Best park for the afternoon

[Cindy'smom]

We are arriving very late/very early AM and will probably have to sleep until noon. I'm thinking we will hang out at the resort, or perhaps head over to TL if the weather is nice. If it isn't swimming weather, I'll want to hit a park. MK is the natural choice, but I have concerns that it will be packed by mid-afternoon. The DDs will be disappointed if they face really long lines for the big attractions. Soooooooo, my question is, which park is the best for hitting main attractions mid-afternoon? I know Soar'n FPs will be gone for the day and will have amazingly long lines. I imagine RR and ToT will have long lines. How about EE? I know the standby line will be long, but does it typically still have FPs in the afternoon? I would be incredibly relaxing to wander around the trails at AK while awaiting our FP for EE. Are there usually show times for Nemo and Festival of the Lion King in the afternoon? What would you all recommend?:mickey:

[merlinmagic4]

I don't know when you are going but when we were a AK in November (Veteran's Day weekend) fastpasses for the Safari and Everest were gone by noon. I remember we had one extra (I didn't go on) and we made some kid's day because we gave him our fastpass so he got to ride with his dad! I think I would go with MK hoping some of the morning people had cleared out and there are so many more choices if you want rides.

However, if you didn't care so much about rides I would definitely go with Epcot World Showcase or Animal Kingdom's trails and shows :thumbsup:

[Jeff]

On arrival days such as yours we try to make parades and shows our priority rather than rides. Then, with those out of the way, on another day we can do the rides while the masses are at a parade.

Or we will make arrival day our World Showcase day and do a leisurely walk around the world without worrying about rides.

Good luck!

[jwallace378]

On arrival day, we usually go to Downtown Disney for a bite to eat and walk around. Then we try to catch a parade.

[rwdavis2]

Based on our trip over MLK weekend you probably won't get to ride anything you really want to if you arrive in the afternoon. So either skip going to a park or concentrate on things that are low demand.
Bob

[DisneyDD2]

You could always head to DHS and catch a show or two. Who knows? You might get lucky and find fastpasses for ToT or RR. Then there's Fantasmic!

[PirateLover]

When are you going? If you can't do the waterpark, I think the Studios are your best bet. You could still hit up things like Great Movie Ride, Muppets, Voyage of Little Mermaid etc. Also I've never seen ToT of RnR fastpasses sold out in the afternoon since they are heavy loaders. Your time might be for later in the evening but you should be ok. And then you can always take in Fantasmic.
Here is how I feel about the other parks:
I like to spend the first full day in MK. That being said I've also spent half days there and it's still great.

Animal Kingdom I only do in the morning and desperately try to get out by midday. It gets hot and crowded and unbearable for me personally.

I don't bother with Future World in the evening if I don't have Fast Passes stored up. As you said, they sell out early. But World Showcase is still a great way to spend an afternoon/evening, checking out the pavilions and the music and the movies and finally catching Illuminations.

Good luck. I'm sure your first day will be great. Just by taking the time to ask this question you are showing that you at least have to have a skeleton of a plan for the first day if you want to get anything done.:mickey:

[TrishaTrish]

There was some great info in here!!

Thanks y'all, I am glad I found this site before our 1st trip to WDW next weekend :)

we're traveling with 4 kiddos, ages 6-11, so I am hoping to make this a great experience for them.

[sillyolbear]

Catching a parade or doing World Showcase are good suggestions.

Doing Downtown Disney or Boardwalk might be options that save a days admission to a park if that is a concern at all.

[dumbo_buddy]

We always start every trip with the Great Movie Ride at DHS. We get to the resort, drop off our stuff, and head straight there (usually around 1:00ish).

this past trip two weeks ago we walked right on! :yay: then we went to ToT and RnRC and walked right on both (after fast passing ToT just in case).

so, i say DHS is the best for the afternoon - it's a great way to start a trip!:mickey:

[RAIDER]

Epcot and world showcase would be my choice and you have the fireworks as well ..:thumbsup:

[mudpuppysmom]

We ALWAYS go to MGM on arrival day simply because it is a half day park for us and we can "knock it out" in a few hours and call it a day so we can get to bed early and rest up from our long travel day!

We usually touchdown, go to walmart for suppies, go check in to the hotel, grab ticktets, and then off we go.....we just drop the bags and go basically.

[splashtest]

Everything is crowded mid afternoon. personally I have had the best luck with the Studios and crowds for the afternoon.

[andreallybadeggs]

Take a look at the extra magic hours, also.
I'd avoid a park that had morning hours that day.
Evening hours would depend on whether you want to take advantage of them or not.

[NJ Camper]

I'm thinking just the opposite if they had early morning hours people might come in early and leave early if that is DHS that would be even better like said before we usually only spend a half day there so that is my park of choice for a half day or late arrival day have a magical time and welcome to intercot :mickey:

[Cindy'smom]

Thanks for all the replies. Several mentioned MGM as a good option for the afternoon. Do folks usually find fast passes gone and wait times long in the afternoon for RnR and ToT? I'm thinking either MGM or Epcot. There are evening EMH at Epcot that evening.:mickey:

[grwoolf]

We always fly in in the AM and head to MK after lunch once we are checked in. All parks will be busy in the afternoon, but MK gets us all in the Disney mood and we are selective about the rides we hit on day one. Pirates and HM are good choices (and family favorites) because they have fast moving lines. Other things we often hit are Small world, Buzz (maybe), CoP, People Mover, etc. I don't like hitting MGM in the afternoon because we can't go to that park without hitting ToT and RnRc and those will take up a lot of time without Fast Pass. Other than hitting Fantasmic late, we prefer MGM as a morning park.