Need help from MGM experts

[ErinInCT]

DD's (4 & 1) can't really handle more then 5 or so hours at a park so I am trying to plan our MGM day. We'll be there the end of this month so I am going on the assumption that it won't be very crowded. Here is what I have:

Arrive around 3pm & watch S&MC parade at 3:30pm (25 min)

Grab FP for Little Mermaid

Watch Playhouse Disney at 4:15pm (20 min show)

Watch Little Mermaid btwn 5 & 5:30pm hopefully (15 min show)

Go to B&TB at 6:30pm (25 min show)

Grab food at Rosie's or Eddie's & eat in seats for Fantasmic

Fantasmic at 8pm

Can I get all of this done?
We have no morning plans so I can split this up if you all think it would be better & less rushed. We would like to do Muppets too but I didn't think I could fit it in unless we got there b4 the 3:30 parade & that is a looooong day for little ones. If I did am & pm with a break here is my proposed agenda:

Arrive whenever we get there (no rush)

Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, Muppets

Home to swim, rest, whatever

Back for parade, 5:30pm showing of B&TB. Leisurely dinner (probably counter service) & grab dessert to eat while we wait for Fantasmic. (Maybe have Dsis watch kids - maybe at HISTK playground - while dh & I go on RnRRC & ToT)

For some reason I just didn't feel like going there, coming back & then going back at night. I thought the am might be a nice time to relax at FW (where we are staying) & maybe hike to the petting zoo or ride water mice - just do something non park related. But I hate to be running around & not taking time to smell the roses at MGM. So please let me know what you think!
Thanks!!!

 

[ErinInCT]

Also, if there is anything you think a 4 yr old girl would like other then what I mentioned, please let me know. She *might* like GMR but I'm not sure so if anyone had kids who liked this, let me know!!
Thanks again!

 

[raysnkaysmom]

Lemme just say this..you have to wait in line forever (about an hr) to make it into the Playhouse Disney show... and....if it's crowded at MGM, the Little Mermaid may be out of Fast Passes!! Just was my luck anyways!!
But...those are definilty must sees And...Fantasmic is great! Good Luck
Also...the Muppet thing, you should try to make it! Your 4 yr old will NOT be ready to leave, I think you can make it a longer day, even with that little one
Just my opinion!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I think that I would split it up into morning/evening. That way you can be a little more flexible and not do so much scheduling and rushing. We waited a long time for GMR, but don't know if that is the norm. Also, make sure you get in line plenty early for Playhouse Disney--I got in line 15 minutes before the show on a slow Feb day and almost didn't get in. That's a hard one to wait for with little kids, but they like it.

As to spending the morning at FW and going on a hike...you can do that at home. I know, I live in MD, too.

What day will you be at MGM? We plan to be there Wed, 9/29. Funny, you're looking forward to your first trip with kids. We're looking forward to our first WDW trip without the kids.

T&B

 

[kilee]

I didn't see what day of the week or when you're going-- that kind of matters. I don't think in all honesty you'll be able to piggy back those shows like that. It's really hard to get into all of them one right after another. Therefore, I'd either cut 1 out-- or plan on alittle more time. You know your kids best and how much time they can handle.

Personally, I'm not much for the leaving and returning thing either. So, I would just do what you can and leave the rest for next time. I like relaxing time-- it's nice to have. The other thing--- I would plan on actually being inside the MGM gate and in my spot (if you want front row sitting) for the parade within no more than 30-40 minutes. Seems like even during value season the crowds come out of the woodwork for the parades.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

The first time we went with kids, they were 1 and 4 also. They loved everything on your list plus the playground and Muppets. This year my DD did not like Little Mermaid because it scared her. GMR is great for parents, it didn't do a lot for my kids. We have done the first Playhouse Disney show. This year we got really lucky and walked right in before they closed the doors. I prefer to go in the morning. We then take the boat to Beaches and Cream for lunch. One other thing, the playground drove me crazy. It was too crowded. Lucky for me, this year it was being refurbished!! If they don't already know about it, I would skip it. The Boneyard at AK is much less crazy!

