Help with MK attractions strategy

[nighttowll]

Even though they are not the ones we must see first thing, I did read that Mickey's Philarmagic and Laugh Floor are excellent - so I presume we should make time to see those later in the day?!

Mickey's Philharmagic is one of my favorite MK attractions. I'm a child of the nineties, though, so its all mostly my generation's movies. Its basically a mish-mash of popular Disney songs. It includes scenes from the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty & the Beast, Lion King, Peter Pan, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Donald is the star of the show and Mickey makes in appearance as well. The show is shown in 4D, so basically 3D with smells and the occasional squirt of water thrown in.

Yes, I would see it after everyone else. People aren't usually turned away from shows because they can hold such high capacities. You will wait until the time the show starts no matter if you see it first thing in the morning or last at night, so no point doing it first off. If you stay for fireworks on a night the park closes after fireworks. A good last minute spot to watch the fireworks from is beside the theater. They usually time it so the next show starts right after the fireworks end, so that's always a good time to see it.

When you enter the attraction, you will have your choice of going through one of a number of large doors. Try to choose one of the ones in the middle. The very first and very last will lead to those sections of seating in the theater, relative to how close you are to the stage. Try to sit towards the center of the theater though because if you sit too close, like very first or second row, it kind of messes up the 3D effect.

Also, if you go when it's crowded, they will make you walk all the way across to the far end of the seats, so don't walk in first. Let a good amount of people walk in before you, then head down a row of seats that already has a number of people in it. People will generally go down the row, hit the middle, then sit. Disney will make them get up and move all the way to the end, and when this happens the ones in the middle who went in first are now on the far end. If you waited, you are a now in the middle. However, if the theater is not at full capacity, they won't make you move over, so if there really aren't but a handful of people waiting to see the show, just go in first and choose your seat, you won't be asked to move.


Laugh Floor
This show interacts with the audience. How funny it is will depend on how good the people in your audience are and how good the CM is who is improvising. It basically goes something like this. The monsters make some corny jokes between themselves that aren't that funny except in the they are so bad they are funny kind of way. Then the monsters pick out a few people from the audience one at a time whose faces appear on a big screen up front. They make jokes about them or ask them questions, all the while inserting more corny jokes in. In my experience, they tend to choose dads to harass, but they may question anyone. The nice thing about the show is that you can see it a number of times, and it will always be different. The worse thing about it is that you have as much chance as anyone to be the one made fun of with your picture splattered across one of those giant jumbo screens. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it, unless you are huge Monster Inc. / Uni. Fans. If you have time it is a lot fun, but just remember its not a big special effects or 3d show. I wouldn't choose it over Mickey Philharmagic if I only had time to do one. As long as you can see the stage and screens, there isn't really a bad seat since everything is blown up so big on the screens.

I am ambivalent about POC (and think the girls are too -- I think they would rather do the Toy Story-esque attractions). !

I wouldn't worry with it then. I'd focus more on fantasyland. All you do is ride through on a boat and look at different pirate scenes that depict the movie. My girls like the POC movies, but even they weren't that impressed with the ride. They liked it, but they liked a lot of other stuff much more. I actually think I like it much more than they do. I'd just move it to your if I have time list since it doesn't seem to be a priority for your family.

It's a small world seems really boring...I guess it is a classic though? We took the girls to this excellent doll museum in Paris last summer so it seems like the same thing but with that ear-worm of a song! Or is it really worth it? !

This is a hard question to answer. People to tend to love it or hate it.

I personally really like it. I just think it is all very beautiful inside, and the music doesn't annoy me. You ride through and the figurines are all around you on all sides, even in the air. It feels very immersive to me. I don't see it as anymore boring than any of the other boat rides. You move slowly and look at different scenes. Lots of Disney rides are that way. Since the scenes all change throughout the different rooms and there is so much to look, I don't find it boring. I love the sparkly blue, white, and silver room at the end, it just feels magical to me. Like I'm in some fantasy toy land or something where the dolls have all come alive.

My family really likes the ride too. One of my girls likes to ride it over and over, the others are good with once. We like to try to name the different countries as we go through, and I feel like we always notice new things we missed before. The girls also think it is neat trying to match the countries to their goodbye phrases at the end.

On the other hand, I also know many people who absolutely hate this ride. They think it is very boring at best and very annoying at worst. They hate the song. Riding is like their worst nightmare.

It's really going to come down to personal preference. I think it is interesting because I enjoy looking at all the different dolls and their costumes. Other people find it boring for the very same reason. They think just looking at figurines is boring. They want to be attacked or have something explode or whatever, not simply ride around slowly and observe.

If your girls really enjoyed the doll museum, they may really like it. If they hate the song, they may hate it. It is hard to tell.

It is too bad you aren't going longer. I always try to encourage people who are going on their first trip to just do everything once because you never know what you will end up liking or not liking. There have been a number of rides I thought the kids wouldn't really care for that they ended up loving. You just never know.

 

[allmydisneydreams]

We were there the week after Easter last year and it was exceedingly crowded but we had an amazing time at MK utilizing EMH. The single most important thing for you to do is to get there early, early, early. Last year they did have the 7 AM EMH - we drove and arrived at the TTC by about 6:15 ... Since your girls are early risers anyway this is nothing but fun and magic !!!! It is so quiet and beautiful at that time. And the few people out and about are so happy and excited. I absolutely LOVE WDW in the very early morning We packed along a portable breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed our journey into the MK.

Once you get there it will seem like there are a LOT of people waiting with you. I agree with the PP, being in the front of the pack will give you an extra advantage. When we did EMH we hit stuff in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland and then headed over to Adventureland at the regular park opening time - I think last year it was 8:00. The people who were coming in at 8:00 were all running to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland and the Adventureland rides were all walk ons for the first 45 minutes or so. I am not the hugest fan of the Magic Carpets but my little boy, who was three at the time was absolutely enamored with them. We were able to ride three times in a row and I will never forget those sweet, magical giggles from my little one as he went round and round on that silly ride

You are doing the right thing to make a plan because let me tell you - after those first couple of hours the Spring Break crowds were UNBELIEVABLE! I had never seen so many people congregated at once and I have to say it was a bit scary because a couple of times we had to hold onto our kids for fear of losing them in the sea of humanity. We were extremely happy that the youngest was in a stroller. That afternoon they were handing out paper "bonus" FPs for CoP to try to get people to go in there - and there was a LONG line at the People Mover - "10" crowds are a thing to behold, let me tell you.

But you can still have fun during that time visiting high occupancy attractions as the PPs said. Philharmagic is wonderful. We personally enjoy Tom Sawyer Island because it gives us a little break from the craziness - it is wooded paths and a fort to climb through. Very old fashioned and low tech but our boys love it. The Dumbo circus tent is really nice for kids and gives you a chance to cool off. If it gets absolutely crazy consider leaving the park for a break... You can take a monorail over to one of the resorts and just walk around and get a snack - the Contemporary has really good cupcakes and between the monorail ride and the cupcakes with chocolate Mickey heads on them my little one just thought it was all part of the fun

We did lunch at Be Our Guest and it was one of the highlights of our trip - you will love it!

With a good plan you will have an amazing time, even with the crowds - Enjoy and have a magical time