What rides must we do first?

[LeeHarman]

:wave:Hi all, we are trying to plan for our Dec 07 holiday :xmas: to WDW (2nd - 16th), and my daughter keeps asking me what rides are we going to do first in each of the parks.:shrug:

Please can anyone guide us as to which rides we must make top of our list in all parks? i.e. what rides are best to go on early to avoid large queues and anything else we may not have thought about. :lookaroun

Thank you all in advance for your help in this matter. Hopefully this will stop the ear ache I am getting! :ROFLOL:

 

[Disneyfan1981]

This will be an interesting thread because it'll tell everyone's habits at each park.

AK: Ride the Safari first and foremost, its better the earlier you go IMHO. Hit two birds with one stone and walk around the park fastpassing Everest then getting in line for the Safari. After that I usually FP Dinosaur if needed and enjoy the rest of the sights.

EPCOT: Test Track and Mission: Space are the first ones to have heavy lines, I usually FP TT and then walk over and wait in the M:S queue. Nemo will have a longer wait as well (at least it did when I went) so we FP'd Nemo and then waited out a showing of Turtle Talk before riding.

MGM: I usually head over and FP Aerosmith then jump on ToT. After that make a b-line over to Indy and make sure I get one of the morning shows in where at least in my experience its less crowded.

MK: Haven't found the formula for this yet.....its so dynamic depending on the day. Usually I head for Space and FP and walk over to Big Thunder and wait, riding and waiting Splash after words. This one is tough because there are a lot of great rides that fill up quick....I'm interested to hear people's MK plans.

 

[daverube]

I'd say a lot depends on how old your daughter is and whether she wants to ride all of the rides in Fantasyland. If she does, RUN TO DUMBO!!!!

If not, my fam has always had its best success doing Adventureland first and then working our way around the park to Tomorrowland. I always think we get A LOT more done by going that way. However, iF you want to be really sly, get a fastpass from either splash or BTMR in Frontierland first, then wait in line for whichever ride you didn't fast pass. After your ride is over, go back to Adventureland, do all those rides and then go back and use your fastpass.

As for EPCOT, we usually do Futureworld and the WS on different days.

Hope this helps and good luck!!!

Dave

PS. Don't forget to eat a Dole Whip Float!!!

 

[lilclerk]

EPCOT: Test Track and Mission: Space are the first ones to have heavy lines, I usually FP TT and then walk over and wait in the M:S queue. Nemo will have a longer wait as well (at least it did when I went) so we FP'd Nemo and then waited out a showing of Turtle Talk before riding.

I'd definitely say Test Track and Soarin' over M:S. In February, I walked onto Mission: Space, and Soarin had a bit of a wait (luckily they weren't out of fastpasses though.)

I'd say, even if you don't want to do them first, grab fastpasses for Space Mountain in MK, and Soarin' in Epcot. And in AK, definitely do the Safari first thing, then hit Everest. DHS, if you want to do the thrill rides, do ToT and RnR early before the lines get too long.

 

[phenom1307]

DAK: GO TO KILAMANJARO SAFARIS AS SOON AS YOU GET TO THE PARK, either ride it or get a fastpass and go to Everest....the animals are more active when it's cooler out so either catch one of the morning or late afternoon or evening expeditions on kilamanjaro

DHS: RnRC or ToT, the other Qs usually don't get as long as those 2...and between RnRC and ToT, ToT is usually the shorter of the 2 or at least is the case when i go

MK: Space...fastpass, then go to BTMR....Peter Pan you might want to run to first as well, its Q is usually quite long

Epcot: Literally RUN to Soarin' and get a fastpass then casually walk to Test Track or M:S, yes the line will be long but not the 4 hour wait time that Soarin' has gotten to before....the seas with nemo and friends can have a long line at times, but unless youre traveling with really young children, love that movie, have never been on it and want to experience it, or need to get out of the heat...you can skip it

 

[awalte7]

My system usually work for me.Day one: In magic kingdom we head straight to the haunted mansion, it's my favorite and it's usually a short wait early in the a.m.(we'll see if that changed with the new refurb). Then I wander over to splash, ride that a few times, and then thunder mountan railroad. Once the humidity really sets in we leave and go to typhoon lagoon and hit up space mountain and some other favorites in the evening.

Day two. First Blizzard beach then MGM. We head directly over to tower of terror and rock n rollercoaster. We fastpass one and wait in line for the other one. (we fastpass the longer one obviously and wait for the shorter:brick

Day 3. animal kingdom. Fast pass everest FIRST. Ride safari and kali river while waiting.

Day 4. Fastpass soarin first. Then wait for test track or mission space.

Days 5-8-repeat as desired:hammer:

 

[DisneyGigi]

Highlights... (I included some shows too, my faves)
At MK our must do list is Splash first... then PoTC, Splash again (because we love it so) BTMR then we work our way around all the smaller things, at FL Philharmagic, after you get a fastpass for Peter Pan,
in Tomorrowland ..Space Mountain (fastpass if wait is over 20 minutes) Buzz ( FP if over 20 again) Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Stitch, if your kids or you want to.. I hate it but we always do it once. CoP, DS loves it! We also always do the speedway.

MGM
Ride RnRC if you are like me over and over ( at least 5 times) it is easy to do in the am, then hit ToT, and grab fastpasses for later for one or the other. the shows Beauty & the Beast are a must as well as The Little Mermaid. One Man's Dream too. Catch the parade

AK Hit Everest first... then get fastpasses for KS while waiting hit Kali River Rapids. Take in Dinosaur. FOLK & Nemo are both must see shows, work around the showings. It's Tough To Be a Bug is a must too for me. I love the parade too. Both walking trails are great oo.

EPCOT: We always go straight and get fastpasses for Soarin' just becasue it is soo popular. Then we hit SSE, if it is open, Test Track and Mission Space first.

 

[DonaldD1987]

MK: Space Mountain

MGM: Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster.

AK: Expedition Everest

Epcot: Fastpass Soarin, then go ride Test Track.

 

[GameCocks11]

First you need to get to the parks as soon as they open. It is one of the smartest things you could do.
AK: FP Kilamangaro then wait for EE....then head to Dinosaur...catch one of the early Festival of the Lion King shows

Epcot: FP TT then head straight over to Soarin'..MS won't be crowded

MGM: FP RnRC then go wait for ToT....try to FP Indy because you never get a good seat if you go stand-by....you have to get to Beauty at least 30 mins before so you can check out 4 for a Dollar.

MK: FP Space...then wait for Buzz...then make you way over to Fronteirland..on the way check out HM

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

Seeing that you will be at WDW for 2 weeks... I say take your time and enjoy the parks. When we went to MK this year.. the DW and kids went on Splash Mt (no wait) while I got FP for splash again(45 minutes later). We then went on BTMRR and by the time we got off our FPwas allowed for Splash which the kids rode alone because they got more soaked this year then any other year.

All in all though I think that was the only thing we used FP for... We prefer to go from land to land seeing all in each before moving to the next instead of running back and forth for FPs. We spent 5 days in the 4 Theme parks and saw all we wanted.

For the record though ...we usually go on these first:

MK - Start in Adventureland and work around to Tommorrowland
Epcot - TT
MGM - ToT
AK -KS

And as mentioned.... get to the parks at opening. It allows you to get the most done in the shortest time without FP.