Dumbo or bust!

[darthmacho]

We're down to our last few days (11 sleeps) before we head down to WDW! We're going to spend our first day exploring POR, but the next morning we'll be getting up bright and early to have breakfast with Pooh and friends, after which we'll already be inside MK as it's opening.

Now I posted awhile back that my kids want to ride Dumbo first. It was DD1's first ride ever (when she was just 2yo) and now she wants Dumbo to be her sister's first ever ride too! I thought that was cute, so I agreed, despite my really wanting to fit in Space Mountain asvearly as possible.

This is my ideal plan:

1. Eat at Crystal Palace
2. Ride Dumbo
3. Ride Pooh
4. Ride Peter Pan
5. Head to Frontierland Mountains!

After getting on the big rides, we'll play it by ear, but we'll probably work our way through Frontierland, Liberty Square, and Adventureland, saving Tomorrowland and the rest of Fantasyland for later, or perhaps another day.
In your opinion, does this seem like a reasonable plan?
What kind of plan do you usually go with at MK, if any? I'd like to hear yours...

[Mickey91]

We don't usually go in with a plan. We have always had a tradition of riding IASW first. But, it is down this go round. Personally, I think riding Dumbo first is an excellent idea since the line is usually smaller earlier and with Dumbo's line being one of the hottest lines in the park, you'll get it out of the way before it gets too hot. I also saw somewhere, maybe here, that the Pooh fast passes are now located at Mickey's Philharmagic due to Fantasyland expansion. I would at least check there first, maybe on the way to Dumbo. Pooh lines still get to over 60 minutes. Peter Pan lines are long too. They are almost always 45 minutes or longer, so you may want to get a fast pass there also or check it out right after Dumbo. Early morning may not be as bad. But with Small World down, I figure there will be more people in the other lines, especially Peter Pan as it is right across the walkway. And this is how we usually end up without a plan.

Have you been to the World since they started the fast passes? I can't remember how long they have been there. If not, you're gonna love 'em! I hope you guys have a very magical trip!! We will be following behind a few days later! Can't wait!! Can you believe it? We get to see the MSEP!!!!

T- 16 days and counting!

[KAT1811]

Sounds like a perfect plan! Might I make one suggestion? How about sending one member of the party (ideally the fastest walker) over to Space Mountain for fastpasses while everyone starts to make their way to the other mountains? I would do Dumbo, Peter Pan, then Pooh so that you will be closer to Tomorrowland and someone can shoot over there while the rest of you start the walk to Adventureland.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Sounds like a great start to your trip!

I would also make sure you have a FastPass before starting the rides. You could send someone over to Space Mountain, but I would think about Peter Pan - the queue fills up quickly, and moves so slowly!

If you got a Peter Pan FastPass, then rode Dumbo and Pooh, and it's a small world, it would be time for the Peter Pan FastPass, and you would have almost all of Fantasyland done!

[BigThunderFan]

I would recommend sending one person to pick up fastpasses for Space Mountain while on your way to Dumbo if possible. If you are one of the first ones your FP return time will be close to 9:40am. By the time you ride Dumbo, Pooh, and Peter Pan (all of which should have very little wait this early) you should be pretty close to being able to get another fastpass at one of the Frontierland Mountains and then ride standby on the other.

Remember that you can get another FP as soon as the return time passes on your last one. You may even be able to use this on Peter Pan if necessary.

[darthmacho]

Good ideas about the Fast Passes. I'm thinking it will be early enough to hit all three rides without them, but I don't think it would hurt. In fact, getting a fastpass for PP on the way to Dumbo might allow us to ride twice! Worst case, if the line has gotten long, we won't have to skip it.
As for FastPass, I could have sworn we used them back in 99, but I'm not certain about that. We used them for sure in 03 however.

Thanks for the advice...

[DisneyLuver91]

T- 16 days and counting!

I'll be arriving the same day as you! How long are you staying?

[whitney37354]

Get a FP for either Pooh or Pan before heading to Dumbo.

[Mickey91]

I'll be arriving the same day as you! How long are you staying?

We are leaving the 26th after breakfast at Crystal Palace and hopefully a ride on the Liberty Belle and WDWRR. How about you?

[KAT1811]

Get a FP for either Pooh or Pan before heading to Dumbo.

I wouldn't waste the FP. We usually do all of the long wait rides in Fantasyland first thing in the morning with no trouble at all. Never much of a wait.

[ransam]

as far as planning i'm in the middle. I ususally go w/ my sister and best friend. my sister wants to have an exact plan...she wants to go left to right and never double back....
my friend is a go w/ the flow kind of guy. if he's in the mood to hit small world, then head to space mountain, and then back to peter pan, he will do that... me, i am in between. I'd like to have a plan, but i want that plan to fluxiate as well..

[Mickey91]

I wouldn't waste the FP. We usually do all of the long wait rides in Fantasyland first thing in the morning with no trouble at all. Never much of a wait.

But do you go in August? The next few weeks are still much more crowded than in Sept. and Oct., especially with kids since a lot of schools haven't started yet and Darth will be at Crystal Palace for part of the early morning. Peter Pan and Pooh both fill up quite quick and once they do, the time doesn't usually lessen. I would at least look at the times on the fast pass return in relation to what time it is when you get there. Dumbo will be a decent wait already and by the time you get done there, the others could easily be long waits.

[indytraveler]

I'm not one to "waste" fastpasses but Pooh and Peter Pan are the only rides in MK that I must have a fast pass. Not waiting 45-60min when I could walk back in an hour to ride. PP is the SLOWEST line in the entire park.

Pick up Fast pass to Peter Pan as go to Dumbo. After you get off. Head to Pooh. Less than 30 min, then ride. Still have Snow White, Mickey's Philharmagic, Cinderella's Carousel, Goofy's Barnstormer, Mad Tea Party near by, Even Haunted Mansion, or Tomorrowland Speedway can be ridden if you need to Fast Pass Pooh when the next FP comes available. Small World being down doesn't help much.

Hope this helps. Have fun.

[darthmacho]

All good advice, but I'm not anticipating a long wait for the first three rides, despite IASW being down.
Our breakfast with Pooh will be before the park opens, so we'll be right at Dumbo first thing. In 2003, we didn't wait long at all. Meanwhile, Pooh and Pan tend to fill up fast, but even now during peak season, they haven't had 30+ minute waits until about noontime. If my theory turns out to be wrong, then we'll get the fastpasses. We went with the same plan in 2003, and even rode Pooh twice before heading to Pan and IASW. That was in August too. Of course, every trip is different and the crowds are bigger now.
My bigger concerns will be the Mountains, for which we'll probably save the fastpasses. We could always do Haunted Mansion as we wait for our FP time, or ride one while we wait for the other.
Worst case scenario, if we have trouble getting on any one ride, we'll head to quieter ones and save it for another day. We plan on visiting MK a minimum of 3 times on our trip.
Thanks for the advice! It's great getting different points of view.

[brownie]

Our best plan is to hit the rides everyone most wants to do. We have typically started in Tomorrowland.