2 MK days - help me with FP decisions?

[Meeko5]

We will be doing MK on 10/27 and 10/30 - crowd levels 5 per easyWDW.

I've got a 46" 6 year old who wants to do all the thrill rides, and an almost 2yo so I need to find a balance of family and thrill for both.

Here's what I'm thinking -

10/27:
SDMT
BTMRR
Space Mtn

10/30:
Peter Pan
Haunted Mansion
Buzz

I am thinking our first day focus on the headliner thrill rides and get an idea of what DS6 likes most so we can repeat some on our second day. I'm hoping both days we can add some of the other family rides on both days without terrible waits too - Pirates, IASW, Jungle Cruise, etc. We also will get baby swap passes for all the height restricted rides so we can always save those for day 2 rather than doing 2 rides on those in the same day.

thoughts? Changes you would make? This is our first family trip and I havent been in 15 years so I'm overwhelmed with all the planning and want to utilize FP+ to the fullest. We plan to Rope Drop both days, if I can get them to rally that early!

thanks

 

[kj2mom]

We had similar FP our first day and the only thing that was not the best it that we criss crosssed the park. That first day we walked over 12 miles going back and forth and back and forth. We didn't mind it and during the day it didn't seem that bad but when I looked at our steps my jaw dropped. We did rope drop that first day and between that and our FP by the time it came to our second day we had already ridden the rides I had the FP for and my children did not want to reride sooo I ended up changing them all to rides they did want to redo (Splash, Space and we had Wishes).

To give you an idea, we rope dropped on 4th of July and went to Peter Pan, IASW, Haunted Mansion, BTMRR, Jungle Cruise, Buzz, meet n greet with Tink, Stitch's Great Escape and Carousel of Progress all before our noon time lunch at The Plaza.

ETA: After lunch we watched the parade, rode Splash Mountain (FP), met Woody, rode 7 Dwarfs (FP), Space Mountain (FP), met Buzz, Mickey's Philharmagic, staked our claim for the fireworks in the rain, ate dinner at Cosmic Rays, watched the Electrical Parade then Celebrate the Magic!

 

[Meeko5]

To give you an idea, we rope dropped on 4th of July and went to Peter Pan, IASW, Haunted Mansion, BTMRR, Jungle Cruise, Buzz, meet n greet with Tink, Stitch's Great Escape and Carousel of Progress all before our noon time lunch at The Plaza.

ETA: After lunch we watched the parade, rode Splash Mountain (FP), met Woody, rode 7 Dwarfs (FP), Space Mountain (FP), met Buzz, Mickey's Philharmagic, staked our claim for the fireworks in the rain, ate dinner at Cosmic Rays, watched the Electrical Parade then Celebrate the Magic!

Holy cow that's impressive on a busy day! And super helpful, thank you!

 

[Sybernova]

10/27:
SDMT
BTMRR
Space Mtn

Edit: Maybe just switch Buzz and BTMRR so you don't keep criss-crossing the park.

10/30:
Peter Pan
Haunted Mansion
Buzz

Again, probably don't want too much walking here since the Fast Passes tend to group times kind of close together. You could always change the times but you probably want to use them before early afternoon to still be able to get a 4th so Buzz would be a good hike. You could very easily do Peter Pan first thing with little to no wait and skip Buzz until later since you did it day 1, and use the FP for Jungle Cruise and POTC. You could always go back to those headliners in the later evening closer to fireworks and parade time for minimal waits

You could easily get in the headliners with rope drop, still have time for an afternoon nap to allow for a little later touring for the most liked attractions with shorter waits.

 

[Meeko5]

10/27:
SDMT
BTMRR
Space Mtn

If you are rope dropping you could probably get on BTMRR and Splash with relatively short waits to try them out for day 2. I would try for another FP on the east side of the park so you don't have to walk all over the earth (maybe Buzz Lightyear since that is a huge hit with kids). Watch fireworks and parades this day to go on rides during those times the next day.

10/30:
Peter Pan
Haunted Mansion
Buzz

Again, probably don't want too much walking here since the Fast Passes tend to group times kind of close together. You could always change the times but you probably want to use them before early afternoon to still be able to get a 4th so Buzz would be a good hike. You could very easily do Peter Pan first thing with little to no wait and skip Buzz until later since you did it day 1, and use the FP for Jungle Cruise and POTC. You could always go back to those headliners in the later evening closer to fireworks and parade time for minimal waits

You could easily get in the headliners with rope drop, still have time for an afternoon nap to allow for a little later touring for the most liked attractions with shorter waits.

