Magic Kingdom in One Day?

[VTdisneytravel]

We are going to disney in the second week of July 2015. We have a 5, 6, and 8 year old, all girls. Is it unrealistic to do Magic Kingdom in 1 day, which we plan on a Tuesday (bc sites say this is a less packed day)? We have three days there, but also want to go to the animal kingdom and hollywood studios.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Is it unrealistic to do Magic Kingdom in 1 day,

Yes quite honestly, it is unrealistic.

But questions need to be asked -
Have you visited before ? If yes, then you can skip things you've done previously. If no, then you've no chance unless you're going to skip loads. Three young girls are going to want to do three different lots of attractions.
Do you have Park Hoppers ? If yes, then you can return to MK after you've visited AK. If no, see previous answer

 

[VTdisneytravel]

Ya, its our first time. Maybe park hopper is a good idea?! I know our girls don't really care for rides, so its more visual and meet greets

 

[mcurtiss]

i would think that meet and greets would soak up quite a bit one one day in the MK.

 

[sophie_the_pooh]

Definitely park hopper then, you can go back to MK on another day (AK day?) for a character meal and more attractions/meet and greets.

 

[VTdisneytravel]

Do you think that kids ages 5-8 can handle that many hours at the theme parks (meaning doing AK for the day, then going to MK in the evening)? I was thinking that we will take a break around lunch time to go back to the resort to rest. I was also worried that being at MK at night might take away from the whole experience for kids?

 

[Weather_Lady]

It depends. It's unrealistic to think you can do more than half of the MK in one day (2/3, if you're willing to skip some headliners). Are there height restrictions or aversions (e.g., spinning rides, rides at a height) in your group? Does anyone want to meet any characters? Do you plan to see any parades? Take a nap break? Have any table-service meals? If you fill in some of these details, we could try and propose a workable touring plan that might give you an idea of what you'd need to forgo....

Combining an AK day or the HS day with an MK visit might not be a bad idea. On our AK days, we typically finish the AK in 4 hours (all the "rides" plus one show of our choice), have lunch, go back to the resort for a nap break, and then around 4pm we head to the MK (which is where we've made our FP+ for the day -- we don't use any at the AK). By 9pm, we can cover all of Adventureland/Frontierland/most of Liberty Square. We return to the MK for a second, full day, in which we cover Fantasyland in the morning, take another nap break, and then do the rest of Liberty Square (sometimes with Tom Sawyer Island), Tomorrowland, any desired character M&Gs, and "repeat" attractions in the evening. That being said, we don't do everything in the MK even with a day and a half: we most often skip the Jungle Cruise, Liberty Belle, Stitch's Great Escape, the Tomorrowland Speedway, the Mad Tea Party, and all but one or two M&Gs.

 

[VTdisneytravel]

It depends. It's unrealistic to think you can do more than half of the MK in one day (2/3, if you're willing to skip some headliners). Are there height restrictions or aversions (e.g., spinning rides, rides at a height) in your group? Does anyone want to meet any characters? Do you plan to see any parades? Take a nap break? Have any table-service meals? If you fill in some of these details, we could try and propose a workable touring plan that might give you an idea of what you'd need to forgo....

Combining an AK day or the HS day with an MK visit might not be a bad idea. On our AK days, we typically finish the AK in 4 hours (all the "rides" plus one show of our choice), have lunch, go back to the resort for a nap break, and then around 4pm we head to the MK (which is where we've made our FP+ for the day -- we don't use any at the AK). By 9pm, we can cover all of Adventureland/Frontierland/most of Liberty Square. We return to the MK for a second, full day, in which we cover Fantasyland in the morning, take another nap break, and then do the rest of Liberty Square (sometimes with Tom Sawyer Island), Tomorrowland, any desired character M&Gs, and "repeat" attractions in the evening. That being said, we don't do everything in the MK even with a day and a half: we most often skip the Jungle Cruise, Liberty Belle, Stitch's Great Escape, the Tomorrowland Speedway, the Mad Tea Party, and all but one or two M&Gs.

Thanks for the great tips. We will be forgoing a LOT of the rides due to fear or heights/spinning and focusing on the meet/greets. It will mostly be touring and very simplistic rides. Tell me if this sounds reasonable, as this is my ideal situation:

SUNDAY: arrival & hang out at the pool resort & Downtown Disney
MONDAY: morning at Animal Kingdom, nap break at resort, then the afternoon/evening at Magic Kindom.
TUESDAY: All day at Magic Kingdom.
WEDNESDAY: Hollywood studios in the morning, nap break at resort, then Magic Kingdom in the afternoon/evening.
THURSDAY: Bibbly Bobbly Boutique in Downtown Disney before hearing out

 

[Weather_Lady]

Thanks for the great tips. We will be forgoing a LOT of the rides due to fear or heights/spinning and focusing on the meet/greets. It will mostly be touring and very simplistic rides. Tell me if this sounds reasonable, as this is my ideal situation:

SUNDAY: arrival & hang out at the pool resort & Downtown Disney
MONDAY: morning at Animal Kingdom, nap break at resort, then the afternoon/evening at Magic Kindom.
TUESDAY: All day at Magic Kingdom.
WEDNESDAY: Hollywood studios in the morning, nap break at resort, then Magic Kingdom in the afternoon/evening.
THURSDAY: Bibbly Bobbly Boutique in Downtown Disney before hearing out

Totally do-able, given your parameters. With a simple touring plan (e.g., any headliners or in-demand M&Gs first, then working your way back through the shorter-wait attractions) and good use of your FP+ (e.g., headliners that are far-flung from where you'll be starting at rope drop, or which are going to take longer than average), you should have no trouble doing everything you want.

Here are the attractions I'd personally recommend for your FP+ (totally subjective - I am not an expert although I play one on the internet! ), if you won't be getting to that attraction within an hour or two of rope drop:

Magic Kingdom (assuming no interest in any of the Mountains): Use FP+ for your choice of 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, Anna/Elsa M&G, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Peter Pan, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyear, Little Mermaid and/or Cinderella/Rapunzel M&G.

Hollywood Studios (assuming no interest in TOT or RnR): No FP+. Save them for your afternoon at MK. Tour beginning with TSMM first, then character M&Gs (check scheduled times and try to arrive as they're starting up), then Great Movie Ride and/or Star Tours if desired, then all other attractions and shows of choice.

AK (assuming no interest in Expedition Everest): No FP+. Save them for your afternoon at MK. Tour beginning with Kilimanjaro Safaris first, then Kali River Rapids if desired, Dinosaur if desired, other Dinoland attractions, It's Tough to Be a Bug, and M&Gs, animal trails or show(s) of choice.