Overwhelmed! Please help with one-day MK plan

[kellycol]

My family (DS, and daughters, 6 & 9) are going to MK for one day ... I know, it's short ... on Monday, June 16. I'm trying to come up with the basics of a plan and am feeling OvErWeLmEd!

My kids aren't daredevils, but I think they could handle a pretty long day. We're staying off-site and have a car.

Would any of you experts care to weigh-in with a 5 or 10 point plan for a good day. (We'll be doing La Nouba/DisneyQuest Tuesday and Blizzard Beach on Wednesday).

But I don't know where to start with MK plan...
Something as simple as... head to this area, here are three can't miss rides, if/when to do the monorail. We'll probably want to stay for fireworks, but what about parade?

Does anyone have ideas? (And if there's a better place where this has already been answered, please just redirect me.)

Thanks again! The fabulous, quick answers I've already gotten hear has already made this SOOOO much better.

Colleen

 

[JPS439]

Well if you're using your own car you should do the monorail first thing or you'll never get to the MK

It really depends on your kids/ crowd size. If you think they'll like Fantasy land more than anything else head for Peter Pan since that line is always huge.

If they are bored w/ those sorta rides FP jungle cruise and hit pirates. You could do something like that assuming they meet the height req's for Thunder and Splash mountain.

If your kids like running around and the crowds are thick try heading over to Tom Sawyer Island, might have some more open space. Basically play it by ear, if you don't get to something then you've got a reason to return in the future!

 

[JPS439]

Oh yeah, if the lines are long try heading to the really popular rides during the parades, lots of people will be watching the parades and not waiting on the lines

 

[d1gitman]

Would any of you experts care to weigh-in with a 5 or 10 point plan for a good day. (We'll be doing La Nouba/DisneyQuest Tuesday and Blizzard Beach on Wednesday).

Personally i would rethink your wedneday. I don't see how you will fit all of those activities in one day. A half day at BB will go by incredibly fast, an hour or two in disneyquest will feel like 10 min.,you need to allow for travel time, eating, etc...LaNouba is incredible, your kids will be amazed.

As far as MK, this is how we plan our days...first decide what shows, parades, fireworks or other special events are must sees. then decide what you want to do for food (table service or counter service). once you put those on your calender, the rest really kind of fills itself in. for attractions, we head off in the direction that the kids want to start in. We see what the line situation is, if fastpass is necessary, we fastpass an attraction and move on to whatever is the shortest wait. our theory that works for us is to go with the flow and hit things as the lines are short. sometimes it means walking around out of order, but we prefer that over waiting for countless hours in line.

 

[ougrad86]

The Unofficial Guide has an few plans in it for various things. Plan what you want to do, and use FP. We aren't parade people, so we skipped the afternoon parades and the rides were wide open (we did Spectro tho - that is the parade to see).
Not sure if by saying they are not daredevils that they won't want to do the fast rides? I loved space mountain, but by DS, who is not a coaster person, did not like it. However, he loved BMTRR. The UG has good descriptions of the rides as well, so you can decide if it is for you.

 

[kellycol]

One of my kids is OK with mild coasters, the 6 year old is NOT INTERESTED, which is good. It will cross some things off our list.

As for the concern about Tuesday, I might not have written clearly, Tuesday is Downtown Disney (+Quest) and 6 p.m. La Nouba. Wednesday is only Blizzard Beach, then we head out of town in the late afternoon, to Phase Two of Florida Trip.

And a quick ticket question: Is buying online and picking up at will-call any faster than just buying tickets that morning? I'm guessing the lines might be awful? (Also, since we get in Sunday night, we can probably run over there in our rental car to pick up tickets that night... before we go Monday morning? Is there a better way to do this? (I've missed the mailing deadline, although if it would save a lot in line perhaps i should pay for Express Mail???) (We'll only be buying 1-day MYW with Water Park options)


Thanks!

Colleen

 

[mikehn]

A few things to consider to maximize your tour.

1)Arrive early
2)Head to Fantasyland FIRST, followed by other lands as you wish.
3)If fancy sit down meals are not necessary, skip them and just eat fast food.
4) You should plan to take a break around 3pm for dream parade, then again around 9pm for spectro parade.

