Hey everyone! Tonight I'll be looking at some rides that I feel are must do Fast Pass Plus attractions. What this means is that these are rides that I think are so good that the warrant the use of one of your three daily fast passes that you get during your stay in Walt Disney World. This is the first of a series of blogs that will briefly go over specific rides and what makes them warrant either a rating of "Must Do", "Worth It", "Not Worth It", and "IT'S A TRAP". The rides in this blog are not necessarly my favorite rides in the parks. These are the rides that if I am going to go on them, I'm going on them with a fast pass and I will explain why for each. This series of blogs is not going to feature meet and greets. If there is a character that you really, really want to meet, my belief is go ahead and fast pass that character. Sometimes meeting the characters can be far more memorable than a ride and if you have a kid that loves a certain character, the memory of meeting that character can last a lifetime. If you are a seasoned Walt Disney World veteran or if you have favorite rides that are not on these lists please comment below. I'd love to hear what your "Must Do" fast pass rides are!
EPCOT
Frozen Ever After: Frozen Ever After is a boat ride that takes you on a journey from Arendelle to Elsa's Ice Palace in the mountains and back again. Along the way you'll pass by Anna, Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, Marshmallow, Snowgies, Wandering Oaken (kind of), and Elsa. No villains from the movie are present so there is no Hans and no Duke of Weselton. The ride replaced Malestrom in the Norway Pavilion of World Showcase and always has a pretty long line of anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes with it breaching the 120 minute mark on busier days. Is the ride worth that kind of a wait? In my opinion, no. That said, when stacked against the other rides in EPCOT it becomes a Must Do fast pass selection. The ride is enjoyable (though it has a bit too many screens of Elsa singing Let It Go for my taste), the slightly modified songs are fun, and there is a chance of getting a bit wet. For big Frozen fans, the ride should be a destination of top priority in the park.
In EPCOT's tiered fast pass layout this is normally my tier 1 option. The other options are Soarin Around the World and Test Track. I admit that I am an early riser. So I am at the parks a bit before they open. With EPCOT I cannot think of a time where I opened the park and was not able to go straight to Test Track, and then head over to Soarin right after. The longest I've waiting for Soarin doing this was probably fifteen minutes at most. For me this leaves Frozen Ever After as the last of the tier 1 rides, so it kind of becomes the default tier 1 ride and believe it or not my only Must Do fast pass selection at EPCOT.
That of course is for the EPCOT of today. With everything going on in the park and new attractions well on the way it is entirely possible that this could change in the near future. I very rarely end up at EPCOT in the middle of the day. I usually plan to be there in the morning or at night, which is a big part of why neither Test Track nor Soarin are Must Do for me in regards to fast passes. If I do fast passes in another park and plan on going to EPCOT in the evening I will frequently check the My Disney Experience app and see if any fast passes for either Soarin or Test Track are available before looking for a Frozen Ever After fast pass as I actually enjoy Soarin and Test Track more than Frozen Ever After.
The Magic Kingdom
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: This is a pretty obvious one. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (for now), is the newest roller coaster in the Magic Kingdom. The swinging mine carts travel a twisting and turning track until you find yourself in the mines with some very hard working dwarfs singing their songs. As you exit the mine at the top of the mountain, you'll drop back down the twisting path of the mountain and end with a dance party in the dwarf cottage, but be careful.... The Old Hag is watching... With this ride still being the newest in the park, the wait time is always high. Even on less busier days the ride often reaches wait times of over 90 minutes. I've personally seen this ride with a 180 minute wait on a busy day in Magic Kingdom. While the queue line is actually pretty fun both visually and interactively, that is still an incredibly long time to stand in a line. Even if you head right to this ride at park opening you can expect to wait for a while as this ride and Peter Pan's Flight are normally the two go to destinations for guests opening the park.
Peter Pan's Flight: Speaking of Peter Pan's Flight... This is another ride that is a Must Do fast pass for me. The updated queue line is very imaginative and really has that classic Peter Pan feel, but for what this ride is, a wait time of 45 to 90 minutes is just way too long for me. That is not a knock though. I love this ride. I love that you take to the sky and fly over classic Peter Pan characters. I love that you fly over London. For real, that part of the ride is one of my favorite "magical" moments on any Disney ride. Even the final confrontations with Captain Hook are a lot of fun to fly by, and honestly the dated animatronics work perfectly in creating a classic feel to the ride. I just cannot justify myself waiting in a line for 45 to sometimes 120 minutes for a 3 minute uh... flying boat ride I guess I'll call it? The Magic Kingdom does not have a tiered fast pass layout, so if you want to ride this ride and not wait for long, fast pass it.
I do have to be fair about this ride's queue though. Pretty much the entirety of it is under a roof, so if it is a rainy day and you are taking it slow, waiting may not be the worst thing in the world. There is also a large chunk of the queue that winds through the building itself and is air conditioned which on a hot Florida day can feel super good. Me? I'd rather dive in and watch Mickey's Philharmagic or Carousel of Progress if I need an escape from the heat, but I totally get why people would wait on this ride's line to escape the heat for a bit.
Space Mountain: Space Mountain is currently the most intense ride in the Magic Kingdom. This roller coaster takes place nearly completely in the dark and features all kinds of tight turns and small drops. It can actually be quite disorienting if you are sensitive to stuff like that. It can also be quite the thrill. Since it is a thrilling ride, many thrill seekers seek it out. Space Mountain frequently has one of the longest wait times in the park, sometimes even eclipsing (see, space references) that of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. If thrill rides are your thing, Space Mountain should be at the top of your Magic Kingdom Must Do fast pass list. It's really an adventure that is out of this world.
