Magic Kingdom in 1 day, kids ages 12,10,9...

[mamom]

Only have 2 days to spend at parks...for sure want to do Magic Kingdom....can someone give me a quick run down of must to do things....this is a first time, quick trip....kids ages are girl 12, boy 10, boy 6...

Will be there Monday June 21st and Tuesday June 22nd....should we do Magic Kingdom Monday or Tuesday....

I am at lost for which other park to do....not sure the girl would like Animal Kingdom, not sure if any of them would care for Epcot...so was leaning toward the other park being MGM....any suggestions....I am open for all input....PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

Tnaks in Advance,
Cindy

 

[Sinclare]

As a general rule, never ever ever do MK on a monday. It's usually the first park most families want to do when they get there and monday is usually the first full day they have so.... Tuesday is almost as bad.

I'll be there the week of the 20th myself. I prefer to go on Wed. but I may have to give in to begging and go on Tues.

Oh, do you have park hoppers or just 1 park/day tickets? It's best to have hoppers. I only intend to go to Epcot briefly for my 2nd favorite ride (Mission Space) and perhaps Test Track, then hop over to AK or MGM.

IMHO Mission space is worth the trip to Epcot by it's self. Of course MGM has TOT and RnR.

AK is hard to perdict for people. You either love it or hate it. My son and I loved it when we went last year but my sister and her son hated it when they went this year. They said there wasn't much to do. This is true to some extent, It's more of a laid back park and if it's just rides you're looking for, skip it. If you like animals however it's a must. They have a really good bird show, I love watching the Tigers, and the whole park just relaxes you. ITTBAB is a really good 3D show and the tree it's self is just so cool to look at.

 

[Sinclare]

Ok, the age ranges conflict somewhat. Are both the older children riders? If so, the must do list for them would be Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, BTMRR, Pirates of the Carribean, and Haunted Mansion. Add in Tikii (sp?) birds, Jungle Cruise and Hall of Presidents for a little cooling off/downtime during the day.

Depending on how brave you're 6yo is he may want to skip the mountains. One of you could take him on the fantasy land rides while the older ones are on the mountains.

 

[mamom]

Yes...all 3 matter of fact are rider....the six year old, he is a dare devil, nothing scares him....not sure the height of him(Grandchild)in fact he is gonna be so maddddddddddddd when he cannot ride something because he maynot be tall enough....

That is a precious pic of your son....

Thanks for all the info...

 

[ChuckGA]

It sounds like this is their first trip. If it is then I would suggest going to MK both days and forget doing the other parks. IMHO it is better to do MK completely the first time than to do just the highlights of it and another park. Plus you will not feel as rushed trying to hit all the major rides / attractions in just one day. When we took our DD 3 1/2 and DS 17 months for their first trip in Feb 2001 and had no idea when we might get back there, we only did MK each of the 3 days we were there and never regretted it. And that was when the park was rather empty so we could do every major attraction in one day easily.

Chuck

 

[Duckfan]

We just got back and the here is what I would do if you are staying on Disney property;
pay the extra for enite tickets (enights are three hours after park closing) Go to Mk around 5-7 on Monday night and get your wristband. Check out some of the lesser rides and enjoy meeting characters. Then, after the fireworks, you can stay and hit the more popular rides with your armbands. The lines are so much smaller, the temperature is cooler and you can get on all the major rides (Splash, Space, Buzz, Philharmagic, Pooh, Big Thunder, and Haunted). It makes a late night but the time passes quickly. I still would choose Epcot for my second park, there are a lot of rides in Future World (Mission Space, Test Track, Honey I shrunk, Journey to Imagination, Cranium Command) plus you can explore the Worldshow case, get passports filled, do the Goofy Quest, make masks at Kidcot stations, try different desserts at each place, enjoy the variety of entertainment. See lots to do on a day here.
Second choice: MGM because the day ends in fantasmic which is great but there is less to do here for a whole day.

HOpe this helps.

 

[cortegro]

duckfan...if you don't mind...

We are heading for a quick trip with similar aged boys. I was hoping to do an AK monday morning , a poly pool break mid afternoon, and MK late afternoon through E-nite. The boys have LOTS of energy and we'll try to keep up.

My questions are...
What time did you get back to your hotel?
Did you get on ALL the e-ticket rides?
Do the monorails run that late, or just buses?


TIA, cortegro

 

[Duckfan]

I didn't actually ride the monorail but I think that the one for the resorts run but I can't be positive. The nights we went, the hours were 10-1 so it was after 2am before we got back to our rooms but we were staying at the Allstars. Like I said, most of the time you don't notice the time until it is closing time and you realize you are tired. Yes, we rode everything we wanted to and some things multiple times. We watched Wishes from Fantasyland and hit Pooh right after before the lines built up. I think you can see a lot if you plan it right. I enjoyed it because the lines are much smaller than during the day. I think your plan will work because that is the way we did the parks, park in the morning until about 1 (we always got hot and tired around then) rest in the room to get cool or pool time, then back to the parks around 5 or 6. It does tend to rain so take a poncho and most nights you can just keep going. Enjoy

 

[RLewis]

For first-times, I always suggest going to MK first, especially for kids. The early morning for monday and Tuesday are about the same. Yes it will be crowded, but it's only two days and you'll get over it.

Your 6 YO may not meet the height restrictions for Space Mountain (44") and Splash and Thunder (both 40").

That being said, get there 1/2 hour before opening. By "there" I mean at the entrance to the park (not to the parking lot). If you're staying off-site, allow another 30-60 minutes.

Go to Space Mountain, Buzz (there close to each other), then run across the park to Splash Mountain. If the wait is less than 20 mins, get in line. Otherwise, grab a Fast Pass and go to Thunder Mountain.

Next you need to go back towards the back o fthe castle to see Mickey's PhilarMagic and perhaps Peter Pan (use FP for this if necessary).

This is a lot of running and moving in the early morning, but you've just completed seeing the most popular rides (which will have extremely long lines later in the day).

If you aren't making Priority Seating arrangements, you can easily grab a counter-service lunch at noe the tomorrowland restaurants. But I suggest leaving around 12-1 and getting on the monorail to the Contemporary resort (it's very simple to do). You can usually get a table at the Concourse Steakhouse with little wait. This a very casual, quiet place to eat and relax.

when you go back to the park (again by monorail), it will be very crowded. However, there are many attrations that you can either walk on to with no wait, or where the wait line is in A/C so it's not too tough: Transit Authority; Tiki Birds, Hall of Presidents, Pirates, Time Keeper. - and the Train that goes around WDW. The lines for Haunted Mansion and Country Bears seem to come and go - either get a FP or be perpaed to wait for 30-60 minutes.

As far as the 2nd park, you'll find that all three have their fans on this discussion board. My 8 and 12YO boys like MGM beucase of RnRC and ToT. It also has their favorite eatery - Scii-Fi Dine In. But my biggest reason to urge you to go to MGM is that it has (by most opinions) the best noghttime show of all WDW (and probably Florida) - in Fantasmic!. It would be a great way to cap off your first trip to WDW.

Note, if you do go to MGM or EPCOT, I strongly suggest you make Priority Seatng arrangements for both lunch and dinner. There's no cost and you'll be glad you did.

 

[cortegro]

Great post RLewis!

Good info.

Thanks DuckFan as well.

I think that we will be in for a looong day , but a super-special one!!

-cortegro