MK party day plan - opinions/suggestions?

[TheVBs]

I'd love to run this past you guys to see if there's something we're missing or didn't think of. On our first park day we're heading to MK and doing the Halloween party that evening.

Our plan is to have a leisurely morning, sleep in a bit, get breakfast, do a little swimming then head to MK about mid-day/early afternoon. We're going to bring the girls' costumes in a backpack, which we'll check in a locker if we can. We'll have a later lunch in the parks, enjoy the day, have dinner there, then let the girls change into their costumes right before the party and we'll stash their regular clothes in the backpack, which will go back into the locker.

They're 7 & 11 and we're hoping the later start will help them get through the late evening at the party. We had originally planned to head to the park in the morning, leave mid-day/early afternoon, go back to the resort for dinner, change into costumes, then head back to the park for the party. But when we tried to work that all out on paper, it just seemed too hectic and not worth the travel time and short time we'd be in the parks in the morning (we're not likely to make rope drop or anything, we're not fast in the mornings :blush:).

The only specific questions I can think to ask is: Will we have a problem getting a locker that late in the day? And, how much do the lockers cost? Any other input or suggestions are most welcome! :mickey:

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I've never seen that many people renting lockers I don't think it will be a problem...sounds like a good plan

[Kairi_7378]

If you're not likely to make rope drop I think this is a great plan. Plus it may be better to not have to be on too much of a schedule on what will be a long (but fun!) day.

[Main Street Jim]

Just a quick suggestion :)

You can get into the park as early as 4:00pm with *just* your party tickets (no need to use a day on your regular park tickets). You can hit most of the attractions early (lines shouldn't be *that* long anyways for this time of year), the park will be clearing of day guests around 7:00pm. Parade times are what, 8:15pm and 10:30pm, with 9:30pm Hallowishes? (I'm asking, because I haven't been to a Party - or even *worked* a Party - in quite some time). If the kids can make it, stay for the later parade, and do your trick-or-treating early as well. I think there's something like eight locations or something like that. :thumbsup:

I would say let them wear their costumes to the park, but bring the change of (street/"normal") clothes to put in a locker so if they get tired of wearing the costumes later in the evening, they can change clothes.

Take the time earlier in the day to *relax*, maybe do some shopping, kids nap for an hour or so (or two or three...LOL...especially after traveling down there and it's your first park day), then head to Magic Kingdom around 3:30-3:45pm. Another plus (I guess, to me, anyways) is that if you *do* go shopping and you're staying on property, you can have your "winnings" sent directly to your room so you don't have to lug them around. :)

You don't say what *date* you're going...LOL...

[TheVBs]

Thanks for all the input, we really appreciate it! :mickey:

I probably should have mentioned that our first park day is not our arrival day. On the day we arrive we'll probably get there early/mid-afternoon. We just check in, go swimming, have dinner at the resort and relax from the trip down. So, we'll be fresh for our first park day!

We did talk about saving a park ticket that first day and just using our party tickets to arrive at 4pm or so. But, the idea of waking up our first day in WDW and not going to MK didn't seem to be something we could wrap our minds around. :blush: So, we came up with the above plan. We also thought about letting the girls wear their costumes into the park, but the chances of them getting something on them is very high, which might cause an upset.

We will definitely shoot for the later parade and do our trick or treating early, as suggested! We're hoping the early parade will be a good time to meet some characters. Hopefully the slow relaxing start will help us all make it through at least the 2nd parade. :mickey: