MK Itinerary/Touring Plans

[Raidra]

Can someone please look over my modified touring plans and let me know if/how they should be adjusted? This is our first visit as a family.. DH and I haven't been in 10+ years.

My kids are 7, 5, 2, and <1. Our flight lands at 1pm on 3/1 and our plan is to hit MK for a few hours after we check in. I know my 2 year old will want to do the Mad Tea Party straightaway.. she's obsessed.

Send DH to get FP for Splash Mountain (or Thunder Mountain) if available
Kids and I take our time strolling through Fantasyland on our way to the Mad Tea Party
Ride Mad Tea Party
Mickey's Philharmagic
It's a Small World
Haunted Mansion
Pirates of the Caribbean
Jungle Cruise
Swiss Family Robinson
Use Fastpasses

Does that sound okay? I figure that if we hit a long wait, we'll skip that attraction and go on to the next. We'll have the Lines app and the other free one, too, so I'm assuming that will help. Do you think we'd be able to get all that done?

The next day, 3/2, we'll follow the standard Touring Plan for Small Children, starting with Dumbo, then Peter Pan, Pooh, Teacups, the carousel, and repeat Small World and/or Haunted Mansion if the kids want to. We'll try to get Fast Passes for Splash or Thunder Mountain, whichever we didn't get the chance to do the day before, maybe while the kids are eating snacks or something. I'm assuming we'd be able to complete all that before lunchtime if we get there at rope drop, right?

We'll go back to MK on 3/4 and start in Tomorrowland, getting FPs for Space Mountain, then riding Buzz Lightyear, Astro Orbiters, etc, etc. It looks like they're opening the park early that day, so I'm assuming we should be able to get that stuff done before the crowds get bad.

My other question is.. when should we try to meet the characters? Is it okay to do the rides first and then the characters, or will I just end up waiting in long lines for the characters instead of the rides? And how much time should I budget for meeting characters?

Thanks so much.. I'm a big planner, and my husband is less than thrilled about Disney.. I'm hoping that by having a good plan and keeping waits to a minimum, he'll be more willing to do Disney vacations in the future.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

Looks good! We get in on 3/2 and will be hitting MK after we get in also. We don't plan to do much on day 1, but crowds will be low. I'd plan to ride anything with a short wait time and aim for fireworks (they'll be early on 3/1) and MSEP (I can't remember if it's running on 3/1) if possible.

We'll be there on 3/3 as well. Crowds will shoot up beginnng on the weekend, so it's good that you have your MK days early.

You don't really NEED to stick to a touring plan by the letter. Just look at wait times and make sure you go to the popular rides early, either to ride standby or get an FP. The main thing is to know when to ride v. when to get a fastpass.

My other suggestion is that for an indoor ride, try to hit it's a small world first. Little kids can get scared of indoor rides due to the animatronics. My DDD was terrified of Winnie the Pooh on the first day due to the thunderstorm and it took me almost 2 days to convince her that indoor rides aren't scary. It's a small world is a very cheerful ride and I can't see how any child will be scared. Then I'd try for Peter Pan, and only after those two would I try for Winnie the Pooh. My kids also loved the Dumbo style rides. Dumbo will likely have a long line when you arrive, but little ones just want to ride it first because they can see it. Be prepared for that possibility!

 

[mjp12831]

I don't like having a fixed list of rides but more of a mental list of things we want to do, then we adapt based on standby lines, fastpass availability, ...

What you list for a mid afternoon arrival is probably fine.

My thought on your plans is that 3 mk days in your first 4 days is too much - consider other parks. With a good fp runner and an energetic family you can do everything in one day easily in MK and 2 days for certain.

The best advice you can get imo is to compile fastpasses in the am when crowds are low - don't use them within their window, but watch for when you can get another and send the runner out again.

 

[mommyoftwinz]

My only suggestion would be if you are interested in meeting Rapunzel and Flynn I'd try to do that first thing on the 4th before heading over to tomorrowland. The line for them gets crazy, just check the schedule when you go the first day to see what time they start. Meeting the characters are fun but can eat up alot of your time. You could always squeeze them in the afternoon or on your way out of the parks depending on wait times. If possible you could also schedule a character meal to meet them.

 

[Raidra]

I don't like having a fixed list of rides but more of a mental list of things we want to do, then we adapt based on standby lines, fastpass availability, ...

What you list for a mid afternoon arrival is probably fine.

My thought on your plans is that 3 mk days in your first 4 days is too much - consider other parks. With a good fp runner and an energetic family you can do everything in one day easily in MK and 2 days for certain.

The best advice you can get imo is to compile fastpasses in the am when crowds are low - don't use them within their window, but watch for when you can get another and send the runner out again.

Well, we were going to do DTD the first afternoon, but we'll most likely do that another day. Our itinerary is:

Tuesday (arrival) - MK in the afternoon
Wednesday - MK
Thursday - AK
Friday - MK
Saturday - Epcot
Sunday - Epcot and DTD
Monday - DHS
Tuesday - IOA (for WWOHP)
Wednesday (flight departs at 7pm) - let the kids choose

I picked the parks based on the Touring Plans recommendations and the fact that I think my kids will get the most out of MK. Plus I was figuring if they want to go on all the rides and meet all the characters, that we'd need a lot of time there.

So about having someone run to get FPs.. if you're in Tomorrowland and want to send someone to get FPs to Splash Mountain or something, what do you do while you're waiting for them to get back? And how long does it usually take to walk across the park to get FPs?

 

[jpkkld]

Since you'll be at MK so much, I recommend you plan to miss a few parades/fireworks (if your kids are okay with being up late) and do some meet&greets then. In '09, the Fairies line was reported to be 90 minutes pretty much all day. We got in line about 15 minutes before the evening parade started, and we had only a 30 min. wait.

Epcot may actually be a better place to see characters - shorter waits in general.