 

[jeleadams]

We went for the first time in Jan with a 5 & 4 year old granted we didn't have a baby with us but we left the hotel by 6:30 and didn't get back until after park closing. We were only going to try it on the first day and see how they held up but they were fine. No whinning about being tired or anything they went all day long with no problem and would wake up the next morning ready to go. Plus when they're little heads hit the pillows they were out!!!

 

[Suzanne74]

We just got back from Disney and we thought MGM would only be a 4-5hr day but we were wrong and that was with NO lines. My dd 3 really liked it there. There were a TON of characters there. More than any other park. She really liked JoJo and Golliath and the toy story and monsters inc characters.

Anyway, we too don't like to go back after a break so we spent a lot of our week splitting the days but at different parks. So we went to MGM our first day and then to Epcot that night. We ended up going back to MGM later on in the week after a day at MK - just for a few hours and to see Fantasmic.

Here is what we did..

-saw characters and had some photo ops
-went to Little Mermaid - nowait, walked right in
- Playhouse Disney is right next to Mermaid but next show was 20min with no line. Went to see JoJo and phot op with Mickey.
-back to Playhouse
-small snack break
-Muppets 3D then more characters!
-Honey... movie set playground. DD LOVED that and we had to drag her out of there - she really needed a nap!! We stayed from 10:30am to 3pm (planned on leaving at 2pm but characters and playground held us up)

Later on in the week we arrived at MGM after dd's nap @ 6pm. Went to B&TB (dd loved that too!) and then we shot out of there and did the child swapped so DH and I went on RRC and T of T. Then we went straight over to Fantasmic (dd HATED it - WAY too loud) and we ended up leaving early and beat the crowd home.


Really you are still going to be there in Sept and there tends not to be lines like the norm. Our entire stay there, there was no FP because it wasn't needed. There was NO wait for anything. I wouldn't try to crame it all in though and if you can you should try the RRC and TofT. They are worth it!! If you can't hop parks, then I would take a break - esp if it is hot out and they run around the play set. I was surprised how exhausted our "never stop for anything" dd got down at Disney. She easily napped over 2 hrs everyday. It made the nights much more pleasant.

HTH

 

[swilphil]

I would try to do one morning and one evening at MGM. We usually do them on different days. Are you sure about the show times? Depending on the time of year, the shows don't play that late in the evening, like the 6:30 B& TB. Can you get your FP before the parade.

Definitely do the playground and the muppets. My 4 year old loved it. He also liked Tower of Terror, but he is a wild child. He also loved the Great Movie Ride, and so did his 2 year old brother.

On two trips during the summer, we never have waited long (10 min tops) to get into Disney Playhouse, especially if you go later in the afternoon. But make sure you're there before the show time because they close the doors promptly. We sat in the back or middle, which wasn't bad at all. You actually have a harder time seeing the whole stage if you sit in front.

 

[ErinInCT]

We're going on a Tues (EE) but will not go early as we are not early people!!
I think I will definately split it up. Hmm, in fact Tues is the only Spectro showing which we would miss due to Fantasmic (oh, I got ear muffs for dd4 for the loud stuff which she can use until she gets used to the sound!) so maybe I'll do MGM in the morn & MK in the eve & then do MGM Fantasmic another evening. Have to go back & rethink my agenda! But that's half the fun of planning!!
Thanks for all the super great advice!

 

[bigbabyblues]

I'm going to split our day at MGM with a break/nap in between. We're going to go in the morning and hopefully do everything we want in one day, but if not, I've planned part of a 2nd day later in our trip. I really want my kids to see the parade there, since they love JoJo, Rollie Pollie Ollie, etc. that are in the parade.

We hope to:
Meet TS characters at Al's Toy Barn
Great Movie Ride
Playhouse Disney
Beauty and Beast
Parade
Muppets
Little mermaid

Whatever else we have time for that we want to do.

Enjoy your planning, it's part of the fun!

Steph

 

[momxx5]

You may want to check MGM schedule, because sometimes B&B does not have a late showing in the day.

With Playhouse Disney, I don't think it will be a problem - there is no bad seat in the house - actually there are no seats - LOL! So even waiting until the doors open, you probably will get in.

