1 day for MK and overwhelmed

[reverie1729]

I have been lurking on the forums for quite some time. Finally decided to sign up and this is my first post. I'm also (basically) a first timer to WDW. We did go to MK once in 2004, but it was with DH's family and was a total disaster. There was very little planning and no one knew what to expect. There were 11 of us on the trip, it was extremely crowded since it was at Christmas, and we spent the better part of the day arguing what we all wanted to do. Needless to say, we ended up doing very little. Well, you live and you learn, so now that we are planning our first trip (just me, hubby, and kids) I want to be better prepared and actually enjoy it this time!
For this trip it will be me, DH, DD14 and DS7. We are going mid June and are staying off property. Our trip is mostly centered around USO, so I was only able to talk DH into 1 day at MK.
I was just wondering if I could get some feedback on a list of attractions we hope to do, to see if it is even realistic to do in 1 day.
Rides: 7DMT, Under the Sea, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan and Space Mountain (only me and DD for this one)
Character M&G: Ariel, Tinkerbell, Jasmine & Aladdin, Buzz Lightyear (would also like to meet Chip & Dale and Merida if time allows)
Other: Enchanted Tales w/Belle and Monsters Inc.
Would like to eat at BOG for lunch if possible, but not getting my hopes up! I have already accepted the fact there is probably no way of seeing A&E either.
So what do you think? Realistic expectations? Also any advice on strategy and fp selections is appreciated! I should also mention we are planning on being there from rope drop to close. Sorry for such a long post and thanks in advance!

 

[wookiebeck]

Welcome to the boards!!

The other headliners are such a part of the MK experience, too bad there doesn't seem to be enough time. You might want to play it by ear. My kids never got into the M&G's. Even when my daughter was 5, she road BTMRR 3 straight times at rope drop. No princesses for her, haha.

The other mountain, SM, is so tempting in June due to the chance of getting wet in the heat of the day, I can't pass it up.

Also, if you skip some M&G's and replace with rides, your DH might be more into it and let you have more than one day next trip. It all depends on the style of park touring your family does.

Have fun either way!

 

[minnie mum]

Welcome to the Dis! Mid June is going to mean high crowds again, plus HEAT. But most of what you want to do could be possible. I would suggest that you select which day to go to MK carefully. Check out the crowd calendar at easywdw.com and follow the park recommendations if at all possible. As a general rule, you will want to avoid an EMH day or Mondays.

Getting the best bang for your buck out of your prebooked FPs will be important. There is an excellent thread here on the Dis for FP strategies: http://www.disboards.com/threads/fa...ategies-part-ii.3326057/page-96#post-53020262

Easywdw has cheat sheets for each park. They include FP strategies as well as recommendations for park touring strategies to maximize your time; essential when trying to squeeze as much as possible into one day.

The fact that you are doing even the simplest planning for your park days means that your day should be MUCH more enjoyable than your previous experience. Once there, try to relax, be flexible, and above all, just have fun!

 

[missangelalexis]

I think this is a pretty reasonable list. Since you are staying offsite you will be able to make FP+ 30 days in advance.
I would try to get the following for FP+: SDMT, Peter Pan and Space Mountain. SDMT might be tough to get but try!

Get there for rope drop and head to Fantasyland. Do Enchanted Tales w/ Belle, Meet Ariel at her Grotto and Under the Sea. Try to make your Peter Pan FP for early in the morning too.

Head towards Liberty Square. Ride Haunted Mansion and then meet Chip & Dale. Head into Adventureland to ride Pirates and meet Jasmine & Aladdin (Check beforehand what time their sets are plan to be there accordingly).

This should take you until lunchtime. Lunch at BOG is moving to reservations soon so keep an eye on the info that is released about that. If you are able to get a SDMT FP and there are a lot of times available, I would try top schedule it to coordinate with your lunch at BOG since they are close to each other. But if there aren't a lot of times available just take what you can get and squeeze it in accordingly.

After lunch you can head to Tomorrowland and ride Buzz, meet him, do Monsters Inc and also try to have your Space Mountain FP scheduled for around this time. The line for Buzz's ride might be long..since you will have used all 3 of your FP+ you might want to try and get this as your 4th FP+ instead of riding standby.

Merida's line is usually a little long, but she takes a break in the afternoon and comes back at 3:45. I would try and be in line for her around 3:30 to minimize waiting.

After that you can go meet Tinkerbell. I think that covers everythign you want to? And you'll still have the rest of the evening to ride additional rides, keep scheduling additional FP+ and see the nighttime entertainment!

I know you mentioned A&E. Of course first check and see if that's available for FP+, if so GRAB it! If not, your best bet would be to go at the very end of the night and hope that lines have died down.

As previous poster said, picking the ride day will be key. Definitely check out Easywdw for a lot of good info!! Happy Planning!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I think this is a pretty reasonable list. Since you are staying offsite you will be able to make FP+ 30 days in advance.
I would try to get the following for FP+: SDMT, Peter Pan and Space Mountain. SDMT might be tough to get but try!

Get there for rope drop and head to Fantasyland. Do Enchanted Tales w/ Belle, Meet Ariel at her Grotto and Under the Sea. Try to make your Peter Pan FP for early in the morning too.

Head towards Liberty Square. Ride Haunted Mansion and then meet Chip & Dale. Head into Adventureland to ride Pirates and meet Jasmine & Aladdin (Check beforehand what time their sets are plan to be there accordingly).

This should take you until lunchtime. Lunch at BOG is moving to reservations soon so keep an eye on the info that is released about that. If you are able to get a SDMT FP and there are a lot of times available, I would try top schedule it to coordinate with your lunch at BOG since they are close to each other. But if there aren't a lot of times available just take what you can get and squeeze it in accordingly.

After lunch you can head to Tomorrowland and ride Buzz, meet him, do Monsters Inc and also try to have your Space Mountain FP scheduled for around this time. The line for Buzz's ride might be long..since you will have used all 3 of your FP+ you might want to try and get this as your 4th FP+ instead of riding standby.

Merida's line is usually a little long, but she takes a break in the afternoon and comes back at 3:45. I would try and be in line for her around 3:30 to minimize waiting.

After that you can go meet Tinkerbell. I think that covers everythign you want to? And you'll still have the rest of the evening to ride additional rides, keep scheduling additional FP+ and see the nighttime entertainment!

I know you mentioned A&E. Of course first check and see if that's available for FP+, if so GRAB it! If not, your best bet would be to go at the very end of the night and hope that lines have died down.

As previous poster said, picking the ride day will be key. Definitely check out Easywdw for a lot of good info!! Happy Planning!

This is a great plan. I would go off of this, plus a little of your own planning and you should be ok.

I would get there at rope drop and plan on staying there for most of the day. Make sure to get online to do FP+ whe you reach 30 days out. try and get the reservation for BOG as well! A&E will probably be tougher than SDMT, but you can try both. If you see either, make sure you book it! You can always change your mind later!!!

Best of Luck and to the DisBoards!

 

[reverie1729]

I can't thank you all enough for all of the wonderful advice! I have been trying to figure it out on my own just by reading through the forums, but was getting a little overwhelmed with all of the info on these boards! I did check the easywdw site and have decided on Wed June 17th, as that is the day most recommended. The characters are very important to us. DS and especially DH do NOT like thrill type rides. DH is terrified of 7DMT but I am dragging him on anyway!

I think this is a pretty reasonable list. Since you are staying offsite you will be able to make FP+ 30 days in advance.
I would try to get the following for FP+: SDMT, Peter Pan and Space Mountain. SDMT might be tough to get but try!

Get there for rope drop and head to Fantasyland. Do Enchanted Tales w/ Belle, Meet Ariel at her Grotto and Under the Sea. Try to make your Peter Pan FP for early in the morning too.

