Toy Story Mania and Soarin' need advice...

[HeadFairyInCharge]

Ok so we have been to Disney twice already in the past 3 years and heading down again next week. I have tried and failed at riding Epcot-Soarin' and the HS -Toy Story Mania on both occasions due to the wait times being too long for a 2 and 5 year old...who are now 5 and 8 and want me to plan ahead for these. So if I get up early and hit the FP machine at Epcot at opening and walk around to back exit of Epcot take a boat to HS...then enter there to see if by chance an hour later I can get FP for Toy Story Mania...meet the family at the gate (we have hoppers so I hope this works) do the Disney Hollywood Studios in the Morning have lunch and take boat back to Epcot and do Soarin' and maybe another ride if I get lucky later in the day... Question if I get a FP and do not get back in the exact time frame..I've heard they will honor the pass anyway. Too much trouble ?? Or any suggestions here.
Staying at Grand Floridian and guessing if HS opens early I should go there first...seemed to run out of FP early for TSM last trip...very early.
I just want to make children happy and ride these now that both are tall enough and that we said no to 70 min wait times in the past based on our knowledge of children in lines !!!

[PopPhan]

If you want a FastPass for TSMM, go to DHS FIRST!!! Otherwise, you may be shut out. You should be able to get a FastPass for Soarin' pretty much any time of the morning, as they don't get gobbled up anywhere near as quickly as the TSMM FastPasses do.

You do know that the entire family must have entered the park for you to be able to get FastPasses with their tickets??? Until the ticket is activated as being in the park, the FastPass machines will spit out an Invalid Pass when trying to use those tickets. I saw a few people trying this on our trip in September.

A trick we found out about, by pleasant accident, on our trip was to go to TSMM during the early part of a Lights, Motors, Action show! This may only work during slack periods in the parks, but we walked right through the queue - non-stop - to the stairway. From Pixar Place to getting in the ride car, it took all of about 10 minutes!! By the time we finished the ride, LMA had let out and the lines were out the door again!!

As far as using your FastPass(es) withing the one hour time period printed on the ticket, I don't believe they have yet to clamp down on this. As long as the start time has arrived, you should be good until park close.

[Buddy08]

Is there a specific reason why you are going to both parks in one day? You might be able to ride both Soarin' and TSM twice in one day if you go to the parks on 2 different days and head to the respective rides as soon as you get there. just a thought

[SBETigg]

If you have the time, I would plan to start the day at DHS one day, and at Epcot the next, and be sure to be there for opening. Morning EMH days are great. But as the previous poster points out, the whole family needs to have entered the park for you to get everyone FPs. And also, if you're trying to do both in one day, start at TSM. That one runs out much faster. Soarin can be crazy, too, but not at all like TSM. Our strategy is to get Fastpasses for these rides first thing in the morning, on separate days.

[AllDisney]

I agree with Buddy08.....visit each park on a different day

With the FP option you will not have trouble getting on both rides. Toy Mania does hand out passes pretty fast. Get your FP first thing when the park opens

[Scar]

Yea, we need more info. How many days do you plan to be in each park, and is there some reason you need to do both in the same day?

[TexasPrincessAurora]

This is what worked for us...we had an 8am breakfast reservation at Play n Dine at DHS. We left the restaurant about 8:55am. We were at the near front of the rope drop & went straight to TSMM. We got in the Stand By Line and got on within a 10 minute wait. After we exited the ride we picked up FP for later in the day. It seems like they were good for somewhere around noon.

Soarin', well, we usually head there either first or right after Spaceship Earth. We don't even try the Stand By Line here. We always just grab a FP and move on to other things in the park. Typically they are good for later in the day, early to mid afternoon.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I could be reading your plan wrong, but it sounds like you want to get everyone FP in Epcot, then meet them all at DHS.

Everyone needs to enter the park with their tickets before you can use them for FPs.

I agree with many of the PP's. I would do DHS first, get the TSM FPs, or even just hop in the standby line while everyone else is getting their FP, and then, if you want head over to Epcot for Soarin'.

We've gotten to Epcot later in the morning, and still were able to get a Soarin' FP, but TSM runs out much more quickly.

