This rookie needs help from all you vets!

[alohamom]

O.k., we are going for a nice long weekend Dec 11-15. I have PS at ChefM for Fri @7:30p.m. Then we plan to do MK Sat from opening til close with a break in between. Sunday we are doing MVMCP. As I am reading and learning on this incredible board I have noticed people saying to go early to the park. Does this mean to go before 9:00 when it opens? How early should we be there. I have images of crowds of people crashing through the gates and running down Main Street USA! What is a resonable time to go. I don't want to leave early just to sitting in a lineup for parking, etc...I know this is probably a very stupid question for all of you who have been so many times but it really never occured to me to go any earlier than 9:00! Please help with any and all advice, thanks in advance

 

[crcormier]

Main Street will actually open a half hour (or maybe an hour, I can't remember) before the rest of the park does. So people can mill about and not be lined up outside of Main Street.

From there people can line up at the entrance to whichever land they want to go to, and yes, some people do mad dashes to wherever they are planning to get to first, but it's pretty orderly for the most part.

That's the reason for the suggestion of getting there early, gets you through the line, so all you have to wait for is 9AM, then you can walk onto whatever ride you want to do first.

Craig

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Welcome to the Dis........if I understand your question correctly... some people line up before the parks open......not huge lines..I have not been to WDW since last year and at that time we also had to go through security to check what we were bringing into the Parks.. I am assuming they are still doing that unless someone tells us otherwise.. so you go through security first and then into the park when it opens.. I would think if you wanted to you could line up around 8:30am...or wait till the early birds are in and go then... Good luck

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Plus if you stay on-property on selected days, you can get to the parks at 8:00am one hour earlier. EMH

 

[angey77]

MK on a Saturday, bless you. That is the busiest day to go, just a word of warning.

 

[avsfan]

In many trips to MK I have found it is difficult to be there "too early". As other posters have said you can usually get in the gates earlier than 9:00 and then just kinda hang out around main street until they drop the ropes to open the rest of the park.

Keep in mind that when going to MK, it will take approx another 30 minutes to get to the gates because after you park your car you still need to take the monorail or boat to get across the lake to MK. Once you get to the gate you still have to be checked by security and there are always lines there.

If you are using Disney transportation the bus will take you to the main gate of MK, but there may be several stops along the way before they get there. If you happen to take the monorail from the Epcot area, you still need to take another monorail to MK.

If you get there ahead of time it always fun to people watch.

Never been a problem in being there too early! Hard to do it anyway.

 

[FloridaCat]

Unless there is a special reason for going to MK on Saturday, I would schedule it on another day of the week, Saturday has the largest crowds. In any event I suggest you go to Disney’s site, type MAP in the search box. Download the park maps and become familiar with them. Make a list of what you want to do/see so you have a game plan of sorts.

 

[avsfan]

You will love mvmcp. We did it last time we were there and had a wonderful time. It will be far less crowded than MK on Sat.

 

[Harambe]

Yes, MK is crowded on a Saturday - but you will be there at an off time, so I don't think it would be as crowded as MK in Summer!

If you could - go to another park in the morning, or enjoy your resort - then head to MK around 3pm and stay til closing. Some of the crowd will have gone home by then. The trouble with slow season is that Saturday night is usually the ony night the MK stays open late, and shows the Spectromagic parade, so it will be crowded at night. So if you can spare yourselves the crowds during the day - you can easily face the nighttime crowd!

Have fun!