Will be arriving at MK @ noon...where to go first?!!

[famfab5]

We are arriving at our resort around 10:30 on a Sunday with our tickets starting at arrival. (unlike the last time where we had a resort day before our package started) We are going to the Magic Kingdom first with extra magic hours that night but we will be getting there around noonish. Where should we head first. Fantasyland will be most likely busy at this time, right? I am hoping it will be a not so crowded week but with the FD it could be. Maybe toontown first would be better? Help?!

E.

 

[sjreed]

I would head to Adventure Land, and work your way counter clockwise around the park.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

I would head to Adventure Land, and work your way counter clockwise around the park.

Agreed, but after finishing Adventureland, I would suggest park hopping to another park. Crowds on EMH nights can be overbearing.

 

[LadyLuc361]

When are you going? I arrived at the MK last August (late August) around 1 pm and we really didn't have any problems. I knew that i was arriving mid day so i expected some crowds. We started in Tommorowland and got a fasspass for SM and rode buzz with only a 15 - 20 minute wait and the TTA. I think it really depends on when you are going b/c if it is going to be mid-summer things might be different. You could alwasy check out the less visited attractions if it is really busy and get fast passes for more popular attractions.

 

[Bill From PA]

If you're determined to do MK from noon through the EMHs I doubt if it matters where you start or what attractions you do, it'll be Sardine City. Noon to 1 pm is the time we usually bail out of the park we go to early and hop to Epcot which absorbs crowds and rarely seems jammed to us. My policy is that if we can't arrive in WDW early enough on the first day to get to a park before 11 am we skip the parks that day and hit BoardWalk or, later, PI. I won't burn a $50 or more pass to do a half day of 45 minute standby lines.

Bill From PA

 

[MickeynMinnie]

We always like to start our trip off at the HM! It's our favorite ride in MK. then we head to Fantasy land and work our way around!

 

[famfab5]

We will be at Disney the last week in August. We have the package so our tickets start the first day and they are not hoppers. We have an ADR at Crystal Palace at 6:00. I know the children will really want to be in Magic Kingdom the first day, we will just need to make it work!...lol

From everything I've read, it seems like the last week in August shouldn't be too, too awful crowd wise. We are just going to prepare ourselves for not doing it all that first day and just soaking up the wonderful Disney atmosphere!

Thanks for your help!

E.

 

[Star Wars Guy]

Go to Casey's Corner for a Casey Dog. It's a Star Wars Guy family tradition. Then head to Adventureland followed by Frontierland and Liberty Square.

 

[jsmla]

We have an afternoon plan for days when we get to the MK later in the day. Maybe you can use some of it!

Main Street USA
Shopping!!!
Ice Cream from the shop on Main Street to enjoy as you stroll through the park.
There is often a street performance of some sort to enjoy on Main Street.
Walt Disney Railroad: Good for a hot afternoon. Also a good low-stress way to make your way to Frontierland. The train will drop you right at the entrance to Splash if you'd like to snag a Fast Pass for later that evening.

Adventureland
Enchanted Tiki Birds: Hokey, but air condition and almost never crowded.
Pirates of the Carribean: Used to be a great mid-day ride but that may change after the new re-hab.
If you didn't want an ice cream on Main Street the Dole Whips sold in Adventureland are yummy and nice for a cool-down.

Frontierland
Country Bears: On par with the Tiki Birds. Corny but lots of AC and usually a minimal wait. More fun if you clap and stomp along with the music.
Tom Sawyer Island: The raft ride over to TSI can sometimes have a big line, but is often not too bad. Kids love running around here. Lots of rope bridges, spooky caves and a fort to climb around in.

Liberty Square
Hall of Presidents: We've always gotten into the next show, even at the height of Spring Break or Thanksgiving week. Never a big hit with my young'uns but nice and cool. If the kiddos are bored have them look for Presidents who aren't paying attention to the spiel anymore than they are. Andrew Jackson is especially fidgity.
Haunted Mansion: Hit or miss here. Sometimes the lines are awful. Sometimes reasonable.

Fantasyland
Mickey's Philharmagic: One of my absolute favorites and usually not too bad of a wait. This is a fairly large theater. At Spring Break we waited for part of one show and all of the next before we made it in. About a 15-20 minute wait and this was mid-day at the height of the Spring Break rush.
It's a Small World: Very short wait, maybe 5 minutes.

Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland Transit Authority: Almost never a line and more enjoyable than you'd think.
Carousel of Progress: Sentimental and corny but still fun and you can usually get into the next show with no problem.

We usually decide which headliner we'd like to try and either begin in Frontierland grabbing a Fast Pass for Splash or in Tomorrowland, grabbing one for either Buzz Lightyear or Space Mt. By the time we've made our circuit of the park our FP is usually in it's window. We rarely visit Toontown anymore. Kids are all late-teens and too cool for characters so I can't really help there.

Oh, one more thing, if your kids are small there are several play areas that are a fun way to pass some time. I don't have little ones any more but they used to enjoy Donald's Boat (lots of wet fun!) and the play area in Toontown.

I'm sure there's tons of stuff I've forgotten but my point is that you can have a fun afternoon at the MK, even on a hot crowded afternoon!

Hope you have a GREAT trip!

Have fun!!!

 

[famfab5]

jsmla- Thank you for your awesome suggestions!! I think we will head to Fantasyland first for Mickey's Philharmagic which was our absolute favorite last trip! Then off to It's A Small World which was under rehab last trip...can't wait!! The first day we don't intend to do it all, we are just going to enjoy being "back in the world!"

 

[nhdisnut]

One note about the Sunday evening EMH - we just came back from our trip last week and on Sunday, April 23rd we stayed at MK until 3:00 in the morning! If you can do this, I highly recommend it!!! For the last two hours, we were able to just about walk on everything! At the end of the night my kids and I were alone on Space Mtn, Dumbo (because we could), Pooh, and we closed out with Small World (again, because we could). We were absolutely alone on every ride during the last half hour!! Quite a remarkable experience. I would take a nap and plan to stay late if possible. I don't know if your park hours will be as late during that period in August, but the stay late plan sure worked for us!

We didn't arrive at MK until about 6pm, and found the waits for most everything to be 20 minutes or less. jmsla seems to highlight some of the best rides/attractions for mid-day....Enjoy planning!

 

[famfab5]

nhdisnut-that night is indeed an extra magic night so we were planning on staying as late as possible. The park closes that night at 10p.m. so we will stay as long as the children feel they would like to...I'm sure till midnight at least!! The next morning is early morning hour at AK so we were going to try and make that as well. Funny...we as a family do not seem to need much sleep when on vacation!!

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We're running into the same issue, as we'll be arriving at the resort about 10. The kids insist on doing MK the first day! We're going, but will explain that we are not doing a lot of attractions. We'll probably grab a FP for Buzz or something as soon as we get there, so we can at least get on something they really like.

On a typical day, when we would have arrived at opening, we would probably be in Adventureland around 11, so I think we'll just try to do that area. We'd love to do the Magic Carpets and Pirates. I'm not sure what the line for Jungle Cruise will be like, but we may try that. Oh, and I'm sure we'll do Country Bear Jamboree. It's an EMH night, so I know MK will become mobbed by 2. So, we're just going to explore for a couple of hours, and then get out of there!

Have fun!