So many questions. Planning is hard.

[badwolf1009]

How do you plan properly for only one day at Disney (Magic Kingdom) when you going as a group of 8 ranging in ages from 7 to 70? The 7 year old just wants to get her hair done and meet princesses and also go on a few rides. 9 and 16 year old just want roller coasters and could care less about meeting any of the characters. I want to go on and see everything I possibly can (haven't been there in 30 years). And three of the others probably won't even enjoy themselves and probably won't go on very much (no roller coasters or fast rides, not even haunted mansion). And how do you plan when you don't even know what fast passes are going to be available? Make a few different plans? I wish we had more than one day there but we don't :-(

I wanted to take my daughter to see Belle and send the other two kids to space mountain with their dad using fast passes for belle and space mountain, but he wants to see her reaction at seeing Belle and the grandparents won't go on Space Mountain so now I have to re arrange that.
Is there time between fast passes to go on another ride? What are the rides with the longest lines? How long are the wait times for meeting characters? What are the hardest fast passes to get after Seven Dwarfs and Peter Pan?

 

[yulilin3]

Start with realistic expectations, flexible planning and knowledge on what's at the park. Then gather the group and prioritize. D you all want to be together? would groups mind splitting up so each can do their own thing? You can always plan activities/rides together and then each does their own plan. The 16 can go with the 9 year old without any issues.
The longest wait through out the day at MK are PP, 7DMT and SM, rope drop is a great tool as you will start with an empty park. You can book the fp at whatever time is convenient for you, they don't have to be one after the other, you can leave time in between. I recommend reading the fp sticky for everything fp.

 

[rteetz]

How do you plan properly for only one day at Disney (Magic Kingdom) when you going as a group of 8 ranging in ages from 7 to 70? The 7 year old just wants to get her hair done and meet princesses and also go on a few rides. 9 and 16 year old just want roller coasters and could care less about meeting any of the characters. I want to go on and see everything I possibly can (haven't been there in 30 years). And three of the others probably won't even enjoy themselves and probably won't go on very much (no roller coasters or fast rides, not even haunted mansion). And how do you plan when you don't even know what fast passes are going to be available? Make a few different plans? I wish we had more than one day there but we don't :-(

I wanted to take my daughter to see Belle and send the other two kids to space mountain with their dad using fast passes for belle and space mountain, but he wants to see her reaction at seeing Belle and the grandparents won't go on Space Mountain so now I have to re arrange that.
Is there time between fast passes to go on another ride? What are the rides with the longest lines? How long are the wait times for meeting characters? What are the hardest fast passes to get after Seven Dwarfs and Peter Pan?

I have done large groups before. I suggest letting everyone do things on their own if they want and then meeting up for certain things throughout the day whether its FPs, dining or whatever. This usually works best.

You also need to know you can't do everything. It is not possible.

Longest lines depend on time of year and time of day. You will have your big rides which always have long waits but the specific times vary. Same with characters, wait times vary depending on a lot of things.

Don't stress over things you can't control. Go in with an open mind and enjoy every moment.

 

[grossmansr]

Planning is hard, but very necessary in your situation. DO NOT plan on just winging it. You're here, so that's the best place to start. I plan my day like a military operation with, like, 7 contingency plans. Lol.

There are plenty of things that might make the most of your day, but you'll have to decide what works best for your family and your budget.

Eating in the castle is pretty special and a great way to meet princesses. Since everyone has to eat anyway, this could be your chance to make it a special thing for your 7 year old while not "wasting time" for everyone else. It's expensive of course, so that might be a sticking point.

You could also use grandparents FP+ on rides for anyone, if grandparents don't plan on riding anything. We've done this before. It essentially gave us "extra" FP+.

There are a few enjoyable attractions with very little wait time that are nice to do when everyone is tired and cranky. Mickey's Philharmagic is one that I really like. Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor was also surprising fun. And let's not forget the old standby, Carousel of Progress. None of these things are "must-do", so to speak, but I always have them on my contingency plans, and I'm always happy when we end up doing them.