We did MGM from opening until the parade - then back to resort for the day. Another night we went back for more rides, however we have never done Fantasmic. Although I would love to see it someday, my children enjoy the rides and I just cannot imagine devoting 1hr of waiting to see Fantasmic.

Your DD's will love MGM!

 

[ErinInCT]

I got the B&TB time from Steve Soares' website. This was for this week but I figured not much will change in the next 2 weeks. But I will certainly check back b4 our trip to confirm the times of all the shows. And I'll pick up a times schedule when we go in the morning. I would hate to miss B&TB!!
Anyone have info on the backlot tour? Is this something a child might like?

 

[K and K's Mommy]

When my son was 4 he LOVED Back Lot Tour. I'm not sure why. It really isn't geared toward kids, but it is one of his favorites. He likes Catastrophe Canyon, and the part at the beginning where they show the fire and water special effects. I would still tell you to only do it if you have time. The other stuff is better for kids. My son also likes Star Tours, and he has never seen Star Wars. I'm not sure if the height requirement is 40 or 44 inches.

 

[Suzanne74]

Just a quick follow-up to some others too.

We just came back and there were no morning Beauty shows, only late dy shows. I was really surprised. Only 3 shows, 2ish, 4ish and 6:40pm which is the one we ended up doing when we went back for night time stuff. The sitting area is HUGE and ours wasn't even close to capacity. If you do want to do TofT or RRC then make a quick jump out of there since they are right across from the theater.

Also - there were open seats for Fantasmic too - we walked right in. I don't see any reason to wait the far ahead of time, esp in Sept.

 

[tjmw2727]

I am not an 'expert' but MGM seems to be the one park my girls could handle "all day" just seems not so over the top for them. More shows than rides (they are not tall enough for RnRc etall) and lots of characters!

We generally arrive later in the day (11ish) after a late relaxing breakfast and a morning swim. I plan an early ps for dinner, H&V or 50's prime time are great for kids to give us a break around 4:30 ish. I grab a FP for VOTLM at arrival and then hit Playhouse Disney, generally we can use the FP right after PHD. The S&MC parade is my dd's favorite so we never miss and then the only other must due is B&TB. Between character greetings and a few other attractions and dinner we are usually quite fresh even as its comes time for fantasmic.

TJ

 

[lentesta]

This sounds like a question for Matt at MGMStudios.org.

Len

 

[QuickGold]

Originally posted by lentesta
This sounds like a question for Matt at MGMStudios.org.

Dont mind if I do....

Erin emailed me but here's my response in case others are interested....

Your afternoon plan is doable, but you may find yourself doing the "commando thing" and going from point A to point B with nothing in the middle. With your
kids, they may want to meet the characters, which tend to be all over the park. Of course, they may be the kind of kids who are petrified of meeting them.

Ignoring that, let's focus on crowds. If you go to http://www.mgmstudios.org/wait.html you can see a listing of historical wait
times from the Studios. There's good news and bad news. Good news is, 9/28 was a day I took crowd levels last year, so we know exactly how it was last year. The bad news is crowd levels aren't totally small. In my opinion, I
think you'll be fine. Mermaid will be the most crowded attraction on your
list, followed by Beauty. Also, you have to hope you can get a FP for a
showing that will fit in with the rest of your schedule. I don't mean to
scare you, but I just want to give you realisitic expectations.

So in summary, I think you'll be fine. Try to get there as early as you
can. Also, do your kids not want to experience Playhouse Disney? Hope this helps!

 

[ErinInCT]

Thanks Matt - now how the heck did you find my post on this thread? Amazing!!
Yes, we want to do PH Disney & definately see the characters! DD has her autograph book ready & waiting. I am a commando type person but am trying to reform for this trip so I don't stress out the kids. I think I will play it by ear & see how they do on Sun & Mon at MK. If it seems like they can go longer then I'll try to get there around 2pm to grab my FP for VotLM & watch Muppets b4 the parade & then I think we can fit in PHDisney, VotLM & B&TB after the parade. I'll plan a full day with break & a half day & decide on Tues morning what to do!!!
Thanks so much - all of you!!!
Erin