If you choose to rope drop Magic Kingdom Park I would recommend arriving at least an hour to an hour and a half early because Main Street U.S.A opens to guests a full hour before official opening of attractions. This means you can get through security, walk down Main Street a little, take a picture in front of the castle,
and then head towards the attraction you want to ride first. (Remember, a cast member will probably be blocking your way with a rope.) Some shops and bakeries will be open at this time, but I wouldn’t recommend wasting any time with shops at this hour. Shops are great for later in the day when crowds increase and the temperature rises! There will be 3 areas that large groups will congregate: the Tomorrowland entrance for Space Mountain, the Fantasyland entrance for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Adventureland for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. (Those rides are technically in Frontierland, but cast members will walk you through Adventureland to get there.) Which group you join will depend on your priorities. I always head towards Splash and Big Thunder Mountain railroad for three reasons.
1. They are right next to each other so you can ride one, then jump to the other before lines get too long. You can ride 2 popular rides in the same time or less than one ride in Fantasyland or Tomorrowland!
2. The groups headed to Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train and Space Mountain are typically much larger.
3. Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad are my first and second favorite rides in the park, therefore they are my priority.
After you have hit that first one (or two) rides, start planning what to do next by checking out your My Disney Experience App to see what the wait times are looking like for other attractions and shows! I would recommend having a plan of which land you will be visiting first beforehand, so you can try to snag fast passes for popular rides in other areas (when they hopefully return!)
If heading to Adventureland/Frontierland doesn’t fit your fancy, another option is to head on back to Tomorrowland and ride Space Mountain! Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Fantasyland is a quick walk from here and you may be able to hop on this one with a lower wait too! (Flip flopping this is a good option as well. Seven Dwarfs first, Space Mountain second.)
If you have smaller kids, I would head back to Fantasyland first! There are several kid friendly rides in Fantasyland! Most of the rides geared toward small children don’t end up with the crazy hour or 2 hour lines for a couple of reasons.
1. These rides are usually continuously moving; meaning you don’t have to wait for the ride to end before someone else can get on.
2. These rides typically aren’t as popular with the masses.
The exceptions to this are the Barnstormer (Storybook Circus) and Peter Pan’s Flight (Fantasyland); they can rack up some hefty wait times for sure!
Where you decide to go first is a personal decision! Think about what rides are most important to your family AND most popular and head to those first!
Check back because tomorrow we’ll be talking all about rope dropping Hollywood Studios!
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