The Ultimate Magic Kingdom Touring Plan, part two

Finally I have time to sit down and put this all together!

We did complete the Ultimate Magic Kingdom Touring Plan. It took 14 hours and 15 minutes. We would NOT have seen every attraction if it had not been an Extra Magic Hours evening, but we likely would have not needed the extra time if it had been an Extra Magic Hours morning. Having completed this once, I’d like to try it again to see if I can match or beat the record, but I would definitely only try it on a morning EMH day in a very low crowd situation. I’d also visit the MK a day or two in advance for a bit of research ahead of time.

I think the key to getting this done in record time is entering Fantasyland at 8 AM on EMH morning and seeing all available Fantasyland & Tomorrowland attractions plus Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain RailRoad before Toontown opens at 10 AM.

Overall, I felt like we did a lot of running back and forth across the park, more than I would normally do if I wasn’t trying to follow the plan. If I was doing this on my own, I’d do Dumbo, Peter Pan, EMH Tomorrowland attractions, remaining EMH Fantasyland attractions, then be at rope drop near Haunted Mansion at 9 am for SM & BTMRR. I’d come back to finish up any remaining Fantasyland attractions, then be at 10 am rope drop for Toontown before starting on the shows and parades and using fastpass as much as possible for everything else in Frontierland and Adventureland.

We followed the plan for a while, but by the afternoon, the plan became more of a checklist than a touring plan. We did see all shows, parades, and fireworks from beginning to end. We may have been eating or plotting our next move during the show, but we did witness all of each one.

Here’s how it all went down.

We arrived at the MK at 8:45 AM. E had NO IDEA there was anything special that happened at opening. Her family usually travels in July and uses evening EMH/sleeping in to avoid the heat.

We were through the tunnel and on Main Street around 8:55 AM. I’ve been stopped at a rope in mid-Main St. before, but this time we found the rope at the castle, keeping us from entering Fantasyland.

Dumbo: We were the first in line since everyone else had to park a stroller. On at 9:02, off at 9:07 am.

Astro Orbiter: We stopped to get fastpasses for Winnie the Pooh with return time of 10:05 am on the way, got a bonus fastpass for Mickey’s PhilharMagic at 9:05 am. Walked on to elevator,on ride at 9:14 am, off at 9:17 am.

Tomorrowland Speedway: Posted wait 5 minutes. In line at 9:22 am. In car at 9:30 am. Out of car at 9:35 am. They opened the second load lane while we were in line, but E had to wait longer than me to unload.

Pooh’s Thotful Spot: Pooh’s Thotful Spot 9:38 to 9:39 am

Peter Pan’s Flight: No wait posted, in line at 9:41 am, on ride at 9:49 am, off at 9:53 am.

it’s a small world: Posted wait 5 minutes, actually walked down ramp and right on to a boat. The lady in front of me took flash photos of everything. On ride at 9:56 am, off at 10:09 am.

Snow White’s Scary Adventure: Posted wait 5 minutes, in line at 10:11 am, on ride at 10:19 am, off at 10:22 am.

Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Used fastpasses, walked right on at 10:24am. Off at 10:28am.

Mad Tea Party: Posted wait time 5 minutes. In line at 10:29 am, on ride at 10:32 am, off at 10:35 am.

At this point, we found Toontown to be absolutely mobbed since we missed the 10 AM rope drop. We decided to go off-plan and try again later.

Dream Along with Mickey show: We caught the 10:30 am showing of the Dream Along with Mickey show. By “caught”, I mean we began viewing it as we walked up via the bridge near Mad Tea Party and continued viewing it from the Liberty Square bridge. The show ended at 10:55 am.

Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it Street Party: We caughted the 11:00 am showtime. Between the shows, we ran to pick up fastpasses for Splash Mountain. (Standby time was 15 minutes for Splash, 20 minutes for BTMRR.) Return time is 11:35 am. Walked back to castle hub as the street party pulled up. Show over at 11:21 am.

Ariel’s Grotto: We saw Ariel at 11:31 am.

Mickey’s Philharmagic: No fastpass running today, so our bonus fastpasses obtained with our Winnie the Pooh fastpasses seemed silly. Wait time of 5 minutes, in line at 11:35 am, seated at 11:44 am, show over 11:55 am.

At this point we attempted to ride a Main Street Vehicle, but were told that they had all stopped running for the day. The Photopass CM said they usually run from 9 am to Noon and it was right around noon.

Princess Tiana Showboat Jubilee: We caught the 12:15 pm showtime while eating lunch purchased at Cosmic Ray’s and carried to the Liberty Square area. We weren’t sure what to call the “end” of this show, but we watched all the characters walk out, get on the riverboat, then followed the riverboat around until we got to BTMRR.

