First Timer Here! Need help planning MK

[EJS84]

Hello! My family and I are heading to Disney in early May of this year - we have 2 days dedicated to MK. This is the only park that I am having such a hard time planning for. Of course I know that things most likely won't go as planned, I still like to have a general idea of what to do, especially since this is our first trip and it's all so overwhelming. I have ready numerous touring plans but am still a little lost so I'm hoping you great people can help me!

My kids are small, they will be almost 5, almost 3 and 9 months at the time of our trip so we are definitely more focused on rides for the almost 5 and 3 yr old.

Can anyone help me figure out where to start each day? Should I split the days into Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and then Frontierland and Adventureland? I am thinking that I do not need a full day for Fronteirland and Adventureland, so then I am getting confused on what the best way to manuver through the park is on the day we hit those spots. Or should we just go directly to Fantaslyand each day and then move around from there?

I just don't want to be zig zagging around. I have yet to make my FP+ selections but we are staying at AK so I can do so 60 days out and my thoughts for these are: day 1 = A & E meet (if I'm lucky) Seven Drawfs Mine, Enchanted tales with Bell. Day 2 = Buzz lightyear, peter pan, big thunder mountain.

I have given us the entire day and night for both days but it would be nice to get a break, but we are also so far from the park that I don't know if it's worth it to go back to AK and then back to MK. We are planning to arrive by rope drop each day.

We have several other days where we have allowed big breaks in our day, but I know MK will be the most fun so I want to maximize our time.

I'm sorry for all of the rambling but I am lost on how to plan our days here and I don't want to show up unprepared!

I should add that meeting some characters are important but we do have reservations at Akershush and Chef Mickeys so I'm not sure if we should spend alot of time meeting characters we have already met (plus I plan to meet some at other parks) We also want to see the parades and fireworks!

In other words, PLEASE HELP!!!

Thank you!!!!!

 

[Gaston's gal]

You are definitely doing a great job planning ahead! You can never plan too soon for a WDW Trip. I have stayed with my family at AKL several times and have enjoyed it every time. You may want to plan a day just to enjoy the resort. They have so many fun activities there that my girls have loved--making food canisters for the animals to eat, learning about how to care for the animals, animal tracking, playing the African instruments, the night vision goggles, and don't forget about the pools. They can have tons of enjoyment just at their resort.
You asked about standing in line to greet the various characters also. It really depends on how much time you want to spend doing that. My family has stood in line for hours to greet characters and we have just greeted characters at the character meals. What will be the most important thing to your children--rides or meeting characters?
You will have fun with whatever you do! Let me know if you need any other help. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Sudcaro- Sudcaro]

Keep in mind that your 3 year old might not meet the height requirements or even age requirement for some of the rides you are hoping to get a FP for. And you're not telling who will watch the baby while you'll be on said rides. Also be sure your kids won't be scared on rollercoaster - Big thunder mountain is not always easy for little ones.
Will you have a car? We were at the AKL last December and it's not that long a drive to the MK. If you rely on buses then of course it's a different story.

 

[EJS84]

Hi! No we will not have a car so we are relying on disney transportation. Myself or my husband will stay back with the baby and our 3yr old for rides they cannot go on and then do a rider switch if we want to on some with our 5yr old.

Big thunder and seven dwarfs will be only with our 5yr old.

 

[mikewdw]

MK can be done with a little travelling. We have been with ours when they were similar to yours, (DD 5, DS 3, & 3) we would split up a lot and one of us would take 5 and ride while other stayed w/boys. did a lot of rides that weren't headliners like carosel and barnstormer. like previous poster be careful on BTMRR it can scare young ones. don't be afraid for one of you to go with your 5 & 3 and ride as much as possible while the other parent has some relaxing time with little one, taking pics, riding Alladin, etc. that way the older ones can get max fun and one parent can enjoy time with little one. have 3 means you are outnumbered (HA, we sooooooo know about that) and we have some great video pics with the young ones just playing at playground or sittling in stroller watching shows.

 

[Weather_Lady]

We typically split MK up between 2 days, consisting of 2 "touring sessions" each day: morning (rope drop-CS lunch), nap break, and then evening (~4pm-9pm, including a TS dinner), with a minimum of criss-crossing the park. For example:

Day 1 - Adventureland/Frontierland in the morning (with Big Thunder, Splash, Pirates and Jungle Cruise first, then working our way back through both lands) and in the evening, Liberty Square (sans Tom Sawyer Island) and starting Fantasyland (with FP+ for any of Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Pooh and/or a M&G).

Day 2 - Finish Fantasyland in the morning, with a FP+ for 7DMT, a late-morning FP+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle (it takes time so don't waste precious just-after-rope drop minutes on it), plus one of your choice of Dumbo, either princess M&G, Little Mermaid, or a repeat visit to Pooh or Peter Pan -- whichever of those you don't have a FP+ for, get there ASAP after rope drop, try for a 4th FP+ after the first three are gone, or try at the end of the night). Do Tomorrowland in the evening (and then revisit favorites).

Totally doable, however you decide to tackle it, so long as you can get there early. Have fun!

 

[Kosmo1986]

Magic kingdom is so hard to plan ahead! There are so many more rides compared to the other parks and very unpredictable to See what happens.

If you are going at rope drop I would go to fantasy land first on the first day. I was able to walk on peter pan and little mermaid within the first 1/2 hour. The good news with MK is if you have fastpasses for a ride and see the line is only 10 minutes it is pretty easy to switch the fastpass to another ride (except for the really popular ones). If you do fantasy land on day 1 you might get most of it complete and if not you can update you fast passes for the next morning to get the rides you are missing

 

[LilWalt]

You will find that things may not go according to plan so don't get to set on that. We always do 2 days at MK but never really have planned like you have. We just make our way around the park and do things as they come along.

