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We’ll have kids about the same age, and we’re going to T Rex in Disney Springs.

I really liked Sanaa for breakfast and yes to Touring Plans for last minute reservations.

@erinbaderin: We were there last week, and we also have only one child over 38".

Here's what we did off your list -

Magic Kingdom (2 days, 6 fastpasses):
Pirates of the Caribbean - didn't need fastpass, 25 min wait most of the time
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (38", so only one kid can go) - get a fastpass if you can, we didn't, but my one daughter would have loved to go
Peter Pan's Flight - fastpass!, not worth it to wait 90 min or more otherwise
Barnstormer - this wait was manageable when we were there (at times only 5 min)

Others we could have fastpassed were the Tomorrowland speedway (not sure if that's an option) if your kids like cars. Also, the Voyage of the little mermaid was busy, so our fastpass paid off, but I think we could have just checked wait times. My kids absolute favorites were the teacups, Dumbo, small world, and the carousel, and we didn't need fastpasses for multiple rides on those.

Epcot:
Frozen Ever After - fastpass!
The Seas with Nemo and Friends - neither one of these really needed a fastpass, but there wasn't much else to Fastpass at Epcot, and they were both fun for the kids.
Turtle Talk
You won't need a fastpass if you watch wait times, but my kids also enjoyed planet earth and the imagination/figment ride.

Hollywood Studios:
Toy Story Mania - yes, fastpass, and worth it
We also did the shows, frozen singalong and beauty and the beast. We didn't really need the fastpasses. We didn't have one for the little mermaid show and waited one out before getting in, but it wasn't a big deal.

Animal Kingdom:
Na'vi River Journey - yes, fastpass
Kilimanjaro Safaris - yes, fastpass - our favorite
Finding Nemo - yes, fastpass not really necessary
Flight of Passage was a 3 hour wait the whole time we were there, so if you or your husband want to do that, I'd fastpass it. Everyone says it's amazing.

@shabang: This is so helpful, thank you! We're going at the beginning of March - it seems like it's going to be around 5 or 6 crowd levels, so hopefully not too bad.

@shabang: We’re going December 11-17 next year. How were the crowds when you visited?

We were there 10-16 two years ago and it wasn’t crowded at all. Like no wait for Pirates or Little Mermaid. The only things with a 20 min or more line were Peter Pan, Seven Dwarfs, etc. I’ve read that the crowds are getting worse, though?

@Hypatia: Star Wars land opens next fall, so I’d imagine next year it will be crazy. We’ve talked about going next year, but I’m wondering if we should push it back another year.

REmember to work in your first ride of the day. It should be the ride you didn't get a fast pass but wanted one....if you are going to be there at rope drop (opening).
Magic Kingdom
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - Yaaaaaaaaassssssss!!!!
Peter Pan's Flight (consider two days of this-kids love this one bc you are flying)
Barnstormer * wasn't that crowded.
*Get Dumbo or Fantasyland rides at Rope Drop (when it first opens
*Tomorrowland Cars would be a good FP, line is long..or swap out with Fantasy land at Rope Drop
*I'm a sucker for Jungle Cruise!

Epcot:
Frozen Ever After
The Seas with Nemo and Friends (don't need)
Turtle Talk (probably don't need)
*Spaceship Earth (is closing at some point for awhile)
*Get a pic with Mickey Meet and Greet FP here
Hollywood Studios:
Toy Story Mania
Frozen (if nothing else)

Animal Kingdom:
Na'vi River Journey (this ride is not that great but definitely 'popular)
Kilimanjaro Safaris YES (go twice- rope drop and your fast pass-it is that awesome- the earlier, the better bc animals are lively in morning)
Finding Nemo NO

@erinbaderin: I got the same email. I don’t put a ton of stock into crowd calendars, some days they predict low crowds and it feels super crowded. And vice versa. They have Animal Kingdom as “10” every day of our trip and I just can’t believe that’s true. The source I rely on the most (easywdw) stopped doing crowd calendars because he said they were impossible to predict and basically a stab in the dark with Disney frequently changing operating hours and the amount of staff they have on hand.

I think as long as you go early and use Fastpasses wisely any uptick in crowds won’t be that noticeable.

@erinbaderin: it’s going well! We got mostly everything we wanted, except for 7 Dwarves on our first MK day, but we will do it on our 2nd MK day. I’m really excited to try slinky dog dash - my dd2 is toy story obsessed. My sister decided last minute to join us for a few days and surprise my girls (She lives in AB so we don’t see her often) but of course I couldn’t line all her fastpasses up with ours because she just bought her tickets yesterday and the hard to get FPs were already gone . Ugh... going to have to play around with that for the next few weeks.

