magic kingdom: which lands?

[Shrill]

Hi all! We are going to WDW from Aug 28-Sept 5. Myself, DH, and DD7. DO is princess crazy and also an adrenaline junkie (rides etc).

We will be at Magic kingdom for at least 2 days and possibly 3. I'm trying to make a general touring plan so that I can plan fast pass etc. Our first MK day we have dinner in the castle. Second day probably an early lunch at crystal palace (currently have an 8:05 adr but now they've added EMH).

Which lands would you do when? It is our first, and possibly only, trip

 

[LaurenT]

Hi all! We are going to WDW from Aug 28-Sept 5. Myself, DH, and DD7. DO is princess crazy and also an adrenaline junkie (rides etc).

We will be at Magic kingdom for at least 2 days and possibly 3. I'm trying to make a general touring plan so that I can plan fast pass etc. Our first MK day we have dinner in the castle. Second day probably an early lunch at crystal palace (currently have an 8:05 adr but now they've added EMH).

Which lands would you do when? It is our first, and possibly only, trip

I'll be there the same time! It's going to be VERY hot and muggy! Even if it turns out to be a mild August, it will be VERY hot and muggy.
Did I mention that it will be hot and muggy?
So, the very first thing you need to do is go to Walmart or online and order a bunch of O2Cool spray fans. They are very light weight, run on a single AA battery and can clip to a belt or purse strap. You put a little water in it and it will most your face while fanning you. That will make you feel a lot cooler!
As for the parks, are you onsite? If so, FP A&E for late morning. That way you're not wasting the best touring time and your little princess won't be overly sweaty for the photos.
The crowds should be very light. Heading to Space Mountain since that gets the longest lines later on and then Astro Orbiter. Then take the railroad to Frontierland to ride BTMRR and Splash. Those are the only adrenaline rides in MK.
Be sure to see Mickey's Philharmagic! It has scenes from Little Mermaid, Alladin, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, Fantasia and Lion King!
The other princesses will have short lines early in the morning. You might want a FP for Enchated Tales with Belle.

 

[Shrill]

Thanks. We are staying at POR so will probably go for a swim in the afternoon. DH is Australian so we have some idea of what to expect re weather.

I was thinking of doing 2 lands each day : bad plan?

 

[LaurenT]

Not a bad plan .... Except that some lands have more to do than others. Tomorrowland and Fantasyland have more than adventure land and Frontierland. But you could start with Tomorrow and Fantasy lands, then the second day you could do Adventureland and Frontierland and then go back to do anything in the other lands you missed or want to do again.
Crowds should be extremely manageable and you'll get tons done if you can drag everyone out of bed and have them there for opening!

 

[ArwenMarie]

I would do the park in two sides with maybe a little bit of Fantasyland each day.

Watch out for the almost-daily storms that often come with lightning. They sometimes can mess with swimming time as well (we usually block a morning to swim when we go at the end of August). If you get out early enough and get your must-dos done early you should be good!

 

[Robo]

I'd simply not plan to do anything at MK based directly on "lands."

It's fine design plan to keep the decor arranged in the park,
but not a good idea for separating your days at the park.

 

[Mikie]

I'd simply not plan to do anything at MK based directly on "lands."

It's fine design plan to keep the decor arranged in the park,
but not a good idea for separating your days at the park.

How do you break it up? I usually do adventure/frontier/liberty with a bit of fantasyland one day and fantasyland/tomorrowland the other day. Curious what works better for you. Keeping in mind, we ride just about everything once and are purely "opportunistic" about re-rides (if we happen upon a reasonable line, we redo a favorite, otherwise don't seek them out) and try to minimize walking, so maybe our styles are simply different.

 

[ArwenMarie]

How do you break it up? I usually do adventure/frontier/liberty with a bit of fantasyland one day and fantasyland/tomorrowland the other day. Curious what works better for you. Keeping in mind, we ride just about everything once and are purely "opportunistic" about re-rides (if we happen upon a reasonable line, we redo a favorite, otherwise don't seek them out) and try to minimize walking, so maybe our styles are simply different.

That's how we do it if we have 2 days in MK. Sides of the park with Fantasyland in the middle. But minimizing criss-crossing is important to us and we probably put in less hours per day than many people.

 

[Robo]

How do you break it up?

Sorry.
That's proprietary.

 

[kaetra]

We do all the lands, every day. All the lands.

Afternoon breaks are for quitters. hehe. If you want to cool off in the afternoon find a sit-down A/C attraction or run through Dumbo's sprinklers.

