MK Day 1 Plan

[BrocksDoDisney]

Hello all!

I've read so many things about how to plan a trip. Some say DO have a plan, some say DON'T.

I'm a planner. It's just part of my personality. So with that being said, I've made a plan for day 1 at Magic Kingdom. I would love some feedback because I've never been before. I don't know if I'm allowing enough time or too much time for things to happen.

I really don't want "negative" feedback in regards to just not having a plan and going with the flow. That's not who I am and I'm afraid that I will forget the things that I think our family will enjoy most. It doesn't mean that I'm not going to be flexible if things don't quite work out as well.

Note- I schedule my fast passes next week so these are what I hope to get....

8:40 Welcome Show
9:00 Pluto (Town Square)
9:20 Aladdin and Jasmine
*Potty Break
10:00 The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
10:30 Pirates of the Caribbean
10:45 Big Thunder Mtn (FAST PASS 10:30-11:30)
11:15 Lunch @ Columbia Harbor House
*Potty Break
12:45 Peter Pan
1:15 Mickey’s Philarmagic
1:45 Peter Pan’s Flight (FAST PASS 1:00-2:00)
2:15 It’s a Small World
3:00 Splash Mtn (FAST PASS 2:30-3:30)
3:15 Woody and Jessie
*Potty Break
FP Kiosk
4:00 Jungle Cruise
4:35 Dinner @ The Crystal Palace

7:30 Haunted Mansion (FAST PASS #4)
8:00 Enchanted Tales with belle
9:00 Main Street Electrical Parade
9:30 Tinker Bell (Town Square Theater)
10:00 Wishes Fireworks

 

[SeanWM48]

based on experience i'll say you're cutting it very close and you have a very full day here. i would increase your allotted time per ride 50%, cut out some other rides. create some leeway here. i totally get that you want to plan it out but you also have to have a backup plan for when a line is longer than expected, or if the walk from ride to ride takes longer than expected. even with fastpass.

i also think you'll want a snack between your 11:15 lunch and 4:35 dinner. that's a long time to be on your feet without eating. i was floored by how tiring it was getting around the parks the first time and i'm a very active guy.

 

[BrocksDoDisney]

based on experience i'll say you're cutting it very close and you have a very full day here. i would increase your allotted time per ride 50%, cut out some other rides. create some leeway here. i totally get that you want to plan it out but you also have to have a backup plan for when a line is longer than expected, or if the walk from ride to ride takes longer than expected. even with fastpass.

i also think you'll want a snack between your 11:15 lunch and 4:35 dinner. that's a long time to be on your feet without eating. i was floored by how tiring it was getting around the parks the first time and i'm a very active guy.

Thank you!! I will definitely make some adjustments! I expect that things won't go exactly as planned but I have no idea what to expect.
I will definitely add a snack in there somewhere. Recommendations?

Also, which rides do you think will take longer? I've read so many things that say you can get multiple rides in quickly in the morning.

 

[Zipadeelady]

My husband and I did 1 day in Sept 2014. It was wonderful but a little busier than I had planned and ended up just going with the flow by mid-afternoon. Your plan looks good except the 12:45 Peter Pan might be hard to achieve but i hope it works for you. I've heard the new queue is amazing! Also Jungle cruise at 4:00 might also be a bit of a wait.

Good Luck, I hope it all works out!

 

[SeanWM48]

Thank you!! I will definitely make some adjustments! I expect that things won't go exactly as planned but I have no idea what to expect.
I will definitely add a snack in there somewhere. Recommendations?

snack-wise there are all sorts of options but i am a starbucks guy and hit that at least once when i'm at the park. a good caffeine source midway through the day helps a lot. it's in a good spot too on main street. a big iced coffee and an egg sandwich of some sort will keep me going, basically a second breakfast.

for what it's worth a lot of people will go as far as to take a break mid-day to go back to the hotel and swim or sleep for a bit. it's quite a taxing day but by all means give it a shot and best of luck

 

[BrocksDoDisney]

My husband and I did 1 day in Sept 2014. It was wonderful but a little busier than I had planned and ended up just going with the flow by mid-afternoon. Your plan looks good except the 12:45 Peter Pan might be hard to achieve but i hope it works for you. I've heard the new queue is amazing! Also Jungle cruise at 4:00 might also be a bit of a wait.

Good Luck, I hope it all works out!

