What is the best way to do MK in one day?

[ryan840]

Hi. I keep reading about long wait times and fast passes selling out, etc... It has me worried that we won't be able to see all of MK in one day... I don't want to rush around, and we don't mind waiting in line, but just how long do these lines get? Are we talking 2 hours per ride?? We will be there on an evening EMH day, will we be ok? (we are going May 1st-5th) I know everyone is posting about how crowded it will be, and I never expected WDW *not* to be crowded, but the way things sound, we won't even be able to enjoy the kiddie rides for our son before the day is half gone! Please let me know if it is possible to do it all in one (very long) day. (We will be taking a two hour break for our son after the 3:00 parade, and we would like to see Wishes too). Thanks!

ETA- After reading the responses, I decided to change my question a bit and ask how you all do Magic Kingdom when you only have one day- where do you start, do you skip around all over the place, or follow the pathway? (We won't be able to go on a morning EMH day, but we will have evening EMH to help out)

 

[Barqs]

Even on a less crowded day, it would be very hard to do "Everything" at the Magic Kingdom. There is just sooo much to see and do. What I like to do is make a list of my must sees and must dos...and make those a priority. If you try to fit in too much, it will just be stressful instead of fun! I have never been in May, so I can't really comment on the lines. Like I said hit the rides you really want to do first and take advantage of fast pass whenever possible.

 

[ryan840]

I should say that by everything, I didn't really mean everything, just that we wanted to walk through following the basic pathway all the way around , and see all the things that appealed to us- mainly rides and characters. We will be skipping the roller coaster type rides and any other rides not recommended for pregnant (I hope) women and young children, so we should save a bit of time there...

 

[nygrl]

we are not big on roller coasters and i have to say we always go at least 2 days to mk especially during busy times... i wouldnt say 2 hour wait times but 1 hour is very realistic even for pirates of the carribien and winnie the pooh if it is crowded you could have long waits on the most popular rides which really arent the big roller coasters...not for most families with little ones at least... if you could do it i would save 2 days for mk just in case

 

[KimWDW]

I would make a plan. Go first to the rides that will have the longest lines, then work your way back to the other ones. I've never been in May, so I don't know how long the wait will be then, but it won't be 2 hours because kids are still in school then. The longest I've ever waited for a ride was 2 hours for Splash Mountain but that was in July (we won the trip, I would never voluntarily go in July ). I don't think it will be that bad.

 

[DebIreland]

Just a thought.... are you absolutely rigid with the *one* day for MK plan? Your son looks very young (and adorable!!!). Perhaps if you just cut out one theme park completely - dare I say it, perhaps cut out two of them! Forget for *this* trip that they even exist!! Animal Kingdom? Epcot? MGM? I'm sure they're *all* wonderful and are all *must* do for our family as my boys are 11 and 8 and are reading up on WDW by themselves but as your boy looks young maybe you could focus on MK for 2 days and then 1 or 2 other theme parks through the other days so you have quality rather than *rushed* quantity! Think of it this way, if you were going to Disneyland Paris you'd only have MK to do for the whole trip (and I found that amazing!!!)! Ok, admittedly that's completely beside the point because you're not going to Paris, you're going to Orlando but do you get my gist? He looks like the perfect age for a slowly-but-surely 2 day splurge at Magic Kingdom!!! Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[ryan840]

If we had more time down there, we would definately do two days at MK, but we will only be down there three full days, and we purchased two day park hopper passes, so spending a 2nd day there really isn't an option- we've split the second day between Epcot and MGM, because he HAS to see Playhouse Disney (he loves Bear!) and my husband has his heart set on the San Angel Inn at Epcot, and we know our son will LOVE the Living Seas! I guess we will have to come up with a stricter MK plan... Any more thoughts/ suggestions are welcome, thanks to everyone!
ETA- Thanks DebIreland, I think he's adorable too!