I would waste no time at the resort on my one and possibly only trip. Rent a stroller for the 7 year old if you have to. It's Commando Time!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

In the past, we'd do Fantasyland-Liberty Square-Frontierland one day, and Adventureland-Frontierland-Liberty Square the other, with hitting only the high points/favorites on the third. Not a big fan of Tomorrowland, so we typically pick up some of the attractions over there as fillers in the evenings. Now with Tinker Bell gone from Adventureland, and with POTC being closed while we're on our next trip, I don't think we'll even set foot in Adventureland, other than to play SOMK.

 

[minnie mum]

We tend to divide our days geographically, too, just to save on mileage. But we often will venture to the opposite side of the park in the evening, which we sort of view as our "free time", having already knocked off most of our must dos earlier in the day.

OP, you might want to take a look at easywdw.com, specifically the cheat sheets. They give some great strategies for touring each park as well as advice on prioritizing rides and fast passes.

 

[Robo]

We do all the lands, every day. All the lands.

Yup.
We just don't do ALL of the attractions in ALL of the lands every day.

We start with the important (to us) rides, and work our way around the park.

Then, on subsequent days, we see attractions previously not seen
-AND- return for additional rides on favorite attractions.

(So much for being "proprietary.")

 

[Ava]

Last year we tried to do Fantasyland and Tomorrowland in one day, and that was a mistake. We didn't make it to the Storybook Circus area at all and skipped both Peter Pan and Buzz Lightyear b/c the line was too long. (We managed to do Dumbo & Barnstormer before MNSSHP but never did make it back to PP or Buzz.) Frontierland/Adventureland/Liberty Square is easily do-able in one day.

This year the plan is most of Fantasyland, Frontierland, & Adventureland on our full day, Tomorrowland & Liberty Square on our morning (because lunch at CHH is a must-do for DW and we've got CP lunch on the full day), and finishing up Fantasyland with hopefully a re-ride of 7DMT on our last evening when we're staying for MSEP/Wishes. I'll let you know how it goes in September.

 

[Mikie]

Sorry.
That's proprietary.

Yup.
We just don't do ALL of the attractions in ALL of the lands every day.

We start with the important (to us) rides, and work our way around the park.

Then, on subsequent days, we see attractions previously not seen
-AND- return for additional rides on favorite attractions.

(So much for being "proprietary.")

Wow - remind me never to ask you to keep a secret! Your proprietary plan lasted 26 min and I never even got out the thumb screws. . .

 

[Robo]

Wow - remind me never to ask you to keep a secret! Your proprietary plan lasted 26 min and I never even got out the thumb screws. . .

But, I figure that the secret is still safe. What I've found is that very few ever read past post #3 in a thread, anyway.

 

[lauradis]

We do all the lands, every day. All the lands.

Afternoon breaks are for quitters. hehe. If you want to cool off in the afternoon find a sit-down A/C attraction or run through Dumbo's sprinklers.

I would waste no time at the resort on my one and possibly only trip. Rent a stroller for the 7 year old if you have to. It's Commando Time!

Till the other people in your party revolt lol!!!

Commando all the way baby.

 

[lauradis]

Any ways op what ever works for you.

Here's how we do it. Rope drop, make our way to splash mountain, or space mountain.

Depending on which direction we take we do all rides we want one area at a time. Leave when the crowds start to pick up as in laziness to get out window shop area as we are making our way out

 

[Shrill]

Interesting. I didn't realize it was so controversial! heh. We will see about going for full days or not: the first MK day is our second day (first day is afternoon/ evening only and we are going to Epcot), and I have a hunch that DD will be desperate to try out the pool. Who knows though.

Thanks everyone! Looks like I have some more work to do! If anyone wants to give me their opinions on how to break up Epcot over 1 1/2 days I'd be happy to hear them!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Hi all! We are going to WDW from Aug 28-Sept 5. Myself, DH, and DD7. DO is princess crazy and also an adrenaline junkie (rides etc).

We will be at Magic kingdom for at least 2 days and possibly 3. I'm trying to make a general touring plan so that I can plan fast pass etc. Our first MK day we have dinner in the castle. Second day probably an early lunch at crystal palace (currently have an 8:05 adr but now they've added EMH).

Which lands would you do when? It is our first, and possibly only, trip

I will be there during the same time. When did they add EMH at MK? I've looked on easywdw.com and don't see that added? I do see park hours changed.