Only 3 hours for Magic Kingdom - is it worth it??

[sunshineny]

We are going to Disney for my husband's business. Between meetings and other events we will only have 3 hours to explore Magic Kingdom (our son is 2 so we don't really want to be there all day anyway) but was just wondering if it was worth it.

We would like to go on a boat ride in It's a Small World, maybe check out Toontown and Pooh's Playful Spot - are the lines long at these places?? Any other suggestions??

Thanks

 

[asoko]

Small World usually has a fast line. Pooh's thoughful spot is a play area. It hasn't been busy when we went there, but we went at times that were not busy at all. I haven't waited in line for Mickey in Toontown in about 15 years, so I don't know what that is like. We waited for the princesses for about 15 min and got out of line for the fairies because of DD4 needing to go potty.

Where are you staying for the business? If you are staying at the Swan or Dolphin, I think you could ride the boat back and forth to MK and he would have a fun ride. My kids love the monorail too as a ride itself. There is a small carousel and I think train in Downtown Disney too

 

[churchpilot]

It will sooooooooo be worth it. You can walk in, absorb the view of the Castle and then head over and ride Small World and then let the little one play in Pooh's Playful Spot. Depending on the time of arrival will determine how long a wait it will be to see Mickey. With the Fairies drawing all of the Disney faithful, you might be pleasantly surprised. Bring your camera and memories will be wonderful.

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

Anytime you can spend in Disney is worth it, IMHO. There will be a number of rides you can do with your son. Try the train around the park! A great way to soak up the atmosphere!

 

[mitsybella]

I think it would depend on how busy the park is, we went one time where we had 5 hours at the park, we managed to get on 3 rides and eat lunch and it was soooo hot my husband got heat stroke from standing in the lines out in the sun(at the time there was no canopy near the dumbo ride but that has been replaced since) I would not do this again, it was alot of money to spend to get into the park for just a few hours, I would probably go to downtown disney and hang out there.

 

[sunshineny]

We are staying at the Grand Floridian. We leave this coming Sunday and will be there until Wednesday.

Can I take the monorail around Disney without having park tickets? There are a couple of days my husband will be in meetings and I thought this might be a fun activity for one of those days.

Thanks again for all of your relplies.

 

[ireland_nicole]

Yes, absolutely. You can use Disney transportation and visit the different resorts w/o buying theme park tix. There are convention tickets available, have your husband check into those. It might honestly be worth it for you to take your DS to the park even without him. There are a lot of things the two of you could do together.

 

[tiggspring]

In may toontown lines were an 1+hours long unless you got there just as they open at 9:40 not ten as they tell you. Toontown is good place to spend a few hours with a boy that young but only if you get there early otherwise the lines would eat up your three hours. The train ride around the park takes about 20 minutes 10 minutes from toontown to the entrance. If he got tired and didnt want to walk you could get back from toon town with a nice ride. Hope this helps.

 

[Best Aunt]

I think it depends on time of year and time of day.

If you get there at rope drop on a low-attendance day, you probably could do a lot.

If you get there at 1:00 p.m. on a high-attendance day, you might be lucky to experience 2 attractions.

 

[sunshineny]

We are purchasing after 2 PM tickets. So, this time of year at that time what kind of lines can I expect???

Thanks

 

[chloelovesdisney]

If your DH is in meetings, why not go to the parks and have some fun?

 

[hmdavid]

If your DH is in meetings, why not go to the parks and have some fun?

Exactly what I was going to suggest! Enjoy your trip!

 

[MSSANDRA]

I am not sure that it would be worth the price of a ticket for three hours on a summer afternoon. It will be the most crowded and hot time of the day.

I would,strongly suggest getting a whole day price ticket for you (toddler free) and hittting the park at opening and let dad join you afternoon if necessary.

There are a lot of places however you can take a toddler with out a ticket if that is what you neeed to do.
Fort wilderness- petting zoo, pony rides, lots of run room.
Ride boat to Fort Wilderness and back (from ticket tranport Center)
Resort hop riding the monorail.
Enjoy the beautiful GF
Downtown Disney (lego store, toy store, fountains)
Boardwalk

 

[tiggspring]

Sunshineny,

At that time of day I would say no way. That is the hottest most crowded part of the day. All those folk who got there early are still there, although some will start to go back to the pool to beat the heat. All those who had late starts will now be there too and lines I would expect to run in the 45+ mark for everything. I have older kids 4,7,10 and I wouldn't do it with them either. I would stay at the pool or go to Downtown Disney like MSSANDRA suggested. If you really wanted to go to a park I would go to AK, not do any rides but walk the animal paths they are cool and shady the rest of that park is hot and crowed. You also don't mention if you are staying in a WDW resort. If you have never been to WDW before you might not realize its Huge and takes about 20min once at WDW to reach your park and get a parking spot. It can take that long from the moderate and value resorts too. If you are in a real time crunch by the time you get there get the stroller and little one all set, you go through security and walk the 5 min to Fantasy Land or Toon Town it will be time to leave and you might only get to see one or two things. Now if you just want to stroll around and soak up the atmosphere ,visit the shops, see a parade ( you will have to wait in the sun for that) and that's worth the ticket price to you your son is still young enough to not realize all he is missing inside those buildings. For the money I would do something else in WDW or find a smaller attraction in Orlando if you are staying offsite.

 

[tiggspring]

Sorry missed the post where you mentions staying a GF. Hve you looked at what activities may be going on at the GF at that time of day? You may want to hang out at your resort.

 

[sunshineny]

I had thought about going by myself with our 2 year old, however I'm 6 months pregnant and a little nervous about this - especially since I've been having a lot of back pains.

What is Disney Downtown - how do we get there???

Thanks again

 

[tiggspring]

Here are some links including directions for Downtown Disney. It will make for a pleasant day I'm sure.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/downtown/marketplace/

http://allears.net/btp/downtown.htm

 

[2cutekidz]

I am not sure that it would be worth the price of a ticket for three hours on a summer afternoon. It will be the most crowded and hot time of the day.

I would,strongly suggest getting a whole day price ticket for you (toddler free) and hittting the park at opening and let dad join you afternoon if necessary.

There are a lot of places however you can take a toddler with out a ticket if that is what you neeed to do.
Fort wilderness- petting zoo, pony rides, lots of run room.
Ride boat to Fort Wilderness and back (from ticket tranport Center)
Resort hop riding the monorail.
Enjoy the beautiful GF
Downtown Disney (lego store, toy store, fountains)
Boardwalk

I agree completely!!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

We just got back from our trip (and had a great time!), and we did Magic Kingdom for a few hours on our first day in Orlando. In about 3 hours' time, we did Pirates, Small World, Jungle Cruise, flying Carpets and saw Wishes. It was really worth having that extra day!

Of course, we had an 8-day ticket, so adding that extra 3 hours was a nominal fee. Not sure it would have been worth full price of a one-day admission.

Downtown Disney was lots of fun. Could you look into a character dining experience during those 3 hours? You would be able to let your son meet some characters and have some entertainment together. For dining in downtown disney or the resorts you don't need park admission. We LOVED Ohana!

 

[nu2dis]

Maybe not worth the cost, but we have the park hopper for our entire trip. But its worth the effort. We went at rope drop for 3 hours the other day. We rode astro orbiter, speedway, tea cups, barn stormer (twice) and had a snack and rode the train to the exit. Even got to look around Minnie's house and play in a play spot. It was a really fun morning.