ONE DAY AT MK... Tell me your thoughts on how I should proceed EDIT: FINAL PLAN UPDATE

[tortilla24]

Wow, I am shocked by the number of people that agree with this plan. The commandos are in the house!

I think your FP are way too aggressive and on opposite sides of the park. I would try to pick which side you are going to start on and work your way around in logical order and space out those FP's. You are leaving zero time to take it all in and enjoy Magic Kingdom. What about stopping in stores, taking pics, grabbing snacks, etc? Forget about trying to get all the attractions in. All of these plans you have in the middle of your FP's have lines and ride times and you have zero time built in.

Lets say you get to space mountain at 10:25 and it takes 10-15 minutes to get on the ride, 5 minutes to ride, a few minutes to walk through the gift shop or out of the attraction it will put you at like 10:50am at best. Now you want to get in Speedway and Buzz before your FP in Frontierland on the extreme opposite side of the park? June is going to be fairly busy so I would expect 30-40 minutes to get each of those done in Tomorrowland.

Having Splash and Thunder FP close together is fine, I just think you should adjust that Space to either allow time to do other things over there or do it later at night.

Tom Sawyer island can take 1hr+ to take the raft over and explore. Sometimes you cant even take the first raft back because of the crowds.

For a nice lunch in the a/c, try the Plaza on Main St. Awesome place!

its a long day but definitely "do-able". I am just not convinced your back and forth between lands, resorts, parades, fireworks, etc is going to get it done.

I would try and do the lands clockwise or counterclockwise and hit all the things in between you listed.

For example

At rope drop, hit adventure land and do jungle cruise, aladdins, pirates. Then move into Frontierland to hit Splash and Thunder. Do Tom Sawyers and then onto Haunted Mansion etc.

I just think that puts you in logical order and you can do all the things in the middle and enjoy your day.

No matter what you do, dont ruin your time by running around crazy. Enjoy yourselves!

I appreciate your perspective - I haven't been since the 90s so I'm glad I posted to get people's thoughts!

I tried to make the plan lose - if we can't get to Speedway or Buzz in that timeframe, we're happy to come back to it later in the day - maybe even get a FP+ for it. But I do see what you're saying about crossing over into different lands. Sadly, it looks like there are no more FP+ for either Splash or Thunder for the entire day so I'll likely be keeping it as-is.

I may change the strategy a bit though and start with Tomorrowland at rope drop (do Buzz, Speedway, Laugh Floor, Carousel) and then our Space FP+ early in the window. We'll then wander over to Adventureland and wait for Pirates if we're making fine timing (it's really the only must-do for us there) and do our FP+ in Frontierland for Splash and Thunder. Eat lunch at the park (maybe Pecos Bill or bring a lunch to eat at Tom Sawyer island).

After, head to Liberty Square for Haunted Mansion (will try to FP+). Then to Fantasyland to wait in a crazy 7DMT line - 90 minutes will surely be crazy but I hear the line is a nice one to wait in. After we can do whatever has a short line - maybe Small World or Philharmagic. Anything we didn't get to do we can go back and try to cover, anything they want to redo we can try to.

I know we will not be able to do everything as we only have 1 day. Character interactions, shopping in stores, etc. are all bonuses to us and while rides are a priority, we do intend to enjoy ourselves. I'm going with 2 boys who have never been before and will probably never know what they're missing if they don't ride, lets say Jungle Cruise, for example.

 

[tortilla24]

Personally I would not spend the money, even $10 for touringplans, as much of the advance planning is common sense and can be learned here on this blog! $10 touringplans no matter how detailed and planned can not assure you a great time as many variables simply are out of their control (crowds, weather, unexpected ride closures). If you use crowd calendar, research meals and venues, prioritize attractions and events, schedule effective FP times and attractions, you can pretty much organize the day as best as would be possible by anyone. Then keep an open and flexible mind during the day to change and adapt as needed.

Thanks for your perspective! I've read up on a bunch of touring plans thus far. Realizing everyone has their favorite way to do things!

 

[missangelalexis]

What I liked about your plan was the fact that everything seems very loose. You definitely understand that you may not get to everything at a given time!

I think you will be fine getting to your Frontierland FPs after Space Mountain.

