Visiting MK before MNSSHP

[prthomas]

Hi all, we were planning our last night in MK on 28th August 2018 but now that is MNSSHP. I don't really want to pay the hard ticket prices for that evening for 6 people, but TouringPlans has MK that day as a 2/10 so I was wondering if anyone has experience of touring before the event and then leaving 6/7pm when the event starts. Some blogs/forums say it is quiet in the day, but I wonder if that is really true?

[SMAX]

It is also Early Morning Magic that day. So will have a few hundred in Fantasyland upon opening. This doesn't affect it much though except maybe the initial queues for 7DMT.

I would expect the park to be reasonable for the rest of the day. It closes at 6pm so you wont be able to do any rides after then.

If you look back at the crowd levels for the last few years.

You can see it is quiet. Last year it was 2.3/10 and also MNSSHP that night. It is getting slightly busier each year so expect a little more this year.

[Mexy02]

As smack shows It’s not too bad on the day of mnsshp by mid afternoon it starts to fill but who knows with the parks getting busier every day . Toy story land could just push people to another park if the queues are crazy.

[chmurf]

remember one thing. There are very few guests who have the ultimate tickets.
the vast majority have Magic Your Way tickets, and no hopper as it adds to a cost that's already sky high

so, think about the regular US guest, who can only visit one park per day, and who has only 5 days to visit Disneyworld.
If you were that guest, what would you do ?
- go to MK that closes at 6pm , go back to your hotel and call it a day
- go to another park and enjoy it all day including the evening with a nighttime spectacular you can actually see.

so, that's the reason why MK is essentially empty on MNSSHP days.
It does begin to fill up starting 4pm because that's the time party guests can enter MK
The reason to that is that guests on Magic Your Way tickets can save a park day (= if they're at WDW for 5 days they can purchase a 4 days ticket + a party ticket and not go to a park on MNSSHP day)
so those guests will be at MK gates at 4pm sharp.


So in your case, your best bet would be to do MK from opening 'til 4pm, then exit as crowds start to build up, and hop to another park (assuming you have hopper or ultimate)

I would also consider getting my FP+ in the second park (even though it will be a tiered one) to ensure I have at least one headliner in that park.
getting FP+ for MK if you're there at opening time would not be as beneficial as getting a single headliner FP+ at the second park (especially if it's something like FoP, Soarin, TSMM or rides that are consistently rammed)

[prthomas]

Thanks for the responses everyone, it didn't say EMH on TouringPlans but maybe that is incorrect. Also I am guessing that the combination of the recent Disney changes causing longer waits and TSL opening will change the dynamic anyway and this isn't factored into the models at the moment. I think we will keep this as an option and see what happens.

[SMAX]

It isn't EMH it is EMM. Early Morning Magic is a paid for early entry into Fantasyland.

It doesn't affect crowd levels that much as it is only 3 rides in Fantasyland that is open to the paying guests.