Is my plan for MK too ambitious?

[LibrarianBecky]

Could someone take a look at my plan and tell me is it is too ambitious? We are going to be in Magic Kingdom on Sunday, November 1. It is a party day, overall crowd level of 6, with MK being the most recommended park. Our party is 3 adults and a 9 year old. We will be returning to MK two additional times during our trip, so some things (like SDMT) have been intentionally skipped here. I would say we are slow-medium speed walkers (due to a back injury of one of our party), but we are not shoppers and aren't planning to meet characters (at least, not on this day). I'm trying to do a pretty broad overview of the park because one of the adults in our party is only going to be at MK for this one day, and I want her to feel like she really got to enjoy it.

What do you think? Anything I should change? I'm trying to minimize walking to some degree (back injury again), but not at the expense of large chunks of time.


Sunday, November 1 Touring Plan

Arrive 30-45 minutes before opening (9:00 am)

Morning Plans:

1. Peter Pan
2. Winnie the Pooh
3. Astro Orbiter
4. Buzz Lightyear
5. Tomorrowland Speedway (FP+ 10:05-11:05)
6. Dumbo
7. Barnstormer
8. Little Mermaid

Afternoon Plans:

1. Small World
2. Haunted Mansion (FP+ 12:05-1:05)
3. **Columbia Harbor House for lunch
4. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (FP+1:25-2:25)
5. FP+ kiosk near Diamond Horseshoe
6. Watch Festival of Fantasy Parade (3:00 pm), near Frontierland
7. Jungle Cruise (additional FP+ available?)
8. FP+ kiosk near Jungle Cruise
9. POTC (additional FP+ available?)
10. We will be having snacks in the afternoon, but planning to eat dinner after we leave park.

Park closes at 7:00 pm for MNSSHP.

 

[sharonabe]

I have no idea about the possibility of additional FP+ for JC and POTC, but since those are the only two things you want to do after the parade and before you have to leave, even without FP+, you should be okay. You may have a 30-40 min wait at both, but you can just grab a dole whip to enjoy while you wait!

 

[g-dad66]

I think your time frame is very realistic.

The only thing I think I might do differently is trade the Speedway FP+ for a Jungle Cruise FP+ (in the 3:30-4:30 range after the parade). If you were to go to the Speedway right after Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh I think you would have little wait for it (you could probably be there by 9:40), and you would have even less backtracking by doing it before the Astro Orbiter and Buzz.

I think the Jungle Cruise wait is likely to be longer than the Pirates one, so I would select it for my third FP+ over Pirates.

 

[Alesia]

I think your time frame is very realistic.

The only thing I think I might do differently is trade the Speedway FP+ for a Jungle Cruise FP+ (in the 3:30-4:30 range after the parade). If you were to go to the Speedway right after Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh I think you would have little wait for it (you could probably be there by 9:40), and you would have even less backtracking by doing it before the Astro Orbiter and Buzz.

I think the Jungle Cruise wait is likely to be longer than the Pirates one, so I would select it for my third FP+ over Pirates.

I disagree, but only because I think the Jungle Cruise is so much better at night. I have no desire to ride it during the day.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Personally, I would switch it so you finish your fantasyland attractions (ariel, then barnstormer, then dumbo) before heading to tomorrowland for speedway. like this....

1. Peter Pan
2. Winnie the Pooh
3. Little Mermaid
4. Barnstormer
5. Dumbo
6. Tomorrowland Speedway (FP+ 10:05-11:05)
7. Buzz Lightyear
8. Astro Orbiter

You should be able to fit in the first five before your FP expires for speedway- and this plan will minimize crossing the park

(You may even be able to fit in small world, so after astro orbiter you can head to haunted mansion)

 

[JJsmama]

My only concern is that Astro Orbiter loads quite slowly (at least it used to) and so i would not put it in the middle of a do-as-many-attractions- before- crowds- arrive time period.

I think you will have some extra time over in The wild west before the parade. Take the boat over to TSI and enjoy the (relative) break from rushing around. My boys love the go over there and the barrel bridge might get more laughs than anything else in the World.

