MK Marathon Itinerary - pls critique!?
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| Fri, 05-04-2007 - 1:37am |
OK. Warning: Serious signs of Obsessive Compulsive Planning Syndrome to follow! LOL
These are our thoughts for our very first full-park day...an open-to-close marathon. While I realize it sounds NUTS, keep in mind that this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip...and we will NOT be repeating this kind of stunt (not even close!) the rest of the trip. Having said that, I *am* looking for feedback on in-park "break" opportunities that I might have missed, and/or general tips for places within the park to get away from the heat/crowds and relax for a bit, without necessarily going back to the hotel mid-day (which is always a fall-back possibility as well). Here goes!
* Our unprecedented, 13-hour MK 'marathon': (Note, we do have a second morning scheduled for this park later in the trip, but the plan for that is much simpler: essentially devoted to ToonTown, Splash Mountain and anything we missed and/or repeats of favorite rides from today :)
Crystal Palace Breakfast Buffet ADR @ 8:05
Then start with Tomorrowland at Rope Drop: Grap FPs for Space Mtn, ride Buzz & Indy Speedway, as per DS9's priorities :) & Fantasyland (Pooh & Peter Pan) *I* also want to check out Mike Wazowski's Comedy Club... and I intend to drag DH and DS into it's a small world as well! :)
Totally Skipping at Tomorrowland: Stitch (if DH and DS decide to go, I'll shop and meet them outside, that's how bad the reviews I've heard are!) and at Fantasyland: Dumbo, Carrousel, Ariel's Grotto (all long lines and deemed too babyish by DS who's 9)
Possible Late-Morning and/or Early-Afternoon “Break” Attractions: Mickey's Philharmagic; Carrousel of Progress; Tomorowland Transit Authority; Tom Sawyer's Island; Hall of Presidents, Tiki Room!! (We may not do *all* of these today...or then again, we might!)
Hopefully see mid-day outdoor show by the castle (whatever it's called?), and DS would enjoy the Sword in the Stone thingy, but probably skip the 3pm parade (good time for a “break” out of the heat instead!)
Late Lunch maybe at Cosmic Ray's (rotisserie chicken?) or perhaps our own stuff (sandwiches, fruit?) we'll bring from 'home' and leave in the lockers?
Another “break” opp. (but don't wait 'till too late for this or DS might be too pooped to be up for it) might be browsing the shops on Main Street (Get pressed pennies! Find hidden mickeys! Take pics wearing hats! ...even possibly get a haircut?? :)
Late afternoon/early evening hours at Adventureland: Pirates of the Caribbean, Swiss Family Treehouse, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, and of course DHs top fave: Jungle Cruise :) (i hear it's great at night! Maybe we should try it twice...earlier and later in the evening?!) Am I forgetting something from there?
Also Ride Thunder Mtn Railroad at night if at all possible, maybe right before ...
SpectroMagic Parade (view from Frontierland outside Liberty Tree Tavern whether or not we eat there!) and Wishes fireworks (from the hub. Follow the mob out of the park :)

I am exhausted just reading your days plans, LOL (and partly because we just got back last night and my youngest woke me up before 6....I guess he is still on DW time, LOL).
I think as long as you pace yourself, you will be fine for a marathon day. Just make sure your next day is very light with a late start or a half day for rest or you'll be walking zombies.
I just wanted to add my 2 cents to a couple of your plans:
I'd start with the Indy cars first since lines move slowly, then move on to Buzz. You could do the Laugh Floor comedy next since it is next door to Buzz.
I don't think they do they Sword in the Stone thing anymore :(
We took our boys to Tom Sawyer's island in the late afternoon and it was a great place to get away from the crowds. However, it is not the place to go if you are looking for a place to rest your feet and cool off.
You'll do a lot less walking if you try to stick to one "land" at a time, but I had a hard time sticking to that for a couple of reasons: first of all my oldest DS usually had an agenda of his own and is not the type of child to let it go. Many times, I would just go do what he wanted to get him to be quiet. Secondly, I tried to do the slower loading rides before the park got crowded. We did two mornings at MK and two evenings. Our first morning, I focused on slow moving rides and "must dos". The second morning, we just did all the things in one "land" and then moved to the next.
