Timing, clearing customs, ME???

[jp71]

HI all!
Well I've mostly been lurking and soaking up TONNES of info! Thanks to everyone for contributing so much info to a newbie!!
We arrive MCO at 7pm, departing from Calgary. Here's a few questions for ya:
1. Can we "preclear" customs in calgary? I've just read about that possibliity..
2. we're catching ME and are going to grab our bags, unless we can preclear customs, if MK is open til 10 and we're staying at POP, is it reasonable to try to hit MK just for that hour or half hour? We will have a 7 day ticket for only 6 full days in the park and I was wondering if it would be worth it to see the castle and just take in that first area that first nite, rather than the next day starting our "touring plan" through tomorrow land, then over to fantasy land etc... What do you think?
As said we have 6 full days plus most of the day of departure. We want probably 2 visits to MK and epcot, one to each of the others. We REALLY (I should say the 12yr old boy and 11 yr old girl) really want to hit both water parks. I'm not too worried about DTD and DQ, they're a maybe. We have park hoppers and plan on resting at POP during a midday break. Planning on roughly following UG plans and trying not to be commando!!
ANy tips, advice, concerns I would love to hear. I have a rough plan on which days/parks but am willing to throw them out the window if need be, and will try really hard not to be cemented to a plan.
Oh and we'll be there april 9-16 CAN NOT WAIT!! My family of five (kids 12, 8 and literally just turned 3), my sisters family of four (kids 11 and 7) and my mom and her husband are the lucky recipients of a wonderful WDW... probably once in a lifetime trip!!
THanks for any tips!

 

[Valjean13]

Personally I love the Magic Kingdom at night. If you are not too tired, I'd say do it....but having said that, if you land at 7pm, you may not be at the hotel until 8 or 8:30, and then you need time to check in (hopefully there won't be a line), then time to head to your room and drop off your carry-ons, then head back and catch the bus to MK.....that's a lot of time. You might find you'd only have enough time to walk around a bit. But you should be there in time to see Wishes, so that would be great for your first night!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

To try and answer your questions ...

1. Can we "preclear" customs in calgary? I've just read about that possibliity

It all depends on your flight ... is Calgary your final Canadian departure point before flying into the US? or will you be connecting in Toronto? If Calgary is your final departure in Canada you should clear customs there. We usually fly from Edmonton to Minneapolis and then to Orlando so clear customs here in Edmonton. However if you connect in TO, then you'll need to collect your baggage, go through customs and recheck your baggage..


2. we're catching ME and are going to grab our bags, unless we can preclear customs, if MK is open til 10 and we're staying at POP, is it reasonable to try to hit MK just for that hour or half hour?

I would allow at least an hour and a half for you to get to the hotel after you land, check in and get to your room. Busses to the MK run about every 20-30 minutes so in theory you should be able to get to the MK by 9 or 9:30 pm ... IMHO that's not really enough time if the park closes at 10:00 pm. Yes you may only be able to see Wishes but you most likely will get caught in the huge crowd leaving the MK. Main Street will no doubt be packed with people waiting for Wishes, or if you've missed Wishes, everyone will be exiting the park as you are trying to go in. Also, you said you were going April 9 - 16th which historically has been a very busy time at Disney. I would rather relax in the room and take a walk around the resort and be rested and relaxed for the next day. Another option would be for you to go to Downtown Disney which is open until 11 pm.

Just my 2 cents ...

Bonny

 

[Questforthemouse]

HI all!
Well I've mostly been lurking and soaking up TONNES of info! Thanks to everyone for contributing so much info to a newbie!!
We arrive MCO at 7pm, departing from Calgary. Here's a few questions for ya:
1. Can we "preclear" customs in calgary? I've just read about that possibliity..
2. we're catching ME and are going to grab our bags, unless we can preclear customs, if MK is open til 10 and we're staying at POP, is it reasonable to try to hit MK just for that hour or half hour? We will have a 7 day ticket for only 6 full days in the park and I was wondering if it would be worth it to see the castle and just take in that first area that first nite, rather than the next day starting our "touring plan" through tomorrow land, then over to fantasy land etc... What do you think?
As said we have 6 full days plus most of the day of departure. We want probably 2 visits to MK and epcot, one to each of the others. We REALLY (I should say the 12yr old boy and 11 yr old girl) really want to hit both water parks. I'm not too worried about DTD and DQ, they're a maybe. We have park hoppers and plan on resting at POP during a midday break. Planning on roughly following UG plans and trying not to be commando!!
ANy tips, advice, concerns I would love to hear. I have a rough plan on which days/parks but am willing to throw them out the window if need be, and will try really hard not to be cemented to a plan.
Oh and we'll be there april 9-16 CAN NOT WAIT!! My family of five (kids 12, 8 and literally just turned 3), my sisters family of four (kids 11 and 7) and my mom and her husband are the lucky recipients of a wonderful WDW... probably once in a lifetime trip!!
THanks for any tips!

Sounds like you have a great trip planned.

The two times my wife and I arrived at MCO (pre-cleared customs in Toronto) at 7pm and used DME we made it to the check-in line at POP in 70 minutes. My guess is that you'll arrive at POP between 8:15pm and 8:30pm (presuming POP is the first DME stop as it usually is). Your 3 families could be the first in line to check-in or tenth in line. Even if you are the first three in line it may take up to 20 minutes by the time all three families are checked in. Depending on where your rooms are it could take 5 - 10 minutes to get to your room. Another 5+ minutes to throw the bags in the room and grab what you need to go to the park and then another 5 minutes to walk to the bus stop. The average wait time for the bus is 10 minutes but it could take 20 minutes if you just missed the last bus. The trip from POP to MK is roughly 15 minutes. Depending on timing I'd guess you'd be at the MK gates as early as 9:20pm (if DME arrives at 8:15 and it only takes 20 minutes to check in) and as late as 9:55pm. Remember, Wishes starts at 10pm so the main street will be packed by 9:45pm making it hard to manouver.

Another option would be to leave your bags at the luggage service after checking in and head straight to the park. This might save you 15 minutes.

I don't want to be the "party pooper" but...If I were in your shoes I'd plan to get settled in at POP, get a good night's rest and be at MK for park opening the next morning. You really don't want to arrive late morning because the kids are tired from being up late the night before and the day of travel.

 

[jp71]

Thanks so far for the words of wisdom!!
That was precisely what I was looking for!
I'm thinking that we would be better off making the early start at MK the next day as we have ADR's at Chef Mickeys at 10:45am. I'm thinking a swim in the pool will impress the kids just as much as the fireworks the first nite!!
The "historically very busy time at disney" has my heart just a fluttering!!! I was thinking with an early easter it may be late enough but it appears the spring breaks are all over the place this year...oops, I guess we didn't need to pull the kids from school after all
One more question, as everyone unknowingly has already answered my gagillion questions already...
Using the family touring plans from the 07 UG book, is this really worthwhile to roughly follow? I really want to do the early morning starts and if we can't get up early enough to make the EMH morning, I think we'll just switch parks and start an hour later. But having said all that, our family coming from BC and my sister and mom's from alberta, I'm hoping the time change won't overrule the disney excitement on the early mornings...Are we best to follow the tourplan roughly, or be there first thing, or both??
Thanks again!!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

The "historically very busy time at disney" has my heart just a fluttering!!! I was thinking with an early easter it may be late enough but it appears the spring breaks are all over the place this year...oops, I guess we didn't need to pull the kids from school after all

Typically, Spring Break in Orlando means mid-March to mid-April.

 

[Questforthemouse]

Using the family touring plans from the 07 UG book, is this really worthwhile to roughly follow? I really want to do the early morning starts and if we can't get up early enough to make the EMH morning, I think we'll just switch parks and start an hour later. But having said all that, our family coming from BC and my sister and mom's from alberta, I'm hoping the time change won't overrule the disney excitement on the early mornings...Are we best to follow the tourplan roughly, or be there first thing, or both??
Thanks again!!

My experience (as well as the experience of many others) tells me that arriving for park opening and having a well thought out plan (zig while others are zagging, use fastpasses liberally etc...) will conquer the day! Whether you use UG or TGM (TourGuideMike) or DISboard members to develop your well thought out plan, you'll find the first and most significant piece of advice from all is to arrive prior to park opening. You'll get more done in the first 2 hours after park opening than you will in the next 6+ hours. While park opening sounds tiring it means you won't spend the rest of the day waiting in 30, 60, and 90 minute lines for attractions. My wife and I arrive 20 mins prior to park opening, follow our plan, have an early lunch (around 11:30), use one of the fastpasses we collected, collect another fastpass and then head back to the hotel for R & R for the afternoon. We then head back into the parks for late afternoon/early evening to use up the fastpasses we collected, do the less popular attractions and catch the fireworks shows etc...

In your case on April 10th I would...

1) Arrive at MK at 7:40am (it is an EMH morning)(this means being at the POP bus stop by 7:10am)(arriving before rope drop means you'll get to experience the Disney characters welcoming everyone to the park and get to do the morning countdown to open. very exciting)

2) From 8am - 10am enjoy all of the popular attractions I can squeeze in using my well thought out plan

3) 10am/10:15am head out of the park and take the monorail to the CR for Chef Mickey's

4) Chef Mickey's from 10:45 - 11:45

5) Ride the monorail around the loop back to MK and take the bus back to POP arriving around 12:30

6) Explore the resort, swim and go for a good nap (remember you've been up since 6am and Wishes is at 10pm so it'll be a long day. you likely won't be back to POP until 11pm)

7) Head back into the park for late afternoon for dinner

Because you've booked Chef Mickey's at 10:45am it makes sense that if you're going to a park that morning that you go to MK.

With such a long day at MK following your day of travel you might want to find a way to make the next day a sleep in day.

This is just my 2 cents. You know your family better than anyone else. Feel free to file this in the recycle bin I'm sure others will have better advice...

 

[jp71]

My experience (as well as the experience of many others) tells me that arriving for park opening and having a well thought out plan (zig while others are zagging, use fastpasses liberally etc...) will conquer the day! Whether you use UG or TGM (TourGuideMike) or DISboard members to develop your well thought out plan, you'll find the first and most significant piece of advice from all is to arrive prior to park opening. You'll get more done in the first 2 hours after park opening than you will in the next 6+ hours. While park opening sounds tiring it means you won't spend the rest of the day waiting in 30, 60, and 90 minute lines for attractions. My wife and I arrive 20 mins prior to park opening, follow our plan, have an early lunch (around 11:30), use one of the fastpasses we collected, collect another fastpass and then head back to the hotel for R & R for the afternoon. We then head back into the parks for late afternoon/early evening to use up the fastpasses we collected, do the less popular attractions and catch the fireworks shows etc...

In your case on April 10th I would...

1) Arrive at MK at 7:40am (it is an EMH morning)(this means being at the POP bus stop by 7:10am)(arriving before rope drop means you'll get to experience the Disney characters welcoming everyone to the park and get to do the morning countdown to open. very exciting)

2) From 8am - 10am enjoy all of the popular attractions I can squeeze in using my well thought out plan

3) 10am/10:15am head out of the park and take the monorail to the CR for Chef Mickey's

4) Chef Mickey's from 10:45 - 11:45

5) Ride the monorail around the loop back to MK and take the bus back to POP arriving around 12:30

6) Explore the resort, swim and go for a good nap (remember you've been up since 6am and Wishes is at 10pm so it'll be a long day. you likely won't be back to POP until 11pm)

7) Head back into the park for late afternoon for dinner

Because you've booked Chef Mickey's at 10:45am it makes sense that if you're going to a park that morning that you go to MK.

With such a long day at MK following your day of travel you might want to find a way to make the next day a sleep in day.

This is just my 2 cents. You know your family better than anyone else. Feel free to file this in the recycle bin I'm sure others will have better advice...

Well thank you very much for taking the time and laying it out for me!! I very much appreciate it and other than feeling overwhelmed and not too sure how we'll make our day work you read my family great!!
If we're hitting SM, Buzz, (the little one will go to dumbo and carousel with gramma while we do these!!!), then right over to fantasy land, PP, Pooh, snowwhite, then if time philharmagic/smallworld, haunted mansion...
Is this at all reasonable to do by 10am or am I completely out to lunch!!??!!
If we just do the main tomorrowland and fantasy land rides, then return for the shows that's no problem, I just thought I'd get an idea of just what we can accomplish that first morning with a 10:45 ADR at Chef Mickeys...
If you disney veterans are having a good laugh I'm glad I could provide the humour for you!!
Thanks again for the fantastic answers so far!!

 

[Disney Khi]

I hope you don't mind if I pop in here...

I don't know if the crowds will be a lot heavier for you the week you are there, but I just got back last week, and I really think that we could have gotten in all of the attractions that you mentioned before 10 AM. I used Tour Guide Mike for the first time, and I was absolutely astounded at how quickly we were able to ride the rides. I was a little nervous before we left because I hadn't been to WDW in 8 years and I kept reading about how it was so much more crowded now, but we had no problems with crowds. Of course, we were there before the Spring Break crowds were there in full force, but I still think that if you are there before park opening and go in at rope drop you will not have problems with crowds.

I did really like Tour Guide Mike and found his suggestions to be very helpful, so you might want to consider subscribing. I subscribed just about a month before our trip, and I felt like I got a lot out of it.

Happy planning!

 

[busterblue]

If you follow any of the tour guides you will be ahead of the game. We used the Unofficial Guide to WD plans and they worked absolutely fantastic. The key is review the ride descriptions and cross out anything that you don't want to see and move on. Lots of people seem to be moving around like sheep from ride to ride with no plan.

We hit everything on the MK first day agenda with multiple repeats on Buzz Light year (5 year old!) and we were done by 2:30 which was perfect as thats when the crowds really picked up and the kids started to crash.

Fast pass planing is a must. Note the time you can get the next fast pass on the one you get first as this determines what you can grab second and have in hand while doing other rides.

Relax the day of arrival and hit the resorts the next day EARLY. We were in the parking lot 1 hour before opening and things went smooth (Feb/08).

One suggestion. Take your own lunches (sandwiches?) if possible and/or eat early or late. 75-80 percent of the people try to eat right around lunch or dinner time and if you join that crowd you will get frustrated and waste a ton of time.

Enjoy the trip.

 

[jp71]

Thanks for all the replys!
I can't believe how excited we are getting!
buster...did you do buzz as the second ride? Did you repeat it five times then, or just go back to it later? I will definately give the food lines more consideration too!
I've been really considering subscribing to a tour plan but I think I'll just go with what i've learned in the 07 unofficial guide, hopefully it's pretty much the same for the 08 version!
thanks again for all the insights, I can not believe how much info I was able to learn from this site!
jacki

 

[PBX1]

Arriving at rope drop and crowd size is really the key to how many rides you can fit in before your breakfast reservation. My kids loved the Buzz ride and with the light crowds in the morning we literally got off the ride and then back on without a wait. We probably rode it about 5 or 6 times in a row. Buzz also showed up outside the ride area around 11 am or so for pictures.

 

[yxe dad]

Hi, I'm going to throw my 2 cents in too!

I am also going to reccomend Tour Guide Mike, but also going to say that I'll never travel to WDW without his info again. His info on what parks to avoid on what days is worth 5x the price. We went from Feb 27th to March 9th and the longest line was maybe 15min.

Now that that's said I'll give you my 2 cents on your questions.

I think you can make it to the MK on the first night but your trip from the minute you leave the house until you make it to the MK is going to be full of worry and stress. You'll be hoping your flights aren't delayed, tapping your foot in-line for ME, wondering why the bus isn't leaving even though your whole party is on the bus, getting angry at the family in front of you at check-in because they are asking the CM's too many questions, and you'll be cursing at the bus driver because he left as you were running up to the bus stop. Oh wait, that was my trip in Jan 06, never mind!

Take it easy, go to DTD and grab a bite to eat, or go for a swim and enjoy the warm Florida weather.

I totally agree with afternoon breaks by the pool or the waterparks, and getting to the parks for rope drop. YOU WILL GET MORE DONE IN THE FIRST 2 HOURS OF A PARK OPENING THEN THE NEXT 6.

Also remember to have fun and don't stress about "the plan", this trip is also about you, not just your family.

Enjoy!

Shayne