Roll call: who'll be at MK May 23?

[Mom2darlingboys]

So... I think it's time to take a count... how many of you DISsers out there plan to "rock your Disney side" at Magic Kingdom's 24-hour event May 23?

Let's go folks... who should I be keeping an eye out for in what is sure to be a big crush in the park that evening? Tell if you're coming, what your plans are for the night, if you are dressing up and if you booked the trip specifically because of this event!

I'll go first... I heard about the announcement and figured it was kismet that it fell on my birthday, so talked the hubs into going! We plan to be there for rope drop, enjoy an early entry, head back to the resort for a swim and nap in the afternoon (in eight years of Disney vacays we have never done this!), head to Narcoossees for birthday dinner, then back to the park until closing (hoping we get back in!). We may Disneybound instead of dressing in costume - it's going to be a long day!

Planning to spend the 24th sleeping, and maybe renting a cabana to rest by the pool, followed by a late dinner at 'Ohana that night. SO EXCITED!

How about you? Coming to my party? (Wink, wink)

 

[hhill]

Wait wait what announcement? What event on May 23rd?

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

Disney announced their third annual 24 hour event, where Magic Kingdom will be open from 6am to 6pm on May 23.

 

[hhill]

Hmm great for you! But not for me that totally messes up my rope drop touring plans.

 

[drlaurafsu]

We will! But only from 3am - 6am. Plan to go to HS for SWW during the morning/early afternoon. Then head back to the hotel for a swim break, dinner and early bedtime. Up around 2:30 and hop on the bus and stay until close. Breakfast at Poly and back to MK for Rope Drop.

This is what we did last year and it worked great for us. We watched a very full bus pull up at our resort and we were the only ones headed to the park at 3am. DS got to ride Goofy Rollercoaster (his favorite) 16 times in a row...and this year I don't even have to ride with him.

Last year it was a tougher sell...had to promise him he could ride whatever he wanted to at MK. This year he is already pumped up for it!

 

[hhill]

So is it 6 am on May 23rd to 6 am May 24th?

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

So is it 6 am on May 23rd to 6 am May 24th?

You got it. Aren't you glad you found out now, and not when you got to the park?

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

We will! But only from 3am - 6am. Plan to go to HS for SWW during the morning/early afternoon. Then head back to the hotel for a swim break, dinner and early bedtime. Up around 2:30 and hop on the bus and stay until close. Breakfast at Poly and back to MK for Rope Drop.

This is what we did last year and it worked great for us. We watched a very full bus pull up at our resort and we were the only ones headed to the park at 3am. DS got to ride Goofy Rollercoaster (his favorite) 16 times in a row...and this year I don't even have to ride with him.

Last year it was a tougher sell...had to promise him he could ride whatever he wanted to at MK. This year he is already pumped up for it!

Wow! That is ambitious... how old is your son? Sounds like a lot of fun, but not sure I would have the stamina!

 

[hhill]

i am very glad i found out!

 

[drlaurafsu]

Wow! That is ambitious... how old is your son? Sounds like a lot of fun, but not sure I would have the stamina!

He's 7 1/2 this year. He handled it great! I think this year will be even better since he knows what to expect. We kept the day low key...a few rides and mostly characters and parade for SWW then pool. As long as I can wear him out enough to go to bed early it works.

And we go to DW enough that we know we don't have to do everything this trip so I am ok if we skip lots of stuff with this kind of event. SWW are all about SW stuff...so we skip most of the rides. He's done Jedi Training several times so I don't try to do it this weekend.

At MK during the 24hr event we will focus on Fantasyland (at 3am not a lot of kids out so this make it a great time to be there) with a couple others - namely Buzz, Astro Orbitor and Tomorrowland Speedway. So when we go back at RD we focus on the other parts of the park. And we will likely be back at MK on Monday morning before we leave for any last minute rides we might miss or want to do again.

Saturday evening after a nap then pool or a couple hours at Blizzard Beach, we will likely head to DQ so he can play video games until bedtime.

Honestly I think even though the schedule is crazier, I think we are less rushed, less commando than other park trips since we take time for the pool and midday breaks.

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

At MK during the 24hr event we will focus on Fantasyland (at 3am not a lot of kids out so this make it a great time to be there) with a couple others - namely Buzz, Astro Orbitor and Tomorrowland Speedway.

Ah, mothers of boys - I worry my boys will want to do Tomorrowland Speedway 28 times in a row late at night. I might have a nap in the stands, "watching" them drive!

Sounds like a good plan about tiring your little guy out! A little rest squeezed in will be tough for us, as we have never done this before either, and are about as commando as they get.

Have a great trip - sounds like loads of exciting stuff planned! Is it May yet?

 

[drlaurafsu]

How old are your boys? I wish mine could ride the speedway by himself...only ride he can't do yet solo. Some of the rides closed for periods in the middle of the night and reopened in the wee hours of the morning. I know Buzz was closed for several hours and reopened at 4am...so it was one of the last rides we did.

Are they into Star Wars at all? Are you planning on attending any of the SWW stuff?

