We Don't Have MM Access - Should We Still Start in Fantasyland on MM Days?

[Mugglemama]

I read through the sticky on MM's. And while it says to start at DL on a MM day even if we won't get any MM's (we have AP's and are staying off-site..), it seems to encourage starting in Adventureland or Frontierland, as opposed to still trying to get in our "morning routine" in Fantasyland.

1st question - Would you all agree with that?

We're going to be in the parks for 9 days, but 5 of those are MM's, and we don't get to do any of them. Furthermore, all of our non-MM days except ONE are also Grad Nite days.

I'm working on our itinerary and I'm starting to freak out.

We'll be in the parks Mon thru Fri the first week, and then Mon thru Thurs the second week. MM days in the first week are M, T, TH....and MM days in the second week are T, TH. Our dates are May 7-11, and then May 14-17....no holidays, and this is generally (as far as I can tell) considered a pretty low-crowd time of the year.

2nd question - Should I *always* save any attempts for PP and Dumbo for 1st thing on non-MM days only?

Any further wisdom/suggestions anyone would like to share regarding information beyond my specific questions is greatly appreciated, also!

 

[starshine514]

We usually try to avoid Fantasyland on MM days (since we have APs and stay offsite, we don't get MM either). It really depends on your kids, though. Mine are fine riding PP once or twice in a trip (and they can go either way on Dumbo. I don't think we've ridden Dumbo the last 2 trips, Astro Orbitor is so similar and has a shorter line in the morning). They do like Alice and Casey Jr, so we hit those several times (sometimes even first thing on MM days). I think on the one MM day that we're there next trip, we'll avoid FL, grab ST (DD7's favorite) FPs and ride BTMRR (DD5 and my favorite) a couple of times before heading over to CA (and make that our 'catch CA at opening' day of the trip).

 

[Mugglemama]

We usually try to avoid Fantasyland on MM days (since we have APs and stay offsite, we don't get MM either). It really depends on your kids, though. Mine are fine riding PP once or twice in a trip (and they can go either way on Dumbo. I don't think we've ridden Dumbo the last 2 trips, Astro Orbitor is so similar and has a shorter line in the morning). They do like Alice and Casey Jr, so we hit those several times (sometimes even first thing on MM days). I think on the one MM day that we're there next trip, we'll avoid FL, grab ST (DD7's favorite) FPs and ride BTMRR (DD5 and my favorite) a couple of times before heading over to CA (and make that our 'catch CA at opening' day of the trip).

Thanks for sharing your perspective! Soooo...FL is pretty busy by the time we pee-ons get into the parks on a MM day, I take it?

We would be fine only riding PP 2 or 3 times the entire trip, too. It's just that we happen to be bringing DD20's boyfriend this time. He's 19, and (long story short...) was promised Disneyland several times as a child, only to never end up actually being taken there. I'm sure it kind of broke his heart as a kid, and he is SOOOOOOO crazy-excited to be going. He'll be with us for 6 of our days, and 3 of those are non-MM's. So, I think what I'll do then, is plan to hit FL on each of those 3 mornings. That way, everybody still gets several chances to ride PP and Dumbo (thanks for the rockets suggestion! We'll do those once too, but since this is his very first visit, I wanted to make sure we were doing all of the classics that he probably saw commercials of a million times when he was little ).

I'm thinking on 3 of those MM days...we should start in DL, head up and do Splash first thing, and grab more Splash FP's for a later ride, and then focus on Adventureland/Frontierland during those early-morning-less-crowded hours. I already have plans worked into our itinerary for the TL rides...so, I think that means the remaining 2 MM days, we will open up over at DCA.

Thanks, you totally helped me to focus!

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I think you are going to be TOTALLY fine!! You are there sooo many days - wow!! I don't think you'll have any problem doing and seeing all you want to do -- my guess is you won't have long waits either. How wonderful you get to spend such a large chunk of time at these two parks!!

 

[Mugglemama]

I think you are going to be TOTALLY fine!! You are there sooo many days - wow!! I don't think you'll have any problem doing and seeing all you want to do -- my guess is you won't have long waits either. How wonderful you get to spend such a large chunk of time at these two parks!!

Thanks for the reassurance!

