Tentative MK Day 1 Plan - WDYT?

Avatar for mom3girls2000
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-14-2000
Tentative MK Day 1 Plan - WDYT?
12
Sun, 09-09-2007 - 2:29pm

Give me your opinions and feedback, please. Here's what I've come up with for Christmas Week (12/23), me using a scooter, dh refusing to but with his bad hip and potential for sudden pain (i.e., slow walkers). The kids are all old enough to go off on their own so they can zip around on young legs and do all the *other* rides dh & I don't want to (they're 15yo, 20yo, & 21yo and we all have cell phones). My thinking is that this allows dh & I to see what WE are most interested in and the kids can join us for any of the same attractions that they like too. Also, this day, the MK has EMH in both the morning & evening, so I'm purposely limiting our goals due to even more crowds.

1, Adventureland: Pirates of the Caribbean ride, The Enchanted Tiki Room (two things dh & I remember from our honeymoon; Pirates of the Caribbean was closed back then, and the Tiki Room was under their "old" management lol)
2, Frontierland: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain
3, Fantasyland: It's a Small World (was also closed on our honeymoon), Mickey's PhilharMagic
4, Tomorrowland: Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain, Laugh Floor Comedy Club
5, We have advance reservations at 4 p.m. & 4:10 p.m. for me & my girls at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and 5:30 dinner ADR for Cinderella's Royal Table. And if there's time, I'd like to do the WDW Railroad.
6, Cinderella's Golden Carousel, Wishes & Spectro-Magic, shopping on Main Street

I'm not sure exactly how fast we'll be moving through the parks so I don't know what to do re. lunch; can't we just get counter dining without a reservation? Or is it really necessary to have an ADR for lunch as well? Or maybe we can just bring in sandwiches & bottled drinks?
---
TTFN,
Max

In peace,
Max       

Pages

Avatar for mom3girls2000
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-14-2000
Sun, 09-09-2007 - 2:49pm
I guess I should have added that we're staying off-site and won't be able to have the EMH. I don't know how to find out the hours of the parks for those NOT staying for EMH. I read somewhere that after the park closes, say they're closing at 9 p.m., guests have up to two hours to actually exit the park. How would that work on an evening with EMHs?

In peace,
Max       

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2007
Mon, 09-10-2007 - 1:07am
Two things:
If you don't have EMH privileges, because of staying off-site, how it works is that you won't get a bracelet and therefore will be able to stay within the park after the "regular" hours, but won't be able to ride the rides. I'm not certain if you'd get 'escorted' out of the park at some point, or if you're allowed to hang out, say, in the Main St area until EMHs end...but probably someone else can clarify that!
My other observation was about your touring plans: I assume the order in which you listed the attractions is not necessarily the order in which you plan to visit them? I would consider re-doing the list so they are in chronological order, and also noting which ones you plan to get FPs for, and which you'll ride stand-by.
Other than that, it all looks great to me! You picked most of my favorites, a great MK selection! :)
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2003
Mon, 09-10-2007 - 8:19am

As far as the EMH and the bracelets go....because you are not staying onsite, you won't be able to get a bracelet, however you also won't get *kicked* out of the park either. But..you won't be able to do any of the rides. You can still go into the shops.

Your plan sounds very do-able.

But..try to convince your DH to get a scooter for himself. Mainly because if he decides at about 1:30 that he needs one, there might not be one available. Better safe than sorry.

Avatar for carolejd
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-1999
Mon, 09-10-2007 - 8:29am

It sounds like a sensible plan to me, and fun too!

As to your lunch question, you don't need a ressie for counter service (don't think you can even make them)I would take a look at the counter service options on offer (on allears for instance) and have a couple in mind that would suit you, then go to whichever is nearest when you are hungry.

There are also lots of snack carts around selling all kinds of stuff, giant turkey legs, pretzels, fruit etc so since you have an early dinner ressie you may just feel more like snacking than a big lunch.

