Realistic expectation of MM

[rentayenta]

I read the superthread but am wondering how much we can realistically get done on an MM? One will be the Sunday after Thanksgiving and then that following Tuesday. I suspect we can do either the 3 big FL rides: PP, Dumbo, and Matterhorn or do the TL loop: Space ST, and Nemo at most. I am guessing the Tuesday MM

Thoughts? Experiences? Insights.

 

[raftislander]

I have never been there the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but even with big crowds, I think you may be underestimating what you can get done. What sort of group do you have? Young kids or slow movers?? Are you going to be in line at least 20 minutes before the gates for MM open?

On a fairly busy day I have gotten the following done: PP, Dumbo, Alice, Matterhorn, teacups, Toad, Space Mt. and then been at the FP machine at park opening for Sp Mt FP then walked over to Nemo with about a ten minute wait. The problem with getting on Nemo during MM time is the ride itself it takes too long. My trip was before the Star Tours II opened. Now I would be at those FP machines at park opening not Sp Mt.

I did not have any young children or slow movers in my group. But even if you stay in FL you will get alot more done than three rides.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I agree. Even at Christmas we got most of FL done during MM. I'd save Nemo for later (we find its not a long line later in the evening). Since you will have 2 MMs I'd concentrate on FL on one day and Tomorrowland the other.

 

[Peace Mickey Lovers]

I am glad to see this as I have 1 slow walker and young children. I am hoping to get through Fantasyland on MM. thanks

 

[starshine514]

We went to a 9 am MM on a Thursday in May. We did Peter Pan, Dumbo, and the Matterhorn before the park opened. We were there before the MM opening, but were obviously not at the front of the line. I was very disappointed in how little we accomplished. Get in line really early if you expect to accomplish much. We've had better luck in FL on a non-MM day.

 

[Cal-Pie]

I'm happy to see this thread also. I'll be at MM this Thursday. I've had visions in my head comparing it to black friday at Walmart, people throwing elbows right and left. Sounds like it won't be nearly as scary as I've made it out to be.

 

[disneymom23]

We always get to security by 6:20 for a 7:00 MM. My kids like to be first at one of the gates. We walk quickly but we don't run to PP. Then we do Dumbo, Matterhorn, Alice and Toad. Those are our priorities and we always get them done. Then it varies- 2 of my kids like the teacups, we may do Buzz. I always make sure I head into Tomorrowland around 7:45 to be at SM right at 8:00 to grab a FP. Sometimes we will ride SM at 8:00 if the line isn't bad.

I'm not a fan of Nemo so I wouldn't waste a MM on it. If we happen by and the line is short later in the day, we will ride it but we don't go out of our way to do so.

I'm not sure how we'll do this now that Star Tours is open. I don't know if it should be the first or second FP. We like SM better but my kids like ST as well. At the holidays, we will then get HMH FP's. We all love the holiday version and like to ride it multiple times a day.

Oh, and we always go at busy times- summer and the weekend before Thanksgiving. This year we will also be there Christmas week. I'm going into that week with no expectations other than to enjoy the holiday atmosphere. So whatever we accomplish will be fine.

 

[cypressmom]

We were there Saturday for the 7:00 MM. We got to the gates 30 seconds before the 10 second countdown and there were about 20 people ahead of us. We rode Peter pan, Matterhorn, walked to space mountain but it was closed, rode star tours, buzz lightyear 2 times and then walked over to ToonTown for TTMM at about. 7:52. We could easily have done another ride.

 

[rramstad]

One recent MM on a fairly busy week day in July we managed to do every ride in Fantasyland (using the "correct" order) and get over to Star Tours for the FP line with 10 minutes to go. It wasn't hard at all, we were one of the first through security, and the first in our turnstile, and were dead center on the rope drop, first on Peter Pan... We did walk quickly from rope drop to Fantasyland but this is one of the great things about Star Tours, it really draws a lot of people over to Tomorrowland.

(Once we got our ST FP, we hit Space Mountain and moved on from there, grabbing another ST FP 45 minutes later. We never rode ST standby, though we could have.)

