Timing My New Ideal Magic Kingdom Morning Hour Two

Continuing from Hour One, we’ll push forward through crowds that are only going to get more immense.  As another reminder, you can see the “plan” in its entirety as well as see the times I arrived and exited each of the attractions.  And there’s a little background information about the changes that we’ve needed to make since Dumbo FASTPASS arrived and Rapunzel moved.

In related news, easyWDW.com is preferred by 6.804 out of 10.0 DISboards.com members according to this extremely scientific poll.  I arrive for the beat down around post 50.  I feel like there’s a toothpaste commercial to be made in there somewhere, preferably with the guy from Tower of Terror narrating.

As a quick reminder, it’s 10:07am.  We’ve been on Peter Pan’s Flight, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Jungle Cruise.  Here at Aladdin’s Magical Carpets, you could jump right on if you like.  I wouldn’t discount Aladdin’s Carpets just because it’s “another Dumbo.”  It’s actually really fun to be flying high over Adventureland.  You could be on and off in under ten minutes now.  Fast forward two hours and the wait would be closer to 20 minutes.  There are two easy ways to quickly move from Adventureland to Liberty Square, which puts us closer to Fantasyland faster.  One of them is behind Aladdin’s Magical Carpets and to the right of Sunshine Tree Terrace.  That would put you right next to Diamond Horseshoe and about a minute away from Liberty Square Riverboat or Haunted Mansion.  The other shortcut is further down towards Swiss Family Treehouse and Aloha Isle, where you’ll also find a nice set of restrooms.

Ariel’s line is already closed, which reinforces the fact that you want to be here by 9:45am for her 10am meet.  Get in line outside the queue now, and you’re looking at a 45 to 60 minute wait.  Just as a reminder, I’m sitting in Seattle until the middle of August, but we’ll take a closer look at how long it takes to meet the major princesses and Tinker Bell in the morning when I return.  With Rapunzel moving inside Town Square Theater and Merida arriving on scene, things have changed quite a bit since last time.

Next door at Tinker Bell, the posted wait is 25 minutes.

Looking inside, that appears to be accurate, if not a bit on the short side.  Luckily, the air conditioning is divine in here.

Moving through Liberty Square at 10:15am.

We’re still looking at very light crowds, especially for July.  It is a highly recommended day after all.

People are still walking right into the stretching room at Haunted Mansion, which is why we haven’t bothered riding it yet.

Samesies at it’s a small world.  In the summer, peak waits are going to be around 25 minutes here and 40 minutes at Haunted Mansion.  You want to be here before 11:30am or after 7pm when waits die down again.

Over at Peter Pan’s Flight, the wait is “only” up to 30 minutes.  “Honestly” that isn’t that bad, but we were on and off in seven minutes first thing in the morning.  It’s closer to 40 minutes total here, if not a bit longer.

Along with the area outside Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, this is going to be the most congested walkway you find. Once stroller parking moves and the walkway between Haunted Mansion and it’s a small world opens up (where the old Skyway Construction is currently taking place), it shouldn’t be as bad.

If you were wondering why we didn’t pull a FASTPASS for Dumbo first thing in the morning instead of Winnie the Pooh, this is why.  While the FASTPASS return time is still the same for both, look at the difference in standby wait times.

After a quick restroom break and a bunch of pictures, we’re returning at 10:21am at Winnie the Pooh, which is easily inside the window.

FASTPASS puts you ahead of the vast majority of standby riders.  We have a straight shot to our honey pot.  My total wait/ride time was about ten minutes.

Despite being about 100 years old, Winnie the Pooh holds up pretty well.  It’s certainly a whimsical ride through Sussex and about as close as most of us are going to get to the Olympics this year.  I guess there’s the United Kingdom Pavilion in Epcot.  We’d have to pull out our map to see which is closer to London though.

Though we aren’t doing much to advocate literacy here.  Imagineering is really in the pits if we’re trying to spell lettuce with an “s.”  You’d think after planting all the mini lettuces around property that someone would have recognized the mistake by now.  With Disney purportedly cutting two of the more questionable songs in Country Bear Jamboree, maybe correct spelling is coming to Pooh next!

You could just ask the Owl.

So this is traumatizing.

Bye.  Along with Peter Pan’s Flight, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a lot of fun for just about anyone.  Considering it takes ten minutes in the early morning or with a pretty convenient FASTPASS all day, it’s certainly worth adding to your itinerary.

It’s 10:33am and you could still walk right on Mad Tea Party.

Let’s go see if I’ve doomed us to a 30 minute wait for Dumbo out on the hot concrete.

Because of the Playground area inside the tent, I think the default wait time is going to be 15 minutes moving forward, since that’s around the amount of time you’re looking to wait if you opt to enter the playground.

Casey Jr. remains unpopular here in the morning, despite being prominently featured in Storybook Circus.  You really can’t go to Barnstormer without the kids seeing this water play area.  And yes, that’s a very large set of bathrooms directly behind the play area.  And a kiosk selling towels on the left.

Just in case you’ve forgotten how wet you’re going to get. They call it the “Soak Zone” for a reason. Think “Soak Zone” at a Shamu show or “Soak Zone” as in taking a bath in your clothes.  And then drying yourself off with a shower.

Lines tend to build faster at Barnstormer, so we’ll visit it first.

Despite the ten minute posted wait, there’s virtually no one in line.  This is one of the easiest lines to gauge because it’s entirely visible, especially since it doesn’t offer FASTPASS at the moment.

