First attempt at Day One's Touring Plan

[mccathy]

HELP! I've never done this, never used a touring plan, and may be totally clueless. We're going in Oct. (Columbus Day weekend) This would be the Thurs. before that weekend. Magic Kingdom opens at 9am for everyone, 8am for resort guests. That being said - is this even possible? My kids DO NOT EVER SLEEP IN - so it will not be a problem getting there by 8am - and if it is I'm waking them up.

Day 1
Magic Kingdom Early Morning Hours

Arrive at park by 7:30 – catch bus around ???

Dumbo
Peter Pan’s Flight
Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Snow White’s Scary Adventure
Get Fastpasses for Mickey’s PhilharMagic
All this before 9am? Is that possible?
Before 9am – line up at Barber shop for baby Liam’s first hair cut and a trim for Quinn We should be done with this by 10am?
Then…
Either visit Ariel’s Grotto or Pooh’s Playful Spot
See Mickey’s PhilharMagic
Go back to resort (CBR) for lunch there and naps until 2 or 3.
Return to MK
Get fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Cinderella’s Carousel
It’s a Small World
Ride Big Thunder
Head to Chef Mickey’s for dinner reservations at 5:30 – get on monorail by 5pm

What do you guys think?

 

[vicki_c]

You should be able to do pretty much ALL of Fantasyland in that first hour, not just the things you have listed. I think your plan looks very relaxed, actually, which can be a good thing if that's what you want.

You shouldn't need a FP for Philharmagic -- it's not that hard to get into without much wait.

I would get your Big Thunder Mtn FP where you have Philharmagic, but you will have to send someone over to Frontierland to get them.

I don't know much about the Barber Shop, but I'm guessing at 9 AM, it won't take an hour to get through that.

 

[mccathy]

You should be able to do pretty much ALL of Fantasyland in that first hour, not just the things you have listed. I think your plan looks very relaxed, actually, which can be a good thing if that's what you want.

You shouldn't need a FP for Philharmagic -- it's not that hard to get into without much wait.

I would get your Big Thunder Mtn FP where you have Philharmagic, but you will have to send someone over to Frontierland to get them.

I don't know much about the Barber Shop, but I'm guessing at 9 AM, it won't take an hour to get through that.

If we got a FP for Big Thunder before lunch would it be for later in the day? OR I guess we could ride it before we leave. I just want to be sure that the boys get their hair cuts and I don't want to make the baby wait too long - it'll be his first cut and his hair is getting SO long! Relaxed - that's good. I suppose if I find that the lines aren't bad we could do some rides twice or do more rides in Fantasyland before getting the haircuts... Thanks for your input! I'm so new at this!

Anyone else???

 

[vicki_c]

After your haircuts, you should be able to go over to Toontown (opens at 9:45 most of the time) and see characters in Mickey's Tent / Minnie's House, if you're interested in that. You didn't have that in your plan and most with little ones like to visit Toontown.

 

[squirrel]

Have one of the adults grab FP for BTMR after the hair cuts or before it there is a line. Then meet up in FL to finish off what you didn't do.

In October the crowds should be low. You should be able to get quite a bit done in that first hour.

 

[mccathy]

After your haircuts, you should be able to go over to Toontown (opens at 9:45 most of the time) and see characters in Mickey's Tent / Minnie's House, if you're interested in that. You didn't have that in your plan and most with little ones like to visit Toontown.

I'm trying to adapt my plan from the Unoffical Guide's plan to include the barber. And we'll be visiting MK again two days later and using a complete plan from the book - but if we could squeeze it in the first day... I also heard that Ariel's Grotto could take a LONG time... I do think the boys would like Toontown though - even if we do it 2x because we have time to!

 

[mccathy]

In October the crowds should be low. You should be able to get quite a bit done in that first hour.

That just made me SO happy!

 

[MJAJmom]

I think it's well worth it to drag the kids out of bed to make EMH at MK on thursday. We did it with our 2 boys in April. We did Dumbo first, rode Pooh twice, rode Peter Pan twice, back to pooh, then did Philharmagic. Then we went to Tomorrowland. Lines are minimal between 8-9am so ride something again if they like it. But definitely ride Dumbo first because lines do increase faster. Might want to skip Snow White at that young age, might be too scary and dark.

 

[checkwriter]

If you make it there by EMH opening, you'll get SO much done that you may find yourself wondering what to do next. Getting there early and following a good touring plan can make a huge difference!

Grab your Big Thunder FP in the morning, maybe after the haircuts (I seem to recall that it opens sometime later in the morning -- check your guide). I agree that you probably don't need one for Philharmagic.

You can use that FP later in the day, maybe right when you return. If you time things right, you might be able to grab two or three FPs in the morning before you leave and then use them later when you return. Keep in mind that for most FP's, the "return window" doesn't close that day -- if your "return window" is 1:00 p.m. to 1:40 p.m., for example, you can still use the FP even if you don't show up until 7:30 p.m.

 

[rie'smom]

I'd Fast Pass Big Thunder Mtn. rather than Mickey's Philharmagic. Philharmagic has lots of seats and we've never not been able to get in to see it. Big Thunder Mtn., on the other hand, has a line that builds quickly and just grows and grows.
Get the Thunder Mtn passes after Winnie the Pooh and just keep walking through Adventureland to get to Main Street and the barber shop.

 

[mccathy]

You guys are great! We'll try to grab a bunch of FPs before we leave to use after our naps. And I'll let my son pick some rides to ride 2x that day! I think what we'll do is go with the plan for the first hour (sort of - sounds like we should stay in Fantasyland for most of the day, grab a FP for Thunder Mountain and anything else we might want to do later that's big.).