Need COMMANDO tips for tomorrow MK--edited..for seasoned Disney-ite

[Lisa loves Pooh]

For the first time tomorrow--we are commando touring MK. We have single day, non-park hopping tix. We've been passholders--but we are part of the "stay a few hours" club. It has been ages, probably pre-kids, when we've gone to the parks all day.

Chef Mickey's is at 7:40pm (DINNERTIME), though we will try to go a little earlier and if we get seated GREAT. If not, window shopping in the AC it is.

We have a 5yo and 2.5 yo. 5yo can ride everything but Space Mountain and 2.5 yo can't even do goofy's barnstormer. Family isn't old enough to say forget the park and do the mountains first. First ride/attraction must be able to be done by the whole family or we will have a cranky 2yo.

Where should we start, what should we do?

We do have a FP for Splash already from a previous ride breakdown/evac that we were told we could use on a future trip.

Thanks!

p.s. I know about the water and hydration--looking for touring tips on how to best get around and hit everything--not how to stay cool tips ....thanks

ETA: We are very experienced with the parks--just looking to how to handle the crowd control aside from cutting early or not going at all. We know what we are up against--just need help on how to best manage that.

 

[Bob P]

Well, you'll need to go commando tomorrow--it will be one of the busiest days of the year. And you'll be getting a relatively late start after the breakfast. My advice is to go right to Fantasyland and hit those rides right away. You'll likely run into long lines even if you get there at 9:15!

Good luck!

Bob

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Sorry--Chef Mickey's is dinner--I'll clarify in the OP.

We are getting there first thing--and thought it would be cool for once for her to go on her birthday.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Well, you'll need to go commando tomorrow--it will be one of the busiest days of the year.

So please explain how to best tackle of the park under the circumstance.

 

[erikthewise]

Is there anyway to talk you out of going to MK on the Saturday of the 4th of July weekend?!?! I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

If not....
Get to the gate 30 minutes early. I'd say earlier but I doubt your kids would put up with a longer wait.
As soon as you get in, go straight to and through the castle, and ride Dumbo. If you don't do it first, the wait will be terrible. If you think you can get away with skipping it altogether, that would be fine. Next go to Winnie the Pooh, which will be to your left as you face the castle from Dumbo (or to your right as you come through the castle if you do it first). When you exit Pooh, turn left and cut back across Fantasyland.

Go past the Carousel to Peter Pan. (If you really want to ride the Carousel and the line is short, go ahead.) If someone needs a bathroom break (almost inevitable by now) there are restrooms just past Peter Pan. If the line at Peter Pan is not too bad, get in it, otherwise grab fastpasses. Either way, next cross the street to It's a Small World, which shouldn't have too bad a wait yet.

You did bring snacks for the kids didn't you? Good.
Get in line for Mickey's Philharmagic and give the kids their snacks. By the time you get out, you may be able to use your fastpasses for Peter Pan. If not, either go to Haunted Mansion (if you think your kids won't be scared) or to Toontown and come back to Peter Pan later. Or an even better idea might be to go to Tom Sawyer Island in the late morning or early afternoon. It's a great place to be on crowded days and kids love it.

Well that's about it. For the rest of the day all the major attractions will have terrible lines. Stay away from them. And don't even THINK about doing Tomorrowland Speedway. But you can still have some fun. Do you have a PS for Crystal Palace? If not, consider making one before you leave. If you prefer counter service, I recommend Columbia Harbour House (right next to Peter Pan), but Casey's would be OK.

Possible things to do after lunch: watch the Cinderellabration show at the Castle, ride Tomorrowland Transit Authority, ride the train, ride the steamboat. Or Tom Sawyer Island as mentioned above. If Carousel of Progress is open, that might be a good choice. Don't get in any long lines, and if you want to do something that has fastpasses, USE THEM. Personally I'd plan to leave the park early afternoon as it will be a madhouse. If you decide to stay for the afternoon parade, I'd avoid Main Street.

Have a great time! And please don't push your kids too hard.