I think I put 12:45 to meet Peter Pan to hopefully be in the line waiting when he shows up at 1:00. Fingers crossed.

 

[Zipadeelady]

I also didn't see Splash on your agenda! It's my favorite! I would that to your morning! There will be no wait if you hit that in the early morning!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I think I put 12:45 to meet Peter Pan to hopefully be in the line waiting when he shows up at 1:00. Fingers crossed.

OHhhhh I thought you meant the ride

 

[BrocksDoDisney]

I also didn't see Splash on your agenda! It's my favorite! I would that to your morning! There will be no wait if you hit that in the early morning!

I thought I missed it too but actually it's there, at 3:00.

How wet will we get?

 

[Zipadeelady]

I thought I missed it too but actually it's there, at 3:00.

How wet will we get?

Opps. Normally i haven't gotten wet at all on our previous trips but the 1 day trip with Joe we got pretty wet. Joe more so. We were in the front and he was on the right side of me. Not to plug my trip report but at the bottom of my comment in blue is my trip report for the day. I doubt it will help but you can see how much or how little we actually did.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

As another person said...I would definitely add a bit of time and also have a backup in the event some of the attractions are down. Unfortunately Pirates is notorious for being down recently. Also, if you want curbside seats for the parade, you're going to need to get to your spots (or have someone hold a spot for you) around 7:30.

When are you visiting by the way?

 

[BrocksDoDisney]

As another person said...I would definitely add a bit of time and also have a backup in the event some of the attractions are down. Unfortunately Pirates is notorious for being down recently. Also, if you want curbside seats for the parade, you're going to need to get to your spots (or have someone hold a spot for you) around 7:30.

When are you visiting by the way?

Thanks for the information about Pirates! We are going the last week in April. From what I've read it seems to be a great time to visit!

Is Haunted Mansion a ride that my 4.5 year old daughter will like? And is it a ride we really want to do after dinner?

 

[Zipadeelady]

Is Haunted Mansion a ride that my 4.5 year old daughter will like? And is it a ride we really want to do after dinner?

On our first trip my son was 3.5 and I had to end up holding my hands over his eyes and sing Hakuna Matata to him fairly loud. Ahhh the memories.

 

[SAV]

Being your first time, I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Things rarely go as well as you would expect and you have specific things planned down to a very small window, but don't have any prior knowledge to base that on(I understand that is why you are here asking for opinions). But everyone will have a different opinion based on when they have toured the parks.

Have you looked at a "Touring Plans" 1 day MK plan? They are definitely the experts and know to factor in many things you don't know to factor in.

And an alternate thought is for you to have an outline of things to do, but don't put such strict timings to it. Then if it goes off track, you can then choose to cut something now or later to make up for it. You will obviously have your FP+'s planned at a specific time. Then your next priority Must Do's and then your other want to do's. Have a list and check them off as you do them.

Also, I don't see Tomorrowland or New Fantasyland listed on your plan. Are you just not going to go to those areas? Or is this day 1 of 2 in MK and you will do those other areas a different day?

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Thanks for the information about Pirates! We are going the last week in April. From what I've read it seems to be a great time to visit!

Is Haunted Mansion a ride that my 4.5 year old daughter will like? And is it a ride we really want to do after dinner?

Every child is going to be different. My 2 year old daughter has been riding it since she was 3 months and she's never had an issue with being scared. It's a slow moving ride, so if you're worried about getting sick, that won't happen.

 

[BrocksDoDisney]

Being your first time, I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Things rarely go as well as you would expect and you have specific things planned down to a very small window, but don't have any prior knowledge to base that on(I understand that is why you are here asking for opinions). But everyone will have a different opinion based on when they have toured the parks.

Have you looked at a "Touring Plans" 1 day MK plan? They are definitely the experts and know to factor in many things you don't know to factor in.

And an alternate thought is for you to have an outline of things to do, but don't put such strict timings to it. Then if it goes off track, you can then choose to cut something now or later to make up for it. You will obviously have your FP+'s planned at a specific time. Then your next priority Must Do's and then your other want to do's. Have a list and check them off as you do them.

Also, I don't see Tomorrowland or New Fantasyland listed on your plan. Are you just not going to go to those areas? Or is this day 1 of 2 in MK and you will do those other areas a different day?

That's what I'm afraid of. Is that we won't get to everything and I even felt like I cut out quite a bit that we aren't as interested in.
Yes this is just day 1, day 2 will be the other side of MK.

