Should we take the MK train?

[Lisa AF]

We want to ride Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain first thing in the morning. We will arrive at park opening. Is it quicker to ride the train or walk there?
Thanks,
Lisa

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Someone suggested this last year here on the Disboards. My DS and I tried this and it worked really great. We beat all the crowds to Big Thunder and Splash Mountain.
By all means, jump on the train and enjoy the ride. You will be way ahead of most of the crowd. It saves a lot of walking also.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

As long as you are there first thing and catch the train before it leaves, yes, go for it. We did that and it worked out extremely well. Good luck!

 

[LibertyBelle]

If it is Sunday or Thursday then Yes take the train to get to Frontierland first (these are Early Entry mornings, so there is no morning character show).

If you are going to the park on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday... This will not be a huge advantage (you can get there faster by walking). The character morning show (the parks opening ceremony) is done on these days. The train that is used to bring the characters to Main Street has been modified for the characters and is not used in normal daily operations (it has no safety rails on the left side of the passenger cars). The morning show is at 8:50 on these mornings and as soon as it is over that train will depart (empty) and head back to the roundhouse to be stored for the day. The first train that will be coming in to actually load passengers will be holding just outside the station and will remain there until all the entertainment techs have cleared the station. The first train in usually arrives about 9:05 (sometimes later) then it will sit in the station for about 3 minutes before heading to Frontierland. So you figure it will be leaving Main Street about 9:10am. Yes you will still get there and find a short wait time, but you could have walked over faster.

 

[NancyK]

I totally agree with LibertyBelle. The morning we went to MK, my DH and in-laws took the train over. I walked over. Although they were near the front of the line for the train, I beat them by quite a few minutes.

 

[The Sweetness]

Be one of the first in the gate, dash up to the balcony of the train station, and see the special little good morning thing then ride to frontier land

 

[LibertyBelle]

Not sure when you did this "the sweetness" but they actually hold everyone at the front entrance until the show is completed (so you can't watch the show from the train station). And as I stated before the first train does not load guest it is a modified train for the morning show. Regardless of how fast you dash up to the train station the first train to load is still sitting on the Berm waiting for clearance into the station. The first train that loads usually arrives at MS at 9:03 (or later) and holds there for 3 minutes before heading to Frontierland...

 

[disneyjunkie]

I like this idea, may even try on our next trip. It may not get you there before the crowd, but it has to be better than that brisk walk behind the CMs with hundreds of other eager guest.

 

[moinab]

Not sure when you did this "the sweetness" but they actually hold everyone at the front entrance until the show is completed (so you can't watch the show from the train station).

We actually did this, by accident, on our first trip, in January. It was our first trip to MK in a very long time. We were there at 8:45ish AM. We walked up to the far left turnstiles, and were let in. Now that I'm more WDW-savvy, I realize that they must have assumed we had a PS, but at the time, we didn't have a clue. We thought they were just opening early.

DS is obsessed with trains, so naturally, the first thing we did was head up to the train platform. The CM was very rude. I can understand it must be frustating when guests wander where they are not supposed to be, but we had no idea we had slipped in before opening. We were actually really bummed out when we realized we missed seeing the opening show from out front. It was a very disappointing start to my first trip in 25 years. We did get over it, though!

 

[The Sweetness]

I havent been to WDW in a solid 5 years. They may have changed their procedures since. But when I was there ( A good dozen times between '93 and 99) I did this regularly. There were also times when I claimed to have a PS to at least be closer to the ropes when they were dropped at fantasy land. (Alls fair in love and theme parks )

 

[disneyjunkie]

[(Alls fair in love and theme parks ) [/B][/QUOTE]