I honestly would stick to trying to ride SDMT at rope drop. 90 minutes is a long time to wait later in the day. You could do that at rope drop and then head to Tomorrowland to do Buzz and the Speedway before your Space Mountain FP. Laugh Floor and Carousel can be done at any point in the day.

 

[Ryan2016]

On our last trip mine train was the big ride and it got up to a 90 min wait so if can get there in the morning that is the ride to do. Or get a fast pass if possible.

Haunted pirates buzz are rides you should try to get as your second set of fps

If you have a phone in the parks you can download the Disney parks app and show real time wait times in the park so can plan on the run through the park

Peter Pan also usually has a long wait too

If you want a reservation the plaza is great place for lunch or dinner and milkshakes are awesome! Or we pick something up at caseys and sit in the park somewhere. Mini corn dogs are good there.

Just a reminder if you are there all day take breaks or enjoy the ac in the stores and have fun!

 

[tortilla24]

What I liked about your plan was the fact that everything seems very loose. You definitely understand that you may not get to everything at a given time!

I think you will be fine getting to your Frontierland FPs after Space Mountain.

I honestly would stick to trying to ride SDMT at rope drop. 90 minutes is a long time to wait later in the day. You could do that at rope drop and then head to Tomorrowland to do Buzz and the Speedway before your Space Mountain FP. Laugh Floor and Carousel can be done at any point in the day.

Thank you! I agree - the 90 minutes feels a bit dreadful. 7DMT rope drop may be the best bet. How long are wait times usually at rope drop?

 

[TraceyPoppins]

I don't think you need a touring plan either. A park map and a strategy like the one you've described is all you need. We spent one day in MK on our last trip and it was Easter Monday. Arguably a busy day. We arrived at opening and our plan was very much like yours, moving land to land. I wouldn't waste time leaving the park for lunch when there are so many options inside, and all menus are on the app. We had lunch at the Plaza also, it's a hidden gem! When we needed a rest and some AC, we hit the low wait attractions like COP, Tiki Room, Presidents, etc. Have an amazing time!

 

[Kona65]

Hey all -

I've got a party of 4 and we have just one day at the Magic Kingdom (June 14th). I will also preface with this: the 2 boys (ages 14 & 9) don't necessarily have connections to some of these characters (Pooh, Peterpan, Dumbo, Ariel) or to "ride nostalgia." We're offsite so I booked FP+ 30 days out as follows:

Space Mountain, 10:25 - 11:25
Splash Mountain, 11:35 - 12:35
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, 12:35-1:35

I'm thinking our plan may go like this:

As we plan on making it for rope-drop, I think we may head to Fantasyland first and if the line looks manageable, do Mine Train. If the line is crazy, we'll do Peter Pan, It's a Small World and Mickey's PhilharMagic. Since Magic Kingdom extended their evening hours to 11pm now, we may just try to do 7DMT later in the day - maybe even try to snag a FP+ for it on the phone.

Then head to Tommorrowland for our first fast pass at Space Mountain. While still at Tomorrowland we will do the Speedway and Buzz if its not too crowded at that time.

Then head to Frontierland for our second fast pass at Splash Mountain. We'll let the boys let out some energy at Tom Sawyer island before our third FP+ for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.





At this point it'll be lunch time and we will probably take the monorail at eat at a resort's food court and enjoy some AC. We will look up times to see what else we can get a FP+ on upon our return.

The plan will be to be back at MK by 3:30pm (if we get back sooner, we can try to see some Festival of Fantasy parade). We'll do the rides we didn't get to earlier in the day.

We'll head to Adventureland for Pirates and then Liberty Square for Haunted Mansion (hoping we will manage to snag a FP+ for one of these). We can then do any other rides/shows the kids show interest in - maybe Barnstormer, Aladdin's carpets, Monsters Inc laugh floor, Jungle Cruise, Peoplemover, Carousel, etc. OR we can ride any repeats if they want to wait in line for them. If we didn't get to do 7DMT, we will likely try to do it here, around 5pm-ish - is this doable?

Then grab dinner around 7:30pm.

Catch the Electrical Parade at 9pm, Wishes at 10 and then outta there! I have a feeling the kids will be exhausted and can't make it to 11pm or else I'd do Wishes and then MSEP at 11.

So... tell me what you think! Am I expecting to be able to do too many rides before 1:35 on a June day? Would you plan the tour differently? Any help is appreciated - I haven't been to MK since 20 years ago! Please let me know if I should move this thread to the main board.