Head towards Liberty Square. Ride Haunted Mansion and then meet Chip & Dale. Head into Adventureland to ride Pirates and meet Jasmine & Aladdin (Check beforehand what time their sets are plan to be there accordingly).

This should take you until lunchtime. Lunch at BOG is moving to reservations soon so keep an eye on the info that is released about that. If you are able to get a SDMT FP and there are a lot of times available, I would try top schedule it to coordinate with your lunch at BOG since they are close to each other. But if there aren't a lot of times available just take what you can get and squeeze it in accordingly.

After lunch you can head to Tomorrowland and ride Buzz, meet him, do Monsters Inc and also try to have your Space Mountain FP scheduled for around this time. The line for Buzz's ride might be long..since you will have used all 3 of your FP+ you might want to try and get this as your 4th FP+ instead of riding standby.

Merida's line is usually a little long, but she takes a break in the afternoon and comes back at 3:45. I would try and be in line for her around 3:30 to minimize waiting.

After that you can go meet Tinkerbell. I think that covers everythign you want to? And you'll still have the rest of the evening to ride additional rides, keep scheduling additional FP+ and see the nighttime entertainment!

I know you mentioned A&E. Of course first check and see if that's available for FP+, if so GRAB it! If not, your best bet would be to go at the very end of the night and hope that lines have died down.

As previous poster said, picking the ride day will be key. Definitely check out Easywdw for a lot of good info!! Happy Planning!

This is extremely helpful and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to come up with this plan!! Thank you so much! There are other things we would like to do of course, but having a plan for our top priorities and just playing the rest by ear is how I wanted to plan.
Just a couple of questions...
1. Since only DD and I are riding Space Mountain, is there something you all would recommend for DH and DS to use a fp for? Perhaps Dumbo or something like that? Seems silly to waste them.
2. If BOG lunch is changing to reservations, do you think Beast will be there for lunch now too? Just curious. And are non resort guests allowed to reserve right away?
3. What exactly is Wishes and where do we need to be to see it? I've read about it here and there, but since everyone seems to know what it is I haven't been able to get a clear description. I know it is the fireworks, but is there some kind of stage show with it?

 

[mickeymom629]

I think Mickey's Philharmagic is a must see (for me it is, anyway) if you can fit that in!!

 

[missangelalexis]

This is extremely helpful and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to come up with this plan!! Thank you so much! There are other things we would like to do of course, but having a plan for our top priorities and just playing the rest by ear is how I wanted to plan.
Just a couple of questions...
1. Since only DD and I are riding Space Mountain, is there something you all would recommend for DH and DS to use a fp for? Perhaps Dumbo or something like that? Seems silly to waste them.
2. If BOG lunch is changing to reservations, do you think Beast will be there for lunch now too? Just curious. And are non resort guests allowed to reserve right away?
3. What exactly is Wishes and where do we need to be to see it? I've read about it here and there, but since everyone seems to know what it is I haven't been able to get a clear description. I know it is the fireworks, but is there some kind of stage show with it?

1. There's definitely something for them to do! And yes, don't waste those 2 FPs, definitely make sure you schedule something for them. What is DS into? Dumbo is a good option. He might also like Astro Obiter a little better, which is very similar to Dumbo. Also Winnie the Pooh is a fun, non-thrill ride.

2. I am not sure if Beast will be there for lunch but my guess is no. The way BOG has been for lunch is that it was reservation for resort guests and a standyby line for non-resort guests or people who weren't able to make a reservation. With the changeover, reservations will be made available to ALL guests.

3. Wishes is the fireworks show above the castle which is incredible! Beforehand is also Celebrate the Magic, which is a projection show on the castle. Neither are stage shows. Both of these are must-dos in my opinion and you should try to see them if you can! The best place to see both of these is on Main Street or the hub area.

