Tag: Belle

What are the “Don’t miss” activities at Disney World?

There are so many things to do and see at Disney World.  It is really difficult to come up with a list, because there are so many things to “not miss.”  Since everyone has their own separate list of “don’t miss,” I decided to ask my family what activities they like best.  Below are our individual list from Tory , Michell, Tanner (8 years old), Morgan (6 years old), and Mason (2 years old).btmr

Top 3 Magic Kingdom Attractions:

Tory

  1. 7 Dwarfs Mine Train
  2. Wishes
  3. Space Mountain

Michell

  1. 7 Dwarfs Mine Train
  2. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
  3. Story time with Belle

Tanner

  1. Main Street Electrical Parade
  2. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
  3. Goofy’s Barnstormermain street electrical parade

Morgan

  1. Splash Mountain
  2. Buzz Lightyear Space ranger Spin
  3. Jungle Cruise

Mason

  1. Tomorrowland Speedway
  2. Goofy’s Barnstormer
  3. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin

Top 3 Hollywood Studios Attractions:RockNRollerCoaster1

Tory

  1. Toy Story Mania
  2. Rock ‘n ‘ Rollercoaster
  3. Fantasmic

Michell

  1. Toy Story Mania
  2. Rock ‘n ‘ Rollercoaster
  3. Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Tanner

  1. Rock ‘n ‘ Rollercoaster
  2. Star Tours
  3. Lights Motor Action

Morgan

  1. Tower Of Terror
  2. Jedi Training
  3. Fantasmic

Mason

  1. Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
  2. Toy Story Mania
  3. Woody and Buzz Character Meet

Top 3 Epcot Attractions:

Tory

  1. Soarin
  2. Test Track
  3. Mission Spacedisney_test_track

Michell

  1. Soarin
  2. Test Track
  3. Coke Spot

Tanner

  1. Soarin
  2. Test Track
  3. Mission Space

Morgan

  1. Soarin
  2. Test Track
  3. Mission Space

Mason

  1. Finding Nemo
  2. Character Spot
  3. _________

 

Top 3 Animal Kingdom Attractions:animal kingdom

Tory

  1. Kilimanjaro Safari
  2. Expedition Everest
  3. Festival of the Lion King

Michell

  1. Kilimanjaro Safari
  2. Festival of the Lion King
  3. Expedition Everestprimeavil whirl

Tanner

  1. Dinosaur
  2. Primeval Whirl
  3. Finding Nemo Musical

Morgan

  1. Expedition Everest
  2. Kali River Rapid
  3. Festival of the Lion King

Mason

  1. Rafiki’s Planet Watch
  2. Finding Nemo Musical
  3. Triceratop Spin

 

Favorite Character BreakfastOhana-Restaurant

Tory   – Ohana

Michell   – Tuskar

Tanner   – Chef Mickey

Morgan   – Ohana

Mason   – All Character Breakfasts

Favorite Showfestival-of-the-lion-king-5

Tory   – Festival of the Lion King

Michell   – Festival of the Lion King

Tanner   – Main Street Electrical Parade

Morgan   – Fantasmic

Mason   – Story time with Belle

Favorite Character MeetDSC_0107

Tory   – Characterpalooza

Michell   – Baymax

Tanner   – Dark Vader

Morgan   – Anna & Elsa

Mason   – Buzz Lightyear

As you can see by the list created by my family, there are many things to do at Disney and each person has their own favorite. You may have also noticed evidence in our Epcot list that helps explain why that park is not our favorite.  One also cannot miss for our family is ice cream at Ghirardelli in Disney Springs.   We have also been looking forward to the “Kitchen Sink” at Beaches and Cream, but we have never been able to get a reservation there.

Please feel free to add your comments below to let us all know which are your “cannot miss” activities, shows, and others when you are at Disney World.

FastPass+ at the Magic Kingdom

When using FastPass+ in the parks, it is always recommended to not book any fastpasses in the first 2 hours of the day.  The lines in the park are a lot lighter at this time and the Fastpass+ is usually not needed.  It is best to use FastPass+ later in the day when the crowds arrive and lines began to grow long.  FastPass+ in the Magic Kingdom is fairly straight forward, there is not a tier structure that is present in some of the other parks.

The following is a list of the rides that you should get FastPass+ for in the Magic Kingdom in order of longest wait times:

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Anna & Elsa Meet

Peter Pan

Space Mountain

Big Thunder Mountain

Splash Mountain

Storytime with Belle

Buzz Lightyear

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is this most popular ride in the Magic Kingdom.  In all our visits to the Magic Kingdom since the Dwarfs Mine Train was open, our family has never been able to secure a fastpass for the Mine Train.  The line for this ride is rarely less than an hour.  If you are not able to secure a fastpass, make sure you are one of the first people “on the rope” at rope drop and go straight to the ride.  After only 5 minutes of park opening, this ride line is an hour long.

DSC_0239Anna & Elsa Meet regularly had waits in excess of 5 hours when they first arrived at Magic Kingdom a few years ago.  The waits have reduced significantly, however; along with the Mine Train, this is one of the attractions that everyone rushes to at park opening.   If you are unable (or unwilling) to get a fastpass for this attraction, I would plan on watching the ride time throughout the day.  I would plan on waiting until the wait time goes down to about 30min.  During busier times of year, the wait time expectations may be closer to 45 min for a “short wait” for this attraction.

Peter Pan is another ride in fantasyland that frequently has a really long wait.  The line does not grow quite immediately as the previous two attractions.  Without a fastpass, you could get in line immediately at park opening without much wait.  If you do not immediately get in line at park opening, you should expect to wait no less than an hour for this ride.  Peter Pan is definitely a nice ride and a classic, but it is really hard to understand how people would wait so long for a 30 second ride.  I personally would either plan on getting a fastpass, riding it first thing at park opening, or just do not plan on riding at all.

The Mountains (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mounatin) are typically not very busy first thing at park opening.  If you would like to save your fastpass+ for other rides, you can plan on riding the mountains without much wait within the first two hours of park opening.  Space Mountain tends to be a little more unpredictable and should be rode first, or get a fastpass if you only plan on using one fastpass on the mountains.  Splash mountain typically gets a long wait as it gets warmer in the day, and may not get much of a wait at all during cooler days.

Storytime with Belle is on the list because it creates a unique dilemma.  The wait time is typically low in the morning, but it is not advisable to see in the morning because the attraction typically takes 30 to 40 minutes.  It is not a great idea to waste 30-40 minutes in the morning when you could otherwise experience 3 or 4 rides in that time.

Buzz Lightyear is a favorite for my family, but I would not recommend wasting one of your first 3 fastpasses on the ride.  After using your first 3 fastpasses, you are able to go to a fastpass kiosks in the park and add an additional ride one at a time.  As you can imagine, the rides that are available at this time are normally rides that don’t require a fastpass to ride.  Buzz lightyear is usually a ride that is available, but may still have a fairly decent wait otherwise.  Another great way to ride buzz is to wait until late in the evening.  If you wait until after the parade and fireworks are complete, you can generally ride Buzz over and over again with a wait of 5 minutes or less.

What about parades and fireworks? I have never been one to wait on the curb for hours waiting for a parade, or standing in the middle of Main Street for 30 minutes or more for the fireworks.   I have seen people pay $70 a ticket for the Halloween or Christmas party then walk in and sit on the curb for 3 hours to wait for the parade.  If you are one of those people, you may want to use your fastpass for parades and fireworks, but I cannot relate. Magic Kingdom Fireworks