7:25 am Chef Mickeys

[Texas Crude]

I'm my DD for her first trip to disney world in April. We will be taking the first day easy (traveling, pool, DTD, early bed).

Our second day we are going to the MK, but I also grabbed some 7:25 reservations at CM for breakfast. Question is can we do this and still hit rope drop 9:00)? Also, would we miss the show? Which would be a better way to start her first ever day in Disney Sworld?

 

[ParrotBill]

I think it's unlikely unless you
a) get in early
b) eat and run

Typical time for Chef Mickey's is an hour to an hour and a half. Then you must get onto the monorail and go around the long way to get to MK.. or else walk 15 minutes. Then security and ticket lines. The show starts at 8:50 on a 9:00am opening day.

 

[serene56]

We did this breakfast-- had a 7:15 ADR and got seated about 7:30

We were out of there by 8:30 saw all the characters then we walked to the Magic kingdom. We were there with time to see the opening show then headed directly to Merida. We were third in line

GD was 6 this trip and she was beat by 1m when we headed back to the resort for naps.

 

[bauer1168]

I'm my DD for her first trip to disney world in April. We will be taking the first day easy (traveling, pool, DTD, early bed).

Our second day we are going to the MK, but I also grabbed some 7:25 reservations at CM for breakfast. Question is can we do this and still hit rope drop 9:00)? Also, would we miss the show? Which would be a better way to start her first ever day in Disney Sworld?

Even if you can't get there at RD, you should be able to get to MK just after RD which should still put you in good shape to do the headliners with minimal waits.

Definitely walk from CR to MK though. The monorail line by the time you've finished your breakfast could very likely be long. I've always walked to MK when staying at CR, much less hassle, and as PP says, it goes the long way round, so you would be going to TTC, Poly, GF, then MK.

If you do decide to walk, take the escalators from Chef Mickey's down to the front entrance, not the lifts. From personal experience, you can be waiting quite awhile for one to come, and at that time in the morning, there's a good chance they'll already be full.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[ghtx]

I'm my DD for her first trip to disney world in April. We will be taking the first day easy (traveling, pool, DTD, early bed).

Our second day we are going to the MK, but I also grabbed some 7:25 reservations at CM for breakfast. Question is can we do this and still hit rope drop 9:00)? Also, would we miss the show? Which would be a better way to start her first ever day in Disney Sworld?

I think that you could make it, but it would be tight.

I would suggest arriving early for your ADR (7:15 - maybe even closer to 7:00) on the off chance that they might be able to seat you early. You can ask for the bill right when you are seated (since it's a buffet) and pay as you eat rather than after you eat. You could most probably finish seeing all of the characters in 60 minutes. From CM to RD at MK would probably take you about 20 minutes, what with all of the corralling members of your family. (I also suggest the walk rather than the monorail.)

If it gets to be around 8:30 and you are still eating and you haven't seen all of the characters, then you will have to make a decision about whether it is worth it to wait for the characters and miss the RD show and some time at MK early in the day. As PP said, even if you aren't right there at RD, the earlier you get there the better, and you should still be able to enjoy shorter lines up until 10:30 or 11:00, depending on the day.

Enjoy!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

It'll be tight. Your table placement will make a huge difference in terms of how fast the characters get to your table once they enter your "section" and that's beyond your control. We had a 7:30am ADR and we missed RD. Got in to the park at 9:05am.

Echoing others, walk from CR to MK and do not take the monorail. The Resort Monorail runs in clockwise direction around the lake (if you think of MK as being the "12" on the clock) which means to get to MK from CR, you're taking the long way around and making stops at TTC, Poly, and GF before arriving at MK.

 

[Texas Crude]

Thanks for the replies. Is the show that interesting? Should I skip CM?

We wil be back at MK on Friday, but this will be her very first disney experience... Not sure what to do.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Thanks for the replies. Is the show that interesting? Should I skip CM?

We wil be back at MK on Friday, but this will be her very first disney experience... Not sure what to do.

Forget my user ID I am not biased

Considering your DD is having her 1st Disney experience IMHO I say forget the rope drop, save it for another day, enjoy the one on one with the characters at breakfast God knows you are paying a fortune for it, take your time and enjoy it all, that's what I would do

 

[bauer1168]

Forget my user ID I am not biased

Considering your DD is having her 1st Disney experience IMHO I say forget the rope drop, save it for another day, enjoy the one on one with the characters at breakfast God knows you are paying a fortune for it, take your time and enjoy it all, that's what I would do

I agree with this. If you can be at MK before 10 you should be in good shape to tour the park. Could you do the RD show on the Friday? Plus, just walking down Main St. for the first time and seeing the castle will be a magical moment. In fact, no matter how many times I've been, it's still as magical as the first time

 

[ghtx]

Thanks for the replies. Is the show that interesting? Should I skip CM?

We wil be back at MK on Friday, but this will be her very first disney experience... Not sure what to do.

IMO the main advantage of RD is not the show, it's the shorter queues that you get at the beginning of the day. Those short queues should last until about 10:30 or so, meaning it's not that important to be there right at RD for the show.

 

[Texas Crude]

Thanks again! I think I'll follow the advice and keep the reservations, showing up a bit early if possible. Sounds like if we are not there by 9:00, it won't be more than 15 to 20 minutes beyond that.

How would you recommend getting there from POR? Should we take a taxi, or take a bus to MK and monorail over? Will park transportation even be running that early?

 

[JessM]

I'd grab a taxi. Transportation supposedly starts running at 6:30am but busses will be few and far between that early in the morning. Have a great time!

 

[wiigirl]

I'd grab a taxi. Transportation supposedly starts running at 6:30am but busses will be few and far between that early in the morning. Have a great time!

Good tip! We got burned by that once.

 

[karpy111]

I would say book Crystal Palace early. I believe you can go into Magic Kingdom before the park opens and walk Main street pretty much by yourself. Get some nice pictures instead of fighting through crowds. Plenty of time for that.

 

[Texas Crude]

I would say book Crystal Palace early. I believe you can go into Magic Kingdom before the park opens and walk Main street pretty much by yourself. Get some nice pictures instead of fighting through crowds. Plenty of time for that.

I would, but we are going in April and its a bit late to grab those reservations. I will keep checking to see if something opens up, but I'm not hopefull

 

[bauer1168]

Thanks again! I think I'll follow the advice and keep the reservations, showing up a bit early if possible. Sounds like if we are not there by 9:00, it won't be more than 15 to 20 minutes beyond that.

How would you recommend getting there from POR? Should we take a taxi, or take a bus to MK and monorail over? Will park transportation even be running that early?

If you're at MK at 9:15-9:20 that's still a great time.
If you're happy to get a taxi, do that. Just go to bell services and they'd sort it out for you.
POR is a pretty big resort, it has 4 stops there alone. Sometimes (always?), the bus will got to POFQ first, then to POR. If you do take the bus I would walk from MK to CR personally. But a taxi would be less hassle.

 

[marivigi]

Great Thread!

We have never made it to park opening, and are seriously considering trying this trip..

What goes on before rope drop?

 

[ghtx]

What goes on before rope drop?

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/12/a-great-way-to-start-the-day-at-magic-kingdom-park/

 

[Texas Crude]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/12/a-great-way-to-start-the-day-at-magic-kingdom-park/

Ugh, you are making me want to change my mind! Maybe we will skip CM, catch the rope drop / show, and do lunch at CP instead! I grabbed a 1:30 reservation, just need to decide on which one to cancel!

 

[turftoega]

Ugh, you are making me want to change my mind! Maybe we will skip CM, catch the rope drop / show, and do lunch at CP instead! I grabbed a 1:30 reservation, just need to decide on which one to cancel!

Are you going to chase characters while in the parks? Do you have another way to get 5 of the big 6 characters without losing time in the parks? The beauty of CM's is that you get 1 on 1 time with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald while eating. There are other ways to visit the characters in the park, but you will be missing out on ride time or other character visits.

We are still yet to make the RD ceremony. DW is sad but you won't be able to do everything on your trip. Save something for next time. And as most have pointed out, it's not the ceremony so much as the first hour in the park that you want. Getting a chance to walk down Main Street before the crowd is amazing.