 

[dkrauss]

Personally, I would switch it so you finish your fantasyland attractions (ariel, then barnstormer, then dumbo) before heading to tomorrowland for speedway. like this....

1. Peter Pan
2. Winnie the Pooh
3. Little Mermaid
4. Barnstormer
5. Dumbo
6. Tomorrowland Speedway (FP+ 10:05-11:05)
7. Buzz Lightyear
8. Astro Orbiter

You should be able to fit in the first five before your FP expires for speedway- and this plan will minimize crossing the park

(You may even be able to fit in small world, so after astro orbiter you can head to haunted mansion)

The plan above is better.........but I just don't see it .............one longer line in that first 5 (which is possible at PP, WtheP, or Dumbo) your screwed. Your plan is based on getting all the rides in..............nothing about taking it all in. Do all those in your party agree with the plan? I'm exhausted just thinking about the rush ............... But this is my opinion............I'd wouldn't try to fit in so much............but again that's me. Your biggest ? will be Peter Pan's flight to Winnie the Pooh.............both can fill up fast.

Doug

 

[threeboysmom]

I really think Peter Pan is going to have a 30 min. wait right at opening, especially because of slower walkers.

Unless you're really wanting to do the standby line in PP, I'd switch FP+ with Speedway which would also minimize the walking involved.

Start out in Tomorrowland and do:
Astro 9:15
Buzz 9:35
Speedway 9:50

Then move onto Fantasyland and do:
Pooh 10:10
Dumbo 10:30
Barnstormer 10:50
Mermaid 11:15
Peter Pan (FP+ 11:00-12:00) 11:45
Small World 12:00

And continue on with original plans...

This way you're not doing any backtracking either....

 

[wareagle57]

I really think Peter Pan is going to have a 30 min. wait right at opening, especially because of slower walkers.

I've never done PP at RD, but based on what I've read on this board, ever since 7DMT opened, it's not that hard to walk on Peter Pan in the first 10 minutes after the park opens. If they are arriving 30 minutes before rope drop and head straight there, I can't imagine that many other people will be heading there as well.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I've never done PP at RD, but based on what I've read on this board, ever since 7DMT opened, it's not that hard to walk on Peter Pan in the first 10 minutes after the park opens. If they are arriving 30 minutes before rope drop and head straight there, I can't imagine that many other people will be heading there as well.

This is true. This past spring break, I was at MK and got there at 8 am RD. The first ride we did was PP and it only had about a 10 min wait, so it was basically a walk on! So it is possible. And remember, I went during spring break, which is always very busy!

 

[Georgi Zhukov]

The only thing I'd recommend is to drop the 30 minutes part of your "Arrive 30-45 minutes before opening (9:00 am)." The crowds will start building around 8:30. I'd try to get there at 8:15 sharp to get a better jump on the day.

 

[LibrarianBecky]

Thanks for the advice everyone; I appreciate it. Unfortunately, FP for PP are long gone--have not been able to get one since my 30 days. The first day of our trip is the last day that Peter Pan is open before it's short refurb, and quite possibly our only time to ride it this trip, so I'm willing to wait at RD, even if it is 30 minutes.

 

[caroline1851]

We were there in June and the crowd calendar said MK was an 8. We arrived at 8:20 or so since the park opens at 9 but they really let you in at 8:45... We were held back from walking fast with the people carrying the rope right in front of us... we walked right through the castle and straight to Peter Pan and it was walk-on. You should have no trouble. I think your plan looks great and realistic and not rushed. (except for the early morning "rush" to Peter Pan). Hopefully the person with the back problem won't be riding on BTMRR. That seems a bit rough if you have a bad back...

 

[LibrarianBecky]

Yup, no BTMRR for my husband. It's okay, though--he'll appreciate the time to sit down and relax for a few minutes. He likes WDW, but he mostly does it for me. There are probably only two or three rides in all of WDW that are 'must dos' for him...and the rest, he pretty much just humors me.