MK Saturday Evening - A Waste?

[Simba's Girl]

We are going to MK on arrival night, a Sunday pretty much for the sole purpose of MSEP FP+. Later in the trip we are going to do MK PM EMH. It was literally close to $50 more for us to add one more day for all 5 of us that I got 8 day PH this trip as opposed to the usual 7 and not going to a park arrival or departure day. I DO think that FP+ will also allow us to get some (2 in our case) E-Ticket rides that we normally wouldn't have been able to get and add to the justification of adding another day to our ticket making it more "worth" it for us.

I say go for it.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

One of our most magical nights was at MK on a Saturday night. We arrived around 6th and went straight to MK, stayed until 1 am, and I think we accomplished more in that one evening that we ever have on any other full day.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

This is so fun!! I have been wondering whether to schlep my 3 year old down to the park at 9 the night we arrive because we will still be on TX time and it might be easier for her to stay up that first night. On the other hand I worry it will make her too tired to be at the park the next morning at 8. Unfortunately 12-2 is not doable for us .

We prefer to close down the park instead of make rope drop. This board makes such a big deal of rope drop, but closing the park can be just as much fun/get as much done. And the park is so magical at night. Two of my favorite memories: 1)our last night of our first trip, standing in line for 7dmt with my niece, the fireworks booming above us. My niece gave me a giant hug, a huge smile, and proclaimed "this is so magical! " 2) our last night of our most recent trip, dd wanted to ride dumbo over and over. It was a walk on, so they let us just stay in our elephant. We watched the fireworks from our elephant, high up in the sky. The smiles on all our faces were priceless.

I have so many more perfect memories from evenings. Daytime all I remember is being hot and crowded and cranky. But then the sun starts to set and the magic hits.

 

[Bluejean78]

Thanks I'll keep that in mind for sure!! So far the only A&E we've snagged have been at 10pm (long story) so we will be there late at least one night

 

[maryj11]

PM EMH at MK is OUTSTANDINGLY FUN!!!! The lines become shorter and shorter. Me and my kids were riding Space and Thunder back to back non stop. Had a blast. Both were practically walk on after 1am.

About what time do the crowds start to thin out ?

 

[CounselorX]

I was wanting to do the evening EMH at MK . The latest we have ever stayed is 11:00. We have the chance to do it this coming August but, Sunday is our departure day and we have our flight leaving at 1:00. We use the magic express and I know they leave 3 hours early. I dont know if we would be able to handle getting to bed late and then getting up early enough to get stuff ready to leave.

We did this our first trip. We stayed at MK until close, the night before our departure and our plane also left around 1:00 so we had to be waiting for DME by 10:00. It wasn't a good idea really. We got to our resort way too late, had to spend time packing, got hardly any sleep, and it just stressed us out. From that time forward, I always dedicate the day before our departure for nothing but recouping, relaxing, packing, and at the most, a stroll around Downtown Disney.

 

[kaetra]

I will be there at MK this Saturday too! SEE YA REAL SOON!!

 

[lllGurulll]

About what time do the crowds start to thin out ?

They start clearing out after the second parade ends.

 

[BugsDaddy]

This is so fun!! I have been wondering whether to schlep my 3 year old down to the park at 9 the night we arrive because we will still be on TX time and it might be easier for her to stay up that first night. On the other hand I worry it will make her too tired to be at the park the next morning at 8. Unfortunately 12-2 is not doable for us .

I think it would be tough to get a 3 year old to cooperate at 8 the next morning after staying up very late the night before even with the time change. I know if my daughter (also 3) doesn't at least get 10 to 12 hours a sleep a day (including naps), she is tough to deal with the next morning.

 

[JZCubed]

Usually I would never even think of going to Magic Kingdom on Saturday. However, this coming Saturday they are open until 2am. We all have 8-day park hoppers and this would be our first park day. Would it be worth it for us to go at around 10pm to relax around the park and then start doing some rides around 12-2am?

If everything is still going to be shoulder to shoulder and hour long waits at 1am, there really isn't a point to it if so.

It somewhat depends on how you Tour.

If you have a list that must be completed - the more time spent in the Parks, the more likely you can complete your list.

Arriving late in the evening is a winning strategy. Take notice of Parade & Firework times so that you are not swimming against huge crowds.

 

[Retro Magic]

My main reason for going on Saturday evening is just to be in the MK atmosphere on our first full day!!!
Although AK is my "oasis", it's true there is nothing like Magic Kingdom being your first park.

To be only surrounded by the atmosphere and hopefully hit Peter Pan with little wait, I'll be more than thrilled!!! And if I can hit a bunch of attractions late in the evening with little to no wait, it will just be a huge bonus

I did book fastpasses for Pooh, POTC & HM at 9, 10 & 11pm. Don't know if they will be necessary or if I will even utilise all of them, but at least I have them.

 

[marchingstar]

I did book fastpasses for Pooh, POTC & HM at 9, 10 & 11pm. Don't know if they will be necessary or if I will even utilise all of them, but at least I have them.

This is a great plan, and it's what we do too. Unlike ADRs, there's no penalty if you miss FP+ windows. We booked 3 as late as possible too (ours are Wishes, HM, and SDMT). If there's s travel delay or something, it's no big deal--we'll hit those same attractions another time. But if we can get to the MK, all the better! For us it's totally about the atmosphere too. Walking down main street on our first night is worth the price of admission in my books.

 

[maryj11]

We did this our first trip. We stayed at MK until close, the night before our departure and our plane also left around 1:00 so we had to be waiting for DME by 10:00. It wasn't a good idea really. We got to our resort way too late, had to spend time packing, got hardly any sleep, and it just stressed us out. From that time forward, I always dedicate the day before our departure for nothing but recouping, relaxing, packing, and at the most, a stroll around Downtown Disney.

Thanks for the info. Yes I was thinking it may be like that

 

[Retro Magic]

I actually just changed my fast passes!
Swapped HM & POTC for Space & Dumbo. I figured HM & POTC I should be fine with. Whereas Dumbo & Space are rides I prefer not to wait in line for if I don't have too and probably do have risk of longer lines.

We have mine train for another day in case the line is huge all night Saturday.

 

[mrzrich]

Truthfully waits for dumbo have been pretty short since the addition of a second wheel. Waits for POTC have increased since FP+

 

[scrapquitler]

Usually I would never even think of going to Magic Kingdom on Saturday. However, this coming Saturday they are open until 2am. We all have 8-day park hoppers and this would be our first park day. Would it be worth it for us to go at around 10pm to relax around the park and then start doing some rides around 12-2am?

If everything is still going to be shoulder to shoulder and hour long waits at 1am, there really isn't a point to it if so.

You should NOT go because then I will have to wait in line behind you. We are going to be there, and for sure we will be riding rides right up until they close at 2AM.

We always stay until closing. The beautiful thing about a late night is that once the fireworks are over, most people with small children leave and the lines get a lot shorter (at least in our experiences, which include Christmas week, Thanksgiving week and off peak weeks in May, June, Sept. and October). We have found that most rides have much shorter lines during the hour or two before closing. And we like nothing better than to sit on Main Street right after the closing time and watch the rest of the crowds leave.

 

[cakebaker]

I think it would be tough to get a 3 year old to cooperate at 8 the next morning after staying up very late the night before even with the time change. I know if my daughter (also 3) doesn't at least get 10 to 12 hours a sleep a day (including naps), she is tough to deal with the next morning.

Getting 3 yr olds to cooperate is tough any time of day, isn't it?

We plan on being bad people and keeping our 3 yr old out on our 12-2am MK night. He'll probably go to sleep in his stroller and being at night, the heat won't be so awful so he can do that without a problem. And I'm very flexible- if he's not taking it well, I have no issues with volunteering to return back to the resort earlier than the others. The next morning- he and I get to sleep in while the rest of our group heads over to the last day of SWW. It's a pool day for me and him so that we can both recover. We'll go to HS that night just for the fireworks.

