The am's vs. the pm's @ MK

[Lorelai]

We are totally morning people and ALWAYS go to the parks at least 15-30 minutes prior to opening. My sister is a night owl & always heads to the parks midday with the intention of doing their "must see" attractions during parades & dinner hours. I'm wondering if we should try this strategy (for just one day) next trip to see if it works for us too.

Anyone feel that there is an advantage of going later in the day??

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Addicted to MK as we are, we do both

 

[Lorelai]

Hey Zippa D Doodah -

Any preference? Noticible change in crowds from am to pm?

 

[Cookie Princess]

We are totally morning people and ALWAYS go to the parks at least 15-30 minutes prior to opening. My sister is a night owl & always heads to the parks midday with the intention of doing their "must see" attractions during parades & dinner hours. I'm wondering if we should try this strategy (for just one day) next trip to see if it works for us too.
Anyone feel that there is an advantage of going later in the day??

Not for us. When we have shown up mid-day we start off being frustrated by line lengths. We always end up spending our time going to the "less popular" attractions. Even during parade times there are going to be some lines for the top attractions. Can you tell that we hate waiting in long lines?

 

[chipscinderelly]

The disadvantage to going later in the day is that if it's a week where spectro and wishes are not every night then those nights of the week will be more crowded. People start returning to the park about 6 pm or so.

 

[swilphil]

When we were there in March, the pm at MK was definitely more crowded than the a.m. We tried doing attractions during dinner and parade/fireworks, but the popular ones still had HUGE lines, some were 1 to 2 hours! EMH mornings at MK were the best. Then we hopped to another park.

 

[Leota]

During Spring Break, there was a huge difference between Mornings & Evenings - Mornings were by far the best time for touring. We could cover alot of ground in 2 hours first thing in the am.

 

[SueSue]

We just got back, and I agree with going early versus late. We got everything do we wanted to in the morning, and then saved the less popular stuff for evenings. You can't always rely on FP being around either - many of the attractions ran out of them by noon to early afternoon last week when we were there.

So many advantages to early - less crowded, you accomplish much more, it's cooler. I'd go then!

 

[Camping Griswalds]

I really think the best way is to go early, go back to the hotel around lunch and then go back in the evenings to catch the fireworks etc. We've done vacations this way with little kids ( 2 and 6) and big kids ( 7 and 11). The crowds are always less in the am and even though its tough to get up on vacation, it is truly worth it. We always laugh at the huge crowds coming into the parks at 11-12 as we're leaving. We'e found the best thing to do is get up early and then on a 3rd day sleep in. We refer to them as our "off" days.

 

[pixieprincessmom]

I have also done both. First check on Wishes/Spectro schedule. We go in a.m. for early entry, but hop by noon. We sometimes go around 4:00 (NOT on early entry day) and the lines are starting to thin out.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

We were at the Magic Kingdom before opening two times last month. We were able to see Mickey's Philharmagic on a Thursday morning with about six other people. Splash and Big Thunder had no lines at all. On Saturday morning we went to Tomorrowland first and found it crowded right away. Seems like most people go that way first. We did Buzz (Space Mtn was having problems) a couple of times and went over to Splash and Big Thunder. Again, this side was really quiet. You can get a lot done in the MK in the first couple of hours before the big crowds appear.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

We do both. Being that we are park hoppers-love those afternoon breaks-we usually hit up one park say Epcot in the early morning and catch all the must sees, and leave for the midday break, and head back out in the evening to MK where we stay late and ride during parades.

 

[highland3]

For touring and rides... the earlier the better... specifically be there when the rope drops.

But, that being said... the fireworks and nighttime parade were amazing. We did both an early morning MK and a late MK. It was VERY worth it!

 

[bcvgal]

I'm sure morning is better for the rides but theres something magical about Main St USA at night. There is no place in the world i'd rather be. It's my happy place!!! Plus it's cooler at night.