Has anyone gone old school?

[dlavender]

As I posted somewhere else, we are doing a last minute trip to Orlando to see family next weekend. Since we will already be in Orlando, I am insisting that we spend a day at MK. Looking at a crowd calendar for next Saturday, 10/17, it's going to be a 7/10, meaning it will be very crowded. Being so close, we will not be able to get any worthwhile FP +'s. DW is worried that even if we get there an hour before RD, it wont be worth it. I contend that we can still go "old school", get there early, stay till midnight, and get it all in. Has anyone tried this? Am I crazy?

 

[mikelan6]

There's nothing wrong with going to the MK without any plans, going where the wind takes you and enjoy the atmosphere.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Just be prepared for it to be super crowded. If you're using Josh's crowd prediction, that 7/10 is for WDW overall, not MK specifically. Expect the MK to be closer to a 9 than a 7 on a Saturday during party season. The 17th is our daughter's birthday, but we're starting our vacation at Universal. We're going to go to the MK in the evening just for the fireworks. I don't anticipate that we'll be able to do anything without a long wait other than the two rides we have FP+s for (our third FP+ is for Wishes).

In looking at MDE, it seems like there is still plenty of stuff with FP+ availability. Not the super headliners, but I'm not sure why you wouldn't book three FP+s throughout the day to at least eliminate waiting in 3 lines. On a day like the 17th, that could save you 3 hours in line.

 

[hakepb]

As I posted somewhere else, we are doing a last minute trip to Orlando to see family next weekend. Since we will already be in Orlando, I am insisting that we spend a day at MK. Looking at a crowd calendar for next Saturday, 10/17, it's going to be a 7/10, meaning it will be very crowded. Being so close, we will not be able to get any worthwhile FP +'s. DW is worried that even if we get there an hour before RD, it wont be worth it. I contend that we can still go "old school", get there early, stay till midnight, and get it all in. Has anyone tried this? Am I crazy?

The only FP+ not available in MK for 10/17 are 7DMT, A&E, the parade and wishes. You can still do a lot at MK, unless it's necessary to meet Elsa.

 

[dlavender]

In looking at MDE, it seems like there is still plenty of stuff with FP+ availability. Not the super headliners, but I'm not sure why you wouldn't book three FP+s throughout the day to at least eliminate waiting in 3 lines. On a day like the 17th, that could save you 3 hours in line.

The only FP+ not available in MK for 10/17 are 7DMT, A&E, the parade and wishes. You can still do a lot at MK, unless it's necessary to meet Elsa.

Ok. I just assumed a week out they would all be taken. We will purchase tix tonight and look through, make a semi plan. Good to hear. No, meeting Elsa is not a priority. DD 7 would love the opportunity, but Im sure she would also like the opportunity to ride more rides vs seeing Elsa. What she doesn't know cant hurt her!

 

[wisblue]

As I posted somewhere else, we are doing a last minute trip to Orlando to see family next weekend. Since we will already be in Orlando, I am insisting that we spend a day at MK. Looking at a crowd calendar for next Saturday, 10/17, it's going to be a 7/10, meaning it will be very crowded. Being so close, we will not be able to get any worthwhile FP +'s. DW is worried that even if we get there an hour before RD, it wont be worth it. I contend that we can still go "old school", get there early, stay till midnight, and get it all in. Has anyone tried this? Am I crazy?

I have done some days at the parks without FPs in advance and had a great time.

I specifically want to address your point about not getting any "worthwhile" FPs. What attractions at MK do you consider "worthwhile"? If you are looking for 7DMT or meeting Anna and Elsa, you probably won't get those unless you're lucky. Same for the parades and Wishes, but those are easy enough to see without a FP. If you are interested in things like the mountains, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and several others, it is likely that there will be a good selection, especially if you plan to stay in the park all day.

My suggestion to you would be:

1. Buy your park tickets now and link them to a MDE account.

2. Make your 3 FP reservations as soon as possible. Don't agonize over them, but pick out 3 attractions you know you would like to do. If you want to change them later, you haven't lost anything. I would make the FPs for no earlier than 2-3 hours after the park opens.

3. On the day you visit, try to arrive about 45 minutes before official park opening. Getting there any earlier than that isn't going to help much, but arriving 15 minutes or more later will slow you down.

4. When the park opens, go do some of your favorite attractions while the lines are still short. After a couple of hours you will be ready for lunch, using those FPs, and doing some of the "anytime" attractions that don't draw long lines.

5. After you have used your 3 FPs you can go to a kiosk and see what else is available. You might also want to see the FOF parade at 3 PM.

You get the idea. If you plan to stay until the park closes, you might also be able to do some of your favorite attractions with short lines in those final hours.

 

[BrianL]

The only FPs that should be really hard to get will be for 7DMT and Anna & Elsa, most everything else should have at least some availability (maybe not ideal times). There is plenty worthwhile besides those at MK. I say go for it!

 

[dlavender]

I have done some days at the parks without FPs in advance and had a great time.

I specifically want to address your point about not getting any "worthwhile" FPs. What attractions at MK do you consider "worthwhile"? If you are looking for 7DMT or meeting Anna and Elsa, you probably won't get those unless you're lucky. Same for the parades and Wishes, but those are easy enough to see without a FP. If you are interested in things like the mountains, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and several others, it is likely that there will be a good selection, especially if you plan to stay in the park all day.

My suggestion to you would be:

1. Buy your park tickets now and link them to a MDE account.

2. Make your 3 FP reservations as soon as possible. Don't agonize over them, but pick out 3 attractions you know you would like to do. If you want to change them later, you haven't lost anything. I would make the FPs for no earlier than 2-3 hours after the park opens.

3. On the day you visit, try to arrive about 45 minutes before official park opening. Getting there any earlier than that isn't going to help much, but arriving 15 minutes or more later will slow you down.

4. When the park opens, go do some of your favorite attractions while the lines are still short. After a couple of hours you will be ready for lunch, using those FPs, and doing some of the "anytime" attractions that don't draw long lines.

5. After you have used your 3 FPs you can go to a kiosk and see what else is available. You might also want to see the FOF parade at 3 PM.

You get the idea. If you plan to stay until the park closes, you might also be able to do some of your favorite attractions with short lines in those final hours.

I assumed that all mountains, basically all E tickets, would be gone. I've been down the negativity threads too long, I guess. We just want to get as much in as possible. If that means no 7DMT and A&E, that's fine with us. We will save those for closing time if we have to, or just not do them. I just want to ride as much as we can. All the mountains, Buzz, Haunted, Peter Pan, Winnie, Dumbo, you get the idea. That's exactly our plan. We will try to wipe out fantasy land sans 7DMT by 11 am, each lunch, then get the rest of the park in, parades and all.

 

[dlavender]

Oh, and we will do CoP, I don't care what DW and kids think!!

 

[loves to dive]

You should be able to get what you want, I went last week and didn't book any FP until either the night before or day of and had no problems. Between booking the 3 you want and rope drop, you should be able to pack a good bit in.

 

[dlavender]

You should be able to get what you want, I went last week and didn't book any FP until either the night before or day of and had no problems. Between booking the 3 you want and rope drop, you should be able to pack a good bit in.

That's so great to hear. We haven't been since FP +, and I was nervous that last minute trips would be impossible. I'm beyond excited.

 

[Accident]

I did an old school style trip as you word it in 2014... We were there for almost 2 weeks and it might have been our best trip to wdw to date..

Some recommendations that helped us:
- near midnight the night before, adrs would suddenly open up to find some really nice table service places to get a reservation
- it was easier to walk in to some table service places then expected, going early and asking for an evening walk in seemed best but we didn't always do that.
- really popular long line rides are quicker to get on right when the rope drops or as the park is closing, they do not kick anyone out of line if the park closes while your waiting. In reality, most parks your talking 2 maybe 3 long waits and the entire park is not going to be long lines.
- lunch to night parade/show is when things are packed, it's a great time for meals, stage shows, and thnigs where you have to wait.
- If you find yourself in a crowd going ride to ride, jump ahead and circle back to that area another time.

 

[tammy]

We did it 4th of July...got there for the rope drop and "winged" it the entire day...it was great. I was able to make a breakfast reservation at BOG.

 

[dlavender]

Does anyone happen to know if they do two night parades?

 

[Hootch]

We didn't go old school, but we had pretty good luck getting the fourth and so on FPs after our first three were done. We got SM, Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Buzz, Splash, etc. This was Memorial Day week and crowds were heavy. I would make the FPs starting around 11 and get them out of the way then hit PP and Pooh which are slow loading rides.

 

[BrianL]

It's only at the other parks that FPs for the headliners go fast because, well, they don't have many headliners. Epcot has Soarin' and Test Track. HS has Tower of Terror, Rock'n Roller Coaster, and Toy Story Mania. AK isn't quite as bad as those. The fact is that MK has so many legitimate choices for FPs that they don't fill up. Space, Splash, Thunder, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Pirates, 7DMT, plus all the highly desirable meet and greets and entertainment. MK just has the bandwidth while the other parks don't. Honestly though, even at the other parks, at over a week out, you should still be able to get most anything, but specific times might be difficult. I'd make those plans right now and go have fun!

 

[BrianL]

Does anyone happen to know if they do two night parades?

Looks like you have 2 MSEPs that day at 9 and 11 PM:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/magic-kingdom/2015-10-17/#timeofday=allday

 

[dlavender]

Looks like you have 2 MSEPs that day at 9 and 11 PM:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/magic-kingdom/2015-10-17/#timeofday=allday

Thanks!

 

[Skywise]

Yeah (sort of) i had a set of FP's I had scheduled for a MK morning on my last trip but we were so exhausted from the previous 2 days (1 FULL day at Universal and then another FULL day split between Epcot and DHS) that we decided to drop them at the last minute (including a 7DMT ) to sleep in. Due to logistics and other planning we didn't make it in until 5pm. It was also SUPER crowded that day but I fell back to my typical theme park strategy of walking one path and hitting any ride with reasonable times and we managed to hit most of the high points (Peter Pan, IASW, Space Mountain, Country Bears, Haunted Mansion, POTC and Hall of Presidents) (Actually I did manage to get one FP for IASW as that's where we started) Peter Pan had the worst wait time of nearly an hour but the others were fairly reasonable.

 

[DisneyFive]

Rope drop is still your friend

Dan