planned and organized strategy is needed to accomplish the specific objectives. For this project, we wanted to enjoy the trip, to try and experience most if not all the activities or attractions that Disney can offer. I know there are people who will just go with their instincts without any plans at all, I don't see anything wrong with that but it's just not my thing. Even with little plan, I believe I'm going to achieve my objectives.
Human factor
Like any DMAIC projects, the only way to ensure that your plans will work is if you have all the stakeholders informed and aligned to the plans for the day. No room for tantrums, or other plans. Their own preferred rides need to be told and included during the planning stage. Our Epcot day was the only day our 2 families got separated because Carlisle didn't feel like going to the park that day but he decided going later but that meant they were behind us for an hour and we didn't see each other at any of the rides. The good thing is, they were able to go back and repeat the rides they liked and enjoyed them. VOC is important.
Other essentials - people thirst, get hungry, get tired or grumpy. You need to stop once in a while and let the kids and adults drink water, have some snacks and rest for a bit. This is the perfect time to go to no lines, stationary rides like people mover or the trains or watch shows or hang around gift shops to take a breather so that energy levels go up again. The magic bands shown above are your personal link to all Disney related stuff, your room key, your entrance ticket, your fast pass, your photo pass ticket, sometimes it works like wallet too so ensure that these bands are always on your wrist and your children's. By the way, they always think that they are doing a fast pass when the magic band is scanned.
TIME and ENERGY constraints
Saving time is linked to saving energy and motion. If you noticed in my previous post, my plan started with the rides, the fast passes and getting around the Magic Kingdom park per area (in one direction). The intent is to always save time and energy.
Hotel room location
If you can, try to request for the room near the lobby, the food court or the bus station. Some resort complexes are so big that if your room is located at the far end, you will need more time to reach your room or the bus stops. I saw families with young children and I could feel their frustration when these children who are tired becomes grumpy or will cry a lot on the Bus and on the way to the hotel room - the farther the room, the longer the agony. The farther room locations I saw were Little mermaid building of Art of Animation and 90's building of Pop Century resorts. These 2 resorts have buses directly coming from and going to these destinations so guests have an advantage. All-star hotels share the buses so they will need to pick up and drop off guests from all the 3 all star hotels. That is something you need to consider when choosing the Disney hotel you're staying at. These are the value resorts I'm referring to, there are other moderate or high end resorts where waiting is minimal, but the cost is more. The choice is yours.
Matching shirts have advantages
It is easier for us or any family member to see who is missing or how to catch up when we know what they are wearing. Wendy and family wore bright coloured matching shirts so we see them easily if someone got lost in the crowd. Another way that worked was when Alexus had to go to the washroom and they had to leave the line, they were able to spot us right away when they returned because of the matching shirts that Wendy and family wore that day. They also look good in pictures.
"Why do we have to line up everywhere?"
My youngest Alexus is very expressive of his thoughts. These were his comments each time we line up for something. It starts from the bus stop at the hotel, then at the security check, entrance at the park, before you pose for photo pass, meet a character, watch a show, order food, ride or even a fast pass ride. He even told a cast member that the line was not supposed to be called a fast pass because it is slow.
Waiting game strategies:
1. At the Bus stop leaving the hotel - wake up early, eat breakfast at your room or eat the sandwiches while lining up. Check the park opening hours. The objective is to get on the bus early so you could "rope drop" and go to the ride you didn't save fast pass for without waiting that much.
2. Security check- do not bring too much, a back pack should be enough. There should be only one person per family lining up at security and those without bags can go through the line and go straight ahead the park entrance. They can go to their first ride or character meet and greet while those who went thru the security check catch up with them.
3. Watch a show - always check the show times on the app and just line up on stand by lane at least 5-10 before the show starts. Everyone will be able to sit just make sure that your party are on the same line.
4. Order food thru the mobile order app. - you will be able to see the food on the menu, click and order then wait for your notification while sitting at your table. You will only need to be at the counter when the food is ready for pick up.
5. Ride- try the single rider so you don't have to line up as a group, we did this at Test track in Epcot. Sometimes if the line is short you are allowed to repeat the ride to fill up the space, we did this on the Kali Rapids ride. While waiting at the stand by line plan for your next ride, use the app for the wait times, have a back up in case the ride breaks down or the weather acts up.
6. Take advantage of "Extra Magic Hours". Onsite disney hotel guests are given extra hours to get into the park and avail of shorter lines. We were able to do this and finish all the rides at EPCOT before entering the Pavilion and complete the 11 countries visit in no time. We arrived early before 8:00 am and was able to leave the park at 4:00 pm completing everything we planned for the day. With the extra hours, the kids were able to go swimming at the hotel pool. You could also use that extra time to do hotel activities like scavenger hunt, watch movies outdoors, do s'mores, check out Christmas decorations at fancy hotels by resort hopping or joining activities at other resorts. When we went to Polynesian they have a great show - activity for kids. That gave us time to explore the high-end resorts and ride the monorail gong to Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian hotels. This is also an opportunity to go to Disney Springs if you haven't included it in your plan to do some shopping or eat there.
Of course, you and your family would want to spend more time together in your rooms and hang out while resting your tired feet and review how the day went to repeat the good and forget the bad. It's fun to reminisce the reaction to the rides, shows and character meetings while mumbling on your favourite snacks and watching TV. At the end of the day, you will realize that you maximized the time and enjoyed most of Disney, getting ready for another fun-filled day.
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