Good suggestions, thanks! I need to look at a park map and see how to better optimize geographically.

Unfortunately 10/27 is a MNSSHP night so we can't do parades and such that night. We may hop over to MK on our Epcot night just for msep and wishes for lower crowds (wed vs Friday) but that all depends on my kids of course!

 

[kj2mom]

The key for us was in the morning everything was walk on, there were no lines for anything. Then, after the parade (which we did stake out a spot for about an hour) we had our 3 FP selections so no waiting there. Once the FP selections were over we did a couple of 'less popular' things like the meet with Buzz and Philharmagic and by then it was time to find a spot to watch the fireworks (again, it was 4th of July so we got our spot about 90 minutes prior). We were really, really happy with how our day went (especially since we had planned for the worst).


ETA: Looking at a map while planning was key for me. We traveled with another family who planned out our 4th of July FP (it was their birthday so the day was all about them) and we criss crossed a fair amount. The other parks I planned and we avoided the criss crossing.

 

[Sybernova]

http://www.easywdw.com/cheatsheets/mk_cheatsheet_v3.pdf

The best thing anyone has ever showed me. I used this religiously last trip and rarely had to wait long for anything at all.

 

[Meeko5]

http://www.easywdw.com/cheatsheets/mk_cheatsheet_v3.pdf

The best thing anyone has ever showed me. I used this religiously last trip and rarely had to wait long for anything at all.

Thank you!! That's the best one I've seen all together.

 

[Meeko5]

So maybe I should group our FP's by land...maybe first day do adventureland/Frontierland and the second day to fantasyland and tomorrowland?

although based on number of attractions maybe there is a better way to split it up?

how did we ever do disney before all this planning? I have no idea

 

[roxymama]

I would say make sure you have enough things for the 2 year old interspersed with the older crowd's activities. I know all two year old's are different. But I went with one that would have been none too happy if we did three things in a row that she could not (she likes to be included.) I would say just allow enough time between your big ride FP's to throw in some small worlds or carosels or people movers, etc that are nearby and have minimal waits. Or if he/she likes characters, throw in some characters that typically don't have huge lines in between the big kid rides.

 

[cath1979]

http://www.easywdw.com/cheatsheets/mk_cheatsheet_v3.pdf

The best thing anyone has ever showed me. I used this religiously last trip and rarely had to wait long for anything at all.

that map is really great and helpful do you know if there some for the others parks?

 

[cath1979]

nevermind..just found it

 

[Sybernova]

So maybe I should group our FP's by land...maybe first day do adventureland/Frontierland and the second day to fantasyland and tomorrowland?

although based on number of attractions maybe there is a better way to split it up?

how did we ever do disney before all this planning? I have no idea

Yeah I would stick with the map and the cheatsheet below it. It really does minimize walking and allows for you to re-ride favorites in the evening. Half and half is also better so the younger one can take in and really get "into" the theme of each area. Just adds that little bit of magic.

 

[nat8199]

We will be doing MK on 10/27 and 10/30 - crowd levels 5 per easyWDW.

I've got a 46" 6 year old who wants to do all the thrill rides, and an almost 2yo so I need to find a balance of family and thrill for both.

Here's what I'm thinking -

10/27:
SDMT
BTMRR
Space Mtn

10/30:
Peter Pan
Haunted Mansion
Buzz

I am thinking our first day focus on the headliner thrill rides and get an idea of what DS6 likes most so we can repeat some on our second day. I'm hoping both days we can add some of the other family rides on both days without terrible waits too - Pirates, IASW, Jungle Cruise, etc. We also will get baby swap passes for all the height restricted rides so we can always save those for day 2 rather than doing 2 rides on those in the same day.

thoughts? Changes you would make? This is our first family trip and I havent been in 15 years so I'm overwhelmed with all the planning and want to utilize FP+ to the fullest. We plan to Rope Drop both days, if I can get them to rally that early!

thanks

I think that by switching Space Mtn and Haunted Mansion you could save yourself a lot of walking.

 

[nat8199]

So maybe I should group our FP's by land...maybe first day do adventureland/Frontierland and the second day to fantasyland and tomorrowland?

although based on number of attractions maybe there is a better way to split it up?

how did we ever do disney before all this planning? I have no idea

This is exactly what I do. We have three days in MK, one for fantasy land, one tomorrow land and one Adventure/Fronteir. We will stick to these lands for our FP and mornings, and then branch out by late afternoon as the kids' are desiring.