If we had to get him up early the next morning....no, that would not be pretty.

 

[BugsDaddy]

Getting 3 yr olds to cooperate is tough any time of day, isn't it?

We plan on being bad people and keeping our 3 yr old out on our 12-2am MK night. He'll probably go to sleep in his stroller and being at night, the heat won't be so awful so he can do that without a problem. And I'm very flexible- if he's not taking it well, I have no issues with volunteering to return back to the resort earlier than the others. The next morning- he and I get to sleep in while the rest of our group heads over to the last day of SWW. It's a pool day for me and him so that we can both recover. We'll go to HS that night just for the fireworks.

If we had to get him up early the next morning....no, that would not be pretty.

It has been lately. As she continues to learn her limits, everyday can be a little challenge.

I am sure that our daughter is going to be thrown off her schedule as well, probably getting less sleep than she would at home. We may have some late nights as well but we will skip rope drop if needed to accommodate her getting some more sleep. The afternoon naps will be a big factor too. As in, is she going to take any. Or will she be too wound up to sleep.

 

[calismic]

Usually I would never even think of going to Magic Kingdom on Saturday. However, this coming Saturday they are open until 2am. We all have 8-day park hoppers and this would be our first park day. Would it be worth it for us to go at around 10pm to relax around the park and then start doing some rides around 12-2am?

If everything is still going to be shoulder to shoulder and hour long waits at 1am, there really isn't a point to it if so.

We're going to be there this Saturday as well. The park is at a projected 5 for crowd levels. I've been following the ride times for the past week or so and they haven't been bad at all! Based on past experiences, lines should be non-existent by 11pm. 2 years ago we basically had the park to ourselves between midnight and 2am. It was fabulous!

 

[sky13]

So this was my experience last Saturday late at MK (EMH 1-3am)

- Got to MK around midnight (had been at Universal/IOA the whole day). Was recognised by a CM that I'd spoken to while watching the Kiss Goodnight earlier in the week, who said that they were open until 3am and the park was pretty empty!
- Big Thunder Mountain (had an FP that was completely irrelevant at that time but hey, I'd made the FP so I used it)
- Splash - walk on. Asked to re-ride as there wasn't anyone waiting to get on the ride at all, but was told that I had to walk through the whole queue and walk back, so I did that and...
- Splash, again a walk on
- Haunted Mansion walk on
- It's a Small World walk on
- Anna and Elsa walk on (was around 1.45am). The queue was EMPTY. This was more fun than doing Anna and Elsa at rope drop as because it was so empty, they actually had time to talk instead of trying to rush people through the queue!
- Cinderella and Rapunzel. Actually had to wait! But only about 5 minutes or so.
- Ariel's grotto walk on
- Under the Sea walk on
- Winnie the Pooh walk on
- Teacups walk on
- Dumbo walk on. They made an announcement at the end of the ride that if people wanted to re-ride, to just stay seated with the seat belts fastened.
- Barnstormer walk on
- Peter Pan walk on. Asked to re-ride (only about a couple of people in line) and they said yes, so...
- Peter Pan re-ride

That makes it a total of 12 rides and 3 character meets in the space of 3 hours at MK...

I loved my late nights at MK during my trip - in addition to last Saturday's late night, I also stayed late on Wednesday night (closing at 1am, left around 2am after doing some shopping) and Monday night (closing at midnight, left around 1am after doing some shopping). The wait times were short (lots of rides were walk ons, and even 7DMT was only about a 5 minute wait when I got in line at 11.58pm on Monday night) so I got to do lots, and there was something magical about being in MK when it's late and there aren't many people around.

Plus on two of those days I'd left so late that I actually got my own personal bus back to Pop - at the bus station, the CMs asked me if I was staying on-site, asked me where I was staying, and then told me to get on one of the several buses waiting at the station and tell the driver where I needed to go!