 

[rentayenta]

Wow! This is fantastic! I was thinking we'd only get in the first three.


Our group consists of me, DH, and 3 kids (all over 10) and fast walkers. I hate to rush down Main St for the first visit but an empty FL is so tempting.


Looks like the day we arrive, we'll be up at about 5:30 am.

 

[rentayenta]

We went to a 9 am MM on a Thursday in May. We did Peter Pan, Dumbo, and the Matterhorn before the park opened. We were there before the MM opening, but were obviously not at the front of the line. I was very disappointed in how little we accomplished. Get in line really early if you expect to accomplish much. We've had better luck in FL on a non-MM day.

I suspect a 9 am MM is fairly easy for people to make. 7 am on the other hand means in line by 6:30 and much more difficult I would guess.

 

[starshine514]

I suspect a 9 am MM is fairly easy for people to make. 7 am on the other hand means in line by 6:30 and much more difficult I would guess.

Yup! I think that combined with a rainy Tuesday morning culminated in a very crowded Thursday MM. From what I've read, the 7:00 MM are the best. I, however, was horribly disappointed with it. So, I just wanted to set expectations that a later MM can be very crowded. We had arrived at the gates late - only 20 minutes before MM opening.

 

[starshine514]

We went to a 9 am MM on a Thursday in May. We did Peter Pan, Dumbo, and the Matterhorn before the park opened. We were there before the MM opening, but were obviously not at the front of the line. I was very disappointed in how little we accomplished. Get in line really early if you expect to accomplish much. We've had better luck in FL on a non-MM day.

OK. I just went back and re-read my own trip report. Ours was an 8:00 MM that was that busy, not a 9:00 MM.

Sorry for the misinformation.

 

[Hound 109]

We always get to security by 6:20 for a 7:00 MM. My kids like to be first at one of the gates. We walk quickly but we don't run to PP. Then we do Dumbo, Matterhorn, Alice and Toad. Those are our priorities and we always get them done. Then it varies- 2 of my kids like the teacups, we may do Buzz. I always make sure I head into Tomorrowland around 7:45 to be at SM right at 8:00 to grab a FP. Sometimes we will ride SM at 8:00 if the line isn't bad.

I'm not a fan of Nemo so I wouldn't waste a MM on it. If we happen by and the line is short later in the day, we will ride it but we don't go out of our way to do so.

I'm not sure how we'll do this now that Star Tours is open. I don't know if it should be the first or second FP. We like SM better but my kids like ST as well. At the holidays, we will then get HMH FP's. We all love the holiday version and like to ride it multiple times a day.

Oh, and we always go at busy times- summer and the weekend before Thanksgiving. This year we will also be there Christmas week. I'm going into that week with no expectations other than to enjoy the holiday atmosphere. So whatever we accomplish will be fine.

This is my strategy (& my opinion of Nemo) as well.

- Always at the security tent at :15 or :20.
- Always first (or one of the first) at (one of) the turnstiles at :30.
- Walk with a purpose to PP (first....always first) at :01.
- Then use the dis-approved ride order to ride 6-7 more Fantasyland rides.
- (no bathroom breaks allowed till you've done PP, dumbo, matterhorn & Alice...bathroom is next to/behind Alice)
- Get your first FP at ST or SM at :00 of general admission.

 

[Coconut36]

I suspect a 9 am MM is fairly easy for people to make. 7 am on the other hand means in line by 6:30 and much more difficult I would guess.

Very true. We just got back and got very little accomplished on MM to be honest...maybe my expectations were off but the amount of rides pp have talked about didn't happen for us..only a fraction of that in my experience.

We got PP and then a few others in FL and then Star Tours...that was it. I was rather disappointed with the size of the crowds overall and most especially for MM..it really didn't do much for us and the wait through security was outrageous to get in. We got there as early as we could.

 

[rentayenta]

This is my strategy (& my opinion of Nemo) as well.

