My daughters and I just had a wonderful day at MK. They are 12 and 14 and hadn't been to MK in several years. This was a last minute trip to visit family in the area so we were too late for FPs to mine train. So, we opted for getting there at rope drop. I don't think I'd done that before, but it was great! We were about 5 people back from the right hand gate after getting there about 8:00. We'd never seen the welcome show and loved it. All the little girls were so excited to see A&E - it was cute and we loved the countdown to rope drop.
We were walked in, which we knew to expect, but were able to go to the right around the castle. We were led straight to mine train and walked right on. We were so excited! But, then we hit our first snafu of the day when we had to get out of the car due to tech difficulties. No biggie - it was 9:05 at this point, we'd be patient. But, then they decided to make us all leave. Major disappointment.
But, we got magic "come back anytime" FPs as compensation, so we calmed down and ran to Big Thunder and walked right on it. The rest of the day was almost perfect. We used our 3 pre-booked FPs and got a total of 6 more before leaving the park at 10. We love, love FP+!!! It helped that my girls don't like splash or space, so we were able to ride Pirates, Haunted Mansion and other favorites easily. We rode Big Thunder 3 times and could have more times, always w/ FP. It was great. We didn't stand in line for more than 10 minutes all day and rode everything we wanted. We even had a great dinner at Tony's.
Finally, we saved mine train until it was dark and went back w/our anytime FPs around 9. I know lots of people are dissappointed with it, but we loved it. It was so smooth and fun and we loved the dwarves and Hi Ho-ing and clapping as our car climbed a hill. It was definitely our favorite ride of the day. We thought it was just a lot of fun - but we didn't have to wait in standby, so that may have helped a bit.
The crowd prediction for mk was 6 and that was about right. So, I know we were pretty lucky in that regard. First time in a long time when I didn't feel claustrophobic all day! All in all it was a great day from the welcome song to watching the fireworks as we rode home on the monorail. Haven't felt that magic in a lot of years now and was really happy to find it again today.
We were walked in, which we knew to expect, but were able to go to the right around the castle. We were led straight to mine train and walked right on. We were so excited! But, then we hit our first snafu of the day when we had to get out of the car due to tech difficulties. No biggie - it was 9:05 at this point, we'd be patient. But, then they decided to make us all leave. Major disappointment.
But, we got magic "come back anytime" FPs as compensation, so we calmed down and ran to Big Thunder and walked right on it. The rest of the day was almost perfect. We used our 3 pre-booked FPs and got a total of 6 more before leaving the park at 10. We love, love FP+!!! It helped that my girls don't like splash or space, so we were able to ride Pirates, Haunted Mansion and other favorites easily. We rode Big Thunder 3 times and could have more times, always w/ FP. It was great. We didn't stand in line for more than 10 minutes all day and rode everything we wanted. We even had a great dinner at Tony's.Finally, we saved mine train until it was dark and went back w/our anytime FPs around 9. I know lots of people are dissappointed with it, but we loved it. It was so smooth and fun and we loved the dwarves and Hi Ho-ing and clapping as our car climbed a hill. It was definitely our favorite ride of the day. We thought it was just a lot of fun - but we didn't have to wait in standby, so that may have helped a bit.
The crowd prediction for mk was 6 and that was about right. So, I know we were pretty lucky in that regard. First time in a long time when I didn't feel claustrophobic all day! All in all it was a great day from the welcome song to watching the fireworks as we rode home on the monorail. Haven't felt that magic in a lot of years now and was really happy to find it again today.
We were there Memorial day week and I loved the fastpass + also. I dont know why anyone wouldnt like it 
We also rode SDMT with fastpass and I thought it was fun and my DGD said it was now one of her favorite rides. What crowd calendar did you go by ? Glad you are having a good time 
We are thinking of going this week next year so keep us updated on how things are going
