5 Year Old finally tall enough...Fantasyland or Frontierland First???

[chrisn]

We were so excited when my little man hit the 40" milestone. Well, now he's also made the 42" milestone and with his tennies on he measures 43 3/4's (sigh-so close). Well traditionally we hit Fantasyland first and do all the rides there. This time I'm wondering if we should do this differently? If we hit Fantasyland and do Dumbo, Pooh and Pan then high tail it over to Frontierland, will the wait time by then still be small for Splash then Big Thunder? Will Fast Pass be in order? I know that if we don't marathon to Dumbo first it will be out of the question later. Just trying to fugure out the best strategy. What has been your experience?

 

[mad4themouse]

Will there be more than one adult in your group? If so, one adult can get in line at Dumbo with the kid(s) while the other hotfoots it over to Frontierland and grabs FastPasses for everyone for Splash Mountain. Depending on your FP return time, you may be able to finish your tour of Fantasyland before it's time to take the plunge.

Congratulations to your son on reaching a milestone!

 

[cressy]

I've read mixed responses regarding guests joining their parties in line, other than, say, after waiting 45 minutes in a 60 minute line for Dumbo, the 3 year old HAS GOT to go to the rest room.Depending on the length of the line, it may not be so easy to join your family, the lines get pretty long, pretty fast at Dumbo, even during slower times of year. Does Dumbo have fastpass?If so, I'd FP it, meet at Frontierland,then FP Peter Pan on the way back to Dumbo.
About the FP return times for SM and BTMRR, it depends on what time of year you're going. We've been in October when we were getting 10 minute return times through noon. During busy times return times can be over an hour away well before noon.
Will there be an e-night while you're at WDW?You could do the Fantasyland rides on a morning at MK, then have the option of doing Frontierland with little wait on an enight if you don't get to it during the day.
Hope this all makes sense!

 

[CRCrazy]

I would definitely go for Fantasyland first - there is no Fastpass for Dumbo, and the lines build quickly. I would grab Fastpasses for Peter Pan, then ride Dumbo, and the other Fantasy land stuff at opening - then head over to Frontierland.

Depending on when you are traveling - you should be able to Fastpass one (probably BTMRR) and ride the other - the boards are right next to each other, so choose to wait in whichever line has the shortest stand by time. We've never had more than a fifteen to twenty minute standby time at Frontierland before lunch, but we usually travel during the slower times.

Congrats to your 5 year old - You may want to check the soles of his shoes - my 5 year old was on the tall side, but she had no problem riding Space Mountain - it was her favorite ride in WDW! We went back in December - she was now six - with the thicker soled shoes they have for girls, she managed to qualify for for Rock N Roller Coaster and Primeval Whirl. She only measured 47 5/8" even with the thicker shoes - but they said she was okay.

 

[tar heel]

Are you staying onsite (I'm not sure if the offsite part of your sig means offsite for Universal only or for Disney, too)? If you are onsite, then go to MK on ee day. Get there by 7:30 a.m. and go straight to Fantasyland. Do the attractions with no fast pass that get huge lines first, then whatever else you have time to do until about 8:50 a.m. Then go to the Fantasyland/Frontierland rope drop and line up for the 9 a.m. stampede. We've done this many times except we're coming from Tomorrowland instead of Fantasyland -- my boys are not fans of Fantasyland.

If you are not onsite and you decide to forgo Dumbo and go to Frontierland, do this: Arrive at MK early so you get in when the gates open and go straight to the train. It pulls out of the station right at park opening, which means you get to the station next to Spalsh Mountain before most of the people who walked while also saving your legs and getting a train ride.