1 Day at MK - worth it?

[cheryterese]

We will be in FL for President's Day week and were not planning on doing Disney this trip. We did a 10 day WDW trip last year and will do something similar in 2017. My parents rent a house 12 minutes away every winter so we come down for our Feb. break every year. Disney exhausted us last year but we did 10 days over the course of a 12 day trip so we were thinking we'd just do other FL stuff this Feb. since we'd be back again next Feb. Now we are thinking of doing just 1 day at MK. We would go 2/18, which Josh has rated as a 7 and a best day for MK, 9am - 9pm. The only reason we're not definitely doing it is the cost - 500+ for our family of 5, plus parking. As far as I can tell, there's no discounts for a 1 day ticket. And I forget when I can get fp+ as an offsite guest - is it 30 days out or have I already missed it? Thoughts? I know the kids would be ecstatic for a surprise day at MK but I'm not sure the cost with the President's week crowds are worth it. If we did MK, we'd get rid of a few other activities we were thinking about for the trip which would pay for about 1/2 of the MK cost. We're already doing 1 day at LEGOLAND - I was able to get 1/2 price tickets on Black Friday. What do you think - should we just look forward to next year at Disney or do 1 day this trip?

 

[mom2rtk]

We did a one day stop in the MK last summer when we were in FL last summer for a beach vacation. It was a level 9 crowd day in early June. We braced for crowds, and made a good plan. We had a blast and would do it again.

A summary of our day is inside one of my trip reports. It starts here:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/back-to-the-west-2014.3390649/page-13

I think one day in the MK is a great way to get a dose of Disney between other trips. There are no discounts on one day tickets though, so it is pricey. We paid admission for 3 of us, and I really did feel like we got our money's worth.

 

[cheryterese]

We did a one day stop in the MK last summer when we were in FL last summer for a beach vacation. It was a level 9 crowd day in early June. We braced for crowds, and made a good plan. We had a blast and would do it again.

A summary of our day is inside one of my trip reports. It starts here:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/back-to-the-west-2014.3390649/page-13

I think one day in the MK is a great way to get a dose of Disney between other trips. There are no discounts on one day tickets though, so it is pricey. We paid admission for 3 of us, and I really did feel like we got our money's worth.

Thanks! I'm going to read your tr now!

 

[skuttle]

We were at WDW over Easter week for 9 nights, spent three days at MK. We booked a quick, short trip (4 nights, 3 park days) Christmas week to see Osborne lights one last time. We did one day at MK and had a blast. We got there at rope drop (7am) and made it until 11pm (closed at 1am that night). It was super crowded, but we made the most of it. I did feel that it wasn't as laid back as our typical MK days on our longer trip, but it was still lots of fun. We enjoyed our short trip so much we are thinking about going down in October just for MNSSHP!

When you are used to going for longer trips, it is quite a sticker shock for single day tickets! But I still think it was worth it.

We originally were going to do MK, DHS and Legoland. We've never done Legoland. We chickened out and went to AK instead!

 

[Son of Evad]

If you plan out your day a little bit it should be fine. You might not get to do everything you would want, but that just means you will have new memories to make on the next time around.

 

[sharona]

DD12 and I did a 1 day MK visit in the middle of our April break to the Keys and Universal. We had a great day - so much so that we went back for 5 day earlier this month. There's an account of our day in my TR linked below.

As for discounts on 1 day tickets - if you have an American Express card, check for an offer from Undercover Tourist. We received $30 back on I think it was a $200 purchase or maybe $250... If you're buying multiple 1 day tickets, you could at least get $30 off. I believe the offer expires tomorrow so check quickly and buy tonight so the charges post in time...

 

[d-train]

We did a one day MK on July 1 this year. Planned on big crowds, had fp set and ADRs set. We made it for rope drop, not only did we get through the items we had planned for our day, crowds were not as bad as we planned for and got to almost double the attractions we planned for. We had a great day. Any day at MK is better than being almost anywhere else, it was an expensive one day adventure, but so worth it! Enjoy!

 

[bryanb]

I believe that one-day admission to Magic Kingdom is comparable in cost to one-day admission to Disneyland in California, which is something that thousands of locals will be doing that same day in Anaheim.

While we're used to getting big discounts on longer stays at Disney World, that comes at a cost to your wallet in other ways. I'd say if your budget allows for it, you can have a great time and get your full value in a day's entertainment. Whatever you decide, hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[nooneshome]

For this family a one day trip to MK wouldn't happen. The cost is too high for a one day experience. After 15+ trips to WDW even our cheapo trips are getting to be too high.