The key to making it through the night (and also the day) will be to take a break and take a nap. It will get really busy in the afterschool/afterwork hours so that will be the best time to take a break. Honestly I wouldn't go back until midnight at the earliest! But like I said at 3am people were leaving in droves and we just hopped on an empty bus back to MK.

 

[pepperandchips]

First post! So looking forward to it. Taking my mom and sister for their first visits in over 10 years! Anyone seen any costume planning threads around?!

 

[Disney Frenhines]

I'm going, did the one on Leap Year 2012 and loved it, I timed it badly last time, did the opening stayed until 10.30am when I went over to the Kona Cafe for brunch, back for a couple more hours, back to the room, but, not tired enough to sleep, headed back to MK at 10pm (too early) partied until 3am, then had to admit defeat and headed back to the room to crash out. It was the second day of that trip and I was still jetlagged, this time it's at the end so plan to be there at the opening and closing. Do you think it will be so busy they close the park? That is my only concern.

I'll be pretty easy to spot, the crazy middle aged Brit solo traveller with a D23 T shirt on (probably)

 

[cyberbox2]

Me and my family will be at MK on May 23rd, and I had no idea about the 24 thing until just now. Even when I log into My Disney Experience and look at May 23rd, the park hours are listed as 9am to 1am, so I had no reason to think otherwise.

 

[DisFanAmI]

Our trip starts 5/21 and we'll definitely go. If for no other reason than to say we were there. And to check out any special merchandise.

 

[TEAMJACOB]

We will be in the World from May 16 through May 24. Plan on being in the MK on the 23. Myself, DS Jose' (23), DS Nick (20), Nick's girlfriend Heather (20).

 

[Ellwood970]

I am going and will be there the whole time no plans no fast passes no dining res just roam around the old fashioned disney way. You gotta be on the first bus at 5am to get there on time. In leap year 2012 we missed the 5 and the next one didnt come until 30 minutes later we were almost late for opening.

 

[KSL]

Backstory: My middle DD qualified for a national scholar-athlete event being held at WDW over Memorial Day weekend. Last year it was in Boston which was fun but we have family there and have visited Boston a lot so I told her if she made it into the program again this year I'd take her, thinking it would be somewhere new and different. Well, then I find out it's at WDW, where we are between trips (12 nights last August, 13 nights upcoming July). So I told her no way would we be going since we have a trip coming up in July! She was crushed. She loves these events and she also loves WDW, so she was thinking this would be a dream-come-true. Meanwhile, DH and I were secretly considering the costs and whether this was at all within the realm of possibility because we will use any excuse to plan a Disney trip, and this was a good one!

FIRST, we have annual passes this particular year, so no park ticket costs....
NEXT, we'd get a fantastic group rate at the Yacht Club which I've always dreamed of staying at but it's not a DVC so we would be unlikely to ever stay there....
AND Stormalong Bay is supposed to be fantastic and I know my kids would love it....
THEN we realized it was Star Wars Weekend (DH is a huge fan)....
THEN we realized we'd have one last chance to see the parade at AK before it closes in June (a family favorite)....
THEN we found out about the 24-hour MK event on the 23rd....

Pretty darn quick I decided we HAD to do this! We're squeezing a crazy amount of stuff into one long weekend, but it will be fun! We've decided to make it a surprise for our girls, so they have NO IDEA we are going. It's hard to see my middle DD feeling sad & thinking she is not going to her Tribute, but it will be a great surprise. She and I are flying down on Thursday morning (she will miss 2 days of school; I have already cleared this with her teachers), and my DH and other DDs will fly down Friday afternoon (getting out of school 2 hours early).

Since we will have arrived the day before, middle DD and I will get to MK as soon as possible on the 23rd. Not necessarily by 6am opening, though -- she is a tween and loves to sleep! My goal is to leave the YC at 7am and hope to be to MK by 8am. We have FP+ booked for late morning at Space & Buzz, lunch at CP, FP+ for Splash just past 1pm & will leave after that. Afternoon at SAB pool and NAP, and evening scholar-athlete tribute event. Meanwhile, DH and other DDs arrive to MCO at 6pm, hopefully will be at hotel by 7:30 to drop bags in room, and head straight to MK. They have FP+ for Space, Barnstormer & HM between 8:30-11:30pm. Middle DD and I will head back to MK after the tribute and meet up with DH and other DDs. We will probably do our touring separately for awhile since they will have FPs and we will have used ours in the morning, but I didn't want to risk it in case she's exhausted and we don't make it back after the tribute. We will stay in MK as long as we can hold out, but we are planning to hit DHS for SWW on Saturday, so we probably won't stay past 1am so that we can get back to YC and sleep for a few hours before getting up again for SWW at DHS! We'll see how we do...!!

I know this is probably way more info than you wanted. But I'm so excited, and wanted to share! We have only told middle DD's teachers and two of my girlfriends, so I can't talk about it! I'm afraid if I tell too many people, it will leak.

Who else is in!?

 

[agrindstaff]

I'm trying to get to this event. Do you have to buy a special ticket? How are the crowds? Do the parks ever close due to capacity? There is very little info out there on this event. Any help would be appreciated!