MNSSHP day plan.. any advice?

[Wishn on a Star]

Hi all.. You have all been so helpful. I am just overwhelmed with all this planning. Next is my MNSSHP day. I hope that you can direct me some more!
* I have posted this elsewhere, sorry if you are reading this 2x!


1. Sleep in for a bit..
2. Pirate Cruise at CBR for DS8 and DD5. Mom/Dad and DD2 will have bruch somewhere..
3. Go back to hotel, swim, relax and get ready for PaRtY!
4. Arrive at MK at 5:00 and eat at Cosmic Rays
5. Do rides from 6-7:15 or 7:30pm
*What are the best rides to do this night and which are the best to save for our next touring day??
6. 7:15/7:30-8:45pm trick or treating thru Secret Red Trail
7. 9:00pm be Crystal Palace for fireworks
8. 10pm attend parade by Country Bear Jamboree
9. More rides and trick or treat
10. End of day

Whadda Think?/

 

[3for Me]

I think your plan sounds great and I am soooo jealous! The only thing I would change is to get to the park at 4:00 if it's possible...gives you an extra hour of rides.

In terms of what to ride, I don't know what anyone else would suggest, but we have always just sort of seen how the whole evening plays out. Sometimes you will be surprised what a short line an otherwise crowded attraction will have. If you happen upon Peter Pan's Flight or one of the mountains with very little wait and it won't interfere with the other plans for the evening, I would do it!

Other than that I do not have specific ride advice, just have a great time and enjoy!

 

[Wishn on a Star]

Can I do rides betwen 4-6pm? I did not think that the rides were open at this time. That would be GREAT if they are!!

 

[MomofKatie]

Can I do rides betwen 4-6pm? I did not think that the rides were open at this time. That would be GREAT if they are!!

Yes, and they are pretty much walkons! The park doesn't close to the day guests until 6pm. Between 6 and 7, they are setting up for the party. We arrived at around 4:30 last fall, and we rode Buzz, TTA, Stitch, Dumbo, Teacups, IASW, and a couple of other Fantasyland rides all before 6.

 

[JLDSMD]

6. 7:15/7:30-8:45pm trick or treating thru Secret Red Trail

O.K., I have a question. What is the "Secret Red Trail"?

I did a search for this and this is the only post that mentions it.

BTW, we usually go to a water park the day we go to MNSSHP. We get there at open and stay until 2 or 3. Go back to the hotel, relax, change and then head to MK by 4:30. We usually do a PS at one of the restuarants. This year we are doing the Castle at 5:25.

 

[Goofy4]

Most of the rides in the designated MNSSHP "land" will be open.

They will ask all MNSSHPers to head to a designated area while the day crowd exits.

 

[beattyfamily]

There was a secret trick or treating/Alice in Wonderland character trail between Toontown and Tomorrowland.

It was fun but last year it was crowded. It's no secret anymore!

 

[think tink]

i don't know that i would get to the park at 4:00 if you are planning on staying late that night with 2 young children. we have gone to mnsshp and mvmcp with our 3 young kids (same age as yours but add a 9dd) and don't usually arrive till around 6:00. i give my 2 yr old a late afternoon nap and make the older 2 atleast lay down and watch tv for a while. it is a long night and alot of kids tend to poop out and not have much fun. i would really take it easy that day, so you can all be ready for the party at night. we always start out in fantasyland and are able to pretty much walk on everything. then hed to toontown to go on the trick or treat trail. last year we did it in like 15 minutes. all the kids (not just mine) were running like mad from one trick or treat station to the next. the stations each have a few cm's handing out candy, so it goes really fast. we then went to cosmic rays for dinner and stayed for stitches dance party. we really didn't do the rides since we do that during the rest of the stay anyway, we just walked around and looked at the decorations and did the other special events they had planned for the night. also we caught the second parade of the night instead of the first which was much less crowded. we went in front of pecos bills cafe about 15 minutes before the parade started and got to be right in front. i even got a bench to sit on

 