 

[andiraye]

I'm going to say something close to sacrilege on these boards.... I don't think it's worth it.

One day tickets are expensive, and you guys are lucky enough to be in the area frequently and for long enough periods to do things in a relaxed way, regardless of crowds. Even with a good plan the presidents week crowds will be nuts. With your ability to take long, relatively frequent trips it just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Have fun whatever you do!

 

[amylevan]

I'm going to say something close to sacrilege on these boards.... I don't think it's worth it.

One day tickets are expensive, and you guys are lucky enough to be in the area frequently and for long enough periods to do things in a relaxed way, regardless of crowds. Even with a good plan the presidents week crowds will be nuts. With your ability to take long, relatively frequent trips it just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Have fun whatever you do!

I kind of lean towards this. Knowing I'd be back in a year, I would very much be leaning towards thinking $500+ being too much for 1 day of entertainment. There is plenty to do in the Orlando area that wouldn't cost near as much, and you do already have a day at Legoland planned.

But, can you have fun? Absolutely! It will be crowded, but it won't be impossible. And you can still get FP+ (it's 30 days for off-site guests, so closing in quickly!).

Another thought - is your trip next year within one year so that APs might make the trip make more dollar sense? (Although now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure an AP is more than $100 more than a 10 day ticket.)

 

['ohanaof5]

I think you are the only one that can determine if it's cost affective for you. We are a family of five and spend $500-600 to a see a Broadway show that only lasts for a couple of hours.

We are local but prior to moving here we have done Disney every way imaginable. There is something really fun about knowing you only have that one day. It's been a while since we've done the open to close day at MK but with the right plan you can experience many attractions.

Enjoy your trip whatever you decide!

 

[alliecat523]

We did it this past spring as we had an extra day before our cruise. Granted we weren't a party as big as yours, but we had a total blast. I think we went 16 hours from start to finish. It was after this that I sprung for APs. I couldn't justify the one day cost more than once in a lifetime. Just too pricey.

 

[dlavender]

We went on a level 9 day to MK on a Saturday. It was well worth it. We scheduled our FP 2 weeks before our impromptu trip, and it was amazing! Followed easywdw's recommendations and some tips for the DIS - mainly going to Frontierland at RD vs Fantasyland, and accomplished everything we set out to do - I believe we got in 15-17 attractions, basically everything. It will make your next day a little tough, if you have grand plans for that day. IMO, its definitely worth it.

 

[epcotty]

Being not too far away we often do 1 day at MK (using our no expiration passes), we just concentrate on the attractions we really want to do and it's always fun. Sometimes others in my family join along and buy the 1 day ticket

 

[cheryterese]

Thank you all for the thoughtful responses! I'm leaning towards going, hubby is leaning towards not and would rather do the other activities we had planned for the area. We'll decide before the 30 day fp+ window so we can get those reservations if we do go. We've only ever done 10 day tickets, lucky I know, so to think about just 1 day is strange but exciting!

 

[wisblue]

We did a one day stop in the MK last summer when we were in FL last summer for a beach vacation. It was a level 9 crowd day in early June. We braced for crowds, and made a good plan. We had a blast and would do it again.

A summary of our day is inside one of my trip reports. It starts here:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/back-to-the-west-2014.3390649/page-13

I think one day in the MK is a great way to get a dose of Disney between other trips. There are no discounts on one day tickets though, so it is pricey. We paid admission for 3 of us, and I really did feel like we got our money's worth.

What a great report on your one day at the MK. Great pictures too.

It's nice to see that even a very vocal critic of FP+ can enjoy a great day at the MK on a crowded day. Your report certainly puts the lie to those over dramatic claims that FP+ forces people to go "3 and out" on crowded days.

 

[mom2rtk]

What a great report on your one day at the MK Great pictures too.

It's nice to see that even a very vocal critic of FP+ can enjoy a great day at the MK on a crowded day. Your report certainly puts the lie to those over dramatic claims that FP+ forces people to go "3 and out" on crowded days.

Thanks for the kind words. But I'll have to disagree with the bolded.

We had a great time in spite of FP+, not because of it.

 

[wisblue]

Thanks for the kind words. But I'll have to disagree with the bolded.

We had a great time in spite of FP+, not because of it.

I didn't say one way or another how FP+ affected your day. But, it sure didn't sound like you were "3 and out".

 

[mom2rtk]

I didn't say one way or another how FP+ affected your day. But, it sure didn't sound like you were "3 and out".

Why do you suppose that was?