The most important strategy of all
5) Use fastpass as much as possible. Grab whatever fastpasses you can, then go and wait in line at non fastpass rides. When you are done riding the ride for which you just stood in line for 45 minutes, then go back and immediately ride those you have fastpasses for. Repeat the process all day long.

If you put in a 12 hour day, I think you can see just about everything

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Since you have a car, my suggestion is to go to DTD on Sunday night and get your tickets at Guest Relations there. Get into the Disney mood!

Plan of attack on Monday: arrive at the parking lot at 8:00 when it opens, ride the monorail to MK and be there for rope drop. Hit Fantasyland first, don't miss It's A Small World, Mickey's Philhar-Magic, or Dumbo/Peter Pan/Pooh if your kids want to see everything. Ride the Carrousel. Head toward Frontierland to ride Splash Mountain (or get FP) and head to Pirates (not far away) and Jungle Cruise. Eat lunch at Pecos Bill's. Go to Haunted Mansion, head to Tomorrowland for Buzz Lightyear, Monsters Inc Laugh-In, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Carousel of Progress. If your older ones want to go on Space Mountain or Thunder Mountain (which is actually pretty tame - my 5-yr-old loved it last year, my friend's 7-yr-old loved it in April), you can all get FP and wait in line, then you and your youngest bail out through the "chicken exit" to wait for them at the end.

Take a rest sometime in the late afternoon with a Mickey bar. If you can possibly hack it, stay for SpectroMagic Parade at 9:00 and Wishes fireworks at 10:00. Awesome end to the day!

When you arrive, you might try asking at Guest Services if there are any lunch reservation available for that day. If you have a late lunch (2:00, 3:00) it's a nice break from the heat and a good way to recharge.

Have fun!

 

[kellycol]

Great tips. I found a great one-day sample tour at the Unofficial Guide online. I am going to plan on picking up our tickets Sunday night, and i love the idea for a late sit-down lunch.

I'm getting so excited. I went out and bought handheld fans, lanyards and water today....

Less than two weeks and we're on our way

Colleen

 

[cindy_k]

You may want to take sometime to check out Tom Sawyer's Island.

You get there from a raft in Frontier land over by Splash Mountain.
The island has Caves to explore, bouncy bridges, a playground and a fort that has look out towers and secret escape route.

Kids love this place and it gives them a break from just standing in line and sitting on rides. (Which while fun, I find kids love the chance to run around freelance for a little bit.)

Here's a picture of my son (on right) playing checkers with some kids at the fort. You can see the parents sitting around resting in the background.

Here are two info pages on Tom Sawyer's Island.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/magickingdom/fro-sawyer.htm
http://allearsnet.com/tp/mk/mk_tsi.htm

Have a Great Trip!!

 

[scootch]

There is a cute thing that most people miss.. right beside the castle is Belle's Storybook.. it is usually right after the castle show. Your girls would love it... so after the castle show walk toward the teacups and it will be on your left. Belle tells story, has kids on stage and stays afterwards for a some autographs too.....

Also, try to be part of the Family Fun Day parade... meet by the popcorn stand in front of the castle about 10 min before it starts. Just hang there, someone will show up with all the stuff even though it really isn't marked. You get to be part of the parade going down mainstreet!

 

[tlriv5]

We did MK twice for only one day when my dd's were little. I think the last time we did that our twins were 5 and oldest was 8. We did go in Oct. so the crowds were lower, but we had no problem seeing all that we wanted to see. We get fast passes for rides like Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh and Space Mountain. Rides that we would really be sad to have missed:
Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey's Philarmagic!!, Pirates of Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mt. Railroad, Goofy's Barnstormer, Buzz Lightyear. We like everything else too, but these are my dd's favorite's. We've never been over to Tom Sawyer's Island, we just haven't had time, just too much to see! If the girls want to see characters take them over to the Judge's Tent in Toontown and they have lines for Princesses and two other lines. Our last trip one line had Donald Duck and Chip and Dale. And the other line was Pooh bear and friends. You'll have a great day just relax and enjoy the day!