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First time at Magic Kingdom - suggestions?

RX8

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We are taking my two boys (9 and 13) to MK for the first time. We will be there for one day in April. We are just inside 30 days and just set up Fastpasses today. For FP we have Peter Pan at 8:00 am, haunted mansion at 11:00 and splash mountain at 3:00. The Snow White mine ride was no longer available for FP and from I have heard that is a must ride.

Any suggestions on how to maximize our day? Suggestions on when best to try the mine ride? The park is open 8-12am on the day we are going and we plan on being there from open to close.

Thanks for any assistance!
 

louisianab

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Easywdw.com has a ton of free touring type plans and advice, I love it for WDW trips
 

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For Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: If you can arrive an hour before the park's hard opening, there's a good chance you'll be admitted long before 8:00. (Usually 30-60 minutes early.) The line for the Mine Train will be shortest at that point. It is pretty bearable at 30-45 minutes with those age kids. (There are activities along the way.) If the line already reads as "60 minutes" when you get there, I wd try something else like Space Mtn/Big Thunder and then return to the Mine Train during or immediately after fireworks. (Like, 5 minutes before they end, actually--they last 18-20 minutes.)
 

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Also, visit the "Be Our Guest" reservations check-in kiosk and see if there are any same day ressies available for lunch. Rare, but worth checking for. If you get in, sit in the "West Wing" section if your boys appreciate dark and slightly spooky! My boys loved it even when they were older. Also good for lunch is Pecos Bills, with the endless topping bar--sour cream, guac, salsa, cheese, etc.

Take snack breaks to keep energy (and moods) at good levels. Popcorn buckets for $11 are refillable for $1.50 or so. The salt can help on hot days. Ice cream/dole whip/mickey bars are very revitalizing if not dairy free. To do 8-midnight, you'll need some sit still time before going back at it. Many kinds of food can be pre-ordered using My Disney Experience app, and this will save you so much time, but use that time to sit still as opposed to standing in line for food.
 
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rhonda

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Yes, yes! to using the mobile ordering feature of the MDE app.

Yes, yes! to arriving before official opening to attack the 7 Dwarves Mine Train earliest.

For an afternoon break, likely just after the 3P Parade (a "must do"?), cool off on the Carousal of Progress in Tomorrowland. Generally short lines and a nice place to sit in A/C. Know that there is a Starbucks on Main Street ... a Venti Frappuccino might not be on your diet but it does wonders to refresh the spirit!

9 and 13? Who was the Peter Pan FP for ... ??? (It is one of my favorites ... but will the boys love it?) Might they prefer Space Mountain or Big Thunder Railroad?

As for the 3P Splash: Plan on using it near the end of its window. Do watch the 3P Festival of Fantasy parade which starts very close to Splash Mountain.
 
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For Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: If you can arrive an hour before the park's hard opening, there's a good chance you'll be admitted long before 8:00. (Usually 30-60 minutes early.) The line for the Mine Train will be shortest at that point. It is pretty bearable at 30-45 minutes with those age kids. (There are activities along the way.) If the line already reads as "60 minutes" when you get there, I wd try something else like Space Mtn/Big Thunder and then return to the Mine Train during or immediately after fireworks. (Like, 5 minutes before they end, actually--they last 18-20 minutes.)
Yes, we did the same strategy for Pandora. Park opening was 9am that day; we were through security by 8:15; rope drop, went straight to Pandora, off Pandora by 9:10(amazing attraction!). Even at 60 days, we were unable to get FP, at AK the day we were there, all day it was 2 hour wait. Good luck and enjoy!:)
 
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mdurette

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If the park is open from 8am to midnight, then I expect you are hitting the park on a very busy day. Expect LONG lines if you don't have FPs. I just returned and FP+ our entire days at the parks. Once you are done with your 3 initial FPs you can continue to get more, one at a time.

Here is what I did.....park opened at 9am.
Pre-Selected FP
10:00 Small World
11:00 Peter Pan
12:00 7 Dwarfs

When park opened we went straight to Thunder Mountain, then Splash Mountain (both of these had less than 15 minute wait). Then we headed to Pirates (20 minute wait), Swiss family tree house, Aladdin Carpets and Tiki Room. All of these were done within 1 1/2 hours. Around 10:45 we did our FP for Small World and then went straight to PP. We then filled in the gap before 7D with the carasol and Mickeys Film harmonic (whatever that is called, little wait time). Once in the FP line for 7D I started looking for our 4th FP it was Dumbo. Once in Dumbo line I started looking for the next, it was Barnstormer. I continued this throughout the day.

If I were you, I would move your 8am FP out to something around 10 am. Leave the first couple hours of your park time free while the lines are shorter. If 7D is a must...then yes, go there first (but be prepared for crowds with that too). At rope drop there were ALOT of people with that plan when we there and that pathway was jammed up with people. If it 7D is not a must, then take those 2 hours to do the other biggies (space, thunder and splash mountains)

I would also move your 3pm FP to something at noon. This way, you can start to get your others lined up.

Fair warning - this system is great to avoid the lines. But, it does cause your face to be in your phone quite a bit while maneuvering the rest of the FPs. For best results it also good to know the layout of the park so you don't find yourself walking from one end to the other all day long.

If you decide to move around what you have now...don't be discouraged if you can't find anything to move them too. The day before your park visit and the day of is when FPs typically open up as people are adjusting their plans.
 

needvaca

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Cancel the 3pm fastpass and book one for earlier in the day, between your 8 and 11am ones. That way, when you are done with all 3, you can book them one by one on the app for the rest of the day, which will give you more overall fastpasses, and cut hours off your wait times.

My 8 and 12 year olds loved Space Mountain- rode it 4 times in a row at night with fastpasses. loved thunder mountain and splash mountain, skipped most of fantasyland (although for your first visit, you must ride Peter Pan and it's a small world.

We like to book a late lunch at Crystal Palace. It's a good, cool break in the middle of the day to sit and rest for a while. It's a buffet, so enough options for even my super picky eaters.

Stay until the end for the fireworks show. It is truly magical, and alone worth the price of admission.
 
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paxsarah

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I agree with trying to move your latest fastpass to something earlier. Just periodically check the app, and if you don't see what you want right away, refresh it a couple times because something might pop up that wasn't there initially. The MK is great for getting the 4th-plus fastpasses, so you want to start that process as early in the day as possible.

I also suggest keeping the early Peter Pan fastpass - that's one of the tougher ones to get, I consider it a classic must-do ride, and it's also very short. If you try to ride the 7 dwarfs mine train first thing, do a few other rides in fantasyland in that first hour and use the fastpass to ride PP right near the end of the window.
 

elaine

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We never get fp before 11 am. 7 dwarfs will be boring imho for your ages. My kids did it once and are done. It’s very tame. Like for 5 yr olds. Just Ride goofy barnstormer at night instead. And use fp for big thunder. My tweens Fav ride. Big thunder is a must do forcjen even at 18 years old now. They also love splash.
I recommend to go straight to jungle cruise and then pirates ride again if not crowded until 10-yes we have ridden 2x in high crowd days before 10 am. Then cut thru by diamond horseshoe and stand in line for haunted Mansion at 10 and then ride Peter at 11 if you can change fp and hopefully you can get a fp for big thunder for noon and Change splash to 1. don’t waste a fp on early am imho. Even if Peter fp is only available now for later, swap it. Frontier land in early am has never been crowded in 10+ years for us.get later extra fp for buzz.
Mdurette has an excellent plan as well. I will add you can jump on the train right above admission gate and be at big thunder super quick. Lines later on will be 60+ minutes for everything. So wait on line a bit am and save fp for afternoon.
 
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mdurette

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I will add you can jump on the train right above admission gate and be at big thunder super quick. Lines later on will be 60+ minutes for everything. So wait on line a bit am and save fp for afternoon.

Train is not running now due to Tron build.
 

alwysonvac

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elaine

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I think Dad's calendar is a bit off. The week prior to Easter is spring break for a lot of schools. Not as bad as when Easter break is in early April (when they typically close MK a few days to capacity), but I think 4/15 for the week will be very heavy.
 

alwysonvac

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I think Dad's calendar is a bit off. The week prior to Easter is spring break for a lot of schools. Not as bad as when Easter break is in early April (when they typically close MK a few days to capacity), but I think 4/15 for the week will be very heavy.
Hmm... I didn’t notice that but I agree with you. New Jersey schools are out that week :cool:
 

montygz

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The parks are always crowded. Crowd calendars are a waste of time.

Critical to minimizing waits is understanding how to use fastpass, getting to the parks early (or staying as late as possible)

easywdw.com is an excellent resource.
 

alwysonvac

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The parks are always crowded. Crowd calendars are a waste of time.

Crowd levels vary throughout the year.
This is one of the reasons Disney moved to price tiers for park tickets and upcharges with restaurants.
 

ljmiii

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The parks are always crowded. Crowd calendars are a waste of time...
The crowds during Christmas/New Years week are very different than those at Easter or Presidents Week which in turn are different than summer crowds. All of which are worse than 'normal' weeks. What *is* true is that there are no longer 'uncrowded' weeks - we used to love going in late September or late May.

That said, I've found crowd calendars to be mainly useful when they tell you something you might not have thought of - e.g. that Easter is a good day compared with the rest of the week.
 

vacationhopeful

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There are 'regional' days for WDW visitors. Like "Jersey Week" in November ... It is Election Day (Tuesday) followed by the NJEA (teacher's convention in NJ) with the public schools closed on Tues, Thurs & Fri.
 

louisianab

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Can I mention that being there at "open" really implies you should shoot to be there around an hour before they open, to get thru security and up as far as they will let you before actual "open". Currently they let you up Main Street before opening.
 

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As someone mentioned. Have all 3 fast passes back to back.

Then as soon as you scan your 3rd one (in the FP line), search for your 4th one. Keep refreshing your browser until you get what you want or what you can live with. Ride fourth ride and repeat.

We can get 5 or 6 FP rides in from 8:50am - 1:30. We never wait in the line.
 

easyrider

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We are taking my two boys (9 and 13) to MK for the first time. We will be there for one day in April. We are just inside 30 days and just set up Fastpasses today. For FP we have Peter Pan at 8:00 am, haunted mansion at 11:00 and splash mountain at 3:00. The Snow White mine ride was no longer available for FP and from I have heard that is a must ride.

Any suggestions on how to maximize our day? Suggestions on when best to try the mine ride? The park is open 8-12am on the day we are going and we plan on being there from open to close.

Thanks for any assistance!

Get the fp for other rides as soon as you get there. It seemed like all of the rides were not too busy a hour before closing. We did Splash Mountain a few times and never got off the log. Same with Big Thunder. We left the park for a few hours and went back to the resort for a meal and a swim then went back until closing. Before we left at about 2:30 we scored some fp's. We went back at 5:30. The kids still bring up Magic Kingdom as one of the best family trips ever.

The fireworks at the Castle were cool. The area in front of the Castle fills up fast. I think we arrived about 45 minutes early and there was already a crowd.

The turkey legs are very tasty.

Bill
 
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