Me DH 37 spent last eleven months planning first trip to Disney World (this web site is a good substitute for coffee breaks at work);
DW - 34 would go just to see Small World which she fondly remembers from childhood;
DD 9 - wouldn't go on anything too scary;
DD 4 would prefer not to go on anything in the dark but that would limit her to Dumbo so she cooperated and closed her eyes and ears when necessary.
Woke up at 6:00 am Sunday morning without a problem, refilled mugs at Roaring Forks, and caught the boat launch to MK (very convenient). We had heard mixed reports about Sunday at MK. Passporter said it is traditionaly quiet, co-worker (boss) said avoid MK on any weekend day (he was wrong but don't tell him I said that).
It was deserted walking down Main Street at 8:40 am - very strange feeling. We parked ourselves at the rope directly under Cindy's castle and scoped out where we would go first. We figured Pooh but kids opted for Dumbo. A few minutes before rope drop we saw Mickey riding on Dumbo and waving to us. The funny part is how silly we felt running or walking VERY fast (OK you would probably call it running) to Dumbo at rope drop but it was kind of funny too.
So the kids got on the first Dumbo ride of the day, from there we got a photo and autographs from Mickey with no one else around except for one or two other children. Then we walked right on Pooh (OK, maybe we waited about 90 SECONDS), then the CM at Small World literally had to hold an empty boat and wait for US, there was no one there at all. After Small World we had a 15 SECOND wait for Peter Pan, and walked right into the Festival of the Lion King from there.
After doing all this in Fantasyland in such a short period of time (about an hour I guess), we went on Jungle Cruise and boy were we disgusted with the 4 minute wait (just kidding of course). I guess you get the picture by now, get there at rope drop and have a blast from the get go.
The lines did grow during the day but we had already gone on almost everything the kids would go on. We did use fast pass for Buzz Lightyear and the longest lines we waited on were at the Character greeting area between Minnie and Mickey's house - up to 20 minutes for Cinderella.
Tom Sawyers island was cute but I wish we had used the time to explore Tomorrowland more instead. Burgers at Peco Bills were good and we got front row spots for the 3:00 parade in front of Liberty Tree Tavern. Disney parades are done so well. My DD 4 was picked to do a limbo with "fish" in front of the Mermaid float - that was cute. Then a few minutes later she was picked to play drums with "wild animals" in front of the Lion King float.
We hung around for the Electrical Parade at 6:15 which was also very good but got stuck eating soft pretzels and hot chocolate for dinner because all the counter service restaurants were essentialy closed by 5:30 or 6:00 pm. More importantly it got cold fast and we were not properly dressed for that. Of course I gave my long sleeve fleece shirt to my DD 9 (who wouldn't) and was freezing with short sleeves with temps in low 50s I would guess. Good thing the boat lauch back to WL had an enclosed area. The boat was crowded and we opted to sit on the floor inside over empty seats at the rear of the launch which are not enclosed.
All in all MK was awesome, the Mad Hatter was the funniest of all the characters we met that day and Cinderella was so sweet - though not nearly as hot as Esmerelda yesterday at Epcot (oops, digressing again).
Tips from Day 2. Tip #1 - if you have young children, be at rope drop for Fantasyland under the castle, you'll get on Dumbo and everything else quicker than you possibly could at any other time. Tip #2 - make sure you get dinner before the counter service restaurants close or your choices may be very limited, unless you have a PS at a sit down restaurant. Tip #3 - get a spot on the parade route (we did this by Liberty Tree Tavern both times) at least a half hour before the parade or more. One person can hold your space (strollers and sweatshirts are good spot savers) and others in your family can still go and do other things until just before the parade starts.
More to come
DW - 34 would go just to see Small World which she fondly remembers from childhood;
DD 9 - wouldn't go on anything too scary;
DD 4 would prefer not to go on anything in the dark but that would limit her to Dumbo so she cooperated and closed her eyes and ears when necessary.
Woke up at 6:00 am Sunday morning without a problem, refilled mugs at Roaring Forks, and caught the boat launch to MK (very convenient). We had heard mixed reports about Sunday at MK. Passporter said it is traditionaly quiet, co-worker (boss) said avoid MK on any weekend day (he was wrong but don't tell him I said that).
It was deserted walking down Main Street at 8:40 am - very strange feeling. We parked ourselves at the rope directly under Cindy's castle and scoped out where we would go first. We figured Pooh but kids opted for Dumbo. A few minutes before rope drop we saw Mickey riding on Dumbo and waving to us. The funny part is how silly we felt running or walking VERY fast (OK you would probably call it running) to Dumbo at rope drop but it was kind of funny too.
So the kids got on the first Dumbo ride of the day, from there we got a photo and autographs from Mickey with no one else around except for one or two other children. Then we walked right on Pooh (OK, maybe we waited about 90 SECONDS), then the CM at Small World literally had to hold an empty boat and wait for US, there was no one there at all. After Small World we had a 15 SECOND wait for Peter Pan, and walked right into the Festival of the Lion King from there.
After doing all this in Fantasyland in such a short period of time (about an hour I guess), we went on Jungle Cruise and boy were we disgusted with the 4 minute wait (just kidding of course). I guess you get the picture by now, get there at rope drop and have a blast from the get go.
The lines did grow during the day but we had already gone on almost everything the kids would go on. We did use fast pass for Buzz Lightyear and the longest lines we waited on were at the Character greeting area between Minnie and Mickey's house - up to 20 minutes for Cinderella.
Tom Sawyers island was cute but I wish we had used the time to explore Tomorrowland more instead. Burgers at Peco Bills were good and we got front row spots for the 3:00 parade in front of Liberty Tree Tavern. Disney parades are done so well. My DD 4 was picked to do a limbo with "fish" in front of the Mermaid float - that was cute. Then a few minutes later she was picked to play drums with "wild animals" in front of the Lion King float.
We hung around for the Electrical Parade at 6:15 which was also very good but got stuck eating soft pretzels and hot chocolate for dinner because all the counter service restaurants were essentialy closed by 5:30 or 6:00 pm. More importantly it got cold fast and we were not properly dressed for that. Of course I gave my long sleeve fleece shirt to my DD 9 (who wouldn't) and was freezing with short sleeves with temps in low 50s I would guess. Good thing the boat lauch back to WL had an enclosed area. The boat was crowded and we opted to sit on the floor inside over empty seats at the rear of the launch which are not enclosed.
All in all MK was awesome, the Mad Hatter was the funniest of all the characters we met that day and Cinderella was so sweet - though not nearly as hot as Esmerelda yesterday at Epcot (oops, digressing again).
Tips from Day 2. Tip #1 - if you have young children, be at rope drop for Fantasyland under the castle, you'll get on Dumbo and everything else quicker than you possibly could at any other time. Tip #2 - make sure you get dinner before the counter service restaurants close or your choices may be very limited, unless you have a PS at a sit down restaurant. Tip #3 - get a spot on the parade route (we did this by Liberty Tree Tavern both times) at least a half hour before the parade or more. One person can hold your space (strollers and sweatshirts are good spot savers) and others in your family can still go and do other things until just before the parade starts.
More to come
