Strategy for one day visit?

[KCebb]

We took my son to WDW for a week a few years ago, right at his 3rd birthday.

This year, we will be in FL from 3/30-4/4, and want to surprise my son with one day at WDW while we're there b/c he is turning 6 that week. We're staying a couple hours away, and my in-laws will be staying back with my daughter (20 months), so we're driving to/from same-day and not staying overnight.

I'm thinking we'll do Magic Kingdom, but would it be better to get a park hopper?

One issue is that we were kind of going to pick a day as it got closer, based on weather. It's also spring break.

I haven't been to WDW since they instituted the FP+ system, so I'm worried about not booking stuff in advance. Is it going to be a waste of time to go "last minute" and only for one day?

I need tips/advice/strategies!

 

[canadiandisneynut]

Based on your sons age I would stick with Magic Kingdom and book some FP+. There is a lot to do at Magic, enough for days on end, not to mention outstanding parades. Focus your FP+ on the rides in fantasyland like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pans Flight. If you are there early enough, you should be able to do a lot of this area with your fastpasses and then head to a kiosk to book some more for the afternoon.

 

[KCebb]

Thanks! Will I be able to book FP+ if we don't know which day we're going until that week? I wasn't sure how quickly availability disappears?

ETA: I edited my original post, b/c I think it wasn't clear... he has been to WDW one time at age 3... when we go this time, it will be the week he's turning 6. Wasn't sure if that would affect your recommendation.

 

[KathyNY76]

You can Book FP+ at any point (30 days out) via the My Disney Experience website. But you need to have the ticket purchased so you can link it to the MDE system. Keep in mind, the closer you are to the date, the less options you'll have in terms of getting the FP+ times you'd prefer.

I'd pick MK as there is just the most to do there. Then you can start getting a plan of attack under way and be ready to book your FP at the 30 day mark.

 

[tstottle]

We used to do a one day at Disney during our week beach trip, depending on weather. Like you, drive up and back in one day. We would always pick MK and just do the whole day there. Six is such a fabulous age for Disney. MK has the most rides for your time and money and is great for his age. I would say, save the money but more importantly the time and energy and don't hop. That's a super long day. You'll spend almost an hour, I think, in "hopping time: getting to the bus stop, waiting for the bus, busing over there, getting back into the second park, then doing all that again to get back! Unless you have a must see at another park, and think the bus ride would be a nice rest!

We haven't been since FP+ either, but hey, we did the one day trip thing before the original FastPass was around! So sure, it can be done! Try to get there as early as you can. We found that from 1:00-5:00 were the hardest hours on our one-day trips...hot, crowded, sometimes we really were just looking for somewhere to rest while the crowds died down (and often spent at least an hour in that Martian cafe thing, or on the train, the Tomorrowland Transit authority..these are all good mid day resters). A table service dinner reservation might be out of the question due to your short term planning; that was our other rest strategy to do an early, leisurely dinner to re energize for evening. I would definitely try though, once you get that day figured out, to make FP+ and dining reservations if you can. Have a great time and what an awesome 6 birthday present!

 

[hookedonears]

We took my son to WDW for a week a few years ago, right at his 3rd birthday.

This year, we will be in FL from 3/30-4/4, and want to surprise my son with one day at WDW while we're there b/c he is turning 6 that week. We're staying a couple hours away, and my in-laws will be staying back with my daughter (20 months), so we're driving to/from same-day and not staying overnight.

I'm thinking we'll do Magic Kingdom, but would it be better to get a park hopper?

One issue is that we were kind of going to pick a day as it got closer, based on weather. It's also spring break.

I haven't been to WDW since they instituted the FP+ system, so I'm worried about not booking stuff in advance. Is it going to be a waste of time to go "last minute" and only for one day?

I need tips/advice/strategies!

One day? I wouldn't. I'd just plan on being at the park when it opens and leave closes. If you get tired of the park, I'd just take a monorail ride to one of the resorts for an early dinner, and then return. I'd also do an early character table service lunch at Crystal Palace to break up the day as well.

 

[sharona]

I like your idea of a monorail ride to one of the resorts for dinner. I may add that to our own 1 day plan for MK. Was thinking we might take a mid day break and leave for dinner outside the park but the resort restaurants would be much more convenient and in all my DDs previous trips, we have never ridden the monorail! It has just never worked out...

 

[Chickp]

We did this our last trip...I have older kids but it was nice to get out of MK for a late lunch and just chill out. We went to the Poly on the monorail and just walked into Kona cafe. We didn't want to go back to our hotel because it was our only park day, and we were staying at AKL.

 

[mamattorney]

Maybe I'm lucky because my kids at age 6 wouldn't even ride Big Thunder, but if you are going to walk up to MK and book "day of" fast passes, having a young child who may not even be interested in the bigger rides gives you an advantage. We did it last year because we were waiting to see if we could go on castmember passes (ended up not happening so we bought tickets the day before) and while we weren't able to get FP+ to 7DMT (or Anna/Elsa but they didn't care about them), we were able to get passes to three other rides they liked and even used 4th and 5th FP+ later in the day.