[beattyfamily]

i don't know that i would get to the park at 4:00 if you are planning on staying late that night with 2 young children. we have gone to mnsshp and mvmcp with our 3 young kids (same age as yours but add a 9dd) and don't usually arrive till around 6:00. i give my 2 yr old a late afternoon nap and make the older 2 atleast lay down and watch tv for a while. it is a long night and alot of kids tend to poop out and not have much fun. i would really take it easy that day, so you can all be ready for the party at night. we always start out in fantasyland and are able to pretty much walk on everything. then hed to toontown to go on the trick or treat trail. last year we did it in like 15 minutes. all the kids (not just mine) were running like mad from one trick or treat station to the next. the stations each have a few cm's handing out candy, so it goes really fast. we then went to cosmic rays for dinner and stayed for stitches dance party. we really didn't do the rides since we do that during the rest of the stay anyway, we just walked around and looked at the decorations and did the other special events they had planned for the night. also we caught the second parade of the night instead of the first which was much less crowded. we went in front of pecos bills cafe about 15 minutes before the parade started and got to be right in front. i even got a bench to sit on

ITA. If you have little ones, it might be a bit much to arrive around 4:00p and try to stay for all the actual party festivities. With little ones I'd arrive no earlier then 5:00p and only come that early if I had an ADR at a restaurant. If I wasn't going to do a sit down meal, I'd arrive around 6:00p or 7:00p so that my kids can make it through the night.

But if you have older kids or no kids, then arriving earlier, while the day guests are leaving, is a great way to get a jump start on the rides and then focus on the festivities later.

 

[salmoneous]

Me? I'd do a few things differently.

I don't know how flexible you guys are with mealtimes, but if possible I'd try and be hungry for a big meal outside the park at around 3:00. Get to the park full by 4:00.

From 4:00 - 6:00, the park is just normal. I would spend that time seeing things that aren't open during the Party. Jungle cruise, Tow Saywer, etc. As you get closer to 6:00, non-party guests start leaving and you can get on the e-ticket rides with short lines.

6:00 - 7:00 will be tricky. If it works like past years, rides will be open in one area of the park. Read up on The DIS and find out what that area is. Last year, the didn't heard people to that area, you just had to be there. Since it's unclear what will be going on, stay flexible.

I would *not* trick-or-treat on the "secret" trail early in the night. Early in the night, the trick-or-treat stations were mobbed. If you know you are going to be in the park later, you probably want to wait. In particular, the stations on that trail were mobbed. Worse, there was no exit from the trail, so once you started, you were committed.

The biggest thing I would suggest is to be flexible. At any given moment, parts of the park were jammed while others were near empty. If you happen to be someplace that is jammed, go somewhere else.

 

[think tink]

O.K., I have a question. What is the "Secret Red Trail"?

I did a search for this and this is the only post that mentions it.

BTW, we usually go to a water park the day we go to MNSSHP. We get there at open and stay until 2 or 3. Go back to the hotel, relax, change and then head to MK by 4:30. We usually do a PS at one of the restuarants. This year we are doing the Castle at 5:25.

last year they also had a not so secret trail in front of the jungle cruise. it had characters from jungle book and tarzan. including tarzan himself in his signature leather flap however, my husband refused to let me get his autograph

 

[Wishn on a Star]

This has all been very helpful.

The point about letting DD2 sleep is a good one. I guess we will just play this one by ear. If she naps extra long, we will just go to the park as planned at 4:45-5:00pm or so. If she sleeps her "normal" scheduled hours, we will go aroun 4:00pm.

As one poster stated, flexibility is the key!!

*Does anyone have any recommendations about what rides to "save" for our next touring day?? *

Tracy

 

[Marie2794]

If you happen upon Peter Pan's Flight or one of the mountains with very little wait and it won't interfere with the other plans for the evening, I would do it!

I was going to say the same thing. Last year we ended up having Fantasyland pretty much all to ourselves at the beginning of the night. Dumbo... the Carousel... Small World... Peter Pan... Mickey's Philharmagic... all of them were walk-ons. It was amazing. And as we were coming out of Philharmagic, the dance party near Ariel's Grotto was just beginning. So the timing was perfect.