I was using Kenny the Pirate's plans and he had way more than this in one day and I weeded through it. I'll check out touring plans as well.

Thanks!

 

[BrocksDoDisney]

Being your first time, I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Things rarely go as well as you would expect and you have specific things planned down to a very small window, but don't have any prior knowledge to base that on(I understand that is why you are here asking for opinions). But everyone will have a different opinion based on when they have toured the parks.

Have you looked at a "Touring Plans" 1 day MK plan? They are definitely the experts and know to factor in many things you don't know to factor in.

And an alternate thought is for you to have an outline of things to do, but don't put such strict timings to it. Then if it goes off track, you can then choose to cut something now or later to make up for it. You will obviously have your FP+'s planned at a specific time. Then your next priority Must Do's and then your other want to do's. Have a list and check them off as you do them.

Also, I don't see Tomorrowland or New Fantasyland listed on your plan. Are you just not going to go to those areas? Or is this day 1 of 2 in MK and you will do those other areas a different day?

I went ahead and purchased the touringplans.com subscription and have found it very helpful, in fact, my "plan" listed above actually works out quite well when entered into touring plans. So thank you for suggesting that site!

 

[DarthVader]

8:40 Welcome Show
9:00 Pluto (Town Square)
9:20 Aladdin and Jasmine
*Potty Break
10:00 The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
10:30 Pirates of the Caribbean
10:45 Big Thunder Mtn (FAST PASS 10:30-11:30)
11:15 Lunch @ Columbia Harbor House
*Potty Break
12:45 Peter Pan
1:15 Mickey’s Philarmagic
1:45 Peter Pan’s Flight (FAST PASS 1:00-2:00)
2:15 It’s a Small World
3:00 Splash Mtn (FAST PASS 2:30-3:30)
3:15 Woody and Jessie
*Potty Break
FP Kiosk
4:00 Jungle Cruise
4:35 Dinner @ The Crystal Palace

7:30 Haunted Mansion (FAST PASS #4)
8:00 Enchanted Tales with belle
9:00 Main Street Electrical Parade
9:30 Tinker Bell (Town Square Theater)
10:00 Wishes Fireworks

My $.02 is that you're packing so much stuff, so close together you may find yourself a bit frustrated. You may run into delays with Peter Pan, that will cause an issue with Mickey's Philarmgic, likewise with Peter Pan's Flight. Even though you may have a fast pass, you can still wait in line which will impact a Small World and/or Splash Mountain.

Scheduling potty breaks is another potential catastophe. You cannot really schedule that with kids. You can hope they go the bathroom, but they may very well need to go right when you're in the middle of line and as I'm sure you know, when a kid has to go they HAVE TO GO NOW.

My advice, take it or leave it, is that you take the times off your schedule (other then FP+) and more or less keep things optional. That way if the lines are longer then you thought they would be, you'll not be getting frustrated, that is don't be a slave to your schedule but let it guide you, and if that falls apart you'll be less stressed.

 

[BrocksDoDisney]

My $.02 is that you're packing so much stuff, so close together you may find yourself a bit frustrated. You may run into delays with Peter Pan, that will cause an issue with Mickey's Philarmgic, likewise with Peter Pan's Flight. Even though you may have a fast pass, you can still wait in line which will impact a Small World and/or Splash Mountain.

Scheduling potty breaks is another potential catastophe. You cannot really schedule that with kids. You can hope they go the bathroom, but they may very well need to go right when you're in the middle of line and as I'm sure you know, when a kid has to go they HAVE TO GO NOW.

My advice, take it or leave it, is that you take the times off your schedule (other then FP+) and more or less keep things optional. That way if the lines are longer then you thought they would be, you'll not be getting frustrated, that is don't be a slave to your schedule but let it guide you, and if that falls apart you'll be less stressed.

Thanks for your advice. I'm finding it hard to understand why there are so many sites out there that offer plans based on a time schedule if so many people say not to. Obviously I know that my kids will need to go potty when they need to go... I just put those there as reminders to stop and take breaks and put them there as I know from looking at the map that we will be near restrooms during those times. I will probably still keep a plan and if things look like they will take longer then we will skip them and come back to them. I tried to schedule meeting characters where we would show up a little before they show up so we can already be in line. Maybe that too is wishful thinking.