I like your planning but don't the plans to become stressful during the trip.

 

[CJLove79]

I don't have any kids so I can't tell you from a parental perspective but maybe my info may help you a little. Me and my girl are going to Disney World on 10/17-10/24 later this year. I'm the one doing the research, planning , everything, this is our first Disney World trip as adults & without our Families. The very first thing I decided was that I will NOT let the planning overwhelm me and I plan on making the planning aspect fun. Its planning a Disney World trip. Not many people are blessed to be given the opportunity to even stress about the planning y'know? LOL. Try to think about how much fun your family will have while you're there & especially the smiles on your kids's faces. Peter Pan said it best, "Think of a wonderful thought, ANY happy little thought" LOL.

Anyway, I created a list of all the rides in the Magic Kingdom and their respective lands. We decided that we're not going to start at New Fantasy Land because most of the early risers will go there first thing. So we decided that we'll start in Adventure Land and work our way around. We then picked the top 7 rides we want to go at rope drop that we can go in sequence & where we're making a circle around M with the end point being the entrance to Tomorrow Land.

So we're starting in Adventure Land to get to Aladdins Magic Carpet first, then Pirates, we swing to Frontierland to Splash Mountain then Big Thunder Mountain, after that, Haunted Mansion, after that Mad Tea Party and finally the People Mover in Space Mountain. We then will go to Lunch wherever we have a reservation for it, go back to the resort, which is the Contemporary Resort, to chillax a bit, recharge our batteries for later on. I plan on using our first 3 FastPasses for later on in the late afternoon, early evening, on Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride, Space Mountain & Peter Pan's Flight. After that, we're in cruise control in that we'll go to the other rides we havent gone to earlier like Barnstormer & Dumbo, do some shopping, maybe meet and greet a character or two, have dinner & maybe go on the previous rides again as the crowds start to dwindle somewhat. We decided that we'll stay in the standby lines for the rest of the night because we feel that it'll be a waste of time and energy looking for a kiosk & waiting in line. The way we see it, its better to wait in a standby line for a ride than a kiosk for that 4th or 5th FastPass y'know. As far as what we'll do on the second day at the Magic Kingdom, simple, go in reverse but focus a little more on character meet and greets, parades, fireworks, the stuff we didn't do the day before.

The plan above is when there's no special event like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party & no Extra Magic Hours. I plan on being up in the wee hours of the night to make my Dining reservations & FastPasses to increase my chances of getting great times. We made sure not to plan in terms of hours or minutes because Disney World is very unpredictable.

So the best general advice I would give is to first think positively so you can plan with a clear head, involve your Family in a possible Family Meeting to reach a concensus on what rides you all want to go on in the morning, afternoon & evening. Once you figure out the rides, you can try to find a concensus on dining, shopping, meet and greets, etc. My point is this, have fun and try your hardest not to stress, hope you and your Family have fun. .

 

[brifraz]

Hello! My family and I are heading to Disney in early May of this year - we have 2 days dedicated to MK. This is the only park that I am having such a hard time planning for. Of course I know that things most likely won't go as planned, I still like to have a general idea of what to do, especially since this is our first trip and it's all so overwhelming. I have ready numerous touring plans but am still a little lost so I'm hoping you great people can help me!

Hello again! Glad to see you have your FP+ ideas getting in order. I would 100% absolutely, positively, without any question, plan to go back to the room each afternoon for nap time. You'll need it as much as the kids. When you get back to the room, they'll still be full of energy and after 3 minutes on the bed or couch, they will be sound asleep for two hours. Never fails.

Any, to the planning ideas for your two days. Definitely make sure that you arrive at rope drop both days. Day 1 I would head straight to Fantasyland and hit some 'family' things first - Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Philharmagic. If you do those at arrival, you can easily get all three in about an hour or so. That would be when I would book that first A&E meet and greet FP+. After that, I'd likely do Little Mermaid and then Dumbo. Then I'd head to Tomorrowland and get the Buzz FP+ for just before lunch and then grab some lunch at Cosmic Rays and then get out of the park. Back to the room until dinner time. If any of the kids wake up from naps, take them out to see the animals or do a craft or swim! We really enjoyed the Mara counter service at AKL and when we were there, I would usually go down and get dinner while my wife and daughter were waking from their naps. Back in the park, I would have that third FP+ for Mine Train for the evening and then do whatever else in Fantasyland/Storybook Circus or Tomorrowland that you want to do. Once you use that third FP+, you might want to check if any are available for Belle (or something else) so you can get another attraction in with little line. And that, you are ready to go get some good seats for the night parade and fireworks.

Day 2, I would start off at rope drop heading to Adventureland. The lines on that side of the park will be very short early in the morning. Not sure what all you want to do in there, but I think you could likely do everything in a couple hours easily. Then back to Frontierland area where you'll have mid-morning FP+ for Big Thunder. I'd recommend a half an hour or more to go visit Tom Sawyer Island - the 5yr old will love it ( and the 3yr old might, too!). Then, get out a little earlier (before lunch) so you can rest in the room until 2pm. Because at 2pm you need to catch the bus back to MK! The parade is at 3 - and I highly recommend watching it from in front of the barber shop - crowds are light there and you get to see everything usually very clearly! Post-parade, it's just a matter of what else you want to see. Could have that FP+ for Belle or maybe for something else (if you did it the night before) or let the littler ones get a little more nap time in Hall of Presidents. Maybe Pinnochio Village Haus for dinner - if you are lucky getting some seats to watch It's a Small World while you eat. After dinner figure out anything else you want to see or do - lines will go down quite a bit during the parade and fireworks!

Have an awesome trip!