Looks like a great plan. Why do you need our help. We may be calling you for advice.

 

[krfender]

We did mine train at rope drop and before we made it the line said 30 min but it was only 10 so don't be discouraged, if you go straight there at rope drop you'll be in good shape

 

[tortilla24]

Looks like a great plan. Why do you need our help. We may be calling you for advice.

Thank you! That's nice to hear- I will definitely report back on how it went and what we managed to do. I hope it'll help someone else down the line!

 

[tortilla24]

We did mine train at rope drop and before we made it the line said 30 min but it was only 10 so don't be discouraged, if you go straight there at rope drop you'll be in good shape

Oh that's great to hear! Thanks! Feeling much better attempting it at rope drop.

 

[hamilkm]

Your plan sounds very similar to mine for next week taking my teenage cousin for his first visit. My only recommendation is to save philharmagic, carousel of progress, laugh floor, hall of presidents, etc for the afternoon. They all usually have no line and the air conditioned break is wonderful. I never do any of these before lunch even if it means a little back tracking. AC in the afternoon is worth it!

 

[tortilla24]

I don't think you need a touring plan either. A park map and a strategy like the one you've described is all you need. We spent one day in MK on our last trip and it was Easter Monday. Arguably a busy day. We arrived at opening and our plan was very much like yours, moving land to land. I wouldn't waste time leaving the park for lunch when there are so many options inside, and all menus are on the app. We had lunch at the Plaza also, it's a hidden gem! When we needed a rest and some AC, we hit the low wait attractions like COP, Tiki Room, Presidents, etc. Have an amazing time!

Thank you! I had no clue about the menus on the app - sooo convenient! I'll keep the Plaza as a possible option if we need a sit-down meal. I'm so glad to hear a plan like this worked out well for you!

 

[tortilla24]

Your plan sounds very similar to mine for next week taking my teenage cousin for his first visit. My only recommendation is to save philharmagic, carousel of progress, laugh floor, hall of presidents, etc for the afternoon. They all usually have no line and the air conditioned break is wonderful. I never do any of these before lunch even if it means a little back tracking. AC in the afternoon is worth it!

Perfect! I'm glad to hear you've got a similar plan. I will definitely save those attractions for later, thank you. Have an amazing time! I appreciate your chiming in

 

[RayO]

Just a tip; if you walk by the HM during your travels to the different sections of the park, it has a 13 minute stand by time, do that ride right then and there. When HM puts 13 min stand by time on the board it is their little joke stating that there is no wait time at all.

 

[tortilla24]

Just a tip; if you walk by the HM during your travels to the different sections of the park, it has a 13 minute stand by time, do that ride right then and there. When HM puts 13 min stand by time on the board it is their little joke stating that there is no wait time at all.

Haha I love that! Thanks for the tip

 

[mousehappync]

We did a 10/10 day at Spring Break-- like you, we only had one day, and my boys are not into characters. I planned our sequence of rides really carefully, taking out things like Philharmagic (that have a consistent wait time) and filled our morning with things where the line builds. We did Fantasyland, then Adventureland (with a pit stop at HM) then New Fantasyland and then Tomorrowland. We did not ride Space (used a FP for Wishes instead) or Buzz because of lines, but these were the ONLY two rides we didn't ride in the entire park. We used our FP for Splash and BTMRR in the early afternoon and visited Tom Sawyer's at the same time. We "rested" on Peoplemover and Laugh Floor after that. Then dinner in the park, a little shopping, then Wishes (at 9.). We were SOOO tired that day-- I really wish we had been able to take a park break, but we stayed busy and on an attraction the whole time, and it decided better exhausted after one day with all our time in the parks. We did go on an EMH morning, and we got SO much done between 7-10 am. Your plan sounds great!

 

[cel_disney]

You have gotten some sound comments above. I would recommend a few changes - skip fantasyland attractions small world and mickeys philharmagic until later in the afternoon. There is never a wait for philharmagic beyond the show that's going on - and it's a great air conditioning break in the heat of he afternoon. It's a long attraction and I wouldn't want to use prime early morning time on it.

I think you should plan to go to the laugh floor - perfect for families and again a no wait activity in the afternoon.