Enjoy your trip!

[Aurora]

One more vote for doing the rides on two different days, and if that's not possible, do TSM first.

Do not rely on the posted standby time for Soarin' to be accurate. On our last trip the posted time was 70 minutes; we waited 110.

[wdwfansince75]

Again, loudly and clearly, you can only get fast passes for tickets that have been used to enter that park that day. Unless your entire party has entered DHS, you can only get FP's for TSMM for those who are with you in the park. Best strategy (works best for me) is to do DHS either on an EMH morning, or at normal opening the morning after an EMH evening...and head right to the standby line...first rush usually gets on ride within 10 minutes...then, exit, and immediately get FP's...ours were for about 1215. Most of the morning, there was no real line for Star Tours, so it is a good attraction to do several times while waiting for your FP time...also, for that age, Muppets is great...and maybe even a little time at the HISTK playground...If you do TSMM again shortly after your FP time, and still want to do Soaring the same day, you should be able to get to EPCOT about 1-1:30...and usually (but not always), there are late afternoon/early evening FP's available for Soaring.

I believe it has been stated here on other threads that the systems for the parks are interconnected, and you cannot get two FP's in different parks until the FP time on the first FP...if TSMM and Soaring are your "must do's" for that day, and you are satisfied with a single ride on TSMM, be there at opening, go right to the standby line, exit, and head for the boat and EPCOT...on a 9 AM opening, you should be off TSMM by 9:30, and be at EPCOT before 10:30..and should still be able to get an FP for mid-to-late afternoon. Personally, I can't do just one TSMM...I would do EPCOT a seperate day, and do Soaring and a Soaring FP for later use.

[HeadFairyInCharge]

I knew I asked the right people. I never thought about everybody being actually with me in the park in order to get FP. That will not work then, so I will make them all get up early as previously planned and come with me...hubby going to love this !! We are arriving this Sunday at Disney World staying until Friday afternoon the 28th. We bought 4 days with Hoppers and the extra tickets for Tuesdays MNSSHP for a new but probably very crowded event !!!
We have been to HS before and kids are not into too much there...won't do ToT or RR yet they are still too scared and small, and I've got some back issues so until they are older and can do on there own ... But we love The Muppets, well I do ...childhood memories !! and I just never find that we need to be there all day. I think if we can get there early by bus from GF maybe get in a few things ...have lunch ADR for Mama Melrose, never been there yet. Maybe I'll get to Epcot another morning and do Soarin' and Test Track, Mission Space...not in that order precisely but hope to get to all 3. Figuring with Food & Wine Fest Epcot will be busy all week. I need to plan out around my dining and still hope to relax at the pool a little..I was warned not to push it to see everything again...or DH won't go back again !! we really needed a break, and although Florida is warmer than NJ right now, doing Disney can be exhausting not always relaxed. I need to not do it all the way I have in the past. Everyone gets burned out.

[Nascfan]

Maybe I'll get to Epcot another morning and do Soarin' and Test Track, Mission Space...not in that order precisely but hope to get to all 3.

That actually is a perfect order to do those rides in if you are there right at opening. Test Track generally has a smaller line that Soarin, and Mission Space a smaller line than the other two. If you can time it out right, you'll be riding all three within the first hour or less. Good luck and have fun!

[Aurora]

...Although Florida is warmer than NJ right now, doing Disney can be exhausting not always relaxed. I need to not do it all the way I have in the past. Everyone gets burned out.

You'll at least have great touring weather!! Not too hot and cooler in the evenings.

Have a fantastic trip!

[ransam]

i dont' know if you can do this with your children. but, what we've always done is get on TS at 1 minute before the park closes. usually the line is shorter, plus by the time you get out the park is pretty much deserted and it's a very nice mellow walk out the park w/o any crowds.

[andmomlau]

Toy Story Mania is our favorite ride....and we are now going WITHOUT our children who are 23 and 25!!! We get to DHS when it opens....I run and get in line, my husband takes both of our tix to the FP machine! We get on, although even getting there early, there's quite a wait, and by the time we get off, it's almost time to use the FP....love the ride....Good Luck!