 

[Lizzybee]

We did all the rides we cared to do at MK by 2pm during Spring Break by using early EMH and two fast passes. We saw 4 characters, rode Peter Pan, IASW, saw Philharmagic, rode dumbo, tea cups, Indy put put cars, got a fast pass for Buzz, ate breakfast and got on Buzz by 10am. We climbed Swiss Family (whew) saw more characters, got a fast pass for Jungle Cruise, rode the magic carpets and went to Tom Sawyers Island and back. We were on a monorail to Epcot by 2:30pm. We went to see Spectromagic and Wishes another night of our trip, but if we didn't have that option, we probably would have gone back to the room to rest/play in the pool and come back for the night time fun. However you do it, have a BLAST!

 

[ryan840]

Thanks for the positive words, I was really thinking my trip was doomed! (OK, maybe thats a bit of a strong word, after all, it is WDW! ) We won't have any morning EMH, but we will have evening ones, I'm hoping it will help out a lot with wait times. So I guess the first thing to do when we get there would be to go straight to Fantasyland and get all those rides out of the way, and maybe next to Toontwn to see some characters? Any recomendations for where to head next?

 

[jenr812]

No advice as we're going for the 1st time in July, but I wanted to say that your son is darling and I LOVE RED FRAGGLE!!!

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

Since you have a little boy, I would recommend going straight to Fantasyland right away and get on dumbo, and then any other rides you know your son would enjoy in Fantasyland. If, this trip is all about your son, then go to Toontown, where he can also meet Mickey. If you can, you may want to grap a fastpass for one of the main rides like Splash or Big thunder if you plan on doing them later. Then after ToonTown head over to Frontier land and do your fastpass ride, But grap another fastpass before your ride !!!
It is definately possible, just make sure to always have a fastpass for a ride !!!
Plus, before you leave for naptime grap a fastpass again, for a ride when you return later in the evening !!!

We will be going in May with 2 five yr, olds, and fastpasses are a must.
We will be there May 10-15th, so we'll just miss you ! Enjoy the big 50th celebration while your there !!!

 

[ryan840]

No advice as we're going for the 1st time in July, but I wanted to say that your son is darling and I LOVE RED FRAGGLE!!!

Thank you! Have fun on your trip!!

 

[ryan840]

Since you have a little boy, I would recommend going straight to Fantasyland right away and get on dumbo, and then any other rides you know your son would enjoy in Fantasyland. If, this trip is all about your son, then go to Toontown, where he can also meet Mickey. If you can, you may want to grap a fastpass for one of the main rides like Splash or Big thunder if you plan on doing them later. Then after ToonTown head over to Frontier land and do your fastpass ride, But grap another fastpass before your ride !!!
It is definately possible, just make sure to always have a fastpass for a ride !!!
Plus, before you leave for naptime grap a fastpass again, for a ride when you return later in the evening !!!

We will be going in May with 2 five yr, olds, and fastpasses are a must.
We will be there May 10-15th, so we'll just miss you ! Enjoy the big 50th celebration while your there !!!

Grabbing the fastpass before leaving is such a great idea, and it would have taken me I don't know how many trips to realize it if it wasn't for the DIS! Of course that's true for just about everything regarding this trip...

 

[TSWJan78]

Fast Pass... Fast Pass... Fast Pass!! We learned that is the key. Something else we learned was to read the fast pass as some let you get others right away. Have a plan but do not expect to see it all. I went down with a friend and her DH, DD (5) and DS (3) and she wanted to see everything and was disappointed we did not so it took more time to get her excited again. You will get through most of it but we have never done things like Tom Sawyers Island because it did not interest us and we were short on time. You will be fine.. Have a great time!!

 

[Georgieut]

Fast Pass... Fast Pass... Fast Pass!! We learned that is the key. Something else we learned was to read the fast pass as some let you get others right away. Have a plan but do not expect to see it all. I went down with a friend and her DH, DD (5) and DS (3) and she wanted to see everything and was disappointed we did not so it took more time to get her excited again. You will get through most of it but we have never done things like Tom Sawyers Island because it did not interest us and we were short on time. You will be fine.. Have a great time!!

Quick question: Before you put your ticket into the Fast Pass machine does it tell you the next time available or do you have to just put your ticket in and it pops out and then you find out what time to come back. Just curious cause if you can't get another one and your time is hours and hours away that doesn't sound like a good idea.

 

[Lizzybee]

There is a sign above the fastpass machines saying what times you would return if you get the pass at that time.