The only thing stressing me now (at least, for the moment...lol) is trying to fit everything in during the 6 days that DDBF19 will be with us. DH + 3 kids and I will have three days before DD20 and her boyfriend get there. We never fit *everything* into one trip...there are always things that we skip. But I want him to get to do everything, plus have time for a few repeats of things that turn out to be his favorites (it's so much easier to plan when you *already* know what everyone's favorites are, that's for sure!).

I'm hoping 9 days doesn't turn out to be overwhelming. Initially, we had 2 separate trips planned (first time we've had AP's in nearly a decade...), but it's 24 hours of driving (round trip) for us, so we decided to combine the trips in order to only have to do the drive once. I guess we'll see....lol.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

(and they can go either way on Dumbo. I don't think we've ridden Dumbo the last 2 trips, Astro Orbitor is so similar and has a shorter line in the morning).

LOL, I've never thought of it that way, but that's an absolutely fair description of the rides. I think I'm emotionally tied to getting the kids on Dumbo ASAP because *I* rode it as a child and because of the movie's magic. But the kids might not see it and AO as any different.

 

[nikkislaght]

I think 9 days is a enough time to get most of everything....

about the boy friend.. there is nothing stopping him from doing some rides on his own is there??
We split up this last trip and got so much more done... unless he wants to do all the rides etc with your group? he can meet up with you later in the day...

 

[starshine514]

I think 9 days is a enough time to get most of everything....

about the boy friend.. there is nothing stopping him from doing some rides on his own is there??
We split up this last trip and got so much more done... unless he wants to do all the rides etc with your group? he can meet up with you later in the day...

You're probably right, not only will it be OK to split up, he'll probably appreciate it as well. When my sister takes her BF with, we all spend some time together, then break apart (she and him stay together) and reconvene later. It keeps everyone from driving each other crazy.

 

[bleeps]

2nd question - Should I *always* save any attempts for PP and Dumbo for 1st thing on non-MM days only?

We were just there last week -- hit DL on Tues (our arrival day, got to park at about 10:30 and it had opened at 9)/Thurs (made 8 am EMH) /Fri (an 8 am opening for everyone). Our observation to share: There is absolutely a rope-drop-rush, regardless of the configuration of the morning, to Dumbo and PP and the other headliners, but then there's a slight lull -- about 15 to 20 minutes past rope drop (esp. noticeable on the EMH day, but true at both our rope drop days). So what we found was that hitting a few of the non-headliners first made for total walk-ons, and hitting the headliners right after the initial rush made for shorter wait times. So, as an example, PP was still about a 10 or 15 minute wait right at rope-drop, but it was a walk-on at 15 minutes past rope drop. So instead of spending those first 15 minutes waiting in line, we rode a couple of things and then circled back to it. We noticed the same deal at Dumbo.

Hope that makes sense--

 

[Mugglemama]

I think 9 days is a enough time to get most of everything....

about the boy friend.. there is nothing stopping him from doing some rides on his own is there??
We split up this last trip and got so much more done... unless he wants to do all the rides etc with your group? he can meet up with you later in the day...

Nope, nothing stopping him. And if at some point it makes sense for us to split up so that he can get in some repeats of rides he really liked (or needs a break from our go-go-go Disneyland approach, lol), that is definitely an option.

We were just there last week -- hit DL on Tues (our arrival day, got to park at about 10:30 and it had opened at 9)/Thurs (made 8 am EMH) /Fri (an 8 am opening for everyone). Our observation to share: There is absolutely a rope-drop-rush, regardless of the configuration of the morning, to Dumbo and PP and the other headliners, but then there's a slight lull -- about 15 to 20 minutes past rope drop (esp. noticeable on the EMH day, but true at both our rope drop days). So what we found was that hitting a few of the non-headliners first made for total walk-ons, and hitting the headliners right after the initial rush made for shorter wait times. So, as an example, PP was still about a 10 or 15 minute wait right at rope-drop, but it was a walk-on at 15 minutes past rope drop. So instead of spending those first 15 minutes waiting in line, we rode a couple of things and then circled back to it. We noticed the same deal at Dumbo.

Hope that makes sense--

Thank you SO much for this information! It's funny you mentioned it, because while planning daily itineraries for this trip yesterday, I remembered that every time we get off of PP, the line still seems nice and short (only on non-MM days, though...). I had told my DD10 (she is my co-planner ) that maybe we should consider jumping right back on for a 2nd ride on the non-MM mornings that DDBF19 will be with us. I'd also suggested the same thing for Dumbo...so yes, what you've said totally makes sense. Thanks, again!