Splash Mountain: used fastpasses, walked right onto ride at 12:40ish. (stopped for fastpasses to BTMRR on the way – return time 1:05pm, standby wait 30 minutes)

Tom Sawyer’s Island: we JUST missed a raft and had to wait for the next one. We were on the island from 1:00 pm to 1:18 pm. We saw the mill and the fort and were very impressed with the newly redone bathrooms at the fort!

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: used fastpasses, in line at 1:22 pm and off ride at 1:33 pm, standby wait was 40 minutes at that point.

At this point, we headed for Adventureland, got fastpasses for Jungle Cruise, and tackled Shrunken Ned’s Junior Jungle Boats from 1:40 to 1:43 pm.

Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse: The slowest people in all of WDW in front of us going through the treehouse. We were there from 1:48 pm to 1:58 pm. While we were creeping up and down the stairs, T called to say she had arrived at the park and was heading down Main St. We told her to get a Jungle Cruise fastpass and meet us at the exit of the treehouse.

Enchanted Tiki Room: We didn’t time this one well either, entering the queue just after a show had started. Our first attraction as a party of three! We were here from 1:59 pm to 2:22 pm.

Story Time with Belle: We caught the 2:35 pm showing. We weren’t allowed into the seating area since it was full but stood just behind the rope for the 10 minute show.

Cinderella’s Golden Carousel: in line at 2:50 pm and off ride at 2:54 pm.

We made another tactical error with our viewing spot for the afternoon parade. Last year, the 3 pm parade ran from back to front of park. This year, it ran from front to back, so we lost quite a bit of time here.

Jungle Cruise: used fastpasses, in line at 3:40 pm, on ride at 3:45 pm, off ride at 3:59 pm.

Pirates of the Carribbean: posted wait time 5 minutes, we were in line at 4 pm, on the ride at 4:07 pm, and off the ride at 4:15 pm. I still can’t believe E got this photo with her iPhone!

Captain Jack’s Pirate Tutorial: We saw the 4:25 pm show, if you can call sitting on the nearby stage while the show went on “watching”. At this point, we were coming to grips with the fact that we would not have the plan completed prior to regular closing time and decided to focus on attractions that would not be open during evening Extra Magic Hours.

Between 4:45 pm and 4:51 pm, we were in Exposition Hall on Main Street. After that, we watched the flag retreat from the second floor of the train station. This was the ONE attraction that none of the three of us had seen before. I was the only one that even knew it happened daily, but I guess I’ve never been on Main Street at that time of day. We were there until 5:08 pm.

At this point, we made our round trip on the WDW Railroad from the Main St. Station.

Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade: I nearly had to shove a twelve-year-old out of the way to play. He spoke English, but apparently didn’t understand, “if you aren’t going to play, do you mind if I use this spot?” even after I repeated it three times. 5:43 pm to 5:56 pm.

Liberty Belle Riverboat: We got on the boat at 6 pm. Neither E or T could remember the last time they had been on the boat.

Tomorrowland Transit Authority: walked right onto ride, rode from 6:30 to 6:40 pm.

We headed back to Toontown, hoping all the little kids had left the park. We were wrong. We tried at 7 pm to ride the Barnstormer, but it had just gone 101.

Minnie’s Country House: 6:42-6:43 pm

Toontown Hall of Fame: We had a choice of waiting 45 minutes to meet the fairies or 15 minutes to meet the princesses. We got Cindy’s autograph and ran! We were there from 6:43 to 7:02 pm.

Mickey’s Country House: 7:04-7:05 pm

Donald’s Boat: 7:06-7:07 pm

Barnstormer was still not open, so we had to accept we would not get to ride it.

We tried to see the Hall of President’s several times between 6 and 9, but kept missing the start of the show.

We watched Spectromagic near the Hall of Presidents while eating dinner from Columbia Harbor House. Since we didn’t camp out for a viewing spot, we were several people back in the crowd.

Haunted Mansion: We had to wait just a few minutes outside the doors, then I impressed E & T by knowing which wall of the stretching room would open and making sure we were first out into the hallway. We were in the Mansion from 7:40 to 7:53 pm.

We watched Wishes from the Liberty Square area. Again, not a prime viewing location in my book, but it was okay.

Hall of Presidents: We finally made it into a show from 8:30 to 8:50 pm.

Carousel of Progress: We entered the theater at 8:57 pm and left at 9:20 pm. We almost didn’t make it before this one closed for the day!

Buzz Lightyear: Used fastpasses, on ride at 9:24 pm and off ride at 9:30 pm.

Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club: Posted wait time 10 minutes, in line at 9:30 pm, preshow started at 9:40 pm, out of show at 10:05 pm.

Stitch’s Great Escape: no wait, in attraction from 10:06 to 10:24 pm.

Magic Carpets of Aladdin: no wait, on attraction from 10:36 to 10:38 pm

Country Bear Jamboree: in attraction from 10:55 to 11:15 pm.

11:20 pm, headed out the gate to bus heading for Old Key West to collapse.