The Haunted Mansion: This is a border line Must Do fast pass for me. I think I have selected this ride as a fast pass on pretty much every Disney trip I've been on, but there were a couple times where I got to the gate and the stand-by wait time was 15 minutes. Other times the wait time was about an hour and the stand by line extended almost back past the Liberty Belle. Whatever the case, I have to enter that mansion and take the tour, see the illusions, escape the attic, frolic with the spirits, and be wary of hitchhiking ghosts. The Haunted Mansion has just so much to offer for all the senses that I cannot help but be drawn to it again and again, making it a Must Do fast pass despite the possibility of lower wait times.
The Magic Kingdom is home to a slew of rides. Each and everyone of these rides brings something different and magical to the table. While there are other great rides in the park, these 4 are the ones that I must have a fast pass for at some point during my trip to Walt Disney World. Keeping in mind that I tend to get to the parks early, I manage to get a lot of other rides done and save these heavy hitters for my fast passes. That said there are a bunch of other rides that I highly recommend getting fast passes for in this park, but that is for another time.
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Studios, in my honest opinion is a mess regarding the fast pass tier layout. All of the rides with the exception of Star Tours (tier 2), Rise of the Resistance (no fast passes), and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (no fast passes) are tier 1. What this means is you can only select one of the following when booking fast passes for a day. For fun I'll do this list in the order that I prioritize the rides and I'll touch on why for a few of them.
Slinky Dog Dash: An incredible experience, especially at night. Full of nostalgia and surprisingly fast and intense for a family roller coaster. This is normally the tier 1 selection I pick for a day at Hollywood Studios and it is easily a Must Do.
Rock 'N' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith: Honestly it's a toss up between this ride and Toy Story Mania for a second choice. The most thrilling ride in all of Walt Disney World offers a ton to thrill seekers. The ride blasts you off into the darkness and straight into a big inversion. From there there are all kinds of other high speed twists, turns, and inversions that keep the excitement going. Did I mention that music by Aerosmith blasts throughout the ride? Awesome! If I am going solo I'll hop on the single rider line and wait out the 20 to 30 minutes that I seem to normally wait for it. If I am with anyone though this ride becomes a Must Do fast pass as it always has a lengthy, sometimes 120 minute wait.
Toy Story Mania: It's a Hollywood Studios classic. It's still as good as it's always been, but despite both Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge opening, the wait times for this ride have not dropped a ton. If I cannot get Slink Dog Dash I usually look here next if I'm going solo or if both Slinky Dog Dash and Rock 'N' Roller Coaster are unavailable.
Alien Swirling Saucer:
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: I hate drop rides, so while the Twilight Zone is one of my favorite TV shows, the ride I'll pass on pretty much every time. That said if you are a fan of drop rides you're better off grabbing a fast pass for this ride, especially if you aren't a fan of roller coasters.
I do expect the situation at Hollywood Studios to eventually change. Between the two mentioned rides in Galaxy's Edge opening and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway opening up soon, one would think that a restructure of the tiers is in order. My guess is that Alien Swirling Saucer, Toy Story Mania, and possibly Tower of Terror would become Tier 2. Time will tell, but for now the park's two roller coasters take the Must Do spots in this park.
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Flight of Passage: Ok well I'm pretty sure everyone saw this coming. I've blogged about Flight of Passage more than a normal person would blog about a ride. It's a Must Do even if I open the park and get on it right away. Riding it twice in a day is never a thing I'll pass up, especially considering I can get right on Na'vi River Journey after that early morning Flight of Passage. That said, if you want to wait, the queue line is gorgeous. The not so pretty thing is the wait times that are up too and even over 180 minutes. As much as I love the ride (my favorite out of any park) I just can't justify being in a line that long. If it was closing forever, sure, but if I can get a fast pass. No.
Na'vi River Journey: I admit I have an Avatar bias. I love the move, so both rides suck me in big time. It seems like a lot of people aren't huge fans of this ride due to the relatively short length and long wait times. That's something I never really understood as Peter Pan's Flight is shorter and often has a long line... Whatever... Na'vi River Journey is a gorgeous ride that makes you feel like you are drifting down a river on Pandora. The shaman animatronic at the end of the ride is beyond incredible as well as is one of the most life-like machines I have ever seen. If I cannot get a Flight of Passage fast pass and am not opening the park, this is a Must Do.
Dinosaur: Alright this one is probably not on the list of a lot of people, but I love Dinosaur. Yes the movie is flawed. Yes the ride is rough, and for kids it can be straight out terrifying, but for me whose favorite movies start with the words Jurassic Park.... You get where I'm going. This ride kind of falls into the Haunted Mansion realm of sometimes it has a long wait, other times it doesn't. More often than not when I have had a fast pass for this ride I have not regretted it by seeing a 15 minute wait.
Animal Kingdom has a few other attractions that for me are not Must Do when it comes to fast passes, but are pretty borderline on it. The park does have a tier system for fast passes, but everything with the exception of Flight of Passage and Na'vi River Journey are tier 2.
So there you have it. My Must Do fast pass selections at each park. Keep in mind these are just my personal fast pass targets and are not scientifically proven to be the best options in the parks. The next entry in this series is going to be rides that I feel are "Worth It" when booking fast passes. Thanks as always for reading and let me know what your Must Do fast pass rides are :). Stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment