MM Question

[Glynis4]

Our first day at DL will be a Thursday morning and we will be using our MM. This is a 1st trip for us (myself, DH, DD5 & DD2). So I don't necessarily want to be rushing to fantasyland to be first in line for the rides - but my question is, are there characters out on Main Street during MM? Or are the rides the only thing to "do"? Also, is there anything different about regular rope drop compared to MM rope drop? Thanks!

 

[SMD]

No characters during MM. The dedicated character meets and Toontown open 1 hour after the regular park opening. Sometimes you'll see characters roaming outside the Toontown gates 10 minutes or so before they gate opens and then they walk to their houses. Only FL and TL are open during MM. On days with no MM, the whole park opens at once. If you don't want to go right to FL for rides you can hang back, take pics on Main St and in front of the castle. But a better use would probably be to take advantage of the shorter lines for Dumbo, maybe Alice, then go back to the castle for photos. You could also go right for the sword in the stone by the carousel, it's not usually that crowded anyway, but should be practically deserted first thing. I'm not sure if the wishing well area is open during MM, but that's another spot I wouldn't expect people where you can get good pics

 

[agamble]

You don't need to rush to Fantasyland for rides. I would suggest taking a more leisurely stroll around the side of the castle near the Matterhorn. This will put you next to Alice. Park your stroller and ride Alice and then if you like Dumbo. Even at a leisurely pace you can enjoy several Fantasyland rides in that hour. The only one people rush to is Peter Pan, so save that for later. Toon Town opens one hour after regular opening. If MM is at 7AM and park opening is 8AM then Toon Town opens at 9AM. So you could spend close to two hours in Fantasyland riding the rides as you wish and then walk over to Toon Town. Just as Toon Town opens Mickey and Minnie will come out to the gates and welcome everyone in. They will walk/skip into Toon Town with the guests. When our eldest was about 3 she got to hold Mickey's hand while we walked into Toon Town. Mickey and Minnie will meet outside their houses at that time, and other members of the Fab 5 may be out meeting too. There are only two rides in Toon Town, but if you want to ride Gadget's with your little ones (only a 35" requirement) then this is the best time to do so.

 

[VandVsmama]

I second what @agamble said. And I'd also like to add....

• There are characters who roam around Fantasyland during MM and the first couple of hours after regular park opening. We usually see Peter Pan, Captain Hook, the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, sometimes Alice as well. Peter Pan is really wonderful with children....he'll play games with your kids like hide & seek.
• If you are at the gates of Toon Town for its opening 1 hour after reg park opening, then that really is your best way for your kids to meet all of the classic Disney characters with little to no wait - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto. Sometimes even Daisy is out, but usually it's at least Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, and Pluto. Each character will also usually have a PhotoPass photographer with them, too, which is handy if you have PhotoPass+.
• Keep in mind that some of the FL rides are slow loaders, meaning that they have a lower rider capacity per hour than other rides like It's A Small World or Pirates of the Caribbean. When we went to DL 4 years ago on our first family trip, our kids were 4 and 6. We spent all of MM in Fantasyland and went on 6 rides: Dumbo, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur's Carousel, Pinocchio, and Mad Tea Party. And that was not rushing from 1 ride to the next.
• Then between reg park opening and when Toon Town opened, we went on: Snow White's Scary Adventures, had a quick potty stop, took pictures of the kids in the stationary tea cup outside the Mad Tea Party, took pictures of the kids in the Mr Toad car that's right outside that ride's entrance, went on It's A Small World, plus I ran to get FP for another attraction. Also played with some of the roaming characters in FL.
• THEN we went to the Toon Town opening and walked straight to Mickey's house. Met him with maybe 2 families in line in front of us. It was awesome.
• You can also meet the fairies in Pixie Hollow, but I don't think they're out during MM. We've been to see the fairies before in the first hour after regular park opening and there is never a line. Your DDs will probably love that. My 2 DDs thought it was amazing.

 

[Winnowill]

I second what @agamble said. And I'd also like to add....

• You can also meet the fairies in Pixie Hollow, but I don't think they're out during MM. We've been to see the fairies before in the first hour after regular park opening and there is never a line. Your DDs will probably love that. My 2 DDs thought it was amazing.

Note that, these days, it's A fairy, not fairies. All of Tink's friends have abandoned her.

 

[Glynis4]

Awesome thanks everyone! I think we'll hit up Dumbo first, then the carousel and tea cups. Not doing any dark rides that day since my kids tend to be timid when it comes to scary things. Hopefully run into some wandering characters and take some pictures (sword in the stone, castle) maybe do the sleeping beauty castle walk through? Definitely like the idea of being at the opening of toon town!

 

[SMD]

Are they afraid of Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters? That should be open during MM too. It might be worth doing Casey Jr too. The line doesn't get too long, but during MM you'll have your choice of vehicle.

 

[Xenorye]

Note that, these days, it's A fairy, not fairies. All of Tink's friends have abandoned her.

This does stink though. Have the wait times gone down since this has been the case?

 

[Glynis4]

Are they afraid of Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters? That should be open during MM too. It might be worth doing Casey Jr too. The line doesn't get too long, but during MM you'll have your choice of vehicle.

Is Casey Jr. open during MM? I thought I had read somewhere that it wasn't. How far is fantasyland from tomorrowland? Like, is it practical to go from fantasyland to tomorrowland during MM? It's hard to judge the distance from the map!

 

[HydroGuy]

Is Casey Jr. open during MM? I thought I had read somewhere that it wasn't. How far is fantasyland from tomorrowland? Like, is it practical to go from fantasyland to tomorrowland during MM? It's hard to judge the distance from the map!

In my experience CJRR is not open during MM. TL and FL are very close - a 2-3 minute walk for faster walkers and 5 minutes for those who need to go a little more slowly. Bottom line it is very practical to go from FL to TL during MM.