UPDATE: First Time -- Help

[nybor144]

Hi! We just confirmed last night we're taking a trip to the Orlando area the week of New Year's. I was going to do one day at one of the parks and was looking through some old posts for tips. Now I'm overwhelmed and wondering if it's too late to plan this. My boys are 4yo and 7yo and it will be their first time. I'll take any tips you have, or suggestions based on my questions below.

-Which park would you recommend for first timers, one day only. (I don't want to park hop)

-Is it too late to do fast passes? Are they really necessary? (The post about being on at 7am, 60 days prior stressed me out a bit.)

-I'm thinking it will be packed the week between Christmas and New Year's. Is this a correct assumption? We're planning on going Jan 2nd or 3rd. Any idea on crowds?

I'll take any trips or suggestions from those who have been and will continue to read old posts for a plan. TIA for any help!

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UPDATE: Thanks for all the feedback and tipgs. We're driving home now after a great day in MK. Advice to go in early was great, we got a breakfast reservation at the Plaza for 820am. We got to the park with no lines or wait, security was fast and we were parked close, it was great! The park opened at 9am and after breakfast we headed to Adventure Land for a 930 FP at Jungle Cruise (we did the Treehouse and Aladdin's Magic Carpet with no wait before that.) After JC there was a little wait (10 min) for Pirates of the Caribbean, so we did it. I cancelled our FP for this later in the day and we did something different instead. Pirates of the Caribbean was by far the favorite ride of the day.

After Adventure Land, DS wanted to see characters so we headed back towards the Castle and there was a show happening when we hit Main St. Not planned but perfect timing and a super happy kid.

We headed over to Fantasy Land for a 1130 Dumbo FP, but got on the Little Mermaid first since only a 30 min wait. We saw Goofy and Donald at a character meet and then got lunch and went to Small World (210 FP). Our family friend held a spot for the Parade of Characters, so we had great, front row seats and it was amazing.

Our goal was to make it to the parade and then see how the kids were doing to decide if we were heading home or staying through to the fireworks.

We decided to stay and I got a 540 dinner reservation at the Wave at the Contemporary hotel. We headed over there and relaxed on some couches before dinner, which ended up taking longer then I expected, but was very good!

We made it back to MK about 10 min before the fireworks and watched the show from Main St. My 4yo made it through most of the fireworks before crashing.

Overall it was a successful and exhausting day. I'm glad we did Magic Kingdom for our single day, based on the recommendations from here. We were able to get fast passes and reservations 24-48 hours out and would have gotten most of what we wanted if I was more decisive and actually knew what I wanted and we weren't trying to accommodate a group of six.

Thanks again for the recommendations and tips!

[jaycee]

Magic Kingdom

The FP booking windows are at 60 days out for resort guests and 30 for everyone else. You’re within both so you won’t have to get up super early and could make them now. They are not necessary for some things (mickey’s philharmagic, Swiss family tree house, country jamboree) but the wait times without a FP for the big rides (seven dwarfs mine train, meet princess, thunder mountain) can be very long.

Google crowd calendars. Touring plans website has both of those days listed as a 9/10 for crowds. That being said, if you can get there very early (well before they even open the park) you can get some things done before the crowds.

If I were you I would look at the touring plans website or Kenny the pirate, also birnbaum’s book from the library. They all have plans that you could follow for the day to see a lot.

[nybor144]

Dec 7, 2018 8:53:06 GMT -5 jaycee said:

Magic Kingdom

The FP booking windows are at 60 days out for resort guests and 30 for everyone else. You’re within both so you won’t have to get up super early and could make them now. They are not necessary for some things (mickey’s philharmagic, Swiss family tree house, country jamboree) but the wait times without a FP for the big rides (seven dwarfs mine train, meet princess, thunder mountain) can be very long.

Google crowd calendars. Touring plans website has both of those days listed as a 9/10 for crowds. That being said, if you can get there very early (well before they even open the park) you can get some things done before the crowds.

If I were you I would look at the touring plans website or Kenny the pirate, also birnbaum’s book from the library. They all have plans that you could follow for the day to see a lot.

Thank you!! I found a crowd calendar, yikes, it will be busy!! I'll look at some of the other websites too for a plan.

[zarapipe]

I'd do it! It will be fine and fun. Ditto getting there early- earlier than you would think. Magic Kingdom.

[bowies]

It is never too late. Just go with the expectation that you’ll go where the day takes you. I do recommend getting there about an hour before the park officially opens so you can enjoy the park at its quietest (you can mingle and get food on Main Street) and lines will be relatively short for the first 90 minutes or so if you avoid Mine Train.

[curbsideprophet]

I would still go. I would definitely book fastpasses. You probably will not be able to get Mine Train at this point but FP could still be useful.

I just checked for Jan 3 and all rides have FP options expect for Mine Train and the speedway which is closed. Not all times may be ideal but there are definitely choices.

ETA- I agree with the MK recommendation. I searched for a party of 4, there are still some ADR options if you wanted to get a dining reservation.

[nybor144]

Thanks for all of the tips. I think we'll make an attempt at going and try to go with the flow.

[claudiajean]

For a one day trip, definitely Magic Kingdom!

Once you buy tickets, you can keep looking for fast passes. As people’s plans change, they may open up.