 

[Gussie Granger 1969]

We’re a family of 4 and we split up so we can hit everything everyone wants. It’s faster that way. So my DH and DS15 will go and do coasters while me and my DD13 will do the more mellow stuff. Then we meet up and ride the rides we all want to do together. Every park day is like this so I plan accordingly. Some park days we all stay together then split up later.

 

[Daisy7425]

It's a great idea as someone posted above to get a character meal to meet the princesses. Make that reservation 180 days ahead as they'll fill up on that day or otherwise set an alert on ***********.com (which will text you when one opens).

I would use these three sticks in the mud to your advantage. Make fast passes on their accounts for space mountain and every other ride and then if they want to sit out, fine....they can pass their card/magic band to someone else who can use it.

 

[Surgie2]

How do you plan properly for only one day at Disney (Magic Kingdom) when you going as a group of 8 ranging in ages from 7 to 70?

What date are you going? Are you staying onsite? If your date has Early Morning Magic (a paid event from 7:45-9:00 am on select days) you could purchase this for some in the group and ride 7 of the Fantasyland rides with little or no wait. “it's a small world” Mad Tea Party, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Peter Pan's Flight, Princess Fairytale Hall, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid. Breakfast is included.

If your date has Extra Magic Hours with the park opening an hour early for onsite guests, this is important to know in order to plan your strategy.

And as a PP said...I would make your FP the same for all 8 people to start your day. You only have one day and it's just 3 FP. Whoever doesn't want to ride SM can give their magic band or card to someone else in your group for a second ride. No need to split up and have some go to Belle and some to SM.

Once those first 3 FP are used up, you can get a 4th, then a 5th and so on with the app. You can do this for those interested and let others do their own thing and meet back together for the parade at 3:00.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

How do you plan properly for only one day at Disney (Magic Kingdom) when you going as a group of 8 ranging in ages from 7 to 70? The 7 year old just wants to get her hair done and meet princesses and also go on a few rides. 9 and 16 year old just want roller coasters and could care less about meeting any of the characters. I want to go on and see everything I possibly can (haven't been there in 30 years). And three of the others probably won't even enjoy themselves and probably won't go on very much (no roller coasters or fast rides, not even haunted mansion). And how do you plan when you don't even know what fast passes are going to be available? Make a few different plans? I wish we had more than one day there but we don't :-(

I wanted to take my daughter to see Belle and send the other two kids to space mountain with their dad using fast passes for belle and space mountain, but he wants to see her reaction at seeing Belle and the grandparents won't go on Space Mountain so now I have to re arrange that.
Is there time between fast passes to go on another ride? What are the rides with the longest lines? How long are the wait times for meeting characters? What are the hardest fast passes to get after Seven Dwarfs and Peter Pan?

And how do you plan when you don't even know what fast passes are going to be available? Make a few different plans? At MK - pretty much all rides and attractions will be available for fastpasses at 60 days out. 7DMT might be the only one that might be hard to get the time you want.

Is there time between fast passes to go on another ride? You pick the times of the fastpasses - so you can make as much time as you want between rides. But I wouldn't spread it out too much because once you are done with your first 3 fastpasses you can get more. For information you can go on the app at any time of the day and see wait times for attractions. This could help you figure it out. Again the time of year you go can make a difference

What are the rides with the longest lines? It definitely does depend on when you go. 7DMT, Space Mountain and Peter Pans Flight will be the longest wait but many other rides could have long waits. Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, etc.

How long are the wait times for meeting characters? Again - it depends on when you go but the characters can have long waits during the day. You can go straight there at rope drop or close to the end of the day it could be light.

What are the hardest fast passes to get after Seven Dwarfs and Peter Pan? Seven Dwarfs is the hardest to get - but it easy to get at 60 days (if you are staying on site).

I hope this helps. It can get overwhelming but the planning is so much fun for our family. Enjoy!