MK Day, but not going to party

[IndySam]

I'm considering going to MK on a MNSSHP day without going to the party, based on the "experts'" claim that these are recommended days, based on lower than average crowds due to the 7 PM closing. Is it feasible to jump in a long attraction line, such as Mine Train, at about 6:58 PM, and then take a leisurely stroll up Main Street through the gift shops, thereby not actually leaving the park until round 8:30 PM? Will Cast Members take steps to keep you from doing this?

 

[mesaboy2]

I'm considering going to MK on a MNSSHP day without going to the party, based on the "experts'" claim that these are recommended days, based on lower than average crowds due to the 7 PM closing. Is it feasible to jump in a long attraction line, such as Mine Train, at about 6:58 PM, and then take a leisurely stroll up Main Street through the gift shops, thereby not actually leaving the park until round 8:30 PM? Will Cast Members take steps to keep you from doing this?

Except for the "leisurely" and "8:30" parts, yes. (So, not really.) You will be expected to make your way to the exit as soon as you exit 7DMT, and you won't be allowed into shops. You may even rate a CM escort.

 

[HopperFan]

You may get into a line at 6:58 and then when you get off you will be guided to the exit. You will not be permitted to go into a store, go into a restaurant, go into a bathroom. You will be blocked from entering any land that is not on the way out. They do a great job of clearing the park of non-ticket holders before the parade starts.

 

[mom2rtk]

Except for the "leisurely" and 8:30 parts, yes. You will be expected to leave as soon as you exit 7DMT, and you won't be allowed into shops.

That's correct. Once the clock strikes 7, you can't get in a shop or restaurant (and supposedly any bathroom) without a wristband.

 

[itchin2go]

FWIW - I have gone to MK on a party day (when we were not going to a party), and yes, the crowd levels are low. We got a lot done in the morning.

I wouldn't try to outstay my welcome though. Every time I read a thread about people being escorted out, I cringe for those people.

 

[Lucius Best]

I'm considering going to MK on a MNSSHP day without going to the party, based on the "experts'" claim that these are recommended days, based on lower than average crowds due to the 7 PM closing. Is it feasible to jump in a long attraction line, such as Mine Train, at about 6:58 PM, and then take a leisurely stroll up Main Street through the gift shops, thereby not actually leaving the park until round 8:30 PM? Will Cast Members take steps to keep you from doing this?

General consensus is that MK less busy on party days, but that's only in the morning. MNSSHP people can start entering the park at 4pm, and they can reserve 3 FP+ with their party tickets between 4pm and 7pm. You could certainly hop in 7DMT line at 6:58pm, but I would guess you'd be looking at close to an hour wait, although it might move a little quicker with no people returning with FP after 7pm.

 

[luvmy2babies]

We were going to the party; but I have since decided against it. I was able to snag a 9:10 booking for Pirate's League for my son that day though; so we're going to MK early and touring until just before or just after the Festival of Fantasy Parade, then exiting and hopping to Epcot before the party guests come in. Being escorted or even hurried out of a park isn't my idea of a good time.

 

[ArwenMarie]

We've gone on party days and they are relatively good days to tour in terms of crowds but I like to get out of there by 5 or 6. It gets really crowded once the party people start coming in combined with the regular day customers. I don't think I would want to get in a line at 6:58!

 

[Mikie]

We have enjoyed being non-party guests on party days due to the low crowds. I really didn't notice the crowds increasing much throughout the par from 4-7, but Main Street and the entrance definitely got very congested. Exiting right at 7 is pretty crazy! There are so many people coming in and out and trying to veer to/from the monorail ramps that they have to direct the foot traffic like a stoplight. I was very surprised when we rode the monorail after a resort dinner and had to pass back through MK - the number of people heading to the party at 7 instead of between 4-7! I think many people don't know you can actually get in well before the stated party start time, or else they are just content with the 7-12 party hours

In the future, I'd consider doing an in-park ADR at 6:30-6:45 because it would allow us the use nearly every minute of our park time, yet we'd get to sit and gave a calm meal instead of exiting with the large crowds. As PPs have said, if you do this you'll be walked directly out of the park after your meal, not allowed to wander.

