Dreaming of Disney - a Day at the Park, pt 1

Wait! I almost forgot! Before you make those dining reservations, you have to check the MAGIC HOURS! If you stay on property, you get to enter the parks early, before the masses, or stay later, and I mean way later! But you have to refer to the calendar on the website for the days of your stay because the Magic Hours are different for each park. Not to mention the hours the parks are open change all the time. But the calendar is pretty accurate, even six months in advance or more.

The reason I say to check the Magic Hours is to help in planning your days. For instance, look for a night EPCOT is open late and plan to have a fabulous dinner at one of the countries there. Then you can see the laser show and still ride a few more rides while everyone else has to leave. A note that my sister observed and I concur with is that on days a park opens early, visit it then go to another park because for some odd reason the park seems extra crowded on those days. Also, on a day when there are no AM Magic Hours is a good time to book a character breakfast.

Here is a sample of a few days...

Day 1 - no Magic Hours in AM
             go to Magic Kingdom
             ride lots of rides, get fast passes!
             lunch at park, counter service
             more rides
             back to hotel, pool, relax, change
             Hollywood Studios has PM Magic Hours
             make it to dinner & fantasmic reservations
             see show and ride rides

Day 2 - EPCOT has AM Magic Hours
             go early, ride rides
             leave to make it to Down Town Disney lunch reservation
             shop
             go to room to relax, have dinner there
             go back to Magic Kingdom (usually open later than other parks)
            
Then there's always a day like

Day 3 - No AM Magic Hours
             go to Animal Kingdom for character breakfast
             ride rides, get fast passes
             do lunch
             more rides
             closes earlier than most parks
             no PM Magic Hours
             go to room, freshen up, go off property for dinner or stay at hotel
             if you're up for it, there's mini golf or movies

Like I said, this is a sample, you do what you want. If your goal is to ride rides, stay all day at one park. And if you are limited on time, the rides are priority. But I'm telling you, that break in the afternoon, at least for one of the days, is worth it! And avail yourself of the FAST PASS! The rides with the longest lines have kiosks out front dispensing fast passes. They allow you to come back at a designated time and enter the ride without waiting in the 30, 40 or 60 minutes in line through all the ropes.

I also have to say that getting there is part of the fun. We love riding the monorail. The kids always ask if we can ride in the front with the driver - don't know if they still do that. And the boats are fun too. My kids even like the bus rides sometimes, especially if we get a good, animated driver.

The next posts in this section will be about the best rides and features of each park.
Countdown to next trip (Nov 2011): 129 days 8=)
TTFN!

Dreaming of Disney posts

My references are my years going to the parks, the Disney website and Birnbaum Guides to Walt Disney World (2010) which I use for much of my planning.