I would suggest you keep trying to get 7DMT FP. If you do - I would highly recommend that you grab that and then do Tomorrowland at rope drop - Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear first. Be warned that the wait times posted early in the morning (within first 30-40 minutes of opening) are often inflated - so don't be scared if it says 30 minutes when you walked there from the rope! It's not!!

I also think you should pencil in trying to see Goofy and Donald or atleast Talking Mickey.

Afternoon favorites for us:
Laugh floor
Tom Sawyers Island
Philharmagic
Small World
Parade

We also try to hit Haunted Mansion in the afternoon - there are definitely times when the wait isn't unmanageable and the line is interactive and very fun! (It is an outdoor line with fans and is covered but its still a lot of fun!)

To share my families preferences incase it helps you - We prefer to FP Pirates and walk on Haunted Mansion.
- We also prefer to walk on Big Thunder and FP Splash.
- We are avid users of touringplans and the lines AP that comes with the $12 yearly cost. The best part of the app is that you can see what the expected wait times will be for the entire day and you can decide if you should 'ride now or ride later' as you decide what to do next.

Have fun - enjoy the magic!

 

[tortilla24]

We did a 10/10 day at Spring Break-- like you, we only had one day, and my boys are not into characters. I planned our sequence of rides really carefully, taking out things like Philharmagic (that have a consistent wait time) and filled our morning with things where the line builds. We did Fantasyland, then Adventureland (with a pit stop at HM) then New Fantasyland and then Tomorrowland. We did not ride Space (used a FP for Wishes instead) or Buzz because of lines, but these were the ONLY two rides we didn't ride in the entire park. We used our FP for Splash and BTMRR in the early afternoon and visited Tom Sawyer's at the same time. We "rested" on Peoplemover and Laugh Floor after that. Then dinner in the park, a little shopping, then Wishes (at 9.). We were SOOO tired that day-- I really wish we had been able to take a park break, but we stayed busy and on an attraction the whole time, and it decided better exhausted after one day with all our time in the parks. We did go on an EMH morning, and we got SO much done between 7-10 am. Your plan sounds great!

I'm so glad to hear it went well for you! It's not an EMH hour for our trip so the 9-10 am window will be a busy one but I'm confident we'll be able to do the rides we want. Thank you for sharing your experience. I feel so much more confident in this plan now!

 

[tortilla24]

You have gotten some sound comments above. I would recommend a few changes - skip fantasyland attractions small world and mickeys philharmagic until later in the afternoon. There is never a wait for philharmagic beyond the show that's going on - and it's a great air conditioning break in the heat of he afternoon. It's a long attraction and I wouldn't want to use prime early morning time on it.

I think you should plan to go to the laugh floor - perfect for families and again a no wait activity in the afternoon.

I would suggest you keep trying to get 7DMT FP. If you do - I would highly recommend that you grab that and then do Tomorrowland at rope drop - Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear first. Be warned that the wait times posted early in the morning (within first 30-40 minutes of opening) are often inflated - so don't be scared if it says 30 minutes when you walked there from the rope! It's not!!

I also think you should pencil in trying to see Goofy and Donald or atleast Talking Mickey.

Afternoon favorites for us:
Laugh floor
Tom Sawyers Island
Philharmagic
Small World
Parade

We also try to hit Haunted Mansion in the afternoon - there are definitely times when the wait isn't unmanageable and the line is interactive and very fun! (It is an outdoor line with fans and is covered but its still a lot of fun!)

To share my families preferences incase it helps you - We prefer to FP Pirates and walk on Haunted Mansion.
- We also prefer to walk on Big Thunder and FP Splash.
- We are avid users of touringplans and the lines AP that comes with the $12 yearly cost. The best part of the app is that you can see what the expected wait times will be for the entire day and you can decide if you should 'ride now or ride later' as you decide what to do next.

Have fun - enjoy the magic!

Thank you! Everyone has been totally helpful here.

I appreciate the tip about saving the Fantasyland attractions for later on in the day. If I can snag 7DMT I will certain take it but I haven't seen it pop up at all over the past few days. I'll keep checking

Thanks for sharing your family's preferences. This will help with all subsequent FP+'s.

 

[Sweetsarj]

We just did 1 day at MK after our Disney cruise on Saturday. We did so many rides with our 3 kids under 6, used mostly FP and rider switch and fill in rides between FPs. Really loved the ability to book the next fast pass just after scanning our MB for the previous FP. This helped so much.