Carole

Carole

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2007
Mon, 09-10-2007 - 9:40am
Counter service-wise, I'd do what Carole said (pick a couple in advance by looking at menus on allears, then go to the nearest one when you get hungry) with the caveat that if you want to avoid crowds, earlier is definitely better.
Snack-wise, it's all of course a matter of taste, but I would heartily recommend getting a Dole Whip (or a float) from the Aloha Isle at Adventureland...and then perhaps something yummy late at night from the Main Street Bakery on your way out of the park. (A heads up though, they don't serve breakfast items such as the French Toast Loaf, outside of breakfast time...although they do have yummmmmy cinnamon buns and other pastries late at night!)
Thanks Lisa for clarifying that you can stay in the parks as late as they're open even if you're not eligible for EMHs...that makes sense!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-16-2004
Mon, 09-10-2007 - 12:27pm

Max,

If I understand the WDW website correctly, you can't take the scooter on the RR so you would have to take the whole trip and go back to where you left your scooter. So if you board in Frontierland, you would have to return to Frontierland to get your scooter back. This is the exact quote from the official WDW site - "Guests must transfer from their motorized scooter or ECV to an available wheelchair to experience the attraction.

Ruth in FL


Pyzam Family Sticker Toy

Avatar for mom3girls2000
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-14-2000
Mon, 09-10-2007 - 9:18pm

I was wondering that if we're still making our way towards the exit at the time the park "closes" for non-EMH, and someone sees a store they like, would they let us go shop there, or make us have to pass it by? Plus, with the scooter & dh's bad hip, and being tired at the end of the day, are they going to try to "speed us up" or let us go at a slower pace? It's not like we want to hang around until EMH end, I already admit we will be exhausted by dinnertime LOL.

Wdym by "chronological order"? I thought that we'd go through the lands in that sequence, of course I haven't yet sat down with the map to see in which sequence we'd visit each ride/attraction within, say, tomorrowland itself, but with only about 2 rides per land, I thought that which one we'd go to first wouldn't matter. But maybe since that's going to be such a crowded day, I should rethink that. My thoughts were that, for example, in Frontierland, we could FP either Big Thunder Mtn. RR and go ride Splash Mtn., or FP Splash Mtn., leaving whichever one we FP for the last minute decision or the one with the longer line ...

I'm also thinking we can go through Adventureland, Frontierland & Fantasyland from 9 a.m. until our 4 p.m. BBB appointments, then go to the BBB, then our ADR @ CRT, then do Tomorrowland & Main Street shopping after dinner through any evening parades or fireworks shows.

Dh already thinks I am micromanaging the trip (not his words, but his attitude conveys clearly LOL) ...

I picked rides that dh & I are interested in, either because they're MK classics, or because they're new, or b/c all the kids want to go on, or the few that were closed when we were on our honeymoon. Oh, I forgot -- we have to walk through Liberty Square so dh & I can take pictures of each other in the stockades & put them beside our honeymoon shots of the same in the scrapbook LOL.

In peace,
Max       

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Mon, 09-10-2007 - 9:28pm

I think that order for the lands is good since people tend to veer right when they enter the park (as in Tomorrowland).

As far as FP for Splash & Big Thunder--could you get one of your girls to run ahead with ALL of the tickets to one of the mountains, then meet you back in Adventureland. That way, you should be ready to ride that when you get out of Adventureland, then get another FP once you get there. Since it's Christmastime, that might not be practical for FP times, but it's worth a shot.

Oh, and the stockades ARE still there! ;o)














Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Avatar for mom3girls2000
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-14-2000
Mon, 09-10-2007 - 9:55pm

>>try to convince your DH to get a scooter for himself<< HAH That's like trying to get water from a rock! I have tried and tried, especially when we were down the shore over Labor Day and walked about 3/4 of a mile on the boardwalk one night. True, we were slowly strolling, & kept stopping in stores and to sit down for a snack or two (I wore my Crocs and was shocked that even I did it; the bottoms of my feet only hurt a little bit!), but his hip pain was clearly there! I told him then, that DW is huger than the Wildwood Boardwalk.

I'm renting mine for the week from off-site so I am sure to have it each day. But he is just a stubborn, stubborn man :(. I know he'll go through an entire tube of aspercreme that week. He will never admit needing it but I will sneak it into his bag.

The EMH rides benefits don't bother me, I was thinking though of saving all my shopping for the evening LOL.

In peace,
Max       

Avatar for mom3girls2000
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-14-2000
Mon, 09-10-2007 - 9:57pm
Sounds like a good amendment to the plan :D. But IMHO, if the turkey leg is really giant, that's enough for a meal LOL!

In peace,
Max       

Pages