Also you said characters are important. I would definitely make Talking Mickey a priority! He meets in the same building as Tinkerbell so you can also do that while you're in the area.

 

[reverie1729]

I think Mickey's Philharmagic is a must see (for me it is, anyway) if you can fit that in!!

Thank you for the suggestion! I must have missed this while looking through attractions. Definitely looks worth adding in and from what I'm reading about short wait times, looks like we will be able to fit this in too!

 

[mesaboy2]

See the green link in my signature for FP info, strategies, and suggestions.

 

[reverie1729]

1. There's definitely something for them to do! And yes, don't waste those 2 FPs, definitely make sure you schedule something for them. What is DS into? Dumbo is a good option. He might also like Astro Obiter a little better, which is very similar to Dumbo. Also Winnie the Pooh is a fun, non-thrill ride.

2. I am not sure if Beast will be there for lunch but my guess is no. The way BOG has been for lunch is that it was reservation for resort guests and a standyby line for non-resort guests or people who weren't able to make a reservation. With the changeover, reservations will be made available to ALL guests.

3. Wishes is the fireworks show above the castle which is incredible! Beforehand is also Celebrate the Magic, which is a projection show on the castle. Neither are stage shows. Both of these are must-dos in my opinion and you should try to see them if you can! The best place to see both of these is on Main Street or the hub area.

Also you said characters are important. I would definitely make Talking Mickey a priority! He meets in the same building as Tinkerbell so you can also do that while you're in the area.

Thanks once again for all of the great info! I wasn't even aware there was a talking Mickey!!

 

[ljca79]

Yes - Is Talking Mickey a FP+? That will be a must see for us and I did not even know about it!

 

[mesaboy2]

Yes - Is Talking Mickey a FP+? That will be a must see for us and I did not even know about it!

Yes.

 

[ljca79]

Yes.

What is it called? I do not see "Talking Mickey" in my options.

 

[mesaboy2]

What is it called? I do not see "Talking Mickey" in my options.

Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater.

 

[JennyDrake]

I'm going to echo what others have said:

1. You REALLY need to be there at rope drop.
2. Decide which is more important to you, Fantasyland or The Mountains and go there FIRST.
3. Select your FP+ starting about 11 am when crowds begin to thicken.
4. M&G can take a long time. I would skip some/most in favor of more ride time.

 

[ljca79]

Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater.

Oh yeah! Thanks - we already have that one!

 

[vratiana]

While you and DD do Space Mountain, I would suggest Tomorrowland Speedway for DH & DS. It is right next door and my boys love it. If the lines are too long, they could also hop on the People Mover, which is right there as well. Relaxing and a nice view of Tomorrowland (never any lines but we love it).

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

A word of advice since you are staying off site...check the date you will be in MK and make sure it isn't an EMH morning for on site resort guests. If it is, rearrange your schedule as the rides will already be crowded when you enter.

Please know that in order to maximize rope drop it means that you need to actually be in the front area of the park well before the 9 AM opening. It takes a lot more time than you think to park your car, get on the bus or monorail, go through bag check, go through the turnstiles, etc. We did rope drop last month and we were in line at the front of the drop one hour prior to opening ( we stayed on site so took the bus). There are bathrooms nearby that you can use while waiting for rope drop. We tell our party to use them as once inside we try to ride like crazy!!

Plan to see the rides that typically have long and/or slow moving lines first and see ones that are near each other. Try not to go back and forth across the park as this wastes valuable time.

Pack some of those one time use dollar store disposable ponchos, unless you want to buy the more expensive Disney ponchos. June often gets afternoon rain!

 

[blackmamba10000]

I think Tomorrowland Speedway would be perfect for your DH and son. If you time it right, they might able to see the Festival of Fantasy Parade. I'm not usually a parade type, but this was pretty impressive. Just make sure you both have your cell phones on, and pick a very specific spot to meet after you and DD ride Space Mountain. You guys will have a great time and welcome to the Dis!!