It’s getting so close !!! 🤗🤗 I booked our stroller rental yesterday so now all we have left to do is add our dining plan. I’ll probably do that this week.

@skinnycow: Is Slinky Dog 38 or 40? Both girls are over 38 inches tall now, but DD2 is only 38.5. Another reason I'm having trouble deciding between an end of April trip and an end of August trip---*maybe* DD2 will be 40 inches by end of August? It's a gamble, lol. I want them both to be able to ride almost everything. DD1 is over 44 inches now, so she can officially ride everything. Even if DD2 were 40 with shoes, then both girls could ride almost everything we want to do (except Flight of Passage and Test Track, I guess).

My theoretical plan in my head would be to do a pre-park reservation at Akershus to get an early morning ride on Frozen in. Same thing for Magic Kingdom, but maybe at BOG (last time we did it at Cinderella's castle). And then maybe the early morning magic dining at HS? I don't have a plan of action for AK yet--are there any dining options there that give you an advantage?

@erinbaderin: I’d go with whichever menu appeals to you more. They’re both really good. Fantasmic is pretty easy to see on its own, we always get it as a 4th FP after we used our inital 3.

My current debate is whether to keep Beaches & Cream on our arrival night ... there’s 11 of us and all I could get is 3 separate reservations 30 minutes apart, not ideal for our first night... maybe we will do something else around the Boardwalk instead. But my oldest has her heart set on the kitchen sink !

@erinbaderin: did you get a FP for Flight of Passage?? It’s an incredible ride and totally worth doing. You only need 1 FP for either you or your DH and then can do rider swap so the other can ride afterwards.

@charm55: We didn’t! Or rather I did, and then I dropped it, because it was for our extra unplanned day but looking at the options it seemed pretty unlikely that we’d be going back to AK, so I swapped it for some Epcot fast passes. I don’t think I’d like it anyway - I get nauseated at IMAX movies and I had to close my eyes during the Back to the Future simulator ride at Universal years ago.

@Hypatia: I’ve read that they’ve changed the system and no longer allow that - apparently when you try to do rider swap through the fast pass like they now check to see that both adults have a fast pass before they let you, but I’m not positive.

@charm55: Flight of Passage is my fave. It broke on us so we were stuck in the room for 15 mins or so and we got a free return pass. Our next trip, we rode it on two different days. That is a priority. If booking FP, go to your Flight of Passage days and book those first. That and 7 Dwarves. But there are height limits on both.

@808love: About the crowd calendars spiking? I know about free dining but that wouldn’t affect my dates, I’m going the first week of March.

Can anyone tell me that it’s OK to go to Disney and not plan every single second???
I have a friend who goes often (like every 8 weeks from the Northeast!) and she was talking about waiting for rope drop and RUNNING to rides - ummmm NOPE. I have no desire to do that. If we have fast passes for the most important rides, and are ok with going-with-the-flow, can we just have a chill time??? I mean as chill as Disney with 4 kids can be. I’ve made a couple of lunch reservations and might do a character breakfast. But I really don’t feel like going apeshit on this.

We have a Disney travel agent guy helping us, so we’re not totally flying blind. I’m sure he’ll tell us what is absolutely necessary. But I’m looking for reassurance from seasoned Disney moms that we can plan some tent-poles, but mostly be flexible.

@SweetiePie: When are your dates? I think it depends on how crowded it will be. I can look them up on Touring plans with my subscription. The less crowded it is, the more relaxed you can be.

@SweetiePie: we were pretty relaxed. How many days are you doing?

We did one day. Booked fast passes and that was it. We used the app to see what ride around us had s low wait time, and did that. We did like 12 rides I think. And we left for a few hours because it poured. So we were there from like 9-2 and then 6-8? Something like that. Got there shortly after it opened. And we were there on a high crowd day but it didn’t seem that bad. We didn’t do the Peter Pan ride and the 7 dwarfs one because I was pregnant. So maybe we saved a lot of time but skipping those and using fast passes for other stuff.

We had a lunch booked and then realized right before that it was a character lunch and expensive. My kids aren’t into the characters at all. So we cancelled and grabbed something quick. It was a great day.

That’s kind of how we roll though. Like we didn’t even bring a bag or a million things. We threw some snacks, diapers, water, etc in the stroller basket and called it good. Kids talk about it daily and it’s been almost a year since we’ve been!