[orval]

Dec 8, 2018 10:42:52 GMT -5 claudiajean said:

For a one day trip, definitely Magic Kingdom!

Once you buy tickets, you can keep looking for fast passes. As people’s plans change, they may open up.

Definitely go with the flow.  I got tickets the day before we went to the Magic Kingdom during Spring Break.  I was still able to get fast passes for the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain and a couple others.  We did get there early and walked straight on to Space Mountain and did about 5 things by 10 with no wait longer than 10 minutes.  
We did wait 2 hours for the Mine Train.  We did go with the flow and didn't really plan anything except the few fast passes.  I also recommend eating early - like lunch at 11 dinner at 4 so the restaurants are much less crowded.  If you get there early, it won't seem too early to eat.

[nybor144]

Dec 8, 2018 11:15:36 GMT -5 BirdGirl said:

I have changed my FPs day off on both of our trips. I had luck getting hot ones by putting one person at a time in on the app. And I keep searching. For some reason nothing will show up at first and then I run the same search a couple more times and get something.

If there are no early magic hours on the day of your visit, sign up for a Mouse Dining alert for an 8:00am breakfast at Be Our Guest. It’s a little pricey, but the food is good and it gets you in the park early. We were able to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine train right when the park opened with no wait by having breakfast in the park and then walked right over to Belle with no wait.. I got the reservation the day or two before - because people cancel right at 24hours.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Can you give me some more information on the Mouse Dining alert? Is this all on an app? Make an account on a site?

[nybor144]

Dec 8, 2018 11:15:36 GMT -5 BirdGirl said:

I have changed my FPs day off on both of our trips. I had luck getting hot ones by putting one person at a time in on the app. And I keep searching. For some reason nothing will show up at first and then I run the same search a couple more times and get something.

If there are no early magic hours on the day of your visit, sign up for a Mouse Dining alert for an 8:00am breakfast at Be Our Guest. It’s a little pricey, but the food is good and it gets you in the park early. We were able to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine train right when the park opened with no wait by having breakfast in the park and then walked right over to Belle with no wait.. I got the reservation the day or two before - because people cancel right at 24hours.

Great suggestion, thank you!

[jaycee]

Dec 8, 2018 15:05:41 GMT -5 nybor144 said:

Thanks for the suggestions!

Can you give me some more information on the Mouse Dining alert? Is this all on an app? Make an account on a site?

It is a website: www.mousedining.com

Create a free account and set an alert for 8:00 am for Be Our Guest restaurant.  If someone else cancels, they will send you an email/text and you can hop on as soon as you get the text and make the reservation.  Then you can enter the park at probably 7:45 in order to get to the restaurant.  You can order your food ahead of time, so hopefully you'll get out of there by 9:00, which is when the park opens.  Then you'll be next to some of the most popular rides (peter pan, mine train) before the big crowd gets back there.

[sent]

We just did a last minute trip and I’d still suggest fast passes for even the not-hot stuff like meeting Mickey or riding Winnie the Pooh. It saves a lot of time and whining to have those. I accepted that I wouldn’t get fast passes for the Mine Train this time. My 5 year old only wanted to ride Dumbo style rides - (Dumbo, tea cups, the carousel and the Magic Carpet ride which is exactly like Dumbo) and meet characters so it didn’t even phase her that we didn’t ride the Mine Train or other fast action rides. I had to drag her into Winnie the Pooh because she was worried about the Heffalumps and Woozles. She spent the rest of the day in Magic Kingdom saying that she could still hear them. Otherwise we had fun just going with the flow to do things like the Tiki Room or stand in line to meet Chip and Dale. There is so much to see and do.

[cruiser]

DH and I have been to Epcot (our favorite) and Animal Kingdom several times. I haven't been to Magic Kingdom since I was about 10 and he has never been. We don't have any kids. Is there much to do as an adult at Magic Kingdom (shows and non-kiddy rides) or will we be a little bored with the options? I'd hate to pay so much for a one day ticket if it great for little ones, but not kid free adults. Thanks!

[was5]

Dec 28, 2018 15:37:55 GMT -5 cruiser said:

DH and I have been to Epcot (our favorite) and Animal Kingdom several times. I haven't been to Magic Kingdom since I was about 10 and he has never been. We don't have any kids. Is there much to do as an adult at Magic Kingdom (shows and non-kiddy rides) or will we be a little bored with the options? I'd hate to pay so much for a one day ticket if it great for little ones, but not kid free adults. Thanks!

MK has Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain plus 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. All of those plus the non-roller coaster classics of Peter Pan, Pirates of the Carribean, and Small World give you more rides than anyplace else.

[nybor144]

Dec 28, 2018 15:37:55 GMT -5 cruiser said:

DH and I have been to Epcot (our favorite) and Animal Kingdom several times. I haven't been to Magic Kingdom since I was about 10 and he has never been. We don't have any kids. Is there much to do as an adult at Magic Kingdom (shows and non-kiddy rides) or will we be a little bored with the options? I'd hate to pay so much for a one day ticket if it great for little ones, but not kid free adults. Thanks!

I think there would be enough to do for adults w/o kids. We didn't even touch the rides mentioned above because of little ones, nor did we get to see all the shows I wanted to see. That being said, I haven't been to the other parks to hat something to compare to. HTH!

[was5]

nybor144,glad to hear you had such a great trip!

[revolution]

glad you had so much fun!