 

[Bob P]

Erik the wise is indeed wise!!! I'll defer to him...I pretty much agree with everything he said above!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Thanks for the tips--we are Disney veterans..and no talking us out of it--I stayed up until 4am in the morning taping the America's Funniest Videos show. We are going to use them--and yes we are using them on my daughters b-day. So it's her fault b/c she was a week late .

We live 90 minutes away...so leaving early, not an option--it is a one day deal.

I had posted on the family board as well and got no bites, so thought to post here and left out that teeny tiny detail that we've been lots of times before (Seasonal Pass Holders). Just needed the "commando" veteran advice for a day that I know will be busy.

Anything you'd change in the suggestion?

 

[MagicOurWay]

Well, it sounds like you really want some commando advice so here goes. . .

There are 2 adults right? If so, take advantage of Baby Swap on Splash and BTM and 5 year old gets to ride twice! This will help make up for some of the stuff you just aren't going to get to.

Send an adult ahead to the next land to get fastpasses when you aren't holding any.

Here is what I would do, in your situation:

1.Dumbo (I always park the stroller here, leave it, and carry our 2 your old in Fantasy land, it saves us time)
2. Pooh
3. Peter Pan (if wait is more than 15 minutes, grap fast pass)
4. Its a Small World
5. Philharmagic
5.5 Use Peter Pan fast pass if you haven't already ridden and the time is up.
6. Haunted Mansion (if 2 year old isn't riding and you can get another fastpass, send 1 adult to get fastpasses for Splash Mountain (all 3, both adults and 5 yr old).
6.5 If you still haven't been able to use Peter Pan fastpass you should be able to now. After Peter Pan, send 1 person to splash for the fastpasses and meet them at POC (see 7 below)
7. Since it will probably be awhile before your fastpass time, go to POC.
7.5 If it still isn't time for Splash, do lunch.
8. Now that it is time for Splash fastpass, get 3 new ones for BTM.
9. Utilize Baby Swap and do Splash twice. During the first leg of the baby swap, the parent with the 2 year old can take him/her to the playground there. If you have cell phones, both know your way around real good, and really want to go commando, then during the 2nd leg of the baby swap, that parent can take the 2 year old and go get lunch started (if you haven't already eaten.)
9.5 If you haven't had lunch yet, do it now.
10. If by some miracle, your fastpass window for BTM has opened up, go ahead and ride it. Again, use baby swap. When the first adult is riding with the 5 year old, the other can take the toddler and go get fastpasses for Jungle Cruise and come back. (During the 2nd leg of the baby swap you can take the 2 year old back to the Splash Mountain playground or you can just let him/her relax and enjoy the excitement.)
11. From here, you can't really plan it out. It all depends on what is most important and what the fastpass and wait times are.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Thanks--so Fantasy--Liberty--Frontier with a splash of Adventure--and then figure any Tomorrowland stuff....

That's what I was thining we'd do.

We do have a Splash FP already (from a ride breakdown)--and 2yo rides anything that she's tall enough for--so I think we are covered.

Thanks!

Speedway--if we wish to do that...should we tackle that in the morning along with Fantasy land.

It does seem they always want to ride when the lines are longest and that has got to be the worst place to wait in line.

 

[SCOTTOHIOCPA]

Magicourway has a great plan. Here's my two cents on how improve it:


1.Get a FP for POOH, then ride Dumbo (I always park the stroller here, leave it, and carry our 2 your old in Fantasy land, it saves us time)
2. Get a FP for Peter Pan, then ride Pooh
3. Peter Pan (if wait is more than 15 minutes, grap fast pass)
4. Its a Small World
5. Philharmagic
5.5 Use Peter Pan fast pass if you haven't already ridden and the time is up.
6. Haunted Mansion (if 2 year old isn't riding and you can get another fastpass, send 1 adult to get fastpasses for Splash Mountain (all 3, both adults and 5 yr old). Is 5 yo tall enough for Splash? Brave enough?
6. Get a FP for Jungle Cruise, then go to POC.
7. Do lunch at Pecos Bills or nearby. Make sure to eat BEFORE 11:30. These restaurants have longer lines than the rides after 11:30.
8. Use FPs for Jungle Cruise.
9. See Tiki birds....or...not. Some like them, some don't.
10. Work in Cinderellabration around this point. Send dad to get FPs for Buzz Lightyear.
11. Work in parade, then Buzz lightyear.
11. Take the Liberty Belle river boat.
12. Head out to Tom Sawyer's Island. Shoot the guns at Fort Langhorn, they may not be there much longer.
13. Catch country bear jamboree.
14. Take the train from Frontierland back to Main st.
15. Eat at Chef Mickey's
16. Upon returning, ride Cinderella's caruosel and work your way back to toontown.
17 see fireworks and spectromagic parade.

