Which first? Fantasyland or Adventureland?

[Gregandmel]

Hello everyone!
OUr very first trip to the "world" is coming up in October. We plan on visiting the Magic Kingdom on a Tuesday, and we have 8am ressies at Crystal Palace (no emh in the a.m. so hopefully we can walk down main street while it's quiet). My question is that we have 2 boys ages 8 & 17. Since we will have a "small" headstart on the crush of crowds, do you think it would be better to high tail it to Fantasyland, or would it be better to cruise over to Adventureland and Frontierland, which is where the kids are totally excited about (and the Haunted Mansion, of course). What do you think is best??? Thanks for any advice!

[tinklover]

I would say since you are at crystal palace already, once done eating start right there in adventureland and work your way around.

[bruin1344]

personally i would do adventureland first and go to fantasyland after frontierland and liberty square

[Fantasmic]

If your boys are excited for adventureland and frontierland, start over there after brekkie!

[Off to Never Land]

I would go for Adventure Land. Your kids will enjoy that more!

[disneygeek84]

Since you have two boys that are older, I would head to Adventureland first and work your way around. Especially since they're excited about it. Fantasyland tends to calm down some in the afternoon when younger families head back for naps, too.

[Imagineer1981]

agreed. Do Frontier/Adventureland first and then get back over to Tomorrowland. I'd save Fantasyland for last

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Adventureland:thumbsup:

[Mousemates]

Well, it really depends and one of the things it depends upon is how important is riding Dumbo to the eight year old....for if its soemthing he has to do...I'd go to fantasy land first, try to be first in line for it and get it out of the way. (Dumbo is not only one of the most popular rides in the park, but also one of the slowest loaders and hence often has horrendous lines).

[dteed]

No crush of crowds in October but do what the boys would like. If me I would go Adventureland first.

[Gregandmel]

Thanks so much for the advice! We'll head to Adventureland first then wind to Frontierland and Liberty Square. All of your opinions helped me decide! My sis in law said to RACE to Fantasyland since that's always a very very busy place, but I think it would be hard to get my kids to "wait" for the other ones they are psyched about! Thanks again everyone....

[KAT1811]

Hate to rock the boat here but I highly recommend going to Fantasyland first. We used to go to Adventureland first and then got a tip to go to Fantasyland first to avoid major wait times and it turned out to be the best advice I've ever gotten. The lines in Fantasyland get ridiculously long (even in October, we typically travel in Sept when the crowds virtually do not exist but these rides still manage to draw huge lines; think 60 - 90 minutes). Even though they may not be the rides the boys are gunning for you'll be much happier walking right on the rides or having a very minimal wait (5 - 10 minutes). Most people tour starting at either Adventureland or Tomorrowland eventually converging in Fantasyland hence the huge lines. If you head right there you'll beat everyone and get to enjoy all of the rides with minimal wait times. This works great for us. Whatever you do I'm sure you'll have a great time. For us I'd rather wait 10 minute to go on Pooh or Peter Pan rather than waste a FP on either (since they are both fast pass rides you can imagine the wait times as the day progresses).

Just some food for thought.

[KAT1811]

My sis in law said to RACE to Fantasyland since that's always a very very busy place ....

Sister-in-law has some good advice! Now only if I could convince my inlaws I do too!!! LOL!

[Goes4FastPass]

Well, it really depends and one of the things it depends upon is how important is riding Dumbo to the eight year old....for if its soemthing he has to do...I'd go to fantasy land first, try to be first in line for it and get it out of the way. (Dumbo is not only one of the most popular rides in the park, but also one of the slowest loaders and hence often has horrendous lines).

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Immediatly after breakfast go to Fantasy Land and knock out Dumbo - if Peter Pan and WtPooh are on your list do them next - the lines will only get longer for these -


then

Right over to the Haunted Mansion and around to the side by side mountains, TMRR and Splash.


then

Head toward POTC and the Jungle Cruise etc.

[gerald72]

Or go directly to Fantasyland, grab a fastpass for something, ride another ride, and then head to Frontierland.

[Goes4FastPass]

Or go directly to Fantasyland, grab a fastpass for something, ride another ride, and then head to Frontierland.


Caution


Be sure to check the FP Return Time to make sure you'e not locking up your FP opportunity for too much of the day.

While I'm Goes4FastPass I think at the beginning of the MK day is often better to dash from attraction to attraction while lines are short.

[KAT1811]

While I'm Goes4FastPass I think at the beginning of the MK day is often better to dash from attraction to attraction while lines are short.[/LEFT]


:ditto:

[Gregandmel]

AGH!!! Decisions Decisions - I totally appreciate both view points so that will give me something to think about. Although both the boys are more into the BIG kid rides, I know we can't miss the ones in Fantasyland, and standing in long lines are NOT what i'm interested in doing. I just hope I don't miss my opportunity to visit POTC, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad & Haunted Mansion with minimal waits. I know whichever "lands" we visit first - the ones we visit "next" will have more wait times. Guess I just need to really think about how best to tackle it. One of the main reasons we are even doing the Crystal Palace was to get to see the park for the first time w/o the huge crowds in the a.m. (just want to breathe and take it all in without 3,000 people running around me to start off! ha) then have our "pick" of the lands as a head start. THANK you to everyone who has some thoughts. Everything is valid!!!!

[KAT1811]

I just hope I don't miss my opportunity to visit POTC, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad & Haunted Mansion with minimal waits. I know whichever "lands" we visit first - the ones we visit "next" will have more wait times.

One last suggestion here. The waits for the Fantasyland rides are much longer becuase although they continuously load they only load a few passengers at a time. The Adventureland & Frontierland rides (POTC, Splash Mountain, & BTMRR) load continuously but in larger numbers reducing wait times and moving the lines much faster. For us the goal has always been to visit the rides earliest that move the slowest. We never have much trouble waiting in the "bigger ride" lines as they move faster and there is a lotmore to see. The queue areas in Fantasyland are far from interesting and there is not much to look at.

[CaptSmee]

We usually start with Fantasyland early in the am (no strollers almost at all) or Tomorrowland depending on what strikes the mood. Also, Fantasyland has more attractions that are guaranteed to have long lines later in the day while Adventureland usually only tends to have a line at the Jungle Cruise (which they have fastpass available).

[yjgirl32]

I also would start where my kids were most excited about- adventureland. Then after that hist the others. Then maybe go back after your done at the others. Have a great trip.

[CU Tiger]

If it will be crowded, we usually head to frontier land so we can get on some rides faster. My DDs do not want to start out the day waiting in lines, so we like to get in the shorter lines to get on rides sooner than later. After they get their initial ride fix, we make our way over to the other areas of the park and try to optimize our FPs.:mickey:

[laward32]

I would have to agree with most of the posters and say Adventureland and Frontierland first. We always do Adventureland first, it's our tradition.:mickey:

[LauraleeH]

Do most of the rides that you're boys want to do first. They will enjoy them even more without the wait! But don't do every single one that morning...then they won't have anything to look forward to for the rest of the day. Maybe save Liberty Square (The Haunted Mansion) for last...especially if you plan on staying until dark!

[ariel326]

I always go to adventureland first. Besides--Adventureland comes first, alphabetically and going clockwise around the park.