We basically just filed right on.  You want to be through Barnstormer before 11am or after 8pm in the summer.  When Magic Kingdom begins closing earlier, plan to return in the last 90 minutes of operation if you can’t arrive before 11am.  Despite not being listed on the Times Guide for morning or evening Extra Magic Hours, it should operate for the entirety of both.

I arrived at 10:35am and was back here at 10:40am, for a total wait/ride time of about five minutes.  This is one attraction that’s pretty bumpy and pretty difficult for adults to get in and out of because it’s so low to the ground.  If you have knee or back problems, you may want to skip it.  You’re only missing about 30 seconds of action action as the ride is just a little over a minute long.

Back at Dumbo, the posted wait time is still 15 minutes and the FASTPASS return time is conveniently listed on this sign near the standby entrance.

Remember that you can opt in or out of the Dumbo Playground inside the tent.  I have a lengthy look at the queue area here.  The playground is nicely air-conditioned and relatively peaceful when there aren’t a ton of people inside.  If you’re not interested in visiting the playground, you just continue walking past it and into the line to board your Dumbo.

Only 17.7% full.

How long until we hear about corrosion causing emergency stops causing Dumbos to fly into Casey Jr. Splash Zone causing the murders of little princes and princesses everywhere?

Be careful up there.  Word is that Passholder Previews of “New Fantasyland” are coming in November.  One would imagine that would mean early November, with the entire area (minus the Mine Coaster) being fully operational by Thanksgiving.  Woo hoo.

I arrived at Dumbo at 10:41am and was back here at 10:51am, for a total wait/ride time around ten minutes.  You can see the posted wait time at the ticket booth on the left and the FASTPASS return time directly in front of us.

We’re headed to Tomorrowland to pick up FASTPASSes for Space Mountain.  This is where the walking starts to add up.  With more than one day at Magic Kingdom, it’s very easy to compartmentalize the attractions in each land, hanging out at the high capacity attractions while you wait for your FASTPASS windows to open.  You can still hit the major attractions in two or three of the Lands in the early morning, but moving from one side of the Park to the other isn’t necessary.  Planning one day in the summer like we are here, this additional walking is going to mean the shortest actual waits possible.  Up until now, my longest wait has been at Jungle Cruise, where I ended up waiting about five minutes because they were only loading one boat at a time.

The 15 minute wait at Tomorrowland Speedway seems pretty optimistic.  With people already waiting out here, I’d put it closer to 30 minutes.

If you read over each month’s crowd calendar daily analysis, you’d notice that I talk a lot about getting over to Astro Orbiter and Tomorrowland Speedway first thing in the morning because waits after 10am are long, hot, and boring.  This is the queue for Astro Orbiter, which is about 40 minutes long thanks to its slow loading and dismal capacity.  Get here by 9:30am or return in the last half hour of operation to find shorter waits.  This isn’t a pleasant way to spend 45 minutes in July.

PeopleMover is another story, where no line exists, though it looks like they’re ready for one on non-recommended days.

By 11am, Space Mountain is quite popular with a 70 minute posted wait and FASTPASS out to 12:30pm – 1:30pm.  A FASTPASS return time a little further in the future  isn’t so bad though because it’s going to give us plenty of time to visit Frontierland to ride Big Thunder, head to Adventureland for Pirates, and eat lunch at Diamond Horseshoe.

While all of this is going on, Buzz has a 30 minute wait with FASTPASSes 40 minutes out, per usual.  If you were doing more of a two-day plan, you’d probably want to stick it out around here and have lunch at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe.  With 45 minutes for lunch, 30 minutes on Carousel of Progress (or Monsters Inc Laugh Floor or Stitch’s Great Escape), and 15 minutes on PeopleMover, you’d easily be ready to use your Space Mountain FASTPASSes.

We’re already filing through Stitch’s extended queue, though the actual wait until the preshow is still just five-ish minutes.

Uh oh, my fourth favorite piece of pavement in Magic Kingdom is under refurbishment.

Praying for a speedy recovery.

Work could be completed by now, but knowing how fast Disney works, it isn’t.

Disney was filming a commercial full of what I would imagine are unrealistic happenings.  I still remember those Tower of Terror commercials where everyone’s standing inside the elevator.  I could hardly believe it was a seated attraction!

Merida wait times are about what they have been.  The previous group is just finishing up inside, so most of these people will enter the Garden for the next set.  You’re still looking at a 30 to 45 minute wait after 9:30am.

I mentioned in a previous post that Brave/Merida merchandise seemed to be taking a backseat to the other princesses.  At her cart near Fairytale Gardens, about half of the cart is now Rapunzel merchandise.

One Brave item Disney can’t keep in stock is the bow and arrow set, to the point where they’re actually stocking a Wild West themed “Tuscon Replica Bow and Arrow & Arrow Set.”  Sorry Madison, they’re out of Merida bows, but you can pretend to be John Wayne instead.

Otherwise, the same items are available, just in seemingly less quantity.  And it doesn’t appear that the plush bears are in stock either.  So maybe the stuff is just that popular?  Or it’s not at all popular.  One or the other.  They may be stretched a little thin inventory wise now that several resorts and all of the other theme parks are also stocking the same items.

In hour three, we’ll ride Big Thunder again, ride Pirates of the Caribbean, grab the Pork Brisket Salad from Diamond Horseshoe, gawk at afternoon wait times, and pontificate a bit on how things have gone thus far.