Depending on crowds, you might have to subtract a few rides, or add Carousel of progress and Aladdin if things are going well.

 

[April in Disney]

This is what I would do.
As they open the gate send your DH straight to peterpan to get fast passes and meet him in line for Dumbo.where you should park stroller.
Dumbo
go to winnie the pooh
Philharmagic
its a small world
you should be able to use peterpan fast passes.
send DH to Buzz to get fastpasses and to meet you in line for speedway.
Speedway
Buzz
send DH to get fastpass for thunder mountain and meet him for quick lunch somewhere. Casey or Pecos Bill,...
Pirates
Thunder
Splash
if you are lucky enough to have done all of these and still have time and FP are still available.
send DH to get Hunted mansion FP and meet you in line for carpet
Carpet
Hunted Mansion

Don't forget to bring snack for kids. Enjoy fast walking and make us proud.
p.s. I will be there July third

 

[luv2nascar]

you got some really great advise. I justed wanted to add babyswap ticket doesn't have to be used right away. We did that last week I would ride with 9 yr old & DH would ride with her later if we chose. It spaces things out and is like a extra fastpass. Don't forget to check for earlier fastpasses.

 

[suevee]

Here is a copy of my commando day with my grandson age 3 1/2. We went on June 12 which was rated an 8 in the UG. It was a great day! I think we saw everything but the Mountains, the Presidents, Tom Sawyer Island, and the Treehouse. The things he particularly liked we did more than once. Hope it helps! I saved Dumbo for later in the evening because everyone seems to head straight for the castle!!!

We went on a Sunday on June 12. I used valet parking at the Poly. Before I get flamed I did check with the gate, the valets and the front desk. They said there was unlimited parking hours in valet because I was paying for it. I did tip generously. Because I was alone with a three year old who weighs 44 pounds I wanted the easiest and safest parking I could get. (He is also as big as a 4 or 5 year old.) I just couldn't imagine carrying him if he got tired. So my parking bill for the day using valet was around $26 including tips. But it was worth it to me for the safety and ease factors.( $7 at poly, $8 at SoG plus tips)

The park was open from 9am to 11pm. The boy wanted to see characters, parades, rides....everything!! He was so excited he was shivering. Grammy just wanted to watch the boy.

We arrived at the gate at 8:45am. We went in on the right side and rented a stroller then we headed out. Instead of going straight we went to Tomorrow land through the Noodle station. The first thing we saw was Buzz and Stich!! Perfect first pictures..Then we went right on Buzz ride and the car ride. The boy loves his cars. Then we went on Winnie the Pooh twice, picked up a fast pass for Peter Pan, went on Philaharmonic and Small World then used our fast pass for Peter. It was then around 11:15 and time for lunch. So we retrieved our PS at Chrystel Palace and were one of the first people seated.

Lunch was good and the character interaction fantastic. Especially when boy sang "Deep in the Hundred Acre Woods" in total, on key (can you tell I am bragging?) to Pooh. It was beautiful....

Then we went to Adventure land. We got a Fast pass for Jungle Cruise, rode on Pirates, saw Tiki, rode Aladdin, then did the Jungle Cruise. Then we went to the front of MK turned in our stroller and rode the train to Toon Town to visit Mickey's House. When we saw Mickey he was just so excited!! The boy told Mickey about all of Mickey's friends he had seen. He believed so hard!!!

Then we stood in line to see the Princesses and guess what? He was SHY!! Buzz, Stitch, 6 foot Mickey and Pooh and friends he takes in stride, but show him a Princess and fear raises it head.... especially when they try to talk to him

So we got back on the train for a break at SoG. We rode the boat back. It is about 3 pm and our longest wait was for the Princesses.