 

[ktlm]

Yes- the no bathroom is true. I watched a family with a young child that clearly had to go get turned away from the bathroom entrance and I thought it was ridiculous.

Party days are good park days. We have done MK full days on party days multiple times. The crowd will start picking up at 4, and really start picking up at 5.

 

[DonaldDuck77]

I would not skip a final attraction/meal/whatever to avoid "being escorted". As long as you aren't trying to sneak around breaking the rules, there is nothing unpleasant about it.

If you are trying to beat crowds to transportation or avoid your family seeing fun looking party activities that they can't do, that is a different matter.

 

[ttintagel]

My experience has been that the party crowds reach INSANE levels by 5:00.

I've also seen people without party wristbands asked to leave - not when trying to enter a ride, shop, restaurant, or bathroom, but when just hanging out on the sidewalk looking like they weren't making their way to the exit.

 

[Mikie]

My experience has been that the party crowds reach INSANE levels by 5:00.

I've also seen people without party wristbands asked to leave - not when trying to enter a ride, shop, restaurant, or bathroom, but when just hanging out on the sidewalk looking like they weren't making their way to the exit.

Did you experience this right around 7, or earlier? Since the first part of your post referenced 5:00 I wasn't sure. . . I didn't experience that, but wondered whether your experience or mine is the more typical one.

 

[DisneyFive]

IMO, the biggest negatives about going to MK on a MNSSHP party night (and not going to the party) are: No Wishes, and No MSEP.

We done it this way before, but we had already seen Wishes and MSEP earlier in our stay. They do make pretty good days to tour, but so do any weekdays.

Dan

 

[ttintagel]

Did you experience this right around 7, or earlier? Since the first part of your post referenced 5:00 I wasn't sure. . . I didn't experience that, but wondered whether your experience or mine is the more typical one.

The asking people to leave was slightly after 7:00. Yeah, I can see where that wasn't really clear, since I had mentioned 5:00 earlier!

 

[IndySam]

General consensus is that MK less busy on party days, but that's only in the morning. MNSSHP people can start entering the park at 4pm, and they can reserve 3 FP+ with their party tickets between 4pm and 7pm. You could certainly hop in 7DMT line at 6:58pm, but I would guess you'd be looking at close to an hour wait, although it might move a little quicker with no people returning with FP after 7pm.

I don't think an hour wait at just before 7 PM would bother me if the alternative is that I have to leave.

 

[ruthies12]

On our next trip we have 3 MK days planned and all 3 are christmas party days. The first one will be a sunday with planning to rope drop, then we are hoping to snag a spot where we can see the castle lighting at 6:15, then we will fight our way down main street and exit the park immediately after.

The second day will be that Thursday, we are entering at 11 am on regular tickets for a BBB apt and CRT lunch and have party tickets for that night. We'll stay as late as my kids make it!

Then we are going back for one last afternoon hurrah the next day on Friday. I'm hoping we get to the park by noon after letting the kids sleep in, will have our 3 favorite rides fp+ and then we have a BOG reservation for 5:35. I expect to be escorted out after the dinner and plan to make sure my kids use the bathroom before we leave the restaurant.

You get less hours total on party days that you don't have a party ticket, but with my kids being little I actually think that will work to my advantage, I'd rather be able to do more in a short amount of time since they can't hang for longer hours. I took a look at the wait times posted on easywdw on the different days last year and I think the experts are right about lower park attendance earlier in the day. I wouldn't hesitate to get in that line at 6;58 if I were you, but you won't be allowed in the shops, restuarants, etc after that ride most likely.

 

[Lavitz]

Ya they're good at rounding up the slow pokes. Last two trips we went to MNSSHP and MVMCP and they always stop you when waking from one place to another, and are asked several times when waiting for parades to see your bands.

This year we're skipping the parties, but going to MK on 3 days when parties are being held since the calendar said they're preferred. I played with the idea of booking a BOG dinner reservation just before they kicked out us on one day, but I'd didn't want to be in the position of having my kids see all the stuff on the walk down we wouldn't be doing. Trying to budget this trip and there's an even chance we'd just break down and buy the tickets if that happened.