Need Advice - When to do MK?

What would you do?

2nd Day at MK with BOG PPO (8:05 reservation, park closes at 9 pm), crowd level est. 4

Last Day at MK with EMH until 11 pm (we would start later around noon and go until after fireworks); crowd level est. 3

Factors to consider:

My husband works nights and is not a morning person. He has said he’s okay with getting up early because it’s Disney World but I am worried he will be exhausted from being off his schedule.

My 5yo son is not an earlier riser but may be excited and wake up earlier than usual (however, no guarantee on that which could lead to a rough start to the day)

My 5yo son has never done well with fireworks (the only exception is illuminations). He is usually super excited for the first 5 minutes and then goes spazzy.

I would go with option 2…but with this (I know to most people heretical) caveat. You can have a fully complete day at MK and NOT do the fireworks.

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I would do option 2 as well. If you can afford it, perhaps splurge on a dessert party? It would definitely make the fireworks part of it more enjoyable for your DS. :slight_smile:

You could watch the fireworks from one the resorts. You miss the projections but that might be a better distance if scared of them.

Maybe watch fireworks from the edge of the hub somewhere, the purple wall in tommorowland is a good spot, then if they become to intense you could bail and hit a ride, many of which would be walk on during the show!

I was thinking about watching from the transportation center but I think we would be okay missing them, too. My husband and I aren’t huge fans of fireworks. I am more worried that just being in the park when the fireworks are going off will upset my son. I remember them being really loud and intense over Fantasyland. Maybe other parts aren’t so bad?

You could watch on MS, close to the RR station. If it’s too much, it’s easy to bail before the tsunami of people leaving after they’re over…

We did the terrace dessert party a few weeks ago with DD5. I really didn’t find the fireworks loud at all. When DD was younger she really dislikes loud noises, so I had packed her ear defenders just in case, but she didn’t need them at all. If you decide to watch the fireworks from in the park, perhaps getting some for your DS is a good idea? DD’s are Banz (bought from Amazon) but there are loads of other good makes out there too - not expensive either. :slight_smile:

That’s a great idea. Not sure why I have never thought of “ear muffs” but I feel like those could work. We could probably do fireworks with either option, maybe I should wait to see what Fastpasses we can get and pick the day based on that.

I’d always go with the lesser crowd level. Keeping to DH’s normal schedule makes for smoother touring. My sister’s granddaughter also had the ear muffs. Besides the fireworks, they also came in handy on some rides/attractions. I don’t recall which now. She was very susceptible to loud noises and loved her ear “mugs”.

When I run our plan through Touring Plans the wait times are significantly shorter with the early start in the BOG PPO ADR option. Option 2 adds almost 2 hours to our estimated time in line. My son is like most 5 year olds and doesn’t have a lot of patience and neither does my husband. With option 1 we could be done by 2 pm and then head home for a nap. If my non-fireworks loving husband and son suddenly decide they want to see fireworks, we could always go back. We are also doing MNSSHP the next day so could see that fireworks show, too.

I would go with the early start. We did that with a BOG reservation, totally enjoy walking through the almost empty park, taking pictures without half the world photo bombing you and getting in line for 7DMT and onto before RD. We did so much by 11AM, we felt like it we could leisurely pursue the rest of the day.

Also, I absolutely hate the massive crowds for the fireworks and actively choose to go in the other direction, more fun to watch the fireworks while riding BTM

Early start. The amount of touring you can get done by being there at RD outweighs any sleep gains. Also, consider how much longer it will take to get inside the park if you wait until later…if using the buses, they’re much more crowded, and if driving, the TTC is much busier.

Yeah, my husband said he would rather do the early start. He has bad memories from our last trip and our day at MK.