- Always at the security tent at :15 or :20.
- Always first (or one of the first) at (one of) the turnstiles at :30.
- Walk with a purpose to PP (first....always first) at :01.
- Then use the dis-approved ride order to ride 6-7 more Fantasyland rides.
- (no bathroom breaks allowed till you've done PP, dumbo, matterhorn & Alice...bathroom is next to/behind Alice)
- Get your first FP at ST or SM at :00 of general admission.

Love the no bathroom breaks! DIS-approved or disapproved ride order? I'm think DIS but best to clarify. Would you grab Space or Star? The old ST bugged the ever lovin' crap out of me. It gave me a gnarly headache everytime. My son is a huge Star Wars fan but Space is his favorite coaster. I'm thinking the return time will be within the hour so then I can high tail it over to Indy and grab FPs. Still overall my family's agreed upon favorite ride.

 

[rentayenta]

OK. I just went back and re-read my own trip report. Ours was an 8:00 MM that was that busy, not a 9:00 MM.

Sorry for the misinformation.

That's busy for 8 am and a little worrisome. I think that Sunday will be packed in the morning.

 

[disneymom23]

Wow! This is fantastic! I was thinking we'd only get in the first three.


Our group consists of me, DH, and 3 kids (all over 10) and fast walkers. I hate to rush down Main St for the first visit but an empty FL is so tempting.


Looks like the day we arrive, we'll be up at about 5:30 am.

I get a wake-up call around 5:30. We throw on clothes and head out the door. I have the kids pack up their backpacks before they go to sleep. We eat breakfast in line- granola bars, bananas, etc.

I go to every MM that I can. DH does not always make it but I tell him he needs to be in the park by 8:00 or else he's on his own for FP's. Sometimes the kids say they don't want to get up and that's OK. They can come a little later with their Dad. But they usually do manage to get up. We always take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. We are usually out of the parks for about 4 hours in the afternoon.

We come home exhausted but that's OK. We order a pizza on the night we get home and just veg.

 

[rentayenta]

I get a wake-up call around 5:30. We throw on clothes and head out the door. I have the kids pack up their backpacks before they go to sleep. We eat breakfast in line- granola bars, bananas, etc.

I go to every MM that I can. DH does not always make it but I tell him he needs to be in the park by 8:00 or else he's on his own for FP's. Sometimes the kids say they don't want to get up and that's OK. They can come a little later with their Dad. But they usually do manage to get up. We always take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. We are usually out of the parks for about 4 hours in the afternoon.

We come home exhausted but that's OK. We order a pizza on the night we get home and just veg.

Love it! Once in WDW I was about to do MM alone when my oldest DD decided to go. It was during the Dreams promo and we ended up at Splash and BTMRR Family of the day. She'll go with me no matter what.

That first day we'll be coming from my friend's house who lives about 15 min away. I need to account for drive time, GCV check in and bag drop too. Might be a 5:15 wow up. They'll have to comply that day or take a cab later.

Disneyland is open until midnight that day too.... Looks like a 9:30 am DCA opening the next day will be pushing it.

 

[Hound 109]

Love the no bathroom breaks!

DIS-approved or disapproved ride order? I'm think DIS but best to clarify.

Would you grab Space or Star? The old ST bugged the ever lovin' crap out of me. It gave me a gnarly headache everytime. My son is a huge Star Wars fan but Space is his favorite coaster. I'm thinking the return time will be within the hour so then I can high tail it over to Indy and grab FPs. Still overall my family's agreed upon favorite ride.

- Seriously.....no breaks prior to riding the first four. (i'm thinking there's a bathroom once can visit during the 30 min. wait at the turnstile if needed).

- Yes. DIS approved. I didn't even notice the disapproved until you mentioned it.

The DIS MM ride order can be found many places.....including here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1392671


- I'm a lover of SM too. But if you're getting both ST AND SM FPs that day then the correct order of FP pickup should be:

- ST (at :01)
- SM (at :45 - :50)
- HHM (or Indy) (an hour later)
- Indy (or HHM) (an hour later)

Have a great time.