By 6 we are back in the park and at LTT for dinner. I have to admit though the boy loved it, I was disappointed in the food and interaction of characters, but then they had to live up to POOH!!!!

After dinner it was raining so we headed to the Haunted Mansion!!! This boy is great. I explained these are funny ghosts and they play tricks on us. The boy loves escalators, so I tell him we are going into an escalator room that will get dark then we play a game and all yell really loud to make the lights come back on it. He LOVED it!!! I was so proud. He really like the ghost sitting in grammy's lap.

So then we go do the teacups, buzz again, and the people transit mover. It is now almost nine so we go to frontier land to see the parade which was cancelled. But we caught the last show of the Bear Jamboree!!! Again magic in the making for a 3 year old boy. Then we got fast pass for Pooh, rode People mover again, and the saw the Philaharmonic again. Got a fastpass for Peter. Went to see Pooh. Rode on Dumbo DURING the FIREWORKS like in the commercial. Saw Philaharmonic one last time...can you tell he liked this? Rode Peter Pan as our last ride and went back to Fronteerland to catch the 11pm parade. Everyone else must have either left early or gone to front because we only wated 20 minutes for the parade to arrive at 11:15 and we had no problems sitting right at the wire. He was mesmerized. We leisurely strolled out of the park. Took the resorts monorail as I was parked in the valet parking at the Poly. We were the only ones there....so our last ride was in front of the monorail. We had an amazing time....he kept going like the energizer bunny. If I can help with any questions, just let me know.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My own tips for next time...don't take someone else's kid LOL!

We had a great time....we started our circuit in Tomorrowland---then Fantasyland where we got a huge rainstorm. Just before the storm--we walked right into Alice. Then a sound of thunder--they let her meet with us and one more family before she had to leave. We rode Pooh---then carousel, Fantasia (blanking on the name), Peter Pan--lunch at Columbia Harbour House--then onto Frontierland.

We were making good time until our guest became Drama Queen with her headaches. I felt sympathy for her at first--hubby took her to first aid. I think she liked the special attention--then we went from Commando to caving to what she wanted to do--and when we shifted back to what we wanted to do...hmmm..those headaches came back.

We did really well (could have done better if not for the drama of our guest).

The only thing we will not do again is drive in and out on the same day for an all day event at the parks.

But I accomplished what we would do on a normal day and the only line we waited in was for the judges tent characters and a 20 minute wait for a 2nd ride on buzz in the afternoon. Scooted through everything else in quite he efficient fashion due to fast passes, a well timed downpour, and good old fashion luck.

 

[Amyality]

1. Buzz Lightyear...ride it twice
2. Send runner for Space Mountain Fast Passes for grown ups.
3. Pooh
4. Snow White
5. Peter Pan (*those who FP space mountain go back while kids do adventureland)
6. Phillaharmagic
7. Runner pull FP for HH
7. Be sure you have PS for lunch somewhere, you will appreciate the nice cool rest.
8. after lunch do HH
9. Pull FP for Jungle Cruise
10. Wait in line for Pirates
10a. Runner pull FP for BTM
11. Ride train over to toontown and work your way through there.
13. Be sure to have PS for Dinner, kids will probably pass out at the table.
14. Ride SM
15. Ride BTM, sometimes in the evening the line is not bad for BTM and you won't need a FP.
16. Get an ice cream and position for parade.

**GET A COPY OF THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE to tweak this!!!!
** SMART MOVE ON BRINGING YOUR OWN STROLLER!!!
** Did not include Dumbo, that ride is so "county fair" and is a waste of valuable time (IMHO), tell your kids they have the same ride at the fair and you will take them on it then. It is a slow loader = long line and the ride is short. Also, if you have a weak stomach - at all - skip the teacups, UGH!

 

[erikthewise]

My own tips for next time...don't take someone else's kid LOL!

Sometimes you have to learn these things the hard way.... usually one's own kids are trouble enough!

Glad you had such a good time though! I guess July 4 during the day is not as bad as I thought -- everyone sleeping in so they can go to the evening fireworks.