MK touring plans for experiences, not (all) rides?

[CarolinaBlue99]

Bottom Line: Anyone have suggestions for putting together a touring plan that takes advantage of the experiences at Magic Kingdom with just a few rides included?

The Details: We are planning our DD7's first trip to WDW (and our first trip as adults). Thanks to these forums, Touring Plans, The Unofficial Guide to Disney and a number of podcasts, I've got a pretty good handle on the tips/tricks to do Disney the (what seems to be) usual way: get there at rope drop (we are doing EMM, actually), use a good touring plan, strategically schedule first three FP+s, then utilize MDX to get additional FP+ to hit the headliners and as many other rides as you can fit in.

These past few weeks as our trip gets closer, I'm realizing that our family may not be the type to go straight from ride-to-ride-to-ride. Her style is more to experience and learn along the way. For instance, we live in Virginia and she LOVES visiting Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown and learning about history. Zoos and science museums are other favorite visits. She had fun at Busch Gardens and went on a couple rides, but at a certain point was more interested in exploring and people watching. She has gone as far as to say that she is really looking forward to the Hall of Presidents, and that it is a must-do for her (she asked about a FP). I've got a pretty good sense of how to find experiences at Epcot and Animal Kingdom, but Magic Kingdom seems so much more ride focused that I'm having a hard time as I think about putting together a back-up touring plan if we decide not to focus on rides.

Does anyone have suggestions for where to look to put together a touring plan for magic kingdom during what I expect to be a busy time (3/3-3/9) that incorporates more experiences than rides? (Full disclosure: I remember liking Epcot more than Magic Kingdom as a child; like mother, like daughter).

Thanks - I really appreciate any guidance!

[PS - I wasn't sure whether to post in this forum or the family one, so feel free to move if it is more appropriate there. I just figured there might be non-family people who toured more for experiences than rides.]

 

[10CJ]

Have you tried creating a personalized plan in Touring Plans?

 

[gatorlisa]

I don't really know much about formal touring plans, as I don't use them, but wanted to point out a few things that might be of interest. In addition to Hall of Presidents, if she likes shows and history, I would consider the Carousel of Progress a must do. She may find it interesting to see the scenes showing how modern conveniences in the home have changed and advanced over time. Also, in Liberty Square, there are little shows put on by the Muppets of Great Moments in History. These are not in a theater. They are presented in windows that open from the second story of buildings near the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square. You just kind of stop, look up and watch. Another thing you might enjoy, on Main Street, is the glass shop (it's on the right when coming up Main Street from the entrance). At the back, there is normally someone blowing glass. We have stopped to watch several times and it's always very interesting to watch. They usually talk while they are working and will answer any questions people have about glass blowing.

 

[CarolinaBlue99]

Thanks! I wasn't sure that the personalized Touring Plans would pick up other experiences (like Sorcerers, which I think she may like). I'll give that a try and see what it gives me. This is helpful, for sure.

 

[10CJ]

Thanks! I wasn't sure that the personalized Touring Plans would pick up other experiences (like Sorcerers, which I think she may like). I'll give that a try and see what it gives me. This is helpful, for sure.

It may not have everything, but it does have some things you can add. Sorcerers, Swiss Family Tree House, Carousel of Progress, Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents, Tom Sawyer Island. I would also definitely include the People Mover.

 

[Disneymom1126]

What I would suggest would be to look at each of the areas of Magic Kingdom and think about what types of things you think she will like in each area (in addition to the rides). Plan on spending a portion of the day in each area and kind of go with the flow in that area during the time you have planned there - if she gets tired of that area, move on to something else. We were at Disney last year the same week you are going this year. It's busy but not terribly busy compared to later in March. Plan your FP+ for the rides that will have the longest lines in the time of day that you will be in that section of the park. If you rope drop Fantasyland you can basically take your time and get a lot done without lines until around 10 or 11 with the exception of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, so maybe try and FP+ that ride toward the end of the time you plan to be in Fantasyland. My daughter loves Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom - she's almost 10 now, but started playing it when she was 7 or 8. We usually plan to play that in the middle of the day when the lines are longest everywhere else - and usually only play if we have more than one day planned at MK. There's also a pirate themed adventure in Adventureland, but we haven't ever played that one. I am sure you will have a great trip!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Your DD sounds a lot like my DS10. MK is his least favorite park. We are down to about 4 rides there and he's ready to go. He would much rather walk the animal trails in AK and look for the baby tigers or design cars at TT. In addition to some of the other excellent suggestions (Carousel of Progress, Swiss Family Treehouse, Tom Sawyer Island, etc.) I would suggest doing the Pirate Adventure in Adventureland (you can get the maps just past the PoC gift shop heading toward Frontierland). There are 5 different interactive adventures, so that can take some time. You may also just want to walk down Main St. and look up at the window dedications. Perhaps get a Hidden Mickey book? And check the times guide for the day's shows. We love listening to the musicians that perform throughout the day.

 

[lovethesun12]

I'd do a personalized touring plan. Last year we had our (then) 3 year old at Disney and his favourite ride was carousel of progress. He still sings the song and wants to do it again this year. I guess we can't all love thrill rides

 

[Ensusieasm]

There are so many great ideas here. I would add Enchanted Tales with Belle, where she can take part in a little play. Country Bears Jamboree, and definitely
Philharmagic, which is an excellent 3D show. The Festival of Fantasy parade at 3pm is beautiful. A ride on The people mover. A ride on the steam train.
So much to see and do. Enjoy!

 

[BalooFan]

There is a book I purchased several years ago, The Imagineering Field Guide to Magic Kingdom, that won’t provide you with a touring plan, but will provide you with details about the park and attractions that your daughter might find interesting. The book was written by an Imagineer and I believe a book was published for each of the WDW parks. You could share the background and history of attractions with your daughter as you tour the park. If you are interested, you might want to check your library because the book may now be out of print and used copies appear to be fairly expensive.

 

[cel_disney]

I would suggest bringing change to do pressed Penny stations throughout the park. It adds an activity / experience and also makes for a great and cheap souvenir!! My kids are 7 and 11 and repeat visitors but we added this on our recent trip and it was a HUGE success!! They loved loved loved it!

You have seen a few things mentioned already but here are some other suggestions:

- Dance at the Move It! parade, watch the string quartet, get a pixie dust hair sprinkle
- take a few minutes to read all of the names on the windows on Main Street and talk about who they are (or even look them up!)
- play with the giant spinning water ball in Tomorrowland, enjoy a fruit smoothie
- splash in the water feature near Pete’s sideshow (but you will get soaked!), walk thru the store to see all of the amazing decorated apples and marshmallows there! Speculate how they are made!
- find hidden mickeys
- make sure to appreciate all of the pavement you are walking on - check out the embedded peanuts near dumbo and the shells near Little Mermaid. Play at the Dumbo play area
- visit the Queue for Winnie the Pooh and make sure she plays in it! Try to find out who is behind the honey on the honey wall screens or try writing your initials in it. (There are other interactive queues but this is still our fave!)
- Read all of the tombstones at Haunted Manson and take some silly pictures near it (this actually has a good interactive queue as well! We have even let others pass us to play in it!)
- We love the muppets window shows in Liberty Square
- Take in the castle show
- try to pull the sword from the stone at the carausel
- watch folks get sprayed by the camel in Adventureland
- try on ear hats / headbands

Now - I don’t think that there are too many touring plan apps that will add in these ‘attractions’ for you -but you can turn yourselves into slow walkers or add in 10 minute breaks periodically to make sure you have time to stop and smell the roses everywhere!

Have a great trip!!

 

[JJ2017]

I would suggest bringing change to do pressed Penny stations throughout the park. It adds an activity / experience and also makes for a great and cheap souvenir!! My kids are 7 and 11 and repeat visitors but we added this on our recent trip and it was a HUGE success!! They loved loved loved it!

You have seen a few things mentioned already but here are some other suggestions:

- Dance at the Move It! parade, watch the string quartet, get a pixie dust hair sprinkle
- take a few minutes to read all of the names on the windows on Main Street and talk about who they are (or even look them up!)
- play with the giant spinning water ball in Tomorrowland, enjoy a fruit smoothie
- splash in the water feature near Pete’s sideshow (but you will get soaked!), walk thru the store to see all of the amazing decorated apples and marshmallows there! Speculate how they are made!
- find hidden mickeys
- make sure to appreciate all of the pavement you are walking on - check out the embedded peanuts near dumbo and the shells near Little Mermaid. Play at the Dumbo play area
- visit the Queue for Winnie the Pooh and make sure she plays in it! Try to find out who is behind the honey on the honey wall screens or try writing your initials in it. (There are other interactive queues but this is still our fave!)
- Read all of the tombstones at Haunted Manson and take some silly pictures near it (this actually has a good interactive queue as well! We have even let others pass us to play in it!)
- We love the muppets window shows in Liberty Square
- Take in the castle show
- try to pull the sword from the stone at the carausel
- watch folks get sprayed by the camel in Adventureland
- try on ear hats / headbands

Now - I don’t think that there are too many touring plan apps that will add in these ‘attractions’ for you -but you can turn yourselves into slow walkers or add in 10 minute breaks periodically to make sure you have time to stop and smell the roses everywhere!

Have a great trip!!

Wow! Great advice!!!! So much to do and see when you really learn!!!

I’d second Hidden Mickeys!!! We have been twice and my kids (7 and 5) just learned about this as we were leaving to go home from our 2nd trip. We then got them a hidden mickey book for the holidays and they are obsessed!!! They find hidden mickeys everywhere now and have taught all their friends and even teachers about finding hidden mickeys in everyday objects. They will be so excited to go back and do it for real!!!!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I would suggest bringing change to do pressed Penny stations throughout the park. It adds an activity / experience and also makes for a great and cheap souvenir!! My kids are 7 and 11 and repeat visitors but we added this on our recent trip and it was a HUGE success!! They loved loved loved it!

I second this. We had largely ignored pressed pennies until a trip last year where DS7 and I decided to start collecting. It has added a whole new element to our recent trips and he's really gotten into it.

 

[hsmamato2]

just....slow.....down..... and look around,and listen. There are SO many details that make Disney interesting,and almost every building/ride/restaurant has it's own 'backstory' as to why it's there,etc. Seriously, the pavement under your feet changes with each new experience...the smells pumped out change.... the music changes. In between rushing to rides,try it.

 

[CarolinaBlue99]

Thanks so, so, so much for all these suggestions! There's so much you've suggested that I didn't know about. I've started a new personalized touring plan with the walking speed pegged as slow as possible and built in loads of time between the rides she wants to do. Now I have a whole list of things to see and do to just enjoy ourselves as we find our way from place to place. Honestly, my parents did very little planning when we visited when I was young (late 80s) and all I really remember is a lot of waiting in lines at Magic Kingdom. I want a better experience for us!

I really appreciate this!

 

[mickeymom629]

As someone else said, the Muppet show in front of Hall of Presidents about Great Moments in History is so cute. We went to the first show of the day and stood right up by the rope (not in the sun).

Also, there's sometimes? a dance party in Tomorrowland in the evening that we've enjoyed - not for learning but for fun

 

[slpeters]

Thanks so, so, so much for all these suggestions! There's so much you've suggested that I didn't know about. I've started a new personalized touring plan with the walking speed pegged as slow as possible and built in loads of time between the rides she wants to do. Now I have a whole list of things to see and do to just enjoy ourselves as we find our way from place to place. Honestly, my parents did very little planning when we visited when I was young (late 80s) and all I really remember is a lot of waiting in lines at Magic Kingdom. I want a better experience for us!

I really appreciate this!

What I would probably do in your scenario, in order to try to keep the memory she has from being waiting in lines, is build a pretty conventional ride-centric touring plan for the first three hours or so. Especially if you are doing EMM you'll be able to get a LOT done in that period. And then I would pretty much stop it with the rides--maybe make a few evening or afternoon FPs but other than that just stop with the rides at about 11. Then breathe a big sigh of relief, have a nice little lunch and just relax and take it all in--don't stand in a single line after that. We had a wonderful day like that in November. We went to EMH and pretty much ran around like crazy for about three hours and pretty much did all the rides and a few characters we wanted to do once and then we just stopped and did shows and the like instead. We did both parades, the stage show, Country Bears, the Tiki Lounge, etc. And frankly it was perfect--about the time the crowds ramped up they became largely irrelevant to us and we just kind of wandered and smelled the flowers.

 

[CarolinaBlue99]

What I would probably do in your scenario, in order to try to keep the memory she has from being waiting in lines, is build a pretty conventional ride-centric touring plan for the first three hours or so. Especially if you are doing EMM you'll be able to get a LOT done in that period. And then I would pretty much stop it with the rides--maybe make a few evening or afternoon FPs but other than that just stop with the rides at about 11. Then breathe a big sigh of relief, have a nice little lunch and just relax and take it all in--don't stand in a single line after that. We had a wonderful day like that in November. We went to EMH and pretty much ran around like crazy for about three hours and pretty much did all the rides and a few characters we wanted to do once and then we just stopped and did shows and the like instead. We did both parades, the stage show, Country Bears, the Tiki Lounge, etc. And frankly it was perfect--about the time the crowds ramped up they became largely irrelevant to us and we just kind of wandered and smelled the flowers.

This sounds so perfect! And just like our style. Thanks for sharing.