Plan for 1st New Fantasyland Visit

[Red Randal]

So vote up above and tell me in the comments what you think I should do.

Hit New Fantasyland first thing, do Belle, Little Mermaid, eat at Be Our Guest when it opens, check out Gaston's Tavern and Storybook Circus and then begin touring the rest of the park when I'm done, likely after 1pm, knowing that I'll likely have to cut out a few favorites for time.

OR

Just do a normal balanced tour of the park and work in the new stuff as I can, realizing I may not be able to see quite as much of New Fantasyland as fresh and relaxed as possible.

BEAR IN MIND that I only have ONE DAY for Magic Kingdom, it's a one day visit and probably won't be back for a year or two. (Pains me, indeed.) Thoughts??

[PopPhan]

At least for the first year or two of it being open, I would definitely hit New Fantasyland first thing and HOPE to get everything in before the crowds make it impossible.

I would also hope for morning EMH to further help out on this quest.

[AmandaChan]

HRMM interesting. I of course want to visit the new fantasyland so bad but I'm afraid it's going to cramp our style. A lot of the time we head over to Tomorowland first but I'm so afraid that it's going to be so busy and we won't get to experience any of the new things (i.e. midway mania fp running out almost immediately).

[mechanic]

Was there last Thursday. Not much new to see that's going to slow you down, except maybe character meets and belle's story time. Took less than 10 minutes to see little mermaid, short line for dumbo, and walkon barnstormer.

[FLKatie912]

If Enchanted Tales with Belle is something on the to see list, I'd hit that first, then hit up Peter Pan's Flight, then go back and hit Journey Under the Sea.

[dkmwong]

We were lucky enough last year to hit the soft opening of the New Fantasy Land last October. We waited 45 minutes to get into Mermaid so I would suggest hitting the New FantasyLand first then work your way around the rest of the park. That is our game plan this December

[MOJoe]

My wife and i just tackled this situation. We arrived at park opening and went straight to Fantasyland. Spent about 4 hours there, incuding lunch at BoG. After that we hit some of our favorites before heading to Epcot for the evening.
I think curiosity will compel most disney veterans to start with the new attractions. So don't torture yourself. See the new things first. You should still have plenty of time for your other MK favorites later in the day.

[Eric87]

I chose to see all of New Fantasyland based by the amount of visits you've had. We are in a similar situation this year, having been many times, and will be heading down this fall. I think visitors like us are at an advantage, because we can take it slow and take it all in, knowing we've experienced a lot of what the other parks and DTD has to offer. So I say take the empty bench and enjoy the architecture. Do new experiences/attractions twice looking for something new each experience. Whatever you chose to do, have a great time!

[Katzateer]

I would head to Philharmagic, get a fast pass for Mermaid, go on Little Mermaid, go to see Belle, get in line for BoG. Even if you don't want a meal, the soups are great. Then check out all the details in the new Fantasyland.

Now that we have seen it all - twice- I won't rush back. With no little kids Belle's story time won't happen when the lines are long. Love the details but not on my have to do list.

Little Mermaid is worth a couple times around so you can take in all the fun details.

And BoG is so wonderfully done - love it even though the food wasn't that special.

[Red Randal]

Even if you don't want a meal, the soups are great.

Hehe. That's EXACTLY what we plan to do. Brave the line for like an hour and then just order soup and take a bazillion pictures.

I'm really most excited to walk around with a giant pork shank from Gaston's.

Most commenters (a some checks of the usual wait times) have me pretty convinced I'm going to hit Belle, Undersea, Dumbo, and Be Our Guest in one fell swoop in the morning, maybe only taking a break to grab Peter Pan fastpasses. There will be enough time in the afternoon to see just about everything else I'd "need" to see if we use Fastpass wisely.

[phlo8810]

Definitely don't go out of your way or change plans based on new fantasyland. There's really not that much there. From my experience the mermaid ride doesn't seem to have much of a line and the belle thing which I've never done seems to be 30-45min each time. Don't know if its worth the wait. As far as BOG goes I had a dinner ADR but the CMs there seemed to be really accommodating to walk-ups. Best atmosphere I've ever been in for dinner.

[CU Tiger]

As already said, there is not that much new. You should be able to see the new Fantasyland and do everything in the MK as you usually do. We did it with no problem.

[luvkatiebug]

Our plan is to try the new stuff first, just in case we can't make the old stuff, but we are also going around the 4th of July weekend, so I know it will be hot and crowded. My plan is to go to Fantasyland first thing one day, and maybe try and do the mountains another morning (or maybe during Extra Magic Hours). Enjoy!

[CMCTxMom]

DEFINITELY would recommend hitting Enchanted Tales with Belle FIRST thing in the morning, if it's on your list at all. The lines stack up fast and don't let up. It doesn't have very high capacity. After that, it doesn't matter as much. But get to Belle early!

[Ian]

I'd go to New Fantasyland first. Knock out Belle and then do Mermaid ... you should be out of there pretty quickly.

[minnie04]

Was there last Thursday. Not much new to see that's going to slow you down, except maybe character meets and belle's story time. Took less than 10 minutes to see little mermaid, short line for dumbo, and walkon barnstormer.

We were in and out of there in no time. I thought it was a lot bigger with more to do, but it was just enough. Mermaid ride was cute ( I just thought they would have made it look more underwater), but again it's fine. In the eyes of a child it looks very cool.. All the little ones were in aww of it so that means Disney got it right.

[disneymom2000]

Seeing that this definitely isn't your first time to the world - do see the new stuff. And if you can't get ressies for dinner at the new castle - do lunch there. It is worth the experience. Then you can go back and say "Oh - I did that or I saw that".

[GrmGrninGost]

We've been twice and actually there isn't that much new stuff. We have toured as usual and have not found it difficult to fit the new things in.