Need Advice...

[ThreeMusketeers]

SO, our first day at Disney, we will obviously want to take our 3.5 yo to Magic Kingdom. However, the first day we will be there is going to be a Saturday. During Slow season though *the week of Dec. 2 * We will also be going into the park not until around 11 am..since our plane comes in late that night before, and we want her to be rested for the next day, and wanted to take her to a PS at Chef Mickeys before the park. Thought it would be a nice way to start out the vaca. But I am worried that the park will be VERY busy on a Saturday. Does anyone have any advice? We will be there for 6 full days and have hopper passes. What would you reccomend doing?
Thanks so much for the help!

 

[bjakmom]

Is there a MVMCP that night? If there is the park will close at 6. Since you will be right at Chef Mickeys anyway, I would definitely go to MK if that's where you like to start your trip, pick up FP for something she really wants to see, like Snow White or Peter Pan or Buzz - then I would just do whatever rides have the smallest lines and soak in the atmosphere - go to Toontown for pics with the characters, etc. If it's really too crowded for you, you could just hop over to another park - Enjoy !

 

[thaggie]

Threre is no MVMCP that day. But I do believe they will be filming the Christmas Parade. From what I've read Main Street will be packed. I'm not sure avbout the rest of the park.

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

Threre is no MVMCP that day. But I do believe they will be filming the Christmas Parade. From what I've read Main Street will be packed. I'm not sure avbout the rest of the park.

Hey! This might seriously change my plans...where did you read this info?? I would like to read myself..and find more of it if I can. Now I am paniking!!! Aughh..help me! Really didn't go on slow season to spend First day at MK packed like sardines!! lol

 

[MissionMouse]

The weekend at MK is typically it's busy time. The week after Thanksgiving which is the time you will be visiting (us too) appears to be a very busy week period based on lodging availability.

You have a park hopper ticket so you might enter into the Kingdom and quickly scout it out and if it looks like you might want to head for the exit and hit one of the other parks of interest so you can make more of your day. Others may just stick around since they like the level of excitement surround an network even of filming the parade...if this is an accurate report.

 

[rt2dz]

You may want to check out touringplans.com and look at the predicted crowd levels. They update that thing practically monthly, but it will give you a good idea of what kind of crowds to expect.

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

You may want to check out touringplans.com and look at the predicted crowd levels. They update that thing practically monthly, but it will give you a good idea of what kind of crowds to expect.

THanks!! I will check that out!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

To me, the trip does not start until you have walked down main street to see the castle....

 

[Colinsmom]

We went that week last year and were VERY disappointed to hit MK on a crowded day (we only had 3 park days so not much MK time). There seemed to be a lot of schools and/or conventions hitting MK that day (lots of bigger groups). It was a weekday though, not a weekend.

So, stay flexible, and if MK is crowded one day, go elsewhere! The other parks were as slow as could be that week; it was great!

 

[cl1067]

Last year we went Dec 3 to 11th. The 4th was Saturday. We opted to skip all of WDW, espescially MK because it was the day they were taping the Christmas parade, on the 4th and spend that as our Sea World day, which ended up being a good choice as seaworld was hardly busy at all. So I can't tell you what it was like on Sat, but we were in MK that Monday and by noon it was so crowded you could hardly move around, so we left and went back to the hotel. The rest of the week was very minimal crowds.

 

[3DisneyKids]

Believe it or not, we actually DON'T go to MK on our first day. MK is so much "more" Disney than the other parks for our pre-schoolers (sorry, can't really think of another way to say it). What I mean is that Epcot (for example) is wonderful, but it doesn't have the magic for little ones that MK does. So, if we start out BIG with MK, then the other parks seem like a let-down in comparison. Kinda like saving the best for last.

It depends, though, on whether you will do just one day in MK or multiple days.

Another tip...we usually spend one day doing charcater bfast at Chef Mickey's, shopping in the outlet malls and Downtown Disney, and lots of pool time at the resort. For our kids (3, 4, 6), this is always a really fun day--they just love it!

 

[powellrj]

.we usually spend one day doing charcater bfast at Chef Mickey's, shopping in the outlet malls and Downtown Disney, and lots of pool time at the resort. For our kids (3, 4, 6), this is always a really fun day--they just love it!

That was going to be my suggestion too. Go to chef mickeys, go to DTD, do a little shopping and head back to the hotel to swim and rest so you are ready to go full force the next day!

 

[laughinplace199]

We are also arriving the evening of Fri., Dec. 2. Saturday will be our first park day too. As much as I would love MK to be the first park we do on this trip, we are avoiding it due to the taping of the Christmas parade. We will probably not do MK until Monday of that week. We have a 6 yr old DD and a 4 yr old DS who love MK, but we don't want to deal with the crowds. So if you feel that the crowds will take away from your first park day experience, you may want to make it a non-park day or choose a park other than MK.

Have a great time. Maybe we'll see you there!