We spent the rest of the evening in Toontown, Tomorrowland and Main Street... having our faces painted, trick-or-treating, meeting characters, watching Cinderellabration, the fireworks and the second parade.

Then at the end of the night we headed to Adventureland and it was a ghost town. We did the treat stations and the (deserted) treat trail, rode the Magic Carpets, and enjoyed a Dole Whip. Then we walked to the back of the park and walked right on to BTMRR. Great way to end the night!

 

[gigi1313]

i had NO IDEA that going to a MNSSHP was soooo involved! now i'm scared!

our plan for the day is to get up when the spirit moves us (no commando morning!), head to the yacht club for fishing excursion for the kids... then to dtd for hairstyle for dd at the boutique... then back to the resort for a relax... 4:40 ADR at 1900 PF in the grand floridian... then to the party...

thinking maybe we should flip our 1900 PF ADR w/our Tony's ADR for a few days later? and try to hit Tony's at 4ish? (too bad 1900 doesn't serve lunch!)

the kids are 9 and 11, so not "babies" but also not sure how much stamina they have... and the next morning is our AK day, which *should* start early... hmmmmmmm...

any suggestions?

 

[think tink]

the dtd boutique sounds like a great idea !! i think i might take my girls there before the party to get their hair/make-up done

 

[DianaPrincessofWales]

We will have done an all day at the parks the day before our party so we'll:

have a pool day
relax
maybe go shopping at DTD
have a leisurely late lunch
arrive at 4 stuffed and ready to do rides!

We're doing a mother/daughter trip. My DD is 13 and we plan to stay till they kick us out at 12:01 am!! (Please don't torture your children by keeping them up this late-no offense to any parents but hearing babies crying is not fun for anyone). Will only do random/easy trick-or-treating for the siblings and DH who got left at home. Isn't that a nice cheap souviner!!! No TS for us, we'll just graze and do rides.

 

[JLDSMD]

There was a secret trick or treating/Alice in Wonderland character trail between Toontown and Tomorrowland.

It was fun but last year it was crowded. It's no secret anymore!

We didn't go last year to MNSSHP, but did the two years prior to that. I've never seen that. Is it listed on the special park map? Does it run during the entire evening or just certain hours?

DW is interested in going through it even if it is crowded.

Thanks.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We have a 5:30 pm at 1900.

We're also at DQ from 11am to whatever time. Should we plan to leave DQ around 3 and get a ressie in mk for 4:30? Or stay at DQ for another hour or so and head to our 5:30 ressie? Is 4 hours enough to do DQ? Or should we have a breakfast somewhere and plan to eat at a counter? I'm not needing all that much to get rides in. But if DQ is just a 4 hour thing, I'd rather get over to MK, than bum around DQ bored an extra hour. We're more interested in the trick or treating, characters, and parade and fireworks.

It sounds like the late parade is less crowded. But what about the fireworks? Do you pretty much have to attend the first parade to get a good spot for that? What about the Characters? And Trick or Treat paths? I guess they're jambed early and clear out a bit late too?

Sounds to me like you kind of pick your early poison. If we attended the early parade, would we need to stake it out at 7 right when it starts? If we did the late parade when should we come back for the fireworks?

 

[beattyfamily]

We didn't go last year to MNSSHP, but did the two years prior to that. I've never seen that. Is it listed on the special park map? Does it run during the entire evening or just certain hours?

DW is interested in going through it even if it is crowded.

Thanks.

I'm pretty sure it runs all night during the party. It is on the map. You start in Toontown and walk thru to Tomorrowland.

There were tea cups full of candy with red playing cards handing out the candy and there were Alice characters along the way too.

Once you start, you can't stop till you get to Tomorrowland. Although you can pass the character lines if you want to. You just can't turn around and go back to Toontown.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I'm pretty sure it runs all night during the party. It is on the map. You start in Toontown and walk thru to Tomorrowland.

There were tea cups full of candy with red playing cards handing out the candy and there were Alice characters along the way too.

Once you start, you can't stop till you get to Tomorrowland. Although you can pass the character lines if you want to. You just can't turn around and go back to Toontown.

How long were the character lines?