You have a lot of attractions planned, and you might not get to do all of them in one day. It tends to take longer in real life than on paper (of course my boys are 2 and 5 so I am sure we are slower than you and your family, LOL).
That last thing I'll add is that I also suffer from OC planning Syndrome and would like to give you some encouragement. I had no problems what-so-ever deviating from our plan. Just think of your plan as a guide, and then allow some spontaneity. I am sure you will have a blast no matter what.
Charis
I really appreciate your response, Charis.(I was starting to fear I'd scared everyone off with my plans!!!)
I know you're right about the OC thing :) I'm just having fun doing it but I'm pretty sure I know better than to expect things to actually happen that way! Been around real life too much I guess :)
That's really too bad about the Sword in the Stone :( :( :( And I really don't know how much faster than your family my family will be...even without preschoolers!
I really liked the tip to do 1.Indy then 2.Buzz then 3.Laugh Floor, (or we might instead rush to the Fantasyland "top" rides like Pooh and Peter Pan, and save Laugh Floor for when we come back to do Carrousel of Progress? I guess that will depend on what the Laugh Floor popularity level and loading speed is? I guessed since it's newer it would get more crowded but I don't know about the size of the theater so maybe that's one of those that as long as you show up 10 mins before they start then a lot of people go in at once? Can anyone advice me on this??)
Being it's our first day at WDW I don't *think* we'll mind the walking back and forth between lands (adrenaline rush and all LOL) Although I predict it's likely that'll be true later in the day, therefore the plan to stick around at Adventureland until we've done everything there. Does anyone have advice on the order of rides at Adventureland in the late afternoon/evening and/or know what attractions at Adventureland are best to FastPass?
I'm still bummed that the Haunted House will be closed, and forgot to add before that we'll also be skipping Snow White, and Teacups if I get my way (neither DH nor I are interested in the spinning...although DS wants to, we just might be able to talk him out of it if there's a more attractive alternative such as perhaps a second turn on Buzz?!)
Your plans sound like a lot of walking!
we actually attemtped this...
http://momof3girlgirlboy.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html
scroll down to "Day 2 Magic Kingdom Kamakazee". If you thake out all the stuff after .com you can get to my "current - well as current as it gets these days!" blog and you can click on Spet 06 to read the last day of my WDW trip since this has my entire trip report in it.
We did not get to adventureland at all, unless you count taking the train through LOL! And we did have another 1/2 day in this park later in the week. Frontier land was JUST Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder RailRoad for us.
THe day before was our travel day, but we did do MGM for a bit and the next day we did AK, and I think our MK day was a BIG contributing factor in my migrain!!
Now, my kids were much younger and more htan you have - there were DD 5 DD just turned 4 and DS 14 months and not walking yet, so we used at least one stroller tons. We made sure ot drink tons of water.
THis trip I think I am better prepared for our "pace" and have a better touring plan. If you can be out of CP before rope drop, I would HIGHLY recommend grabbing a FP for SM, then riding grand prix since that line gets long fast! (Send ONE person over to SM for the FP with everyone's ticket while the rest of you save the spot in line!)THen ride Buzz Light year. Skip stitch. THEN ride use your Fast Pass for Space mountain. If you are ready for a short break, do the Laugh Factory. Other Than Barnstormer, there is really no "rides" in Toontown, but it may be a nice break from all the rides to see Mickey and Minnie's house. And if you are doing a bunch of character meals, you will nothave to "waste" park time standing in line getting autographs!
On to Fantasy land next! GET TO DUMBO AS EARLY AS YOU CAN!! In fact, you may want to ride this FIRST before you head to TOmorrow land since this is the slowest line and there is no fast pass!! HOWEVER, if you have park hoppers, we were able to get tehre on an EMH morning and managed to eat a yummy brewakfast at the Main Street bakery, get through ALL of Fantasy Land, watch CInderellabration and be on our way OUT of the parks by 11 AM!! I know because we had to hang around a bit for Ice Cream to be served LOL!
We did NOT intend to be at teh park form open to close, we were looking at each other and the kids for clues that they were wearing out, but it never came. The boy was still small enough to love being in his sling and he snoozed there and in his stroller often. We BOTH admitted that is was a bit too much for one day, but really enjoyed it and took lots of breaks.
Enjoy your trip, be flexible, and do NOT be disappointed of you don't get to see everything!!!
~Elena