Going on Saturday, can't do Morning Magic-what should we do?

[EricaG]

We are East-coasters and doing the MR cruise on the Wonder leaving on Feb. 20th (President's Day weekend). This will be our first trip to DL, and because of our arrival time on Fri. evening, and wanting to get to port on Sun., we only have one day at DL.

We have decided to skip CA altogether and focus on DL Park only. As of now, we are staying at the HoJo in a room that faces property--hoping that we'll be able to see some fireworks from our room, since my 5 year-old will be long asleep by the time they start (time change and all).

So, we won't be entering early on Sat. I know all of this is less than ideal in terms of likely crowds, so my question is, what rides should we try to do first? We'll definitely be there at opening (it won't be that early for us, given the time difference). I've read at least one touring plan that said don't go to Fantasyland early on a Magic Morning hour b/c it'll already be packed. But, having a little one, Fantasyland rides are going to be top priorities for us. Should we still go straight there and try to hit Dumbo and Peter Pan right away? Or go to another part of the park that will be less crowded first thing?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[skiingfast]

I think you situation will be tough since you won't be up late. The big difference in MM at DL and EMH at WDW is what is open. Because for MM only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland open, if you come in with general admission it can be advantageous to go left to adventureland and Frontierland as that will be the empty side of the park.

Do know that Splash will be in rehab, so you can forget about it? Indy and Space will be important to get FPs for. Is 5yo tall enough and ready for these? You might want to consider getting through Jungle Cruise, POTC and HM early. The biggest problem in Fantasyland as you know will be PP. Because it will have a line at the end of Morning Magic, the line won't go away until late. I'd do the slower attractions in the newly opened parts of the park first.

 

[DLR29]

I think you situation will be tough since you won't be up late. The big difference in MM at DL and EMH at WDW is what is open. Because for MM only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland open, if you come in with general admission it can be advantageous to go left to adventureland and Frontierland as that will be the empty side of the park.

Do know that Splash will be in rehab, so you can forget about it? Indy and Space will be important to get FPs for. Is 5yo tall enough and ready for these? You might want to consider getting through Jungle Cruise, POTC and HM early. The biggest problem in Fantasyland as you know will be PP. Because it will have a line at the end of Morning Magic, the line won't go away until late. I'd do the slower attractions in the newly opened parts of the park first.

Normally I would recommend this. However, with FL rides being a priority, I would still go straight to FL KNOWING that you may skip Peter Pan or Dumbo because of a long line. If you don't encounter a very long line, then you can do those. But most of the other FL rides should still have a relatively short line, AND being your first DL trip, you will probably want to do some FL rides that WDW doesn't have (Pinocchio, Mr. Toad, Alice). The lines for these rides will only get longer throughout the day, until, as skiingfast mentioned, late at night/fireworks time.

Also, since you will be coming from the East coast, with the time change, you should be able to get up early anyway. Try this strategy from my MM superthread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403

If I don't have MM, how can I use MM for my advantage?
On MM days, DL has specific gates designated for MM and others that say "Entrance". Those who have MM can enter through the MM gates all the way up until official park opening. Those without MM usually line up at the gates marked "Entrance". HOWEVER, if you arrive early enough and wait by the gates marked "MM", oftentimes some of those MM gates will turn into Entrance gates as the time approaches official park opening. If you do it right, when a MM gate turns into an Entrance gate, you can actually be one of the first ones in line at a gate.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

You might also consider doing the Minnie and Friend's Character Breakfast inside Disneyland at the end of Main Street at the Plaza Inn. You can actually make reservations prior to park opening even though you won't have Magic Morning access. You will be told to stand at Entry Gate 1 and they will check your name against a list and then a hostess from the character breakfast will walk you down. If you happen to finish breakfast around 7:50, you'll easily make it over to Fantasyland before the hordes of people without Magic Morning.

 

[EricaG]

Thanks for the suggestions. I talked to my guys, and even 5 y.o. agreed we could skip Dumbo and Peter Pan if needed, b/c even though we love them, we have ridden them before at WDW. We are going to make a plan that focuses on the rides that don't exist at WDW or are very different in some way (like I've heard POC is).

We all agreed that we'd have to pack our patience for that day, but knowing we're leaving on a cruise the next day should make that easier!

 

[bumbershoot]

With a little kid, and knowing that Fantasyland might not have lots of rides without waits...I'd open your mind to hopping, b/c bug's land is AWESOME. In my opinion. All the fun for kids, none of the scary adventures or dark lines (Peter Pan's line, even though DS loves the ride and always has, nearly freaked out my son when he was 4 or 5, b/c once you're under the "awning" type thing, it is dark in that line)....