HS to MK to HS??

[sjlogghe]

Headed to see the mouse in August. I happened to get a dinner reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table, since this is a birthday trip for my 5 yo niece. She will be ecstatic to eat in the castle!! The only issue is that the reservation is the same day we were planning on spending at HS, which has night EMH that night.

The dining reservation is for 6:50 pm. A couple of questions ...

1. What would be the best way to transfer between the parks? We will have a car, but I'm thinking it will be faster to use Disney transportation. I was thinking a bus to Contemporary then walk to MK?

2. With a 6:50 reservation, and taking Disney transportation, might it be feasible to get back to HS for 9:00 pm Fantasmic?? I'd like to hit that one up, so we can use the 10:30-12:30 EMH to go on rides instead of sitting through the 10:30 Fantasmic. Or should I try to change our CRT reservation? I've seen a few reservations available for lunch during our trip.

 

[Robo]

Headed to see the mouse in August. I happened to get a dinner reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table, since this is a birthday trip for my 5 yo niece. She will be ecstatic to eat in the castle!! The only issue is that the reservation is the same day we were planning on spending at HS, which has night EMH that night.

The dining reservation is for 6:50 pm. A couple of questions ...

1. What would be the best way to transfer between the parks? We will have a car, but I'm thinking it will be faster to use Disney transportation. I was thinking a bus to Contemporary then walk to MK?

2. With a 6:50 reservation, and taking Disney transportation,
2a. might it be feasible to get back to HS for 9:00 pm Fantasmic?? I'd like to hit that one up, so we can use the 10:30-12:30 EMH to go on rides instead of sitting through the 10:30 Fantasmic. 2b. Or should I try to change our CRT reservation? I've seen a few reservations available for lunch during our trip.

1.There is a direct bus from DHS to the MK gates.
And, there is a direct bus from the MK gates to DHS.
2a. Highly unlikely.
2b. Yes. Earlier by a couple of hours, or so.

 

[hakepb]

2) I agree that EMH is a much more valuable ride time than F! Viewing. With Disney bus transportation you need to allocate 60-90 mins, so that seems too rushed.

 

[Alesia]

The best option is to take the direct bus between the parks.

You're not going to make it for fantasmic. Plan on 90 minutes for dinner and another 75 minutes to get out of the park, take the bus to DHS, and then get I to the park.

If I were you, I would plan on doing MK in the morning and getting an earlier ADR for CRT and then heading to DHS afterward.

 

[MomOTwins]

CRT is the longest character meal in the parks because there is a meet and greet with Cinderella before you are even seated and it is three course a la carte rather than buffet. I don’t see anyway you could be at Fantasmic by 9pm. Do a lunch since that is the best time of day in August for a long meal—you will get out of he heat, avoid the long midday lines at the rides, and have a great time.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Headed to see the mouse in August. I happened to get a dinner reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table, since this is a birthday trip for my 5 yo niece. She will be ecstatic to eat in the castle!! The only issue is that the reservation is the same day we were planning on spending at HS, which has night EMH that night.

The dining reservation is for 6:50 pm. A couple of questions ...

1. What would be the best way to transfer between the parks? We will have a car, but I'm thinking it will be faster to use Disney transportation. I was thinking a bus to Contemporary then walk to MK?

2. With a 6:50 reservation, and taking Disney transportation, might it be feasible to get back to HS for 9:00 pm Fantasmic?? I'd like to hit that one up, so we can use the 10:30-12:30 EMH to go on rides instead of sitting through the 10:30 Fantasmic. Or should I try to change our CRT reservation? I've seen a few reservations available for lunch during our trip.

It would be so much more fun and enjoyable to stay at MK after your meal at CRT then to head back to DHS. And 10:30pm to 12:30am is late for a 5 year old at WDW. Young kids get really burned out easily.

 

[ktlm]

If you can find a lunch for a day you are already at MK, I would recommend doing that instead. Traveling back and forth will take a big chunk of time. When we hop to eat, we usually stay where we have hopped. When DD was little, lunch often worked better anyway. It was a good time to take a break. Sometimes by dinner she would be tired and fidgety. (We are all day park people). DD could easily make late nights at that age if we had CS for dinner and kept going, but if we sat her down at a TS dinner, the tired would start sinking in.

I don't think the chances of you making Fantasmic are that good. More often than not, CRT takes at least an hour and a half and we have had it take 2 hours. After dinner you would have to walk out to the bus line- wait on the bus to DHS, and then get in that park and walk to Fantasmic. Traveling between parks often takes an hour. MK and DHS entrances are over 6 miles apart and with traffic, the drive itself is about 15 minutes- not counting waiting for the bus etc. I would not recommend driving your own car if you are in a hurry because for MK, you would then have to park and take the monorail or ferry to get to MK, and take the monorail or ferry back to your car. It would probably be quicker to take the direct bus. I will say though, especially at that age, if you asked DD to pick between Fantasmic or CRT, she would pick CRT every time.

 

[gharter]

I would take the direct park to park bus. You avoid the parking and tram ride, then monorail or boat ride.
I doubt you will get back in time for Fantasmic. I would not rush CRT just to get back for F!
Sounds like a great time. Hope she enjoys it.

 

[Helvetica]

The lunch service and dinner service are exactly the same at CRT. It would probably work out better if you could find a lunch reservation on your Magic Kingdom day. That reservation takes quite a bit of time. They won't let you in early and then it will take some time to meet Cinderella. Then it's a three-course meal and meeting the other princesses takes time (your niece will want to see them all). It's a nice relaxing meal, but you won't make it back in time.

 

[sjlogghe]

Thanks everyone! I didn't realize there was a bus directly to MK gates - I thought it was to TTT. I aldo didn't realize CRT took at least 90 minutes! I've never done it, the other "littles" in the family that we've brought to Disney are boys. Of course none of the lunch reservations I've seen are on our MK days. I will keep checking, and look at potentially taking a lunch on HS day instead of dinner.

Poses another question ... if we did a lunch at MK (current time available is 11:40), then went to HS after - and stayed for 10:30-12:30 EMH, is it feasible to get everything in if we don't arrive to HS until the afternoon?? I'd like to think yes, but obviously haven't been since TSL opened so now I'm not so sure!

It would be so much more fun and enjoyable to stay at MK after your meal at CRT then to head back to DHS. And 10:30pm to 12:30am is late for a 5 year old at WDW. Young kids get really burned out easily.

Not the 5 yo's in our family! We are always night owls at Disney, not rope droppers. Get to the parks later, stay late. We LOVE late EMH!

 

[hakepb]

Thanks everyone! I didn't realize there was a bus directly to MK gates - I thought it was to TTT. I aldo didn't realize CRT took at least 90 minutes! I've never done it, the other "littles" in the family that we've brought to Disney are boys. Of course none of the lunch reservations I've seen are on our MK days. I will keep checking, and look at potentially taking a lunch on HS day instead of dinner.

Poses another question ... if we did a lunch at MK (current time available is 11:40), then went to HS after - and stayed for 10:30-12:30 EMH, is it feasible to get everything in if we don't arrive to HS until the afternoon?? I'd like to think yes, but obviously haven't been since TSL opened so now I'm not so sure!



Not the 5 yo's in our family! We are always night owls at Disney, not rope droppers. Get to the parks later, stay late. We LOVE late EMH!

With a 5yo (assuming no RnR or ToT or Jedi training) and FP+ at DHS it should all be possible. Just make a plan with all show times worked out.