Need Tips on Going to Disney for Conference with Family

pup975

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 11, 2018
I'm going to Disney during spring break for a conference (Fri-Sun) with my family. Here are the details:

  • Staying at Yacht Club Thurs night through Wednesday (3/21-3/27/19).
  • Conference Fri to Sun is in the morning only
  • Kids are 9 and 7 and have been to Disney back in May and 2 years before that. We've prepped them that this is kind of bonus Disney trip since my work will pay for 1/2 of the days we are there plus my flight down and since this is during a peak time, they may not get to do as many of the rides.
  • We always stay at Bay Lake so this will be our first vacation off the monorail.
We've booked Cape May since our kids love Chef Mickey and think of that as a family tradition to do some character breakfast. We've booked Hoopty Doo Review for one night as well since our kids love the show.

Wanting advice on:
  • FastPasses: Since I'm going to be at the conference during the morning, should I book our FP during the afternoons when I'm going to be with them, or should I do the FP so that when my wife is with the kids there are at least some rides they won't have to wait in line for.
  • Annual Pass: We are considering at least buying an annual pass for one of us (probably my wife) since there's a 50/50 chance we may be going back to Disney in the next year so we can get the Photopass + Annual Pass entrance. During spring break time, is the Annual Pass entrance line significantly shorter to make this a big selling point for getting an Annual Pass?
  • Thought on what days to visit which parks especially given I'll be meeting with them at the parks in the afternoons on Fri, Sat, and Sun traveling from Yacht Club?
  • Any rooms that I should try to request from the Yacht Club? I learned this past time that Disney is very accommodating with room change requests. We booked through the conference block of rooms so not quite sure what type of room we got.
  • Walk or boat to HS from YC? Our kids are pretty used to walking around on vacation. From a time stand point, is it more advantageous to walk to HS?
 
  • FastPasses: Since I'm going to be at the conference during the morning, should I book our FP during the afternoons when I'm going to be with them, or should I do the FP so that when my wife is with the kids there are at least some rides they won't have to wait in line for.
Lines are always shortest in the morning, depending on what time you will arrive you might look at fast passes from noon, back to back... That way, if you can arrive by 1:00 you all ride together and no stand by lines during the busiest time of the day. Mom and kids get the short morning stand by lines.

During spring break time, is the Annual Pass entrance line significantly shorter to make this a big selling point for getting an Annual Pass?
Not much difference and not a selling point for APs in my opinion.

Thought on what days to visit which parks especially given I'll be meeting with them at the parks in the afternoons on Fri, Sat, and Sun traveling from Yacht Club?
If you want a chance for Flight of Passage fast passes AK probably needs to be day 4 or 5, Slinky Dog Dash day 3 or 4 at DHS. I would choose MK on Friday and or Tuesday. At Yacht Club you will have easiest access to Epcot on your conference days...

Walk or boat to HS from YC?

Walking will be a bit faster taking into account possible wait times for the boats.
 
The AP lines can actually be longer sometimes as far as a count of people in line, but if the lines are equal length the AP line may go faster because people are familiar with what to do at the gate. I probably use the AP gate about half the time, and the regular line the rest of the time.

The only reason to buy an AP, in my opinion, is if you are planning enough trips to make the admission worthwhile. Disney can change any perk at any time